“We used to go to KFC all the time when I was a kid. My mom...

“We used to go to KFC all the time when I was a kid.  My mom would take us every Friday.  It was a bit of a tradition.  I remember one time my brother and I were being indecisive, so it took us few minutes to decide what to order.  I think I got the kids meal or something.  But there was a black lady behind the register, and she started giving us all this extra stuff.  She was filling large containers with mac and cheese, and potatoes, and mouthing: ‘Do you want this?  Do you want this?’  I was only ten years old, so of course I said yes.  We left with enough to feed an entire family.  The lady didn’t make us pay for any of it.  Afterwards she followed us out to the car, and said to my mom:  ‘As one black mother to another, I understand.’  I guess she saw us as a struggling black family.  But my parents had been married my entire life.  Both of them had good jobs.  We never had problems paying the bills.  So I remember feeling confused.  On the way home we talked about how it had been a blessing.  And I felt that way for a long time.  It wasn’t until I grew older that I developed a more complicated perspective.  That lady had a good heart.  And she certainly wasn’t being racist.  But it’s the first time I can remember being racially profiled.“