Andy & Opie go fishing. "The Andy Griffith Show" is something we love to claim in NC. Some other things, not so much. But times have changed in Greensboro.

For those who are unfamiliar with Greensboro, particularly those from far flung parts of the country, it might be easy to think we are a city that resembles something between what one would see on the Andy Griffith Show and a Tennessee Williams play. And while we have our share of goofie characters, front porches and long, hot summers, we aren’t a city of homogeneous citizens.

In addition to our diverse general population, there is the fact that City Council just hired a new city manager, Rashad Young.

There are a few points to be made about Mr. Young’s hiring.

One is that he’s black. Another is that he joins our mayor, Yvonne Johnson, who is Greensboro’s 1st black mayor. And Mo Greene, superintendent of Guilford County Schools and Tim Bellamy, Greensboro Chief of Police, both black.

But the biggest point may be that the race of these elected and appointed professionals isn’t considered big news around here. (Well, it might be to a few. Like I said, we have characters, and we have folks with little character. Which means we’re like every other city in the world.)

But in general, we’ve continued to go about our respective lives, whether enjoying a cold local brew at Natty Greene’s, attending a silent protest against a regional conference of neo-Nazi’s held here (who knew they held conventions?) or just heading down to the ol’ fishing hole.

And, by the way, it’s still not a good idea to put a cat on a hot, tin roof. Then you get anything but a ‘silent’ protest.

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And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

Tags: DigTriad, Greensboro City Council, Greensboro Police Department, Guilford County Schools, Mo Green, Natty Greene's, Rashad Young, Tim Bellamy, Yvonne Johnson