Interesting article - fascinating comments.

In 1960 my family moved from a 99% Italian Catholic neighbor in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, to a small town in Suffolk County Long Island that was actually divided in half by the railroad tracks. White on side. Predominantly Black on the other. I ended up in an elementary school and school system that was mostly Black. It was a culture shock for a seven-year-old who loved the sights, sounds and smells of the big city - but was also a unique experience. I felt isolated and terribly alone for about a week. Uncomfortable and awkward for the next week. And by the end of the third week, I had made new friends, who liked baseball, dodgeball, telling jokes and being a kid and they helped me to feel okay again. And I have always been thankful to that group who followed each other through 8th grade.

In truth kids instinctively zeroed in on who each person was. How they talked to each other - not their accent, but the respect and kindness they showed and gave one another. That experience solidified for me that people can get along regardless of color, religion, politics or anything else. They just have to make the effort, be sincere and "see" the person in front of them, NOT some version of them that others talk about.

I always missed Brooklyn, but felt blessed to have that handful of kids enter my life at that time. They saved me.