General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Northam opponents will not like this New York Times article [View all]Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I spent my early years caught between two cultures. There is a lot of pressure to conform to each. The people that Northam knew early on were African American, he was a basketball player in high school and likely spent summer days playing pick up ball with African American friends.
His medical school days and his early days as a military officer were likely spent in an almost lily White environment. Yes, there were young officer like Colin Powell and one or two others like General Waller, but the officer core was almost pure White, and largely is that way today, if you look at class photos for military academies. My experience was that the pressure to conform to the culture that I was in was powerful, some people could not fully conform to that.
I know about being called names. My best male friend and best female friend in high school were not from my race. I got called names to my face and I found out, behind my back by members of my race because of my friendships. Did I let situations go when my friend's race was put down during that time? Yes I did because that was easier than pointing out the stupidity of disliking someone without getting to know them, but today I would be in someone's face that tried that. A person matures and their capacity to properly handle situations that they shrunk from grows.