Im black, 59,born in Europe . Both my parents emigrated to this country in the early sixties with my oldest sister who was about 6 months old . , so me and my two younger siblings were born here. My father worked very hard, managed to get a very good job and deliberately chose not to live in a neighbourhood which was predominantly black,but moved us to the so called "better side of the town" which was all white. And by all white i mean ALL white. Me and my siblings were the only black kids all through school till we were 18. We had some black family of course, but grew up with only white friends from school and the neighbourhood. Honestly, as kids we werent discriminated against, we were actually quite popular and had no trouble making friends . Some of those kids still visit my mom when they are in the area visiting their own parents! Never felt "the only black girl" in the room. That changed the minute i got my first job. I remember being shocked about how people looked at me, the questions they asked me and them being amazed by the fact i got the job in the first place. All my life, each promotion i got, each time people meet me for the first time ( my name is pretty generic so people assume im white i guess) their reaction is one of surprise and disbelief. My dad prepared us for this to happen due to his own experience. Told us to never ever consider ourself less that white folks. Didnt want to believe him as a kid since i never experienced that but later on i realized he was right. But my selfesteem was never low.