In my senior year of high school, there was a sports day, and I entered the bike race. Bear in mind that this was the MS Delta, and Shaw's High school was about 95% Black. So I showed up - the only white kid competing - with a decent ten-speed bike, and all the Black kids showed up with one-speed bikes.

I came in last. Sure, I wanted to blame it on the fact that we were racing in grass, but part of me knew even then that even though we were far from rich, I was still the "well-to-do kid", whereas all the others were hardscrabble Black kids. They had wanted it more, and deserved it. It was a lesson in respect for those who have less than myself, and thankfully, I didn't forget it.