A Grandmother’s Perspective on the South

by Precious Holt

My grandmother Sheryl Chasse (age 62) has been through a lot in her lifetime. Some people may look at my grandmother and consider her “yellow” or very fair skinned. Although that may be the case, she was often subject to racial prejudice and discrimination. Fortunately she didn’t allow that to get to her and was able to develop her own mind and thoughts based on racial tolerance instead of bigotry.

Originally from the ghettos of Buffalo, New York, my grandmother’s birth mother died shortly after giving birth to her, so she became an orphan. Growing up in the ghettos of Buffalo wasn’t easy. Even though it wasn’t in the South, she was still discriminated against. Because she was fair skinned and had long, pretty hair, she didn’t fit in with the blacks, and because she was a little darker than the whites, she didn’t fit in with them either. She explained how blacks knew not to venture out of her home area, Williams Street. Everyone knew their place and never tried to break boundaries or speak out against the racial intolerance.

My grandmother was adopted at the age of nine, and she moved to an upper-class “black” area called Lynwood. Even though her adopted family was able to live in an upper-class neighborhood, they still weren’t good enough to move into a white neighborhood. She noticed that whenever a black family would move in the area, a white family would move into the suburbs. Even there she described how blacks had their own levels of classification, from the “light brights” to the “darkies.” The lighter you were, the more respected you were in the black community.

My grandmother’s adopted family taught her to be happy with where she was and to be happy that she was fair skinned and had long pretty hair. “Know your place” is a quote that she can remember her adopted parents telling her all the time. They taught her to be mistrusting of whites and to “not rock the boat too much.” She also remembers how her family looked down on other blacks depending on their financial status, skin color, or hair texture. They affiliated themselves more with the white community. Surprisingly my grandmother’s sister married a white man and so did my grandmother. They were threatened to be disowned by their own parents because they both fell in love with white men. Her adopted mother believes, “Color is everything; you could have all the money and education in the world, but if your color is too dark, then you’re a dumb nigga.”

When asked if my grandmother had been affected by any of the Jim Crow laws, she said, “Yes.” On a family trip to Florida they stopped to use the restroom and were turned away because of the color of their skin. The sign said, “No Coloreds Here,” and they had to drive several more miles just to use a restroom. When John F. Kennedy became president, the black community saw hope for them; they saw the whole Kennedy family as their savior. My grandmother stated that he was “good” for the blacks because he was helping and passing laws for their civil rights, but the whites in the South thought that he was too liberal and wanted to do “too much” for blacks. The ideas of the politicians were to keep the blacks from gaining any civil rights and that often conflicted with the ideas of Kennedy. In addition, my grandmother remembers U.S. Senator Jessie Helms stating that “all blacks are ignorant.” When Kennedy was assassinated, the black community just fell apart. My grandmother remembers that their hope and inspiration was gone. They felt that they would always be oppressed by the whites.

The South as a whole in present times is very diverse and more accepting, according to my grandmother. She believes that the South has more tolerance than before towards those who may look different than the blonde hair, blue-eyed people. As far as politics, she believes that the states are more individual and worried about their own issues instead of collectively targeting one issue. The South has come a long way from its old ways and has progressed enormously. My grandmother is most thankful for the civil rights leaders and activists who helped to mold the South into the way that it is today.

In conclusion, my grandmother has seen it all. She’s been the subject of racial prejudice and discrimination and was even taught to dislike those who didn’t look like her. Although her parents were very intolerant of those who were different, she was able to break out that cycle and base her judgments on character instead of color.

Work Cited

Chasse, Sheryl. Personal interview. 9 Sept. 2010.

Note: Precious Holt, who lives in Raeford, is a university transfer student at Sandhills Community College where she is pursuing an associate in arts degree as a member of the inaugural class of SandHoke Early College High School. She was also featured in the article “For Students at Risk, Early College Proves a Draw” in The New York Times in February 2010.