[psadauskas]

Oh sure, Columbus is way more progressive than just about anywhere else in southern Indiana, save Bloomington (home of Indiana University). But still, my high school graduating class of 350 had one black kid and a couple Hispanics. There were more Japanese than any other minority, and that was because Cummins had hired their parents from the manufacturing powerhouses there.

Several of my friends had lived their entire lives in the area, the type of family where both of their grandparents lived within 30 minutes, and they had no will or desire to leave and explore the rest of the country. Most of them grew up in racist and homophobic families, so making remarks and jokes was commonplace. It didn't seem so at the time, but now having left I realize just how rampant it was, and I'm actually a little ashamed to have taken part in it.