LIVING IN SLAVERY'S SHADOW
Rick Wilson
(full version of article published in the GR Press).
When David A Wilson, a 28-year-old African-American man from Newark, New Jersey meets David B. Wilson, a 62-year-old white man from rural North Carolina, the conversation begins in a unique way. “My name is David A. Wilson and I believe your family once owned mine.”
“Meeting David Wilson”, an MSNBC documentary, is an absorbing personal journey through family histories. “It’s all “about creating a dialogue in America,” David A. Wilson said. “What you have in the two of us is the story of two races and two generations honestly talking about the dark cloud of slavery and its continuing impact on our families and our lives even today.”
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I have been approached by an older white lady in the store and asked to pick out her watermelon "because you people know how to pick them."
I have had my food chewed and spit back on my plate by a server at Red Lobster on 28th St. The police were called but nothing was done and I did not pursue a law suit but called the Corporate offices and I do not eat at Red Lobster.
An older white man stood at the end of the checkout lane at D and W (Breton/Burton) and he said to whoever was asking him what he was doing "I'm watching these niggers." I had my 3 young children with me and was not able to do anything at the time. No one at the store said anything and I just left and called the manager later.
I have been stopped by the police and asked if the car I was driving was mine and where was I going. I was issued no citation he simply got in his car and drove away.
On my job just recently a co-worker asked if I wanted to go to the play "Aida" and said "the cast is 80% African American" I went and since I didn't know the story I was shocked to see that the 80% cast were slaves in the story. She said "oh I forgot to tell you that."
At a convention for Girl Scout executive staff I was presented with a Golden Mrs. Butterworth (painted gold) bottle as an award called a Juliette after the founder Juliette Gordon Low. I found out later that there had been a conversation about the award and they were calling it an "Aunt Jemima" the night before. When I got back and showed it to my CEO she said surprisingly "they gave you an Aunt Jemima" I said "no it is a Mrs. Butterworth you know Aunt Jemima is on a box." I keep it by my display of racist memorabilia here in my office.
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