My girlfriend (who is black) had problems with that when she was younger (and still some today). She was in the academic decathlon in high school and was a good student. She was told she was "acting white" and was "kissing the white man's ass", etc. And being in an interracial relationship (me white, her black) can get kinda ugly. Sometimes my people who I know or my lifting partners who are black will say "wow, she's beautiful" and compliment her. Some students will ask me about things about my personal life and topic of relationships will come up and I'll show them a picture of me and her together. They'll usually do the South Park "NICE". There's a lot who are apathetic. But I've also got a lot of death stares when we're together. I've even had one older black man come up to my girlfriend and say "You need to ditch that white man".

I'm a substitute teacher who teaches at in inner city school district. I hate to say this, but this type of behavior is more widespread than a lot of people want to believe (It's usually learned from the parents). It's not uncommon for me and other teachers to receive this type of treatment from students. And I feel really sorry for those who want to succeed. They go through hell and get called "uncle tom", etc. Most of it is due to jealousy. I really look after these students and try to act as their mentor. I have aspergers syndrome and know what being bullied and isolated feels like. So we often form some kind of connection.

I often try to encourage students to see themselves as individuals rather than some cog in a wheel of some identity group. And having to overcome the challenges the accompany those with asperger's and receiving a sports scholarship, I try to really emphasize the value of overcoming adversity. The world is not fair, it never was fair, and it never will be fair. But it's no use to anyone to focus and complain about it. Iron has to go through the Bessemer process before it becomes strong steel. The saying by Friedrich Nietzsche "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger" has some truth to it.

Children growing up in inner cities need mentors and role models. You are only about as good as your company. And some of these children are being raised by VERY LOW company (which is pretty evident in this video).