As a child, for six summers (ages 9 to 14) I attended a camp in Vermont where I was one of possibly 5 minorities every year. Rest were cacs of course. Nonetheless, I never really experienced any racism. If anything, people respected me and were interested to know who I was as a person bc they had wrong notions (not on some "he is black and let's learn what 'they' all like to do and treat him like an experiment" shyt.) My last year, girls (W & Bl) loved me.
Funny thing is it was the first time I experienced white folks all around me like that and shyt. It knocked down many of the preconceived notions that were ingrained in me as a youth. Experiences that helped me buck the trend, if you will. A brother was doing shyt that a normal urban youth don't experience:
- no candy/ sugar for an entire summer
- climbing 3 of the tallest mountains in Vt, New Hampshire and New York
- canoeing solo
- swimming 1.3 miles alone
- running 4 miles a day
- camping alone with nothing to live on but my survival training
- fukking in a barn with hay for the
first time
Came back in the best shape in my young life. Also, came back talking like one of "them" but I digress... It truly was a great eye-opener in my life. Oddly, I am still friends with many of them and plan to visit next year at a reunion hopefully.