My great-grandmother hid her race. Two decades later I understand why.

[Warpy]

14. Never mind if they were pale, with curly carrot top hair like little Archie Windsor

vicious assholes like that Drake woman made sure they were kept firmly in the underclass, exempt from sharing in the bounty of this country, just because an ancestor had "one swipe of the tar brush," the way it was put back then.

I had a friend in grammar school whose mom was what they used to call "high yellow" in Jim Crow days, meaning she could pass if nobody knew who she was. My friend's rich white daddy was the one to deal with any problems at school and so forth. Her mom was great, but always a little sad. For my part, I kept my trap shut. I knew what Jim Crow was all about.

My friend had great light brown curly hair. I envied her that hair.

I have to hope her family moved away from Dixie at some point, staying away until stupid laws got changed and some of the urban culture started to change with them.