I grew up with racist parents and never understood their mentality, but old tapes still run through my head, but I think they are more subtle than the ones you mention (I live in Atlanta, so if I crossed to the other side of the street every time a Black person came at me it would look comical and eventually I'd be busted for jaywalking!).

I tend to admire and cherish the contributions of Black America, and can only imagine how dull and uncreative this country would be without them, but I still have my prejudices. And how much further advanced our society would be if the door had been opened to them a long time ago. In fact, I'm writing a novel about that very thing that takes place on an alternative timeline.

My old tapes are more like stereotypes, I think, which are actually pretty common for everyone. We see this with our views towards the Asian community, for example ("they're all so smart and such great students!").

So for me, personally, that's the part I need to be aware of. What old tapes play in my head when I interact with my Black friends? I don't know that there are anywhere near as many as there used to be. Some of it has been erased through correction from those friends. Others through just reading and being open to understanding things I may not have been aware of.

Educational articles like this are important because they help guide those who haven't had to live the Black experience in America. I was probably 30 years old before I noticed for the first time the way a shop owner in a California tourist town never took her eyes off a lone Black kid who dared enter her store. These are not small things, but they do sometimes seem small to white folks, because those folks don't have to endure that kind of crap. It's just not on our radar.

When that story about the lady in Central Park came out, I asked myself, "could that have been me?" I like to believe that the answer is no, but those old tapes, even though I rejected them before even my high school years, are there. They're real. Implanted by my parents, who were persistent with their bizarre notions that skin tone can somehow direct behavior.