recently i ran into an old army aquaintance that i shared basic training and a life lesson with. back in basic, he asked if it was ok to use the (n) word to refer to me and my friends since we used it with each other. he is white by the way, and at that exact moment i was shaving and he was getting out of the shower. i calmly put my razor down, and locked eyes with him. i whispered, "go ahead nelson, say it". he picked up his belongings and left trembling.
as basic drew to a close, i approached him in front of his relatives at our graduation, and i asked him a simple yet complicated series of questions.
(1)if your not black, (and obviously none of you are) why do you care about my peoples references to one another?
(2)i then asked his parents who seemed fond of the notion that color doesnt matter "if color doesnt matter, dont you think calling me a nigger sets us back 30 years"?
his parents interupted me with the usual banter from middle aged white americans that think they understand us.
"son, i marched with king, and i've never used that word to refer to blacks"said his father."i've owned my own business for over 30 years and i've payed blacks equal wages they've earned regardless of affirmative action or any other racial quotas. i stood over them and began to (tennis clap) softly."well done mr. nelson, you've managed to do the right thing and record it in your mind for times like these but you havent answered either question". "while we're on the subject of civil rights i'll assume your wife and children never experienced the hoses and dogs or the church bombings"."correct me if i'm wrong sir but king was killed for being black and creating change". "your sitting here telling me that i'm supposed to be satiated with you doing things your supposed to do anyway?" thats when i noticed the trembling happneing again, but this time it was his whole family. when i saw nelson recently, we locked eyes again for the first time in over 10 years and when he realized who i was he walked away (fast).

some people