An older African American homeless man asked me today if I was concerned that people might consider me a "nigger lover."

He wondered if I was worried that it might hurt my business.

I told him that no one has ever called me that to my face. But I said it would be one of the greatest honors of my life if someone DID call me that. That puts me in the very special circle of the likes of John Brown and Atticus Finch from "To Kill a Mockingbird."

I did tell him, however, that I've been called a race traitor. And I'm quite proud of that title.