The fine article written by Max Golding in a recent issue of The Santa Barbara Independent about a City Council meeting on March 21, convened to address "tenant protection issues," reminded me of my own experience with prejudice when we came here from San Jose in 1959.
We looked several years for a house and were assured by many Realtors, especially after they heard the last traces of my Southern accent, that no blacks would ever live in whatever neighborhood we might choose.
My mother had urged me to leave Mobile as she was afraid I could be maimed or killed defending the black people whom I loved, as they had always been so good to me. She paid our cook's way to live in New York with her daughter so she would not be hurt if she went to Selma, and my mother knew I would try to protect her.