KIDS AND RACE

Rodney Gullatte Jr., 17, an African-American student in Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Ga., was still in middle school when he got his first lesson in racism. It was then that a group of white kids, whom he describes as part of a growing "skinhead" element in his school, began to harass him. "Hey, Rodney, how does it feel to be a nigger?" they would taunt. "How does it feel to know you'll always be a nigger? Is your mother a nigger too?" After a time Gullatte punched one of the white kids in the face. That earned Gullatte an in-school...