Prejudice is sneaky, jacqui. I had to eliminate the word "boys" from my vocabulary when I moved into a black community of friends and family. Not everyone who is black is offended by it, but some are, and I can understand why. Not that I ever referred to a black male as "boy." But in all my years of folk music playing with other musicians, I'd often say, "You ready boys?" I realized that what had been a completely innocent comment took on a totally different meaning when the other guys were black.

I suspect that we're all far more prejudiced about a lot of things than we can admit to ourselves. No one wants to believe that they are prejudiced. But if we are, we'll never change if we refuse to admit it first.

Jerry