There are racists in California, to be sure. In fact, my 78-year-old next door neighbor here in West Hollywood is a vile racist. She grew up in Soviet Russia, in a secular home with a Russian Orthodox heritage. During World War II, she was captured by Germans after her home was destroyed and her family killed and spent time in a Nazi concentration camp.She’s an equal opportunity hater — blacks, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, latinos — you name it, she hates ‘em.

California has never elected a black person to a state executive branch office, although the late Tom Bradley, the popular long-time mayor of Los Angeles ran for governor twice. (Blacks comprise only 10 percent of the population here, however that 10 percent equals 3 million people.)

There are racists everywhere in America. But I think the primary site of the cancer of bigotry, especially toward blacks, is in the heart of my dear old Dixie.

Btw, Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi was the only black senator from the South to serve a complete term in the 19th Century. The first black senator was Hiram Rhoades Revels, who was appointed to serve the remaining year of Mississippi Sen. Jefferson Davis’ term when Davis left Congress to become president of the Confederacy.