Being Black and hearing republicans laughing it up at watermelon jokes at my expense

[NHvet]

55. When I was in the 8th grade, we moved from St Louis Mo to Nashville Tn

Once there, I was enrolled in a white neighborhood school (Donelson area) in Nashville. That year they were integrated the schools and my first day of school was met with protests by the whites of the blacks kids that were being bused in. There weren't many and after a few weeks things quieted down. The following year it was reverse busing and I was one of the white students chosen to attend a previously all black school in the inner city (Cameron). What an eye opening experience for a 13-14 yr old. The stark contrast between the schools, supplies, and general safety wasn't what I was used to. We ere lucky if the toilets worked, or if the windows kept out the cold. I found out quick that safety was in numbers and found a home on the football team. Joining that team saved me that year as my teammates kept me out of harms way. The following year we moved back to St Louis, but to this day, I still remember the shouting, cursing of the white parents screaming at school kids just because they were a different color. I shames me that we've allowed ourselves to have not progressed away from those days of 50 years ago.