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/1 I went to Chisholm Jr. High in New Smyrna Beach, FL for 7th grade in 1970. Just the year prior, Chisholm was the black high school in our segregated city - undergoing desegregation at that time. For the most part, the transition was smooth in large part due to the ...
/2 black community welcoming us to the neighborhood, and without that, I doubt it would have worked. To be sure we had a few white kids who threatened violence. The ones I remember were troubled kids as it was. Nothing came of it outside of some wearing the ...
/3 confederate flag as a sign of their displeasure. The neighborhood was also black. I recall a friendly, elderly woman whose house was close to the school. She was a gardener and was always outside working on her flowers when we kids would happen by.
/4 She& #39;d stop me and ask & #39;How do you like your new school?& #39;. Kind and graceful, she& #39;d water the plants behind her white picket fenced yard. She had the gift. Most of all she was our welcoming committee - helping strangers in a strange land find their way.
/5 Of all the good things that came from Chisholm, I remember a few bad ones too. Like being reminded by some of my white peers that while you could have black friends from 0 - 11, we had crossed into the age when that wouldn& #39;t be looked upon kindly.
/6 When people think of racists, they may think the only victims are people of color, but it& #39;s not. It& #39;s also keeping other white people in line too. That& #39;s the way it works: Be sure that black kids are standing alone when they want to mistreat them.
/7 I was raised in a white, liberal family that didn& #39;t tolerate that kind of bullshit. That probably gave me just enough courage to tell a kid basically fvck off. That led to a punch and another. When it was done, I ended up 50% deaf in one ear. No one knew why.
/8 Other white kids around me were sympathetic but unable to help. I understood their situation and didn& #39;t expect much. The adults living in the neighborhood more than made up for it. It was a good year to grow and learn about other people. I miss my old uniform.
