African American
In reply to the discussion: I don't know what the hell is wrong with DU right now. [View all]marble falls
(57,080 posts)politely racist grandfather I adored. His descriptions colored my image of black people (he did use the other term), that I didn't know for several years that one of my favorite TV show hosts, Nat King Cole was was black. I didn't know there were black members on the Cleveland Indians who I watched religiously on TV. I went downtown on public transportation fairly often to Public Square in Cleveland and never realized I was among black folk. In my mind, I guess, there were black people who were basically part of 'us' and the 'n' word people that I heard about from Pop and never actually knowingly met.
I want to get back to the kid who honestly did not realize there was any difference between the races. I had to learn how to discriminate. I've had to learn how to drop it, a much longer, more painful and necessary process. And it is ongoing now.