I'm
sixty-two years old and was raised in a family of bigots. I have a sister. So, it didn't take long before I first heard
the statement, "If she ever brings home a (fill in the pejorative - based, of
course, on color of skin and/or ethnicity), I'll kill him." Do you know how many times I've heard that
statement or statements very much like it in sixty-two years? Well, neither do I. I just know it's too many.
About
week ago, while standing in the cereal aisle at my local Safeway, there were
two manly men talking at each other and, wouldn't you know it, one was talking
to the other about his daughter. And,
again, wouldn't you know it, he said those infamous words, "If she brings home a
"n-word" - would it mean the same if I wrote, "if she brings home an "n-word" -
I'll kill him."
I'm
five feet two inches tall as well as being sixty-two years old. The shorter of these two guys had at least
eight inches in height on me. I think
that my age equaled the sum of theirs.
Consequently, for these very legitimate reasons, I kept the fire inside
inside.
Let
me say that, yes, I overheard them, but I'm quite certain that the people at
the deli overheard them as well. I wasn't
trying to listen to what they were saying, I was merely looking for a box of
Frosted Flakes.
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