I taught during toughest times of Florida's school integration years.

Florida was slow in getting around to this. I would say late 60s is when it fully was implemented. It was a trying time on both sides of the aisle. I was in a school in an area with both well-established white and black communities. There was tension on both sides. There was anger, distrust, and a lot of pushing back.

Teachers were in a way on the front lines. The black community loved their school, were attached to their teachers, and most were not pleased at the integration being forced on them. Our school and its teachers and students were wary, not knowing what to expect. Some were blatantly against it, most were thinking how to make everyone feel comfortable and accepted.

Never once was there name calling that I heard. We had to all compromise and negotiate with each other on a daily basis. Those teachers were forced from a school they loved and told to come to ours or were assigned elsewhere. The students and parents were thrown into situations they were not sure how to handle.

There was some resentment. One mother who did not want these changes got upset with me soon after orientation day about something. She said I was sitting in my white ivory tower judging folks. I called her into the room and told her more about my so-called ivory tower which was filled with tragedy about that time. We hugged, decided that we would work together and stop judging.

One parent asked me to go with her to visit their old school so she and her kids could say good-by. Another teacher asked to join us. Other parents were there saying their good-byes as well. Eyes were filled with tears because this kind of change was so hard on everyone.

We got through the rough spots somehow, but it was not easy. Most of us noticed that it wasn't long before mutual respect took the place of some of the resentment.

I have not posted for several weeks, and I will probably stop for a while after this post.

When it all boils down to the basics of what has happened the last few weeks.....it turns out that most of us have supported the goals of Black Lives Matter. Many others like I did donated when it started. There is absolutely no doubt of the need for that group and others like it.

What has been hard to get across is that when you determine that I and others are the enemy, when you assume we are white supremacists who believe we are superior....you take away any way to discuss rationally. There is a premise that if we are white we are automatically racist and misusing white privilege. That is not true in most cases.

Once someone puts me on the defensive with an assumption like that, once nothing I say matters....it's hard to feel good about it.

My gripe was never about the right to protest, it's about the manner of the protest, the way it was done. The screaming and refusal to allow both sides to be heard.

This episode in the end is not about Bernie, he can handle himself very well. It has been a clever subterfuge to make it about Bernie's supporters, which of course it is not. It has made many just quit posting rather than take a chance on hurting their candidate. I am one of them.

I don't like being called a white supremacist. It carries so many ugly connotations, and I don't deserve that. I think if you call people names and say insulting things to them, it's hard to have a conversation.