re: #353 Mike Lamb

I studied abroad in Sydney in the Fall of ‘96. Fortunately, I didn’t notice much racism, and the area where I was living, Coogee Beach, was pretty diverse (as was my group of friends).

I made a lot of great friends there in 2008 and I still keep in touch with many of them (also quite diverse as well).

But there were a couple of instances that stood out for me. I was on a train to Sydney CBD and there were these two white Aussie girls that struck up a conversation with me after they heard my accent. They asked me how are the *n-word in plural* over in America, and I was just caught aghast at how they could ever ask me a question. I was just speechless and I had no idea on how to react because even back then I could NEVER imagine anyone using the n-word in public in America. So to hear it on a fucking train ride directed towards me in a question, it was a shock that was too much to bear.

I wish I would have made a statement and went off on them, but the shock was too much for me at the time.