Negro Leagues and black/white dating

I like having lunch with co-workers. I know, what does that have to do with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum....getting to that.

Since I was born in California, a thriving hot-bed of diversity, it's hard for me to understand racism in it's many forms. Sure it exists there but rarely do you meet a white person who is really afraid of Blacks simply because of their skin color. I've met a few people in Kansas City like that. To give credit to Kansas City, these people are usually from the middle of no-damned where.

Here's the Negro League tie in...my co-worker just visited that museum and he's a huge baseball fan. Why not sooner, like 10 years ago? Because his "mommy and daddy" taught him that the Historic 18th & Vine district in Kansas City was a dangerous and scary place to go. If you can't guess why it's because all those blacks hang out there. AAAAAGH!!!

I thought about that for a moment and it really annoyed me. This guy is about 6-feet tall and not a small farmboy either. His parents have taught him to be afraid of Blacks and for what reason. To hear him say it, they are afraid he'll become a crime victim. I have another theory.

What do po-dunk whites hate more than having their kid getting beaten or robbed by a black? Their kid bringing a Black person home as a boy or girlfriend. This guys mom and dad would crap bricks if he walked into the house with a black girl on his arm. That's the real fear.