[Mr Ramsbotham]

When it got dark, the black kids absolutely refused to leave their tents—they were terrified.

I think that's because so many of them grow up in urban areas that they haven't been exposed to the things one finds in the woods or open country. Dump me in an inner city and I'd probably be just as terrified.

[hanamizu]

Dump me in an inner city and I’d probably be just as terrified.

---

Of course you are right. And to be honest, we staff exaggerated the terrors of the woods—bears, snakes, etc to cut down on ‘runs’. The Youth Center itself was in the woods and when a kid ran, we staff had to spend hours and days looking for him. But for the two days camping trip, the kids’ roles were reversed. The white country inmates got to lord it over the urban black inmates.