68 Years of Racial Perspective

On a plane to Atlanta this past Monday, I sat in between two sisters, both African-American.

One was 68 years old. The other was sleeping.

Anyway, the 68 year old and I started chatting (surprising, I know) and she told me about her childhood in rural Georgia.

She spent her entire childhood in segregated schools. Eventually, she wound up at SunTrust where she rose to the rank of Vice President.

Now, she's retired and volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.

I asked her about her perspective on the amount of racism in America.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being how it was when she grew up and 10 being perfect harmony "ebony and ivory," I asked where it stood in three regions of the country.

• Georgia


• Maryland (where she has a sister living)


• New York City

She gave Georgia a 5. She gave Maryland a 6.

Then, a shocker. She gave New York City a 4.

I was intrigued.

Then a bit taken aback.

Her explanation as to the reason?

"Africans," she said.

She answered that the large number of African immigrants to New York City and their intolerance and condescending attitude toward American-born blacks/African-Americans (what have you) was at the root of the overall racial intolerance of New York City.

That certainly caught me off guard.