Reply #21: I understand what you're saying -

[mzteris]

it's very hard to overcome your upbringing - no matter how nonsensical and hateful - you know it to be.

I was born and raised in the "Deep South". I have worked VERY hard to overcome the mores with which I was raised. Sometimes - sometimes, even after all these years of hard work and smacking myself upside the head (at least since December of 1980 - more on that if anyone cares to know) - I still to this day may sometimes "react" in my head the way I was raised.

I hate myself for it. I beat myself up for it. Yet, it's there.

I was talking to my older son about the whole "people who hate Obama are 'racist'" thing - he was saying - maybe it's overused. I said, I was "raised a racist, believe me son, they're racists."

You wanna know the kicker - my younger son is adopted African American. I love him, he is MY SON! And I will SERIOUSLY HURT ANYONE who maltreats him due to the color of his skin.

I don't want the unwelcome thoughts that dog me on occasion - I abhor them, but they are a relic of the times - and place - during which I was raised. I can only pray that it ENDS with me. My older two 'homemade' children are most definitely NOT racists in any way, shape, or form. Neither is my youngest.

May my unwanted mental transgressions be 'forgiven' by the legacy I leave.