Keep in mind that this is an opinion column. For the next three or four articles, I will express myself on race relations during my lifetime.

I welcome any comments, criticisms or experiences that you, the reader, may have.

What prompted me to address this issue is that I believe race relations are worse now in America (and that includes St. John Parish) than any time during my 80 years.

Last week, I heard the following at a church service and I agree:

We as a nation should be less concerned with the preservation of a racist past than the creation of a just future.

I don’t think we should forget the past. That’s history, and we can learn from it and not repeat the injustices. Maybe it’s time to move on.

It seems that every political issue now is used to bring in the race card. Why?

Because many of our leaders, encouraged by the media, want it to remain a hot issue and this brings division in our country.

This past Sunday, a news article was about the right to fight. It spoke of the struggles black men and women had to overcome just to fight for America’s freedom.

When returning to their homes after the war, they realized that their sacrifices changed little about their treatment on the home front.

I am reminded of Mr. Isaac Cador, a black gentleman, (now deceased) with whom I attended church. He served in the Army during the Second World War.

One day at a Memorial Day service, he shared about what happened at the New Orleans airport on his return home. He said, “No cab driver would accept me as a passenger, because I was black.”

Things have changed.

Thank God!

If you have any questions, or comments, please write to Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA 70084, call 985-652-8477 or e-mail hkeller@comcast.net.