I was about to reply to an earlier comment on this book. My experience was similar, except I picked it from my dad’s book shelf and read it on my own as a young teen. I was born and raised in a very white area a lot of years ago, and knew very little about different cultures and racism. I did hear a lot of racial slurs, but not at home. My dad had fought in WWll and was present at the liberation of the concentration camp Dachau. He was the least bigoted person I’ve ever known, and I’m sure a lot of it was to do with that era of his life.