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ETHNICALLY SPEAKING
Dear Larry: I think the conclusion reached by the librarian who asked a group of teenagers to line up according to their skin color is naive. When they lined up from the lightest to darkest, the librarian failed to recognize that there are two …Read more.
ETHNICALLY SPEAKING
Dear Larry: I discovered your column this past summer. I quickly became a devoted fan when I noted your ability to look at life without glasses of any color. This is so desperately lacking in this country. I am sorry I did not click on to you sooner.…Read more.
ETHNICALLY SPEAKING
Dear Larry: What does a parent do? My 10-year-old son is a very active young child who comes from an interracial family.
He recently went on a field trip with his school. A parent witnessed a teacher being abusive toward my son in front of his peers.…Read more.
ETHNICALLY SPEAKING
Dear Larry: I am a young adult librarian, and every year, I take part in a program designed to teach teens leadership skills. One of the classes we stress is how to prevent discrimination.
The class is always a very ethnically diverse group, …Read more.
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Ethnically Speaking, January 10Dear Larry: I am African-American and live in a major city in the Midwest. My girlfriend and I like to end our dates with dinner. One of our favorites is a large semi-fast-food restaurant. This restaurant is owned by a large national chain and is very popular. One always can count on it to be full or almost full around the clock. We have eaten there at least five times and always have been seated in the same area. I've noticed that the customers in this area are always mostly black. In fact, I have noticed that it is very seldom blacks are seated in any other section. I asked my friends, both white and black, whether they have noticed that restaurants tend to put minorities in certain sections. I have received mixed answers. Some of my friends say this happens all the time, and others say they have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. What have been your observations? — Hungry Hunter Dear Hungry Hunter: There have been many times I have eaten in restaurants and been put in areas where the people were predominately black. I never have thought anything was wrong with the seating. As an aside, I always have been given a different seat if I found the one assigned not acceptable. Because I am not sensitive about restaurant seating, I am not a good person to give you accurate feedback. However, I am sure my readers gladly will give you their observations. Readers? Dear Larry: My boyfriend and I have been living together for five years. I have suggested to my boyfriend that it is time we get married. He tells me he loves our children and me. He says we will get married soon. Soon never comes. He has given me one excuse after another. He said that as soon as we got our own house, we could get married. We got a house three years ago, and then he said we could marry as soon as he got another job. Well, you guessed it; he got his dream job, and we still have not set a date. Larry, I am tired of begging and telling him about how it is good for our children. I don't know what I can do to make him do the right thing. Do you have any suggestions for how I can get him to follow through with his obligation? — Laura Dear Laura: I hate to respond to you like this, but statistics state that you have a major problem getting married. A Columbia University study found that only 26 percent of the women and 19 percent of the men surveyed married the person with whom they were cohabiting. A survey from Yale University indicated that people who live together before marriage have higher separation and divorce rates. The only suggestion I can make is to give your boyfriend a firm deadline. Tell him that if he doesn't meet the deadline, you will terminate the relationship. If there are better suggestions, I am all ears. Readers? To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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