James

My dad shared some things with me. Why he got in the service. Why he took his family from Kentucky all the way up here to Spokane. They called it the ‘red line’… they want the minorities in one place. My dad wanted to buy a house maybe 5 or 6 miles from where minorities, black people, had to stay. And over the phone, talking to the realtor, the talk was good. But then when they met, he said the house was sold.

Up here, it’s a little different. You know where you stand in the South. Up here, it’s a very passive type of racism. My dad didn’t talk to me much about it here. But in grade school there was a fight. Fifth and sixth graders. The principal called the police on these elementary kids. And as I was walking home, making my way through the alley, a police officer pulled out a gun on me. And I’m in the fifth grade. He pointed it at me and I just turned around and started running. When I got home, I told my mother about it and she said, “We can’t tell your dad”. So, fifth grade. That’s when I felt different.

…I kind of learned to expect the worst things. That helped me to prepare. That’s how I protect myself.