Quote:
Originally Posted by mtdjed
I was raised in a white middle class (Low) neighborhood in a suburb of Erie , Pa..
Went to a school system with a senior class of 133 in 1966 and only one black student. I remember her and recall that her name was Elizabeth XXXX( I vividly recall but don't feel right about revealing). She was there only for our senior year as I recollect.)
I never approached her to introduce myself or say Hi, but at the time I never approached many of the girls. Do not know how the other guys and girls treated her.
Now, if I saw someone outside the norm being unattended, I. would go out of my way to include.
Was I a racist in 1966?
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Perhaps you were a racist, but we can’t tell from that story. More important is that there was a lonely, sad person you could have befriended, but you didn’t. We all do that. Racism could be part of it, but it doesn’t have to be. I was extremely shy when I was in high school, and I still remember several people who befriended me, included me among their friends, and filled my life with meaning and happiness I hadn’t anticipated. I still bless them for what they did. You could have been a person like that for that student. Part of remembering where we failed is regretting it enough that we do better next time.
Matthew 25:34-40. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”