Put it this way..I saw a black man, as tall and big as I am. He wore really dark blue trousers with the seams on the side, rolled IN. He wore a dark blue jumper with white stripes on a large rear collar and white stripes on each cuff.
On his arm he wore a depiction of a CROW and 3 red stripes bent in a downward “V”. His funny white hat, just like the one I once wore, ID’d that black man as a Petty Officer 1st class. I, knew at once that he was a Sailor of the United States Navy.
Half hour later I saw another black young man. Sagging dirty trousers, costly sneakers, raggedy T-shirt with an obscenity sewn on, hair longer than my daughter, and a stream of filth aimed at his girl friend. HIS “uniform” ID’d this young man as a THUG.
Like it or not, people are normally exactly how they present themselves to the world.
As Polonius says in “Hamlet” - “the clothes make the man.”
In the end its not about skin color but about character.
With the latter, people have it or they don’t.
PC 3 here, 50 years later, good post. Took a second read to figure out you meant “piping” on his sleeves etc;
I appreciate ALL that that uniform meant 50 years later than I did back then!