“Sadly, she did and eventually my daughter quit the team and their friendship fizzled.”
Unfortunately I think that is usually the fate of such friendships; there are many forces at work every day driving people apart along ethnic lines, and they’re fairly effective. One of my sons has a black friend at school (there are only about 10 black kids there, mainly from Africa), and I don’t like the idea that if they have a fight my son is in a different position than the black kid in terms of the racist label, punishment and such. It really is a shame that it even enters our minds today.
On the other hand, the kids know one of my friends that I watch soccer with on the weekends is black (he’s British - an Arsenal fan); they’ve met him at functions and don’t think it is unusual to be around them in an environment where there aren’t many.
My co-worker is already being shunned because some of our black co-workers heard her listening to Rush.
It’s a shame really, because one on one, blacks and whites get along great as we see in our kid’s friendships and even our own. Don’t know why that doesn’t play out on the larger scale.