Black History Month

Yesterday was the last day of Black History Month. It is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of our black brothers and sisters. 
Do you know why we have a Black History Month? 
It is because one group of humanity deemed itself above all others and made those other groups fell less than human. 
I grew up in a town on Long Island, NY in the 60's.  There was only one Black family, which was unusual for L.I. My friends will certainly remember Ray Ford. He was the lead singer of a band I played in for a called Flower Power. Ray was good looking and very personable. He always got the girls and he was a good guy. We used to kid Ray that he really wasn't Black. I didn't realize at that time that he and his family may have been just trying to fit into the pressure of an all white town. 

My father owned a construction company and hired black guys. That was my only real interaction with them. My father taught me without words, that all humans are equal. There was one guy named Lemmie who drove the big truck. In the summer I would go along with him and do cleanups. He always bought me lunch and when my father would try to repay him, he would say it was his pleasure. And he meant it. Knowing my father, he threw some extra money in his paycheck.
As I got older and realized that prejudice was a serious thing, I always felt like I wanted to go up to Black people and apologize for the sins of my honky white race. I never did that because I realized how stupid that might appear to someone. 
The best I could do was as my father did. Show my children that all men are equal.