[Anja]

For the first eighteen years of my life I lived in a town so thick with descendents of Norwegian immigrants that to be Swedish was to be "different". That's a favorite down-home expression to evade telling the truth.

I never met a Black person until I was twenty-one and living on the West Coast. And I was frightened. I was certain they wouldn't like me because of my skin color. Imagine my surprise when they didn't seem to notice!

It was while my husband served in the military and a military base was an excellent introduction to different races and cultures because, from my observation, the only discrimination I ever noticed there was one of rank. As a Private's wife I had my share of that.

Since then I have met and found friendships in people of many different cultures and races.

But I know well that my deepest comfort is with Northern Europeans. There is nearly an automatic recognition of facial features and mannerisms which feels like home to me. Guess one could say that, in the multi-culti sense I was raised at a disadvantage. And probably as a minority! Heh.

I've spent decades paying attention to the ingrown prejudices I haul around with me. And I wince when I discover that They still lodge there, sometimes unbeknownst to me until something happens, and - ick - there It still is!

I was saddened this winter when I lived with a mixed group of people for several months and saw so many of my old stereotypes being played out daily that I returned home with considerable repair work to do on my sense of acceptance.

I am searching for a sense of direction with this puzzlement on my part and doing some reading of various cultural news publications to gain more information of what others are thinking with intelligence.