It's not just that I have some black friends. Basically every single person I hang out with and party with on a regular basis is black. All of my white friends moved out of state during their college years and just never came back to Alaska. In one of the smaller towns up here where we all fish and party during the summer, one of my friends heard a waitress warning another waitress about me, saying, "Watch out. That big white guy comes to town with a different group of black dudes every weekend and they wreak havoc." It's actually the same group of guys, but I guess she couldn't tell. Anyway, I've been able to observe all sorts of racist crap occur to my friends. And, on more than one occasion, it's caused a melee that forced the bars to close down early. Apparently, even in the 21st century, rednecks in small towns think it's OK to drop the N-word on a whim.