I once walked from the Jimmy Carter Center to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Atlanta. Alone.

I was later told it was the absolutely most dangerous part of Atlanta I had casually strolled through. I didn't notice any danger. Didn't notice a lot of other white faces either, but having lived near black neighborhoods in Chicago, and delivered mail in black neighborhoods in Seattle, that never really bothered me. I was a stranger in *any* neighborhood I entered in Atlanta, and if it wasn't obvious from the color of my face, it would be as soon as I opened my mouth to speak.

Granted, it was during the day, and I'm 6'4" and weighed about 250# (at the time).

One person talked to me. He complimented my hat.

When we stop thinking about people who are different from us as "THOSE people" and start thinking of them as being people a whole hell of a lot like us, with families, dreams, wishes, jobs, prized heirlooms from great-grandmama, then we come to see that the "dangerous" people are really a very tiny fraction of the population, and most of us are trying to get along and do right and be good employees/parents/spouses/siblings/offspring to the best of our abilities.

I have met the enemy, and he isn't.

Alex