First time my Suburban Child was called the "N-Word". See my @Princeton Alum mag cover story http://t.co/2fcQbjNTOH pic.twitter.com/MqlJdHcxcc
— Lawrence Otis Graham (@LawrenceOGraham) October 6, 2014
It was a Tuesday afternoon when my 15-year-old son called from his academic summer program at a leafy New England boarding school and told me that as he was walking across campus, a gray Acura with a broken rear taillight pulled up beside him. He continued along the sidewalk, and two men leaned out of the car and glared at him.
“Are you the only nigger at Mellon Academy*?” one shouted.
Certain that he had not heard them correctly, my son moved closer to the curb, and asked politely, “I’m sorry; I didn’t hear you … ”
But he had heard correctly. And this time the man spoke more clearly. “Only … nigger,” he said with added emphasis.
My son froze. He dropped his backpack in alarm and stepped back from the idling car. Within seconds, the men floored the sedan’s accelerator, honked the horn loudly, and drove off, their laughter echoing behind them….
I am very sorry to hear this happened. The use of the term is no longer mainstream at all. I would invite the author and his son to remember that a couple of jerks don’t add up to a whole sick society.
It is a very thoughtful piece. I quoted it in yesterday’s sermon in the parish where I serve.
Dr. Harmon, on your recommendation I downloaded and read the entire item. I do understand that Mr. Graham grew up in an environment in which ugly racial epithets were frequently heard. But on the whole, he seems to think that because a couple of jerks shouted something at his son, although that was very distressing, it means that society as a whole is still racist. He cites, among other things, the shootings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as if those were “about” targeting young black men, when that is not in evidence in the Martin shooting and appears not to be the case in the Brown shooting, pending the grand jury investigation.
I believe his son would be better able to handle an ugly incident like this if his father were to assure him that a couple of jerks don’t mean that the other people around him are also jerks.
I’m with you Katherine.