I can't possibly be racist/homophobe/etc.

Because my best friend is Mexican/Black/gay/disabled etc.

That should prove something, right? Well, all it proves is that you have one Mexican/Black/gay/disabled friend. Nothing else.

There's been quite a bit of stir caused by an article I wrote for last week's paper, "Racism Alleged at Carmel High," which describes allegations by the NAACP that three black students left the school after they were racially taunted and intimidated. The reaction has been along the predictable lines: yes, there's racism (I've already received phone calls about it) and no, there can't possibly be (emails and letters to the editor proclaim that). The students left because they couldn't rise to the academic standards of the school (and I wonder if people are implying these kids are inferior). Some of the proof offered about Carmel High's acceptance of others is its friendliness to homosexuals and the disabled. How can you be friendly to gays but not to blacks?

How can you compare one with the other?

I'm not saying here that racism exists in Carmel High. I'm not saying it does not exist, either. Racism, unfortunately, is alive and well, and like Principal Rick Lopez said, the ugly elements of mainstream society often trickle down to his school. To ALL schools. I'm sure nothing happens at Carmel High that does not happen in every other school in the United States of America.

But being the target of racism is like having back problems. You don't know what it's like until you've suffered from it. You don't know what it's like to be told "How come you're not white and pretty like your sister?" until somebody actually says it to you. You don't know how it feels to be told "I hate all black people" (even if it's meant as a joke) unless you're actually a black person. So if you're Anglo/Caucasian etc., I have no doubt you have good intentions and a good heart to go with it, but I doubt you'd know what it feels like to ride in the "other" people's bus. It's just not the same, and having a Mexican/black/gay/disabled friend who rides it won't give you an accurate picture either.