24G, as embarrassed as I am to admit it I didn't meet my first black pilot until I was 16 in the restroom, of all places, of my church. He was a former Cobra gunship pilot in Vietnam. He was with Fed Ex and simply meeting him altered the course of my life. Before I met him I had no idea that blacks were even allowed to fly planes. After I met him my destiny was set.

Years back my mother tried to get a job with a major airline as a F/A and was flat out told they were not hiring Negroes. I mean just flat out told that. No, this wasn't an isolated incident. My dad was in the Navy, non-commisioned, and he experienced much of the same. These were NOT isolated incidents and it's kinda hard to argue that it WASN'T racism when the potential employer flat out tells you they don't hire Negroes. What really gets my goat is how many, many, OVER qualified minorities can apply for a position and they will not get the job. Then, the potential employer, when the EEOC decides to visit, hires a minority NOT qualified to do the job and then blames it on AA. If things had been equal all along and these more than qualified minorites had been given a fair shake like everyone else, we wouldn't be here discussing this dead-end thread. Like I said, we all have examples and we all have our own realities.

I do consider myself a Christian ... maybe not the best Christian, but a follower none the less. With that being said, I hope that I'm not appearing hypocrital because reverse racism does exist as well as racism. The beautiful thing about our country is that we are not victoms of genocide simply because of our religous beliefs or ethnic backgrounds. We can talk about these things without fear of the armed gunmen kicking in the front door. Anyway, everyone have a good day or night.

Joe