My 20 something, tiny, blue eyed, blonde daughter taught in the South Bronx [View all]

[HockeyMom]

She took the subway back and forth from Queens every day, and walked alone to the elementary school. The neighborhood people got to know her, by name, Miss Rachael, they called her. "Good Morning, Miss Rachael". They would ask her how "their" kids were doing in school. When the school had Meet the Teacher Night, she wouldn't leave until at 8 PM to catch the subway back home. She told me a couple of times one of the parents would invite her to dinner at their home. My daughter did not fear for her life as a young, white woman, or feel the need to carry a gun.

I myself as a young woman went everywhere around NYC, from the South Bronx, to Harlem, to Bed Sty. I NEVER experienced any trouble either. I had friends, black, white, brown, and red, from all over. We all went to our different neighborhoods, taking the subway from borough to borough, all hours of the day and night. Sometimes together. Sometimes I was all alone. I not only never carried a weapon. It would never have occurred to me to do so.

So tell me WHY if me and my white daughter could go into these minority neighborhoods without being threatened, black people cannot go into white neighborhoods without being threatened? Something is very, very wrong here. It has to work BOTH WAYS.

I know a lot of people here on DU don't agree with me on the gun issues, but tell me WHO has the problem here? It seems to be MY RACE that is more at fault from what I, and my daughter, have experienced living our lives in NYC.

Let me this say this as an educator, and my daughter would certainly agree, CHILDREN are our most precious resource. They are INNOCENTS. ALL of them; black, white, brown, yellow, and red. I don't care WHAT their race is. They are beautiful.