You know, I wish more people would forget that petty differences exist. Hardly anyone knows what I am about to say and I hope anyone that reads this understands the sincerity of this story.
I was raised in the south in a family of "good old boys" that were racist as humanly possible. I grew up not even understanding that it was wrong to use racial slurs, blame all of the economic and political problems on black people, and to blatantly and openly insult them in public. Okay so it's probably at this point that your thinking, well at least he knows he is a piece of shit. In all actuality, I know that I am not and here is why:
Yes all of my examples growing up we're horrible in regards to race, but when I became a teenager and actually got to meet people different than myself and my family, I realized how completely ignorant the stereotypes and hatred really were. My mother actually worked in a small business owned by a black man and she was the sole employee. I used to go to work with her and, although I have had to live through some horribly embarrassing situations due to my own ignorance or that of a sibling, I want you to know that I think of that man as a role model and a father figure. He did more to teach me right from wrong than my own father. When I went on a 7+ year coke and opiate bender and my father, who still to this day can't look at with me without disgust, decided to kick me out, guess who was there for moral support and to help guide my actions. Some random black guy that only knew me because my mom was his secretary. Color , nationality, and even religion don't dictate a persons' life choices and who they decide to be. I spend the majority of my time working in a non profit community hospital, and I promise I could be making more money trading crypto or posting on steemit, but you know it wouldn't be as fulfilling as making a difference and helping other people that either can't help themselves or don't have the resources to do so on their own. So the random black guy that knew me from birth and showed me that there was more to people than what you see on the outside is pretty much the only father figure I will ever know. I saw him last week actually, he is in his 80's now and probably not going to be around much longer, and I only hope he knows what a difference he made in the life of one ignorant little redneck child.
On a side note, all of this is actually why I take issue with BLM. As someone who has now been in the middle of two of the "protest" looking like a ghost in the night I stood out so bad, I probably know more black people than anything else to be honest, it's time to assess that the actual BLM movement is not what it was meant to be. How many videos of "beat his ass because he's white" or videos inciting violence against police do you need to see to know it isn't right? I have marched with plenty of my black friends through the south, just like I have with my LGBT friends, and I promise that violence will not fix this problem. MLK is probably my favorite civil rights leader and this quote should say it all: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." I hope one day we can all get past this separatist bullshit agenda and just fucking live and let live.

(Sorry for hijacking and jumping on a soapbox)