LINCOLN BROWN: None of My Best Friends Are Black.

It was a very strange thing for me to be labeled a racist. I grew up in a black neighborhood. I was surrounded by black culture. The music I heard was from Parliament, Bootsy Collins, Heatwave, Ohio Players, and later The Sugarhill Gang and a slew of blues artists. That is not to say it was my music , but it was the music I grew up on and when I hear it today, it brings back memories.

Yes, as a short, skinny white kid with glasses, I got roughed up for the color of my skin on occasion. I was even spit on and throat-punched once. But I also caught hell from rich and poor white kids who were just jerks. And I had plenty of black friends back in high school and beyond. Some were good friends, some were casual acquaintances. As I have written before, my first girlfriend was black and no one except my left-wing parents had a problem with it.

This is a lovely piece. Read the whole thing.