“Blacks and Whites Don’t Interact”: Dennis Rodman’s Surrogate Mother, Who Called Him a N****r, Was Embarrassed of Being Seen with Him in Public
William Burgess 
Everyone deserves to be happy, everyone deserves affection. But, unfortunately, there are people who struggle to find it. As a child, Dennis Rodman was the same. His mother Shirley Rodman withheld her affection from her son. Rodman confessed that he had never been even hugged as a child.
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But by a stroke of destiny, when Rodman joined college, he finally had the opportunity to love and be happy. His chance meeting with a 12-year-old named Byrne Rich ultimately led him to his surrogate family. Byrne’s parents understood and valued the bond their son had forged with Dennis Rodman.
However, as per Pat Rich, Byrne’s mother, things weren’t as easy for Rodman or her.
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Pat Rich hid her face when with Dennis Rodman in public
Pat Rich, before becoming a surrogate mother to Dennis Rodman, was unsure of her son’s friends. Even then, seeing Byrne finally come out of the trauma of shooting his best friend, took the 6ft 8″ athlete into her house. However, things progressed slowly for both.
Durant was a typical small town where the two communities rarely interacted. The Rich Family set a precedent by taking in an African American athlete. But for Pat, it was still difficult to be seen with Rodman.
Johnette Howard in her article for the Chicago Tribune wrote:
“Though James Rich had known and worked with blacks before, Mrs. Rich admittedly worried about everything when Rodman first began coming around. ”Blacks and whites just do not interact here,” she says. ”And I live in a small, gossip-filled town. The turning point, for Pat Rich, didn`t come until she hid her face with a newspaper during a car ride with Rodman one day. Rodman, sensing what was happening, waited until he got to the edge of town to say: ”You can put the newspaper down now, Mrs. Rich. We`re out of town.”
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Pat Rich effectively ended her bond with Dennis
Mrs. Rich, after her initial shock and embarrassment, finally opened her heart to Dennis. For years, she treated him as her son. The Press began to deem the Richs a surrogate family to Dennis Rodman.
However, it all ended after a verbal spat between Dennis and Pat. Byrne’s mother called Rodman a ‘n****r’ in an argument. The relation between Dennis and the Rich family was never the same again.
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