“Too many people are having conversations with the intention of changing someone’s mind instead of understanding their heart.” That was very profound. 💖

So wonderful that she called him her FIRST black friend instead of her only black friend. Her word choice shows that she has changed to her core.

Racism is taught

I experienced this a lot in the Air Force. I served with many white guys from small racist communities that struggled after getting to know black people like myself they really liked, respected and could count on if they ever needed help. I could see it hurt them that they had been taught such hurtful bigotry growing up.

A special young lady for wanting the cycle of hate to stop with her. He is a special gentleman also.

Loved that ending …him: “and some people are gonna hate it” Her: “bless their little heart.”😂❤️

Most beautiful story I've ever heard. I'm a white 53 year old, while my best friend of eight years is a black 67 year old black man. We met walking into a grocery store... God is GREAT all the time.

"The cycle breaks with me" Atta girl!❤

“I’ve never connected like this with a black person” I respect her honesty

"Bless their little hearts." As a Southern, I had to chuckle at that line. Great story. The news needs to run more stories like this. Instead of all the chaos that is thrown at us.

It's so humble to see people feel the moment and believe in each other

"Too many people try to change people's mind rather than trying to understand their heart" - Wow, this man is so deep, so wonderful.

The cycle stops with her ❤❤

I'm glad Bethany had this eye-opening experience. She can now teach her kid to be better and not pass on the prejudices that she had been taught when she herself was a kid.

Hey Mister, You are not in jail now. You are an important member of society. You made it sir!!❤❤

Dude seems sooo wise & disciplined with a perfect love.

Joe has a sparkle ❇️ in his eyes that will make anybody like him. What a beautiful friendship.❤❤

I'm a 69 year old American man living in Des Moines, Iowa. This is a truly splendid story and friendship! I'm white. On my birthday a few weeks ago my Black Friend of 30 years surprised me with strawberries, chocolate, and a gift card. It had been a while, too long. But, we caught up on things. How do you heal racism in America? White People...reach out to a Black Person in Love and Friendship. Invite them to your home. Share life stories. Black People? Accept that invitation. One friendship at a time.

If we could only just talk, understand and get along with one another, the world would be a better place. Beautiful story😊

Hatred, intolerance, and bigotry are taught and therefore able to be unlearned. Bethany's son has a great chance thanks to his mom. Bless you all❤ keep teaching😇🥰

Omg I love this friendship!! Good on her for breaking the cycle. She now has a friend for life! ❤️

We need more stories like this, period.

I love this story. So inspiring for all of us to learn.

Wow. This reporter nailed it. Great story.

This is a deeply heartwarming, life-educational story. And the production focused on them both, their words. Best thing I've watch on KZfaq in weeks.

Loved her honesty. Great story.

This is a beautiful story! HOWEVER, I spent 17 years in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and NEVER met a racist person. I saw, literally, dozens and dozens of interracial relationships and not once did someone say anything about them. Is there, at times, a racial awkwardness some people have? I guarantee it. But it’s not rampant and it’s not taught by 99.999% of anyone I have ever met. If she learned that behavior, shame on those who expressed those emotions. Racism, on any side, is abhorrent and one person is one too many. I hope these two have a wonderful future ahead of them and I hope the little one is shown all of us can get along and learn.

Awesome story! And very well produced.

Growing up I was taught that "What you are is your parents fault, and if you stay that way it's your fault". I am glad they broke through all those barriers that people put in front of them.

What an open discussion between two such open people! We need more people like this in the world, Inshallah

I know she found it hard but she was articulate in explaining a change within and I’m here for that.

“The cycle breaks with me.” 😊

I do not hate your story but think it is great that you both took time to listen and learn. slow to anger quick to for give...

I've been going through a lot of stuff lately... I needed to see this. 😌😌

She is a genuine sweetheart!

Love this story she said it well the cycle ends with me. We're all people trying to get by let's embrace each other and learn from each other bigotry doesn't help but spread more hate . Glad you guys are friends and teaching one another. Great story

My ex mil was racist. I'm from NY,she KY. I asked her 1 day, who would you rather be with, a white man who beat you or a black man who treated you like a queen? She said she didn't know. I knew her answer. I knew a white man there too. He used to be racist, I asked what changed your mind? While he served in Vietnam, he seen alot of death. He noticed a fellow soldier who was black, he was bleeding,he was bleeding red ,just like everyone else. That changed his mind and life. Respect comes in all shapes, size,race,color,sex,religion etc. What or how you use or demonstrate it,is up to you. Respect is earned,you can't give it away and expect people to return it the same way. Love shouldn't be color blind, neither should respect. Me personally would rather have a bf or be married to a man of color who loves me for me,respects me,is kind,caring,faithful, honest everything a man should be. Than a white man who beats,abuses,no respect,isn't kind,not loving etc.

Compassion exemplified. Goosebumps at the enlightenment. So proud of this young woman for opening her heart and realizing that friends are so multi. I want to hug them both and myself for the good realization. Love you guys. I am with you.

These two people have an attraction. Very obviously like each other.

Sometimes we all need to take a step back and listen to each other, so many barriers can be broken down. Lovely story.❤

Somethings are just ment to be when you meet certain people call it faith or what you want, but people are put in our paths for a reason. Great story and goes to show people can change for the better.

Joe’s doing a great service for the community and himself. Beautiful to see someone flip a bad start on its head like that.

This is an awesome story. I wish there were more of both Bethany & Joes in the world. Joe’s decision to be curious instead of judge was a wonderful choice for both of them. 🫶 Keep spreading love & kindness!

What a beautiful story!

It's not about the race of a person. It's about the person inside

People who don't "look alike" can find common ground, friendship and even love when they're open to it. Open minds can lead to open hearts.

He chose peace instead of anger and he changed her heart and mind and broke the cycle ❤

I enjoyed listening to their story. I am glad I was here, makes you feel good about humanity.

Come on now!!! Great stuff! God bless!

I love how cute and innocent she is, like shes not trying to be racist, she wanted to get away from there and start believing in the good in ppl and actually change her thinking, glad they met

Your story was inspirational to me. I was at a dilemma in deciding to let a mechanic that proudly display a Confederate flag emblem on his vehicle work on my car. That flag represents two different things to him and myself. However he is a good mechanic and I really don't know him personally. After seeing these two interacting with each other and the mindset the black guy had about not being judgemental and be more inquisitive and her mindset changing after coming out of her bubble made me realize that my approach and how I interact with this older white male might have hope if I go in humble because my feelings and emotions are leading to easily judge this man's beliefs and character and I don't want to make him out to be something he may not be.

These are stories that warm your heart ❤️

Praise God! God created us all and didn’t make us different to divide us but to unite in love for Him, each other and praising Him for creating such amazing creations! Hallelujah!

We are all God's children. It is Satan's plan to make us prejudice keeping us distracted from God's plan of salvation. ❤

These two are really turning themselves around! She needs to change that kid's name. It's putting a lot on him that he did not ask for.

Now imagine if she had this conversation with someone else besides him. They may have freaked out at her, and gotten angry at her when she didn’t know any better. People in small towns in the south often never leave and this is what they’re taught so they stick to it. We don’t need people just labelljng racists and getting angry. We need guys like this man who seek understanding and through their words and actions prove that race doesn’t tell you anything about the content of a persons character or their merits.

This is a great story

God is AMAZING! What a BEAUTIFUL STORY.❤🙏🏽

Great story. Aryan also spelled Ariyan, Arian, Aryann or Aaryan is a given name and surname that is popular in India and Iran. The name Aryan is derived from the Sanskrit (ārya) meaning "noble, superior, or high-born".

What a cool story, and two very accepting people. Alot could learn....alot from them both.

Great story. I sincerely hopes she changes her son's name while he is young enough not to remember it was Aryan.

I think what we usually find out out about people who look different from ourselves is that when we get to know them as human beings, we're really a lot more alike than we are different.

Well, no, they didn't really "meet in the middle," as the piece says. Joe didn't become a little bit racist so he could meet her half-way; Bethany abandoned her racism. That's a small but important distinction.

she said "the cycle stops with me" - each person making a real choice.

Just tears of joy and blessing ❤

So many ppl don’t have the courage to question anything outside of their ‘bubble’. Thinking and existing outside of the bubble is profound. How many things can be worked out and understood if we all ventured outside of our bubbles? Talking and listening with an open mind and heart changes everything.

"Its generational but the cycle breaks with me" My heart broke.

The problem is, not everybody wants to understand.

Beautiful story with a great message.

I love their hearts 💖 blessings to you both!!!

I am sobbing. If I could possibly get past my initial reaction, like he says, "...how I normally would've responded...," I would love that. But my pure disgust and rage when confronted with the YTs like that is like a fiery scream tearing through my veins. I wish I was more peaceful and patient at times. This is how I would love to initiate change. Maybe this man's actions might change more than just the one young woman and her son's path. Might teach me to be more compassionate and have more of an open heart, and probably a few others. 🤷🏾‍♀️🤞🏾

This is wonderful…but I can’t help but hope she legally changed her son’s name…for his sake.

This was best story of the day. So inspiring

What a lovely lady and person.

Love caring compassion is color blind

We're all related, all ONE race. All humans trying to survive. I don't understand how or why "racism" even exists. I just never could wrap my mind around it. I'm glad to see people embracing one another and sharing common ground. Where the world is headed in the very near future, We're all going to need to put our differences aside....

I hope she changes her son's name.

These to people are meant to be friends. It's great to see barriers broken and just see two people being people and showing love. By actions

thanks for sharing this story, we need more like this. We can come together if we learn about one another.

My story is about Don and I. I bought discount tickets from him. He was such a fair guy and seemed super nice. We would always meet out in public so i felt safe and eventually we started meeting in restaurants over a meal like these two. He was such a lovely guy and he told me he was going through a divorce, i asked him to pray for the Lords intervention and he said pls don't be offended but i am not a religious person nor do i believe in God. I was shocked, Don is such a good guy how on earth isn't he an usher at church or a born again Christian? (Close minded thinking) I listened to his belief and i think it made me a non judgmental person. The more we listen, the more we learn. Even thou he doesn't practice a religion, he practiced putting out what you wish to receive hence being a good person. He lives better than most people i know. I walked away with new knowledge. Don and i shared the exact same values just through different belief systems. Two different people in so many ways yet same in we want to be good people and put out what we hope to get back.

It's sad that forming a friendship with either a "black" or "white" person has to be a story instead of the norm. The sooner we all think of each other as people the better. I'm fortunate to have been raised by parents who were born in the 1920s that didn't have a racist bone in their body!

Such a shame that she had to move out of that bubble to realize she had been lied to.

Love ... it is the most POWERFUL thing. 🙏🏾💜🙏🏾

I talk to everyone…I don’t judge because people judge u all the time. It doesn’t matter the skin color…what does matter is how u treat people…kindness goes along way. It takes one person to b kind…it takes more then one person to make a difference in this world…try it once…u would b surprised by the outcome

This is sunch a awesome story when friends learn how to understand and really get to know the person and not judge their thoughts is truly how friends become friends in my world and today's world I don't see any difference in color of a friend whether their black or white does not devine who they are as a person you look past that if it is truly a genuine friendship in everyday life is full of all kinds of colors but the colors don't judge they all blend together into a beautiful friend ship that grows with the challenges of life weather good or bad if the friendship is true it will always grow that is what having a friend is always about

This was awesome. Also, this was shot really well!

Im black n from ky. Joined the navy in 95. Met a white girl from Iowa who never had a black friend. So we became the best of friends. Her dad didn't like it at first. But after getting to know me we became family. After 28 yrs me n rhonda are still friends. Her mom made me cookies last yr n sent them to me. So sweet. Go navy

So very real. .. We really do need to open up. I do home health care work, and for seven years, I was blessed to care for a lady who was a different race than mine. I learned so much from our time together, and I cherish that experience. ❤️

Beautiful story.. on a side note, I couldn't help but notice that Bethany had swollen wrists, hands, feet and ankles and I really hope she has gotten that addressed

Very wise and kind man, thankful a chance meeting blossomed into a beautiful testimony that positive change can happen if people only listen more

Fantastic! 👍Great story! Thank you for sharing...

This nation still hurts from slavery, to it's aftermath... to reconstruction, to Jim Crow South, to the Civil Rights era, clear to now. The injustices, the systematic racism, police brutality, police murdering of blk citizens unwarranted, etc. The wound is too deep, it's deeply embedded into the psyche, the mistrust of police, the judicial system, the govt, and of white people. I grew up during segregation, colored only facilities, no colored allowed, boycotting, marching, seeing my PawPaw being called boy by someone barely out of boyhood themselves, riding at the back of the bus, having to give up our seats to white people. I never actually saw a lynching, but in my childhood and again in the deep south, this was a weekly occurence it'd seem. It was always in the papers, on TV, talked about amongst the elders, in church service, and a constant topic at the barbershop. The 50s was a scary time and place for me, to me white man was the boogeyman and I was afraid of them as a child, I felt defenseless. We didn't have the diagnosis back then of PTSD, but can you imagine that the majority of Blacks suffer from PTSD, just from the ramifications of slavery, but we're told keep quiet, we've never been slaves... mentally, psychologically, and emotionally we are every bit of the slaves from the actual slavery era, minus the plantation, cotton, rice, sugar and the whip. I was 11 when LBJ signed the CRA of 1964, and to this day, year 2023,... I still have that bad taste in my mouth, from not only what I witnessed but what I endured, the elements, the environment I was subjected too. For the life of me, I could never, and still never can understand the evilness, sadisticness, and coldness in a man's heart to another man simply because of the color of his skin. To have lynch picnics, men, women children eating lunch laughing, celebrating as a blk man is being stripped, beaten, castrated, burned alive and hung. As the revelers cut off pieces of his body for souvenirs, as he's being photographed to be printed as post cards, as keepsakes. White people will never understand this, but I imagine the Native American, and Jewish people do... and there are so many of us still living today, born in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s that still carry these wounds, scars, trauma.. walking history books, walking encyclopedias, time capsules, mental time machines, living documentaries, relics from a time long ago, but not so long ago. Google race riots in America, and you'll be shocked at how many there were between 1900-1930. Racism is embedded in this country's flag, on it's soil, on it's trees the blood soaked deep down to the earth's core... I didn't intend on writing this, my intention was to comment on the video... but as I thought my content, the memories spewed forth like the Hoover Dam bursting or collapsing. I don't apologize tho, this is why we as blks in America are so messed up. This is why we must discuss this part of our history here in America. This is American history. We discuss the Jewish Holocaust, and dare not speak negative on it or we're ostracized... we better not say anything negative about 9/11, Pearl Harbor, or in the south, the Civil War,... the American Flag, or the Star Spangled Banner. BUT I do believe that what was learned, and taught can be unlearned and untaught. This video, is indicative of that, two very unlikely people, finding common ground, and becoming friends. It was heart warming to watch, and I wish the young lady continued sobriety, and for her yungun' to benefit from their friendship, and to grow up and not see color. As well as the rest of this country, BUT when do we address the true elephant in the room...🤔 When does America pay her debt to the blk race...🤔 I'm not speaking reparations, but a debt is owed, just like Germany to the Holocaust survivor's and their descendants... This country literally was built off our backs, blood, sweat, tears, lives... the elite got rich off of our ancestors for 300yrs, and we've suffered as a people in this land for over 400... 158yrs since emancipation, and still fighting for inclusion... to be accepted as equals in some parts, I simply ask when...🤔 when does the healing truly begin to take place...🤔

How can someone teach a child to not like someone because of the color of their skin? Bravo to the young lady for opening her heart and bravo to the gentleman for turning his life around! This is just BEAUTIFUL!

This is one of the most asinine videos I have seen in a while. These people are acting like it's 1955

Too awesome!! Inspiring. Hopeful.

Great Story. 👍

Love this story.

Deep. Rich. Informative. Touching. A return to seeing each other through child like eyes.

changing ingnorant minds starts with you and me this is so needed in our society

She can look into legally changing her son's name if she wants.