On my way to work today, I read an article in African American News & Issues
about a black Texas A&M student named Keyon Mitchell Jr. who was arrested during the semester he expected to graduate for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm, on the testimony of several lifelong criminals who had agreed to name him in exchange for reduced sentences.

I was angered when I read that article--and sadly, I was not surprised.

I have lived in Texas for 6 years--and from day one, I have been surprised at the atavistic and callous attitudes toward race exhibited by whites here. At TCU, for example, there is not one black administration official of note--and while most of the student population is white, most of the janitorial staff and kitchen service personnel are African American . . . which means that when white students at TCU (most of whom come from ridiculously wealthy families) see minorities, they more often than not associate dark skin with manual labor and low socioeconomic status.

This is institutional racism at its classic finest, and it is something I've lived with at TCU since I first enrolled and began attending classes here.

Speaking as a white person who grew up in a majority white agricultural community in a conservative state (Virginia, for those of you who haven't read my blog:)), I don't think this situation is either healthy or warranted, and something needs to change. Attitudes need to change, and people need to change, and if these changes do not happen soon, I think the state of Texas is in for some very serious problems ahead.

I remember the uproar that occurred recently in my home state when Martin Luther King Day was inaugurated.

That uproar is nothing compared to what will probably happen here.