separate pasts
Separate Pasts takes place during the 1950’s in Melton A. McLaurin’s small hometown, Wade, North Carolina. It is a detailed story of his boyhood in the rural South, which was a time when racism was a daily norm. McLaurin argues that racism existed unchallenged in the rural South. I found that this argument is valid due to the personal experiences that he had to face while growing up in the rural South, which he describes in great detail.
McLaurin grew up with the knowledge that whites were treated very differently than blacks and not thinking anything of it. Although blacks and whites were demanded to work together in the village, he noticed that everyone played a different role based off their race. Some of the roles being, blacks always entered through the back doors of homes, hold the door open for the whites, did the laundry for the whites and were responsible for all the labor work for the whites.
McLaurin was not aware of how severe racism was at that time until he experienced it first hand with Bobo. Bobo, who was his first black friend, was not an important part of his life although they grew up together and had known him his whole life. It all started one fall Saturday afternoon when McLaurin, BoBo and six other people, white and black, started playing a pickup game. Pickup games were basketball games played between two integrated teams, regardless of race, based solely upon the skills of the individuals. As the game commenced, the basketball that was being used was known to leak air and had to be re-inflated every thirty minutes. McLaurin, Bobo, and their friend Howard went to the store, the store he worked at, to inflate the ball once they noticed it was no longer able to bounce and interfered with the game.
There was a normal procedure that needed to be followed in order to inflate the ball. First, there was a needle that needed to be lubricated by being stuck it into someone’s mouth or having someone spit on it. Next, the needle would be
McLaurin grew up with the knowledge that whites were treated very differently than blacks and not thinking anything of it. Although blacks and whites were demanded to work together in the village, he noticed that everyone played a different role based off their race. Some of the roles being, blacks always entered through the back doors of homes, hold the door open for the whites, did the laundry for the whites and were responsible for all the labor work for the whites.
McLaurin was not aware of how severe racism was at that time until he experienced it first hand with Bobo. Bobo, who was his first black friend, was not an important part of his life although they grew up together and had known him his whole life. It all started one fall Saturday afternoon when McLaurin, BoBo and six other people, white and black, started playing a pickup game. Pickup games were basketball games played between two integrated teams, regardless of race, based solely upon the skills of the individuals. As the game commenced, the basketball that was being used was known to leak air and had to be re-inflated every thirty minutes. McLaurin, Bobo, and their friend Howard went to the store, the store he worked at, to inflate the ball once they noticed it was no longer able to bounce and interfered with the game.
There was a normal procedure that needed to be followed in order to inflate the ball. First, there was a needle that needed to be lubricated by being stuck it into someone’s mouth or having someone spit on it. Next, the needle would be