Grandma's House

Okay, I'm probably not the most qualified person to tackle this subject, but I've gotta give it a shot. I'm sure someone will set me straight (inside joke to sisters). Who is an African-American? This question seems to be dividing the blacks in this country. Maybe I'm just naive, but isn't an African-American a person who was born in Africa and immigrated to this country? I know a lot of native-born blacks call themselves African-American, but is that really fair. They weren't born in Africa; most of them probably haven't even been there. Aren't they really Americans of African descent? Or Americans of Caribbean descent? I've been working on my genealogy for a few years now, and I've found out my ancestors were English, Irish, Scottish, French, German, and Native American (not yet confirmed, but told by mother). Should I call myself an English-Irish-Scottish-French-German-Indian-American, or can I just be American of European descent? Why do we need so many divisions?

Growing up in Kansas City, I went to a grade school that was about 50% white, 50% black. We all played together. We didn't see any big deal in what color we were. Then Malcolm X was killed. Things began to change. We were still friends, but something was different. Then Martin Luther King was killed. Everything changed. My dearest friends, who happened to be black, would no longer speak to me. I didn't understand. I hadn't killed anyone, nor had anyone in my family. But that didn't matter. A white guy killed a black guy, so we couldn't be friends anymore.

In my last two years of high school, one of my black friends from grade school finally made peace with our friendship. She invited me to her wedding, but the damage was done. My folks didn't want me to go, because it was in a "bad part of town". I should have gone anyway, but I didn't have transportation. I did wish her many happy years with her husband and got her a gift. She said she understood; I hope that was true, and she wasn't just saying that to spare my feelings.

I'm so tired of race being such a big deal. I've never had a problem with it. I raised my kids to respect all races equally. I only wish everyone felt that way. But like I said, maybe I'm just being naive.