The "Nigga" in New Orleans
20/03/06 14:27
New piece published in the online review
"Archipelago."
Excerpt:
“You’re nothing if you’re poor and black,” my New Orleans-reared mother used to say. Clawing her way to a comfortable middle-class with her Louisana-bred husband, this was her desperate way of goadingme into non-acceptance —non-acceptance of the ‘60s status quo of the all-black school, the segregated neighborhood, the “comfort zone” of black life as it stood back then. It was her warning that, at worst, the majority has contempt for you, and at best, is simply indifferent to you, and your sufferings or hardships. “You’re on your own,” she was saying. ‘There is no country behind you, no countrymen support you, no government promotes your interest.”
You’re on your own.
Read the article here.
Excerpt:
“You’re nothing if you’re poor and black,” my New Orleans-reared mother used to say. Clawing her way to a comfortable middle-class with her Louisana-bred husband, this was her desperate way of goadingme into non-acceptance —non-acceptance of the ‘60s status quo of the all-black school, the segregated neighborhood, the “comfort zone” of black life as it stood back then. It was her warning that, at worst, the majority has contempt for you, and at best, is simply indifferent to you, and your sufferings or hardships. “You’re on your own,” she was saying. ‘There is no country behind you, no countrymen support you, no government promotes your interest.”
You’re on your own.
Read the article here.