An Only Slightly Fictionalized Memory
The Early Years (Whites)
The white people I saw were:
- On TV – they were rich
- Nuns and priests and lunch ladies and janitor at my Catholic school – they all had jobs; in the first and second grade there were a few white kids in my class – I assumed they all had money, just like the people on TV
- People at the settlement house I went to (Casita Maria); some of them were working, some of them were just good people, I guess – they must have had money – they were white
- Agent who came around to collect the rent every week – he wore a gun, because he had money
- Vendors at La Marqueta (Park Avenue Market) – they were mostly Jews; it was against their religion not to have money, I heard
- Doctors, nurses, hospital folks – all working
The only people in my world who consistently did not have money were the southern Black people. There were a few notable exceptions. My friend Marcella was one of about a zillion kids in her family. Her dad was in the Army. They lived in Germany for our third and fourth grade and then came back to their huge apartment on Central Park North. People in the military could have large families, because they got paid extra for each child they had, I heard. The other exception was Gloria’s aunt. She was the numbers lady.