A young man drinking water from a cooler with a 'For Colored' sign
“God cursed them, not me”
The photo shows a young man drinking water from a cooler with a “For Colored” sign at a streetcar terminus in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, July 1939. The photo was taken by Russell Lee for the Farm Safety Administration.
An excerpt from the novel “11/22/63 by American writer Stephen King, in which a 35-year-old schoolteacher from 2011 is transported to 1958, where he should spend some time and, having come to the southern United States, to Dallas, Texas, is trying to rent an apartment:
“Ive finally found a seemingly decent place to live. On Blackwell Street in North Dallas, a detached garage converted into a pretty two-story apartment. A huge advantage: air conditioning. A huge drawback: the owner, Ray Mac Johnson, turned out to be a racist who immediately recommended that if I rent this apartment, I stay away from nearby Greenville Avenue, where there are lots of jukebox eateries, where white and black people wipe themselves off, and where niggers with knives he called “kicks” are full of niggers with knives.
I have nothing against niggers, he assured me. “No, sir.” It was God who cursed them into this situation, not me. You know that, right?
— Im afraid I missed this point in the Bible.
He squinted suspiciously.
— What are you, a methodologist?
Yes, I nodded, thinking it was safer to call myself a methodologist than to admit to atheism.
— You should visit the Baptist church, son. We welcome newcomers with open arms. If you rent this apartment, I think youll be able to go there with me and my wife some Sunday.
Maybe, I agreed, telling myself that I would have to fall into a coma that particular Sunday. Or even die.
Mr. Johnson, meanwhile, has come back to a missed point in the Bible.
You see, one day Noah got drunk on the Ark and was lying completely naked on his bed. His two sons didnt look at him, they just turned away and covered him with a blanket. Or a bed sheet. But Ham—he was a black sheep in the family—looked at his father in his nakedness, and God cursed Ham and his descendants, commanding them to cut wood and carry water. This has been the case since then. Genesis, chapter nine. Open the Bible and take a look, Mr. Amberson.
Yes, I said, reminding myself that I must stay somewhere, that I cant stay in a hotel forever. Reminding myself that I can get along with a spoonful of racism wont give up on me. Reminding myself that this is the mentality of this time and I will see the same thing everywhere. But I didnt believe myself...”
We previously published “Gerald Mud” notes and diamond clips, Bell Baskets.
The photo shows a young man drinking water from a cooler with a “For Colored” sign at a streetcar terminus in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, July 1939. The photo was taken by Russell Lee for the Farm Safety Administration.
An excerpt from the novel “11/22/63 by American writer Stephen King, in which a 35-year-old schoolteacher from 2011 is transported to 1958, where he should spend some time and, having come to the southern United States, to Dallas, Texas, is trying to rent an apartment:
“Ive finally found a seemingly decent place to live. On Blackwell Street in North Dallas, a detached garage converted into a pretty two-story apartment. A huge advantage: air conditioning. A huge drawback: the owner, Ray Mac Johnson, turned out to be a racist who immediately recommended that if I rent this apartment, I stay away from nearby Greenville Avenue, where there are lots of jukebox eateries, where white and black people wipe themselves off, and where niggers with knives he called “kicks” are full of niggers with knives.
I have nothing against niggers, he assured me. “No, sir.” It was God who cursed them into this situation, not me. You know that, right?
— Im afraid I missed this point in the Bible.
He squinted suspiciously.
— What are you, a methodologist?
Yes, I nodded, thinking it was safer to call myself a methodologist than to admit to atheism.
— You should visit the Baptist church, son. We welcome newcomers with open arms. If you rent this apartment, I think youll be able to go there with me and my wife some Sunday.
Maybe, I agreed, telling myself that I would have to fall into a coma that particular Sunday. Or even die.
Mr. Johnson, meanwhile, has come back to a missed point in the Bible.
You see, one day Noah got drunk on the Ark and was lying completely naked on his bed. His two sons didnt look at him, they just turned away and covered him with a blanket. Or a bed sheet. But Ham—he was a black sheep in the family—looked at his father in his nakedness, and God cursed Ham and his descendants, commanding them to cut wood and carry water. This has been the case since then. Genesis, chapter nine. Open the Bible and take a look, Mr. Amberson.
Yes, I said, reminding myself that I must stay somewhere, that I cant stay in a hotel forever. Reminding myself that I can get along with a spoonful of racism wont give up on me. Reminding myself that this is the mentality of this time and I will see the same thing everywhere. But I didnt believe myself...”
We previously published “Gerald Mud” notes and diamond clips, Bell Baskets.
Contributed by OldPik on January 6, 2025
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