Linda Starry
Houston, TX
I have been a teacher since 1974. My first year teaching was the first year of forced busing in Houston. My first class was mostly Black and Mexican. There were two white kids, and one Creole child whose parents said he was French. The children thought I was Mexican, because I speak Spanish. When I told them I was not, they asked what I was. I told them I didn’t know what to say, because I hated that people were called Black and White. First of all, people are not black like tar or white like a piece of paper. But mostly, I hate it because it makes it sound like black people are the opposite of white people, which is silly and devisive. We have much more in common than we have that is different.
