My recollection: Where I'm standing in this photo is the location I experienced the worst ugly face-to-face racism in my personal life. In this picture I'm standing in our front yard (or near it.) Back in 1966... Down the street 3 or 4 houses, same side, lived two kids who played with me all the time. We played "Cowboys and Indians," "Army Man," and things like that. Recently--a black kid had moved onto the street and he and I were throwing a baseball back and forth. He could throw a fast ball. I felt it. My two (white) brother friends came up we made it a foursome. We had been playing for maybe twenty minutes when this fuming adult comes marching up using the "N" word and I quickly picked up these were his sons and he was pissed we were all playing together. That was the end of me playing with them--or my black friend. Sad. My on-base friends were close but unreachable. School friends you saw at school. These three were it in the neighborhood. I survived obviously. When I lived in Bermuda the only kids available to play with were black. My parents never gave any sign they were that way. And the way those two sons acted--this was new to them too. I hope they fought the urge to do what Dad said--hate people due to pigment.
On another note: Our house was close to the entrance of the residential area. The residential area also happened to be right outside the main Mather Air Force Base gate. Handy for my mother but not for youthful pedestrians such as myself.
Submitted by Richard Hungerford at 8:34 PM on October 7, 2025.