Unaware of Racism, Naïve Janelle Monae Believes ‘Love,’ Fans, & Money are Most Important
I recall watching the great writer Ishmael Reed mentioning how he’d frequently go to a local diner in California – a diner where he was usually the only Black person there but everyone there was very nice to him. However, he made the mistake of once taking a Black friend who was visiting him to the diner and he couldn’t believe how horribly the White employees and patrons treated him because he showed up with another Black person. It’s like the old true story of how one Black person moving into a White neighborhood may be okay, but as soon as two or three Black families move in, “For Sale” signs start going up in the yards of White homeowners.