Almost First Black In Minnesota

IT'S MY WORLD NEXT

We were coming from town on a graded washboard country road when my uncle told Joe to stop for the guy hitching a ride with his thumb. Joe pulled the old pickup to a stop and my uncle asked; "how far".  The fellow replied; "to Ben's place". My uncle turned to Joe and told him Ben's was only a mile or so out of the way.  Joe, the driver,  talked across me and my uncle and told the guy to climb in the back and he did.

I was sitting on the bench seat between Joe and my uncle with the gear shift between my knees. It was my job to shift the gears when Joe put the clutch in and told me which gear he wanted.  As we were getting up to speed again I asked my uncle why the fellow's skin was so dark? He chuckled and said that the man was a nigger and all niggers are dark. Being about 5 years old my next question was; why? My uncle didn't answer right away and glanced toward Joe who was grinning from ear to ear. Then my uncle said he didn't know why, but he thought most niggers came from Africa where they all had dark skin. When we got to Ben's we stopped at the side of the road and the fellow jumped out. He thanked us for giving him a ride, smiled, and waved as we drove off. 

That was the first time I had ever seen someone with a chocolate dark skin. It was about 1941.  I found out later that there were only a few dozen negros in northern Minnesota at that time.  When we arrived at the lake Joe dropped off my uncle and I at our cabin. My Aunt Erma was in the yard hanging up clothes and she asked why we were so late? My uncle told her it was because we took a nigger over to Ben's place. She looked at him with a frown and told him not to ever use the word "nigger" around me, and that he should always use the word "negro" instead.

Okay, it's now  70 some years later and the word "nigger" isn't used anymore - except rarely by another dark skinned person. It's pretty much considered a swear word or put-down now.  For some reason the word "negro" isn't used anymore either, but "negro" isn't a swear word or a put down. I've no idea why it's no longer used. Maybe it's just because people with a dark skin prefer the word "black"?

That's what everybody uses these days. Frankly I don't like it as well as "negro". I suspect it's because I dislike being called "white". I find it strange that we use colors to describe people? I know these "color" descriptions will gradually be obsolete. Society is changing. Television, travel, and improving worldwide education are bringing people closer to one another. Racial descriptions are in the process of change as barriers drop and as more inter-marriages happen. It's not so important any more, and perhaps all racial descriptions will just  fade away someday.