All In The Family

John Roth was a Junior at the local university and came from a family that had ties to the founding fathers of the town and the university.

Despite his wealth and social standing, John was shy and somewhat standoffish.

From somewhere deep inside himself, he found the nerve to approach the beautiful “Blonde Goddess”, Sally Keith.

To his great surprise and relief, she agreed to go out with him.

After their third date, John was all set to suggest they take their relationship to the next level.

On his way to set up their very next date, he saw Sally hugging an attractive black girl, Shanell Hawkins. John edged closer so as to overhear their conversation.

He was shocked to hear Sally say, “Please tell Aunt Bea I said, thanks for the bracelet, and I will be there for the birthday dinner on Saturday.”

After Shanell left, John cautiously approached Sally and said, “I didn’t know you and that black girl were close.”

Sally said,” Shanell is my cousin.”

John said with some surprise, “Your cousin? You are white, right?”

Frowning, Sally said, “That’s right, but what does that have to do with us being cousins?”

Reacting a bit uncomfortably, John responded, “You are white, and she is black, and I’m not sure I’m okay with dating someone with black relatives!”

With a measure of tiredness, Sally explained that her white uncle was married to Shanell’s black aunt.

She looked into his eyes to make her point clear, “I am not at all okay with dating someone who opposes my having black relatives. Please do not approach me again unless you change your way of thinking.”

Later that evening, John’s mother asked him about his sad face. He related the entire incident and his feelings about the whole situation.

He was not ready for the news his mother revealed. It turned out that at one time the Roth family had owned slaves and one of John’s Great uncles was actually Shanell Hawkins’ Great grandfather.

Shocked beyond measure, John was forced to re-evaluate everything he thought about race relations and their importance in his life.

Unfortunately, John could not regain his footing with Sally, and she moved on to someone with a more moderate attitude about relations with people of other ethnicities.