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A Good Friend
"Looking back on it, I now know there was nothing wrong with playing with someone of a different race."
By Gamelia Johnson
When I was a little girl, I had a very good friend who I played with everyday. Her name was Kelly and she was white. She was the only white girl in my neighborhood. We loved listening to country music. She was a really great friend and we had fun together. I had older male cousins who lived nearby. They would get upset with me because I was playing with a white girl.
They felt betrayed; they felt that I should be playing with them more than I was playing with Kelly. It came to the point that if I was playing with Kelly and my cousins came around I would abandon her and go play with my cousins, leaving her by herself. I was afraid that my cousins would belittle or make fun of me for playing with her and I didn’t want my cousins to be upset with me.
I hurt her feelings by doing this and she eventually refused to play with me at all. At the same time, I really enjoyed playing with her. Looking back on it, I now know there was nothing wrong with playing with someone of a different race.
I really don’t know why my cousins were that way. People should be able to be friends with whoever they want. I feel sad for myself, for losing such a good friend. I feel sorrow for Kelly for having to feel the pain of rejection. I now feel sore for my cousins because their prejudice kept them from knowing a great person.
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