It didnt help that my dad was in the military and a captain, so he was one of the higher ranking officers where I lived. I was always in the "smart" class, and was usually the only person of color. After a while, you just stop trying, you know? I'm always accused of being "stuck up" b/c I dont talk to people first. I'm naturally very shy, and always have my guard up b/c of past experiences.
And let's not discuss food: I dont, nor will I EVER eat any kind of greens (other than lettuce), black eyed peas, hamhocks, pigs feet, ears, tail, whatever, chitlins, or oxtail. My family still questions me about that to this DAY, as if liking those things "makes" me more blacker.
Jill, I am on the lighter side of my family (both sides have Native American blood: Piscataway [paternal] and Cherokee [maternal]) so I got it on both sides. Can we PLEASE get over the color thing? (random aside: my ex is one of five kids. He's the darkest, and was told that he wasn't going to amount to anything. He went on to become the first black student body leader at his college. The lighter brother, who was supposed to do "good things" went on to make 8 babies.)*sigh*
According to my family, I thought I was white b/c I graduated high school on time with almost straight As, went to college (a white school at that), and then went BACK to college after I had my daughter. Out of 41 grandchildren, two of us graduated from 4 year colleges. And we are the black sheep. Go figure.
