The military was my first real immersion into an integrated world. Three weeks after graduating from UGA, I was bunking beside William Bender in boot camp in steamy San Antonio. Bender and half of my squadron were black. Forty guys from the Deep South learned to put most prejudices aside and live and work together to survive two months of hell. I witnessed my four years in the Air Force were more prevalent today.
Segregation is still commonplace in our society.
Many churches, civic clubs and neighborhoods have little or no racial diversity. But if the doors are open and we choose to join and congregate along racial lines by choice, maybe it shouldn't matter. Lawmakers and judges have eliminated many injustices and provided greater opportunities. But four decades after state officials fought a federal judge to keep black students out of UGA, university officials now are battling the feds to preserve policies aimed at admitting more minorities. Laws change overnight but not attitudes.