>>>>This thread has certainly made some twists and turns... :o)
>>>>
>>>>When I was young I asked my great grandmother if she was Chippewa or Ojibwa or Ojibway. Her response was "We are known by that name. You are all those and you are also the...(insert about 20 words) " :o) She then began to tell us the stories (Anishinaabe, Wenabozho, Wendigo, etc) which are all quite interesting. I took a LOT of teasing in school in Wisconsin for having Indian blood. Back then it was a different world. My grandmother on my dad's side was mean to me as a child (she was mean anyway) because I had Indian blood. She and her husband were Norwegian and very prejudiced. You were around then and since you are from Main, I am sure you saw/heard it as well. Other kids who are not teased though tend to tune it out.
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>>>I got teased a lot too, mainly for being smart, handsome and athletic. Wait, no that wasn't me....:{
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>>When I was 12 we moved to Colorado and I never got teased again. Of course, no one knew our ancestry there and no one cared either. It was 1972 and the vegetarian, health food nuts, new age religion, Boulder party scene was going on. Wisconsinites had a lot of old prejudices back then.
>
>I am part Blackfoot indian, but you wouldn't know it. There are other prejudices besides race and I "suffered" from some of that. We weren't lower, lower class, but we were probably upper-lower class. I've been discriminated against because I wasn't a rich kid, and then there's being ostracized for being a cop. I was never invited to the parties during the early devcons because I was a cop.It didn't really bother me though. I broke the ice with my acoustic guitar. I've never been one to get hung up on someone not liking me because of some prejudice. I have tried to take people as they come, regardless of what color they are. I will admit to avoiding fat people though!

That's really disappointing that some people ostracized you because you were/are a cop. I don't understand why anyone would, other than criminals. It's a tough, dangerous job and I have great respect for them. Not the crooked ones, of course, but I think they are the proverbial few bad apples, even in Chicago. (Drew Peterson hasn't exactly been a walking recruiting poster).