Item Information
Title
Amber Anderson & Bruce Anderson clip 4
Rights
Courtesy Amber Anderson. This item is under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Format
mp3
Language
English
Type
Oral History
Identifier
https://exhibits.lib.unc.edu/items/show/6828
Interviewer
Amber Anderson
Interviewee
Bruce
Transcription
00:00 [Amber]
So, when you were living in Smithville, did you ever feel like you encountered any racism growing up?
00:12 [Bruce]
I don’t think so because I really didn’t… It really wasn’t discussed with us, and I had white friends, Hispanic friends. They didn’t really come to our house. Sometimes I would go over to theirs, but I didn’t experience any. I’ve heard my dad and them talk about little, some little things that happened, but Smithville, to me, seemed like it was more… In the country, most White and Black people have the same life. They all eat the same type of foods. Most of them have gardens. So, it’s not like anything separate like in the city, where people are talking about they don’t eat chicken. White people eat chicken in the country. White people know how to cook collard greens in the country. White people eat sweet potatoes in the country. They don’t call them yams; they eat sweet potatoes. So, I didn’t experience nothing at all, thanks to Dad.
01:30 [Amber]
Could you explain what you mean by that?
01:35 [Bruce]
He just kept us above. He took care of us. He kept us where we should be, a good provider.
01:49 [Amber]
And do you feel like the life he provided for you maybe differed from the lives of some of your friends, some of the other people around you?
01:58 [Bruce]
Oh yeah. It was totally different for some, for most, I would think. We were totally taken care of. He didn’t miss nothing. …. Everything was provided, but we also helped provide for the others. Our door was always knocked on.
02:34 [Amber]
So, he gave a lot to the… you feel like he gave a lot to the community, the family?
02:38 [Bruce]
Yup, everybody. The whole neighborhood. Repairs on cars, their houses, loaning money. Helping them from week to week with their pay, with their food, with everything. He helped the whole community.
So, when you were living in Smithville, did you ever feel like you encountered any racism growing up?
00:12 [Bruce]
I don’t think so because I really didn’t… It really wasn’t discussed with us, and I had white friends, Hispanic friends. They didn’t really come to our house. Sometimes I would go over to theirs, but I didn’t experience any. I’ve heard my dad and them talk about little, some little things that happened, but Smithville, to me, seemed like it was more… In the country, most White and Black people have the same life. They all eat the same type of foods. Most of them have gardens. So, it’s not like anything separate like in the city, where people are talking about they don’t eat chicken. White people eat chicken in the country. White people know how to cook collard greens in the country. White people eat sweet potatoes in the country. They don’t call them yams; they eat sweet potatoes. So, I didn’t experience nothing at all, thanks to Dad.
01:30 [Amber]
Could you explain what you mean by that?
01:35 [Bruce]
He just kept us above. He took care of us. He kept us where we should be, a good provider.
01:49 [Amber]
And do you feel like the life he provided for you maybe differed from the lives of some of your friends, some of the other people around you?
01:58 [Bruce]
Oh yeah. It was totally different for some, for most, I would think. We were totally taken care of. He didn’t miss nothing. …. Everything was provided, but we also helped provide for the others. Our door was always knocked on.
02:34 [Amber]
So, he gave a lot to the… you feel like he gave a lot to the community, the family?
02:38 [Bruce]
Yup, everybody. The whole neighborhood. Repairs on cars, their houses, loaning money. Helping them from week to week with their pay, with their food, with everything. He helped the whole community.
Original Format
Interview
Duration
03:06