Its historical legacy

We hear the words “systemic racism” thrown around quite a bit. There is the historical legacy of slavery which fades some every year. Years ago deep in Nevada County, a conversation took place revealing a battlefield antidote to racism as a matter of the heart.

It was like this at a school board meeting: A nice young lady who taught political science at college level who had family connections to Harriet Tubman thought in principle that there should be quotas for African Americans and, in response, a retired military man who joined the school board with a desire to help said, “I don’t know why you refer to people as African Americans. I fought with men in Vietnam who died. They didn’t even know where Africa was. To me they were just Americans with dark skin.”

CHARLES VERMONT

Bentonville