Accepted racism in small town America...

I've just been through an arduous road trip through the US of A and I'm here in N. Kentucky. People are very nice to outsiders and they welcome us very nicely. I guess that Southern Comfort is referring to South of the Border, since I was only in Ohio when the niceties came my way. An example would be that after seeing me wear a U of T hat, and my overall foreign look, the girl at the McDonalds I was at gave me my salad with no tax. So many nice things from people. Canadians are always welcome since we're the peace loving neighbours. I don't want to be in the mindset of Blanche DuBois and put my faith in the kindness of strangers. I've learned that people everywhere are nice to foreigners and they expect it when you're in their shoes. As Atticus Finch would say "you never understand a person until you climb into their skin and walk around in it".

And God bless the person that Atticus Finch was derived from. People are nice, that's nice! But only when you're a foreigner. While I was munching on my vegetarian lunch (I've turned a new leaf!), I overheard an old couple talking together. I really didn't care what they were saying until I heard the old lady say that she doesn't want "that African American guy" to be principle of the local high school. She once worked with an African American and he was "very dumb", according to her. I wasn't sure how to react. I know that it's none of my business but this gives you a sense of what type of people small town Americans can be.

Of course, that was an older and more conservative woman. Being a "nigger lover" these days, as Bob Ewell would've said, are in style! I'm sure that people are less conservative and are willing to be friends with just about anyone who shares a common interest with them. I've got friends who are Chinese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Canadian, American, Iranian, Arab, African, Jamaican and the list goes on. I can't stand it when someone says that black people are all gangsters and lazy. I knew two guys who worked at a call centre and doing surveys just so they could pay for medical school tuition, which they were aspiring for. They were both black.