Old White Guy and Young Black Man: A Tale of Two Meetings

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pkruse
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Young
AI Thread Summary
A resident of a gated community in Florida shares an experience of a late-night walk where he engaged in a meaningful conversation with a young black man. The discussion spanned various topics, including rap music, which the older man had never considered before. The young man revealed his background, having grown up in a family involved in drug dealing but ultimately choosing to quit and pursue a medical career. They also touched on the Trayvon Martin case, acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the events. The encounter highlighted their mutual lack of fear towards each other, contrasting with the tragic outcome of the Trayvon Martin case, and emphasized the importance of open dialogue in challenging stereotypes and fostering social change. The conversation reflects a positive interaction that underscores the potential for understanding across different backgrounds.
Pkruse
Messages
465
Reaction score
2
I'm an old white guy who lives in a gated community in Florida. I couldn't sleep the other night, so I went out for a walk. I'm always armed, but rarely with a gun because I'm well trained on how to do great harm with what I have.

I saw a young black man of about 20. So I went up to talk with him. We spent several hours talking about lots of stuff, some of it very serious. He introduced me to rap music, which I have never thought about listening to before. I rather like it, and we talked at length about the deeper meanings behind the lyrics.

I learned that he grew up in a family of drug dealers. He dealt for a while and made a lot of money at it. But it bothered him that it was ruining the lives of his customers, so he quit and went back to school. He is now a medical student.

We taked about Trayvon Martin. We agreed that we have no idea what happened. He volunteered that Trayvon may very well have attacked Zimmerman, but that the opposite might also be true.

I marvelled that my meeting of this fine young man was so similar to that meeting, but the outcome was so different. I will talk to anyone anywhere if they will talk to me. That habit has resulted in many new and interesting friends.

Too bad it did not work out that way that night in Sanford. The difference was that neither of us was afraid of the other, yet we both assumed the other to be armed.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Nice story, Pkruse. People like you and that young man are the vanguard of social change - willing to challenge their own preconceptions and stereotypes.
 
Very nice, however, we just closed a couple of threads on this case and don't want to restart the argument.
 
Similar to the 2024 thread, here I start the 2025 thread. As always it is getting increasingly difficult to predict, so I will make a list based on other article predictions. You can also leave your prediction here. Here are the predictions of 2024 that did not make it: Peter Shor, David Deutsch and all the rest of the quantum computing community (various sources) Pablo Jarrillo Herrero, Allan McDonald and Rafi Bistritzer for magic angle in twisted graphene (various sources) Christoph...
Thread 'My experience as a hostage'
I believe it was the summer of 2001 that I made a trip to Peru for my work. I was a private contractor doing automation engineering and programming for various companies, including Frito Lay. Frito had purchased a snack food plant near Lima, Peru, and sent me down to oversee the upgrades to the systems and the startup. Peru was still suffering the ills of a recent civil war and I knew it was dicey, but the money was too good to pass up. It was a long trip to Lima; about 14 hours of airtime...

Similar threads

Back
Top