Nigger babies were a popular licorice candy when I was a kid. We were innocent then. There was nothing prejudice or corrupt about it. It was good candy.
Nathan, a black man, was a good friend of mine in college in the early 1970's -- a member of our clique of friends who hung around together. He was exceptionally intelligent and spoke as if he were. It was fun to listen to him. We usually ate together in the college cafeteria, and one day he was staring at me across the table and finally said, "When the word 'wistful' was coined, you must have been there."
The other members of the clique were doing others things one afternoon, and Nathan and I went into a corner grocery store together. We looked over the candy and I spotted some nigger babies. I hadn't seen those in years and remarked, "Oh boy," and started grabbing a bunch to buy.
Nathan looked at me, mildly shocked, and said, "Do you know what those are?"
"Sure," I said, "they're good," piling more into my hand.
Nathan shrugged and we both bought our chosen candies at the counter and walked out, happily munching. Of course we remained the best of friends.
C'mon folks, lighten up. Enjoy the candy.
P.S. These are still sold, but now they're called "Licorice Babies."
No comments:
Post a Comment