Growing up in the suburbs can extremely narrow a person’s worldview.

I grew up in Naperville, a ritzy, predominantly white town.

Most of my classmates were white throughout grade and high school, and they did not have much interaction with diverse groups.

These same classmates would repeatedly spout racist jokes concerning crime and intelligence and laugh uncontrollably.

I was confused at how ignorant they were for always drawing on negative stereotypes, feeling they lacked proper perspective.

However, my childhood experiences gave me that perspective.

My view of people expanded at a young age because my father exposed me to a diverse world.

He was born in Chicago and received his college education and career opportunities there. He wanted his children to know what the world was really like, and to accept people for who they were as a person.

Skin color did not mean anything to him.

So, my dad took my siblings and me to St. Mary’s of the Angels Catholic Church in Chicago on 1850 N. Hermitage Ave. for Sunday school and worship for seven years.

The church had a multicultural approach that matched Catholic teaching of a global community that lives in harmony.

St. Mary’s, founded in 1901, was originally a Polish parish for immigrants. Gradually through the years, the church evolved into serving all different communities, and has services in English, Polish and Spanish.

All the priests spoke Spanish fluently. Fr. John Debicki could speak five languages.

Fr. Charles Ferrer was Latino and the religious director of the parochial school and helped with Sunday school.

He was a model to not only the Latino students, but me as well. Fr. Charles’ cheerful demeanor and funny stories drew children to him.

I had classmates from various backgrounds in my religion classes. Some students were Black like my good friend Jason.

Many students were Latino with Spanish as their primary language. There were also Polish kids communicating in Polish and serving at the Polish service.

Filling a room with middle school boys was never a good idea, with us providing our teacher with headaches.

Often times, the lesson would turn from Jesus to Michael Jordan leading the Bulls to another championship.

The boys would quietly trade secrets about James Bond’s “GoldenEye” in big-head mode or unlocking Luigi in “Mario 64,” while our teacher would try discussing the First Commandment.

I talked to my classmates and never looked at them as different from me. All I wanted to do was be one of the guys because I felt we were the same.

Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Fortunato taught me in fifth and sixth grades. These Latino men impressed me so much with their faith and intelligence.

They both instilled in us a responsibility to God and to our neighbors, no matter who they were. They helped us improve our thinking and writing skills.

They were patient with our antics, and volunteered their time instructing us.

I remember my dad said long ago that everyone should be treated with respect and kindness, no matter their appearance.

Remembering this belief, I try to follow my dad’s teaching while keeping close to heart my childhood exposure to living in a diverse community.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].