Introducing John Face, columnist about growing up integrated

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the first in a series of columns by John Face of Albion, a white guy who is a lifelong resident of a mixed race community. John, who is a ringleader of “City Watch News,” offers observations of an unusual town that lost its high school and major industries, but still has a college.

by John E. Face

When David T. Young reached out to me with an idea for a recurring column, I thought sure, why not?

The basic premise was let’s tackle racism in America but through the eyes of a white person, an old white guy from a small town in Michigan to be exact, by sharing his experiences. I bought into the idea trying to figure out how to deal with this and bring you along for the ride.

I have several thoughts, but the fact is you really need to know me before we go too far.

If you are expecting politically correct, please do me a favor and don’t read anything I write. You have been warned. I tend to not pull punches; I speak my mind honestly, too honestly if you ask family and friends. I am that guy you never ask for an opinion or advice when you are looking for someone to hold your hand, sing “Kumbaya” and tell you how wonderful you are.

I am not mean, but I will give you MY opinion when asked. That trait follows me as a writer as well.

I was born in 1960 and was raised in the Albion area for the majority of my life. Albion is located in south central Michigan on I-94. It is an ethnically diverse city of about 8,500 people, with whites making the majority around 55%, black or African Americans around 40% and other mixed in from Indian, Native Americans and Asian descent. On top of this is Albion College, a small liberal arts school that is ranked as one of the best in the country.

When I grew up the college was whiter than white. I mean really white. The students we met were nice, but most of them came from extremely wealthy families and had minimal exposure to people of color or lesser means. Albion’s Alumni is a who’s who in Michigan. We were townies, they were the snobs (we thought) and we kept our distance.

I grew up thinking that I was not racist. I attended integrated schools that treated us all the same, black or white. I rarely saw racism because Mom and Dad had friends of all races and social status.

I know what a racist looks like. I know when people are treated unfairly. I have black friends. Pssst, take note of the “Is” in this paragraph. Yeah, “I” didn’t know crap.

I have no intention of preaching to you about right or wrong. I will share my life stories, hoping you read with an open mind and just maybe we all can see there are issues. Maybe it’s time to address racism from the “white” side of the subject.

None of us can understand what a black person deals with, we can’t. But maybe by sharing and searching we will understand racism a little better by using white eyes.

Well I am going to call this one a wrap. I hope you look for my next installment. Oh, and thank you, David, for giving me this opportunity.