Quote:
Originally Posted by Berry
No, I was not talking about schools, although teachers and many kids in school held similar attitudes.
You were not actually told to "Act White" you were told to "act like ladies and gentlemen" and other races, nationalities, were disparaged for not doing it. You may have grown up in the same era, and with many of the same cultures, but if you never had an all white contingent in your family explain that you were a product of miscegenation that was an offense against man and God that should have been aborted for the sake of decency, you will find it hard to understand my admittedly skewed viewpoints.
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You're right, I never experienced my family doing that. I'm sorry that you went thru that. That's a horrible thing to say to a child. I have mixed-race cousins of unmarried parents and they were never treated that way by our family. I also have other white cousins who are married to black spouses, and it's no big deal to the family. Not all of our relatives are American born either.
As far as school goes, when I was growing up, everyone was expected to behave politely in school, no matter who they were. That was also enforced by the students' parents. I went to public neighborhood schools, nothing special.
This is the part that is puzzling:
You were not actually told to "Act White" you were told to "act like ladies and gentlemen" and other races, nationalities, were disparaged for not doing it.
Since I didn't experience that, can you describe to me what behaviors would be considered "White," and why other races and nationalities wouldn't be doing them?