For the first time since I started attended classes there I was actually afraid.<\/p>\n
Having been raised at the bottom of the economic ladder, I had few illusions about conditions for African Americans. What I didn\u2019t get at the time was that I had two things going for me, I was, how shall we say? \u201cWell spoken.\u201d I had a big vocabulary and used it well. (While my parents had no idea about formal education, both were fervent readers, and that inclination had caught me\u2026) And, and I was white.<\/p>\n
While it was hard, I would eventually climb that ladder. And when the time came, my ability to speak well and that white face gave me an edge.<\/p>\n
No doubt.<\/p>\n
Absolutely no doubt.<\/p>\n
And those who think otherwise are blowing smoke.<\/p>\n
And \u2013 I\u2019m pretty sure it was not just an edge, but a critical edge.<\/p>\n
At the time, at that moment forty years ago, after feeling fear, my next emotion was anger. Didn\u2019t they understand? I was with them. I came from pretty much they same place as they did. What was wrong with them? I was the same as they.<\/p>\n
Of course, that wasn\u2019t quite true\u2026<\/p>\n
And it took a long time to pick up what the differences were, what the edge was that I had, and why.<\/p>\n
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