[or-roots] Little Black Sambo 1946

[Connie Guardino]

There were no black people in Grants Pass when my mother was growing up.
There is a "Black Sambo" story told about her: The first time she ever
saw a black person, she asked: "Why does that man have shoe polish all
over his face?" I forget now how old she was, but she must have been
quite young. I also grew up in Grants Pass, and didn't know about blacks
or hispanics until we moved to California for a brief period of time. I
knew about Chinese because of neighbors. Your wife died in 1993? She was
terrified by black people for the rest of her life? That seems mighty
strange, as she would have lifed through the civil rights movement and
should have had enough exposure to blacks to know the majority of them
aren't going to put anybody in a "stew pot!"

Cecil Houk wrote:

> The following is NOT PC. The story of "Little Black Sambo" is no
> longer allowed in this country, but it was very popular in the
> 1940's.  Not only in the USA, but also in Japan. Prior to WWII Japan
> was a "closed society"; no foreigners were allowed.  The only exposure
> to black people the Japanese people had was "Little Black Sambo" and
> stories of African cannibals. One day in 1946, a young girl was
> walking home from school.  She passed a field where American
> occupation soldiers were playing baseball.  One of them offered her a
> candy bar... he was black! She envisioned herself in a big stew pot!!
> She ran all the way home - screaming.  She was terrified by black
> people for the rest of her life. I know this is true because she was
> my first wife.  She died in 1993, but not in a stew pot;
> cancer.     Midori Murakami1935-1993 Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret.
> PO Box 530833
> San Diego CA 92153
> FAX 619-428-6434
> mailto:cchouk at cox.net
> ANDERSON - BLAKELY - FORD - HOUK - KIMSEY - MOE - RULAFORD - SIMPSON
> Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk
> My web page MENU: http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/
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