Reading Response Obama–Fan

Obama’s mental note of the “ledger of slights” he experiences daily (80-81)

Some action of white folks forms a list; It’s just like a bank transaction losing balance every time. A little boy in eighth grade got a bloody nose and tears of surprise because he called me a coon. The tennis pro told me to stay away from the schedule of matches on the bulletin board because of my color. The older woman in my grandparents’ apartment building thought I was trailing her to the elevator. Then she refused to apologize when she knew I lived there.  Even our assistant basketball coach was muttering at me and three of our teammates.  All because we were dark. 

“There are black people, and there are n*ers. Those guys were n*rs.”

This is what he thought when the assistant basketball coach who cut him off when Obama tried to say a word because whites didn’t know they were being cruel in the first place, or they deserving of their scorn. He distinguished white folks because his mother is white. Then he told his coach before he walked off the court.

“There are white folks, and then there are ignorant mother***** like you,”

The scar of racism was on somebody’s back and tattooed into their soul. He realized that racism still exists. Also, he knows how to distinguish people into different categories. He can’t say the word white folk or any other words about the white race because of his grandparents. Surprisingly, he had a positive mentality toward insult and racism.