Ch 36: Crossing the color line - Tom Cameron

This is a very important topic in today's society, but unfortunately, growing up in rural northeast Nebraska offered me little experience in the area of interracial communications and empathetical understanding of the various differences it presents. So in my experience growing up, there really wasn't a "color line" to cross because there was only one color. College has changed this somewhat, as I have met several people of different racial backgrounds than myself and formed some friendships, but none of them are really that close. With that said, I found the article very interesting. And it got me thinking about how friendships even form in the first place. What is it that we seek in a person that makes them more likely to be a friend? Usually people who share a common interest are on top of the list, as they are the easiest to relate to. Dace notices on page 346 that she had three categories for diffent types of friendships. One being a situation where talking about race was a taboo, one where it was completely open, and another where there was a feeling of guilt from her friends. I'm not sure what factors affect these different relationships. All I can say is that everybody sees the world a little bit differently, and that it is easier for some to empathize than others. The factors that affect this are numerous and difficult to quantify. Questions: 1) What are the barriers between white people and black people that make it difficult to empathize with one another? 2) What does the phrase "color line" mean to you? 3) How much do individual experiences and circumstances affect a person's ability to empathize?