This morning, I shared a photo and status about a lady on a plane, who refused to sit next to a "black man" on a plane. This brought back some memories of my childhood. I was born in Chicago, during the time that people were very prejudice. Fortunately, my parents were not like that. Their best friends were an American Chinese couple that had two children. They, of course, were my best friends. Because their skin was darker than white and their hair was black, I remember the daughter being called "nigger". I had no idea what that meant, but I knew, even at 7 yrs. old, that it was not a nice word, and Roberta and I both went back to our parents in tears. I guess I cried because I knew she was hurt. That little girl grew up and became a college professor, here in the state of WA.
A couple of years later, we moved to Arizona. My mom and I had to make a trip back to Chicago, on the train, to sell our furniture. On the return trip to AZ., we happened to sit across the aisle from a "black" lady and her daughter, who just happened to be the same age as me. We each had dolls with us and got permission from our mothers to find a corner, out of the walk way, and play with our dolls, while they visited with each other. We had been enjoying ourselves for awhile, when suddenly our mothers came and told us that we would have to quit playing and go back to our seats. The conductor had "ordered" them not to sit together or let us play together. We both returned to our mothers in tears, unable to understand why two eight year old girls could not play together, just because our skin was a different color.
In Phoenix, the schools were segregated, but the first school I went to was predominately Hispanic. This seemed kind of strange to me. Their skin was not white, either, so what was the difference? They even spoke a different language. Figure that out.
Several years ago, I had the pleasure of riding an Amtrack to Seattle, from Wenatchee. The train was very crowded and the only seat in the downstairs level, was next to an African American lady, dressed like she had just come from Tanzania. She greeted me and introduced herself, as I sat down. We began to chat and I don't think I could have ever had a better traveling companion. It turned out that she was from Chicago, was a secretary at the university, had traveled all over the world, I think, and was taking a vacation to visit a friend in Seattle. When I first read the story about the lady on the plane, I thought.."What a shame. Who knows what interesting experiences that man might have had to share.
A couple of years later, we moved to Arizona. My mom and I had to make a trip back to Chicago, on the train, to sell our furniture. On the return trip to AZ., we happened to sit across the aisle from a "black" lady and her daughter, who just happened to be the same age as me. We each had dolls with us and got permission from our mothers to find a corner, out of the walk way, and play with our dolls, while they visited with each other. We had been enjoying ourselves for awhile, when suddenly our mothers came and told us that we would have to quit playing and go back to our seats. The conductor had "ordered" them not to sit together or let us play together. We both returned to our mothers in tears, unable to understand why two eight year old girls could not play together, just because our skin was a different color.
In Phoenix, the schools were segregated, but the first school I went to was predominately Hispanic. This seemed kind of strange to me. Their skin was not white, either, so what was the difference? They even spoke a different language. Figure that out.
Several years ago, I had the pleasure of riding an Amtrack to Seattle, from Wenatchee. The train was very crowded and the only seat in the downstairs level, was next to an African American lady, dressed like she had just come from Tanzania. She greeted me and introduced herself, as I sat down. We began to chat and I don't think I could have ever had a better traveling companion. It turned out that she was from Chicago, was a secretary at the university, had traveled all over the world, I think, and was taking a vacation to visit a friend in Seattle. When I first read the story about the lady on the plane, I thought.."What a shame. Who knows what interesting experiences that man might have had to share.
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