By Sahar Chmais

There is an instinctual phenomenon of “counting,” little known to those who are not Black.

“You know what I mean when I say counting,” Ray Bryant, Buda’s first Black city council member, asked. “Every black person knows what that means and that’s what we do. When we walk into a room we start counting and see how many other Black people are in there. It’s automatically in us.”

Most of the time, he counts up to two – himself ...