Tamar;

A close friend of mine, who is also from California, was in the United States Navy, stationed at San Diego. The year was 1963 and he and two other sailors had just received orders to report to Washington D.C. for Embassy Duty, a great assignment for anyone in the military. The men had orders and found themselves in Washington one day ahead of schedule and needed a place to stay until the next morning. They went to a hotel and attempted to sign in. My friend and one other fellow were both from California and are white. The third sailor was black. The person at the desk would not allow the black sailor (in uniform) to sign in sighting the laws of segregation that were a part of our nations capital. The desk clerk said: “Negro’s are not allowed to stay at this hotel. You will have to go to a colored hotel”. The black sailor replied: “I am not a Negro, I am Nigerian”! He was from Africa and not aware of the laws of our nations capital and the two men from California were also not aware.

Some how the above story is at the same time funny and sad.

Tom