tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-544160750552722326.post4755392655643011695..comments2021-03-27T06:49:04.178-07:00Comments on Everyman's 21st Century Blog: New Focus on Boys of ColorRandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04037270846494437477noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-544160750552722326.post-27150456797679793132014-03-17T18:24:39.585-07:002014-03-17T18:24:39.585-07:00Thanks Matt! I so appreciate you for sharing your ...Thanks Matt! I so appreciate you for sharing your experience and pointing out the differences between my more divided world in the early 60's and your experience of living in a more integrated world at a similar age. Our country is huge and diverse in both histories and cultural mixes. From what I read and observe today, integration is still very much a work in progress and has even slowed in some places where the economic divide becomes the common denominator. We know the income gap has widened in the last 25 years with erosion of post-WWII middle class gains. It does boil down to what efforts can be made both inside communities as well as what can be restored or provided from the outside in the form of opportunities for education, social mobility and enforcement of laws prohibiting discrimination. Programs that help young people succeed in new green careers for example are accomplishing many goals at the same time. That was my experience working with the Conservation Corps mentioned in the post before this one. Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037270846494437477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-544160750552722326.post-73393250855382245572014-03-17T00:10:40.129-07:002014-03-17T00:10:40.129-07:00Randy, I too attended a summer Y camp and stayed i...Randy, I too attended a summer Y camp and stayed in a cabin which I recall having a majority of black residents. But one big difference between our two experiences was, I think, that you really hadn't, before your camp experience, had much experience interacting regularly with a large number of boys your age who weren't white. In my case, my parents, when moving back to the Chicago area from Washington, D.C., specifically chose to live in Evanston, the suburb on the northern border of Chicago, because its public schools were both high-quality and racially integrated. Having spent a number of years in that system, and in neighborhoods where whites, blacks, and Latinos all coexisted, I was more at ease and used to some of the "Lord of the Flies" behaviors you discuss. Also, though, I think there was less of that sort of behavior, perhaps in part because by the time I was nearing the end of elementary school, better ways had been worked out to deal with cross-racial issues in youth group settings, but also almost certainly due to the fact that, compared to American society at the time you were that old, we'd had nearly a decade of civil rights progress. A question: Though it seems you can't recall much about the counselors who populated your Y camp, can you remember whether there were any or many adult leaders of color? I think the fact that there were many at my camp made a big difference. Matt Nicodemusnoreply@blogger.com