Joy Harjo's Web Log

Thanks for the BBC story link, Stephanie. We did not judge by skin color in the days we revere as "traditional". I believe fear of loss of what we know as culture drives it. Color has become a major indicator of belonging or not belonging. Color has nothing to do with the condition of the soul, though the fundamentalist church I attended as a child, then walked out of at fourteen said it did. (No wonder no one talked to me except a few who felt they were saving me from my heathen ways.) Actually there were some good people there, including a Mrs. Hughes who wore black lace up shoes from the early part of the century, and who was a proponent of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She always told us "lips that touch liquor will never touch mine". She really did care for all of us. Kindness translates the truth far better than skin color. They even had a story to explain racism, based on one of Noah's sons. Their conclusion was that dark-skinned people deserved their fate in a racist society.

An update on the trip: Talked to my daughter last night by phone last night, after the family's return. Everyone was very good to her niece. They welcomed her and were kind to her. Only one aunt made a deprecatory comment. She's the same one who adopted two white children. Go figure.