Once upon a time a little white boy stood on the corner of Michigan and Congress. This was quite a big deal since it was the boy’s first trip to the big city. Tall buildings, busy streets, fancy cars and, most of all, black people. Big, ugly, scary black people that this little boy had been told to stay away from because black people hurt white people.

Hell, I knew that. I watched TV. And I could see that most of the bad guys on TV were black, so it had to be true.

Was I scared? I can’t really remember, but I do know that this pup was wondering what the psycho-black dude with the toilet seat cover on his head was going to do.

While waiting for the light to change and imagining the worst, an old lady stepped into the street in front of me. Before anyone realized what was happening the guy with the toilet seat cover hat jumped into the street and grabbed the old lady.

Here it comes! I’m going to see a black guy steal an old lady’s purse. What excitement! Just like on TV!

But no. To this little white boy’s amazement the black guy grabbed the old lady and hoisted her back to the curb. Man, nothing stomps your buzz like missing out on a mugging and a certain death-by-taxi all in one day.

Now I was a little confused. Maybe blacks are just like whites—some good, some bad.

My experiences with blacks were pretty limited for the next 12 years or so since I stayed in farm country where there just aren’t a whole lot of black people. But then I came to Northern. What a difference! People of all different races, religions, colors and creeds.

But now statistics say that many blacks are passing up predominantly white public schools to attend historically black institutions.

Why? Because they can get a better education at these schools? Because they offer more comprehensive black studies programs? Because of the increasing racial tensions on many campuses? It could be any reason.

What would happen if all black students decide to go to black schools? How will they learn to interact better with others not of their race? Even more importantly, how will white people learn to interact with blacks?

Before this year I’ve never had an opportunity to speak with a black person about my opinions and feelings or to gain insight into how they feel about things.

But now I have a black roommate. Quite a change of pace from the white, suburbanite, accounting dweeb of the past two years. Everyday I learn a little something about myself and how I feel about people who aren’t white. Not just blacks, but everyone that has been stereotyped in the past. I’ve had an opportunity to realize that many of my feelings in the past were based on ingrained falsehoods from my childhood. This opportunity has helped me to learn a lot of things that they don’t tell you at home or in textbooks. Things that Martin Luther King speeches could never relate to a white person. Things that I hope all white people will some day get a chance to learn.

But what happens if more minority students choose to avoid predominantly white schools for whatever reason? How will people like me have an opportunity to open our minds and replace old ideas with new, more educated ones?

I realize that there are valid reasons for attending a historically black college, but I hope no one makes that choice because of racial tensions. Yes, there will always be a few simple-minded bigots to make life tougher for minority students, but there are many people who would surely benefit from a chance to interact with minority students everyday.

I don’t know if the black man who saved that old woman’s life was good or bad, but I do know that that experience and the ones with my roommate have changed many of my beliefs. I hope in the future everyone will have a chance to make up their own minds from personal experiences rather than from bigoted opinions of the past.