'They Always Said I Would Marry a White Girl' Coming to Grips with Race in America

Growing up in a Philadelphia suburb in the 1960s, there were instances when I was quite reluctant to point out to my classmates, who were all White, that I was indeed African American. There was an impenetrable boundary between African Americans and Whites. To be something else other than White meant to attract unwanted and unneeded attention. Sometimes I felt I harbored a secret, a mark, or stain, one that my friends and I just didn't discuss. I do not remember intentionally trying to deny who I am, but I am sure there were instances when I just didn't speak up with a loud voice. The pressure to somehow join the majority was intense and painful.

Robert Moore III, is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Frostburg State University in Maryland. He is a past recipient of faculty achievement awards for teaching and service and was recently nominated for a State of Maryland Higher Education Regents' Teaching Award. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Sociological Society and former chair of the Committee for Race and Ethnic Minorities, Southern Sociological Society. Professor Moore has edited several books including: African Americans and Whites: Changing Relationships on College Campuses; The Quality and Quantity of Contact: African Americans and Whites on College Campuses; and The Hidden America: Social Problems in Rural America for the Twenty-first Century.