Tell It Not In Gath
by
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What were they going to do with you?” asked the Jew when the white boys were out of ear-shot.
“They already did it. They rocked me.”
“Yes, but suppose they would have caught you. What would they have done?”
“I don’t rightly know. I have never heard of a Negro boy being caught.”
“Why don’t they allow you on
“I don’t know unless it’s because they don’t like the idea of colored people gradually taking over the houses of white people. Colored people are already in the second block below this one on
“Where do you live?”
“I live in this alley, down in the next block.”
“What’s your name?”
“Sam Martin. What’s yours?”
“Max Moskovitz. I live here. My father runs the store and we live upstairs over it. Why do Gentiles hate colored people and Jews?”
“What are Gentiles?”
“Gentiles are,--Gentiles are,--” and Max looked at Sam in amazement. “Why Gentiles are people who are not Jews, but come to think of it, I don’t know whether that includes colored people or not. It must not because the Gentiles don’t like Jews and Negroes.”
“I know why they don’t like Jews. It’s because they killed Jesus.”
“I’ve heard my father say that although I don’t understand why they should hold it against us. That happened almost two thousand years ago in
“Naw,” cried Sam.
“He was, too. What did you think he was?”
“I don’t know. I’d never thought about it but I didn’t know he was a Jew.”
“Well, he was.”
“The Jews don’t believe in him and my mama says all Jews are going to hell when they die because they don’t.”
“Our rabbi says we won’t.”
“That’s funny. I wonder who’s right about it,” mused Sam.
“I don’t know; but I don’t think it’s right for us to be mistreated now for something that happened such a long time ago.”
“How are you mistreated? You are white.”
“That doesn’t make any difference. We are mistreated in lots of ways. The Gentile boys sometimes throw rocks at me on the way home from school. I always run when I see them.”
“That’s the only thing to do. There’s no sense in standing up and let them knock your brains out,” advised Sam.
“That’s the reason why I asked you what they would do if they caught you. I have wondered what they would do to me if they ever caught me.”
“Nothing, I suppose. At least they wouldn’t kill you
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About the Book
William Martin, an illiterate black share-cropper in the rural South and his wife, Maria, move from their small farm to a large southern city in the midst of the great financial depression to give their two sons the opportunity for a better education. They all face almost insurmountable obstacles to better themselves because of the segregation, discrimination, subjugation, and humiliation imposed by the ruling white supremacy. The younger son, Sam, is confronted with the daily challenge of either accepting his secondary life as a black or rising above his environment and being accepted as a person regardless of the color of his skin. The injustices inflicted upon him and his family breeds a hatred within him. How he handles this hatred determines his personal destiny.
About the Author
C. Vernon Hines was an attorney in