Black and White

From the beginning, we knew we came from different worlds, yet it was surprising how much the same we were in many ways. When I first met Bud, I knew we were going to be friends, even though he was white and I was black. He was confident, forward, and very friendly. He would just walk up and start a conversation about anything. He really was very much like me. People said we both had the same kind of personality.

We first met at the All-City Chorus. I thought I could sing a little, but Bud could really have a good voice. I really believe he could have broken a glass singing one of his high notes—just as you see on the TV ads. We stood side by side in the chorus, and he always made me look good, even if I missed a note. After practice, the two of us would always go to McDonald's for a hamburger and an ice-cream. We had a lot in common, but our stories were really about two different worlds.

Bud went to an all-white high school in a quiet, all-white neighborhood. There were very few big buildings or stores in his community. As a matter of fact, you would have to walk four or five blocks to get to the nearest shopping center. Bud always talked about how green and beautiful the neighborhood looked. He even lived close to a wide-open park where he first became interested in football. He started out as a fullback, and later became the best fullback on his high school football team. Bud's house was another point of interest. In his basement, he had a complete mini-gym. In his bedroom, he had a nice desk, complete with reference books and his own little TV on which he could play his video games.

My home and neighborhood were totally different. My family lived in a nice apartment in an all-black housing project. Our project housed many families, so we were used to living in small crowded quarters. Everyone in the project knew what everybody else was doing. It was like a city within a city. We never had to walk far to the nearest store. There were all kinds of stores nearby. For beauty, we had concrete buildings, basketball courts, and the rose garden in front of the project building. If I wanted to exercise, I would have to stay late at school. As captain of my high school football team, I really had to keep physically fit, and I never had the convenience of a mini-gym in my basement. My study was the kitchen table. After dinner, I would do my homework there and hope none of my five brothers and sisters would disturb me.

Comparing worlds was always interesting. We never were jealous or looked down on one another, either. We always accepted one another as equals. As a matter of fact, we both felt we had lost something because we lived in worlds set apart from others. Bud's only contact with blacks his age was in the All-City Chorus. Because of this, he felt his life was sheltered and not as interesting as it would have been if he had grown up with people of different groups and races living together. I felt the same way. Both races could learn a great deal from one another, and I knew this because Bud and I surely did learn from each other. It was only because society set us apart in different communities that we had never shared an experience like this before.

Bud and I became great friends. We even went to the same college, were roommates, and played on the same college football team. The fact that we came from different worlds did not mean a thing compared to the values we learned from each other and the friendship we gave to one another.