"When I was a child, our family lived in Sacramento, California. The schools I attended there were an equal mix of Asian, Hispanic, black, and white students, and all the kids got along just fine. I didn't know what racial lines were and had no idea what the terms 'integration' and 'segregation' even meant until we moved to the South. When I was 12 years old, my parents bought a grocery store in Memphis, and I still remember the shock I felt as we drove through West Memphis on our way here. I saw that the neighborhoods and businesses on one side of the street were black and the ones on other side were white. I had no idea that such divisions between people existed. When my parents tried to enroll me in school, they encountered another problem: the schools were not integrated at the time, and the board didn't know whether to put me in a black school or a white school since I was neither. I sat a home for a week until they decided I would go to Westwood High School, which was a white school at the time. My brother and I were the only two Asian students there. It could have been a difficult time, but we chose to ignore the stereotypes and jokes made at our expense.
"I look at Memphis now and it makes me sad that there is still so much racial tension when it doesn't have to be this way. I have a real passion for the outdoors, and I've spent much of my adult life using that passion as a tool to bring people together. I love to see people enjoying nature together and, through that experience, learning to appreciate each other's differences, each other's values and culture. Being in the outdoors helps all of us learn to take responsibility for the world, to respect it, and to preserve it for ourselves and for future generations. I believe strongly in diversity, in the idea that every person has something to offer, and I want to do my part to bring people together. That's what's important."
"I look at Memphis now and it makes me sad that there is still so much racial tension when it doesn't have to be this way. I have a real passion for the outdoors, and I've spent much of my adult life using that passion as a tool to bring people together. I love to see people enjoying nature together and, through that experience, learning to appreciate each other's differences, each other's values and culture. Being in the outdoors helps all of us learn to take responsibility for the world, to respect it, and to preserve it for ourselves and for future generations. I believe strongly in diversity, in the idea that every person has something to offer, and I want to do my part to bring people together. That's what's important."
Additional photos courtesy of Ron Wong:
Ron Wong attended Memphis State University (now U of M) on a music scholarship playing saxophone. He spent 4 years in the U.S. Navy, retired from FedEx after 34 years, and currently serves on the boards of several organizations, including the following
- March of Dimes, Memphis Division and Tennessee Chapter
- Commission on Missing and Exploited Children - Mid South
- Tennessee Outdoor Writers Association
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