Thank you for your thoughtful article.

In the 80s when I was going through Marines OCS in Virginia, on our second leave I was on my own, you might say because I was a little different, I guess. The three black candidates invited me along, which I gratefully accepted. I grew up in a very white middle class area of San Mateo, California, and my father was a Confederate-flag-waving rascist, so my multi-cultural experiences were limited.

Anyway, over beers we got to talking about race. They agreed that they preferred the Southern brand, because you knew where people stood. In the North, as you pointed out, it is more insidious. I am forever grateful for their eye-opening embracing of me.

I ended up going into the Peace Corps and was posted in Cameroon, much to the chagrin of my father. And eventually married an African-American woman from Chicago (the breaking point). Cheers.