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The police officer testified it was legal. How does wanting to get out of the rain during a Tornado warning justify being denied shelter in a storm equal to picking a fight? What right did the Metcalf brothers have in refusing him the tent? Did they own the tent? Was it their property?

I'll answer your question. I suspect you won't sympathize with what I went through.

When I was in middle school. My best friend at the time, who was white, invited me to race RC cars with some high school kids in our neighborhood. The day started as a fun and what should have been a happy childhood memory. Turned into one of the worst and most shameful days in my life. It was a group of middle and high schoolers, but I was the only black kid.

As the group broke up and the day came to a close. We left their backyard and went to the front of their house, thanking them for a fun time. Two black girls got off a school bus from an after-school program. The two white high schoolers catcalled and yelled at them to come over to the remaining group, now four or five boys max. The girls only said, "We're not messing with you fools," or something to that effect. They did not curse or use racial slurs and continued to walk to their house.

The two white high schoolers got angry and immediately called them the N-word and B-word as soon as the girls walked past us. One of the high schoolers turned and realized I was sitting on the curb with my friend and said, "You're not like those N-words" Till he called me the N-word. I didn't think oh I'm a black kid with a group of white kids. What hurt me more was that my friend smiled and said nothing. I knew in that second he wouldn't speak up for me. I quickly realized if I stood up for the girls or hell for myself, they might get angry at me. Thinking I was uppity or ungrateful for getting to play with their RC cars.

So like a coward, I said nothing and sat there afraid. Realized I didn't tell my mom or granddad where I was, and if I disappeared. I knew it would have broken my mother's heart. I made myself small and quickly left before they could take their anger out on me.
This ended my friendship with my best friend, as I couldn't look or talk to him knowing he saw my cowardice.

I defended him because I was him. A scared black kid, outnumbered and realizing I'd be lucky to just get my ass beat.