This is an interesting and very worthwhile discussion.
An important point to emphasize is that, unfortunately, among some African American young people there is a pronounced but perhaps subtle fear of venturing to a college campus where there are few other American Americans. Unlike BoolaHI, whom I’m confident had a mother who pressed him to excel and expand his horizons, some kids are essentially frozen in their comfort zone, too timid to be adventurous in their social setting. Parents who support this attitude are hurting their Black children.
A friend from a rather segregated and once declining industrial northeast city, spent a year of his high school days as an “exchange student” with a white family in Green Bay WI in the mid-1970s. He told us that as a Black kid, the time spent with that family in Wisconsin was among the most rewarding days of his life. He went on to earn a law degree and had a great career back east, and often reflected upon the good times and life-long friendships that began in Green Bay, a very White region.