(a liberal/Harvard grad/Christian etc.) or they're from y (Europe, California, anyplace but the South etc.) usually tend to be the worse ones.
I have so many stories (though none as harrowing as what your great grandparents went through) but I remember working at this place where a young white woman (who loved to pat herself on the back with how liberal she was and all of the liberal things she was doing) had to talk to me about some changes she wanted me to make to some work I'd done. Despite the fact that I'd been nothing but pleasant to this woman (when I paid her any attention at all) she went and got my supervisor to come with her as she talked to me and stood there LITERALLY TREMBLING with fear as she stumbled out her half assed, inarticulate "revisions." She was so fucking ridiculous I actually sat in my chair and just stared at her.
Luckily, there was another black female co-worker of mine who was already at my desk talking to me about something else but stuck around as she was part of the team. She was looking at this white woman as if she was about to spring another head obviously as dumbfounded by her behavior as I was. And of course the second I opened my mouth, this woman screams "okay, can we all just CALM DOWN?!" to which I responded "I didn't realize anyone here was upset" and the other black woman responded, "I didn't either." After a few minutes of this idiocy, my supervisor suggested that this woman get her ideas together a bit better and come back later when she was more organized. Which, of course she never did. I'm lucky my supervisor seemed to be as embarrassed and confused by her behavior as I was and that she didn't cause problems for me -- which is what typically happens to the POC in these situations. When she left, the other black woman and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. We both knew what that mess was all about, same shit it's ALWAYS about.
I am so glad that you put that poem out there and I implore you to write down and share any other family history that you have. Just because those ignorant fools don't know about your story or deem it unimportant does not mean that it's not a CRITICAL part of American history. Nothing could explain how race relations have gotten so bad and continue to be so better than the ignorance of so many whites about the true history of this country. And you can tell the ones that are the most ignorant because they are usually the ones bemoaning how "horrible" America is NOW (as if it's always been so perfect for everyone) and wishing to return to the days of yesteryear.
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