Five Women Talk About Race

Gratefully taken from Robert S. Griffin’s wonderful book, One Sheaf, One Vine.

SWF SEEKS STRONG, TRADITIONAL WHITE MALE Margie O’Connor*, thirty, lives with her grandmother in a small town near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has a soft Southern accent and gentle, sincere manner.

I WANT TO ASK, “WHY?” Laura Hayes * is thirty -four years old and lives with her husband near Tampa, Florida. They have no children. Laura is about to complete a graduate program in business administration and works part-time as a sales clerk.

ANGRY WHITE WOMAN Mary Rowland is thirty-three and single and lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern California. She is self-employed, operating a business out of her home.

BLACK METAL Nadine Taylor, a native Texan, is twenty-three and a senior at the University of Texas in Austin. She comes across as personally grounded and positive in outlook.

SAFE IN MAINE Carolyn Davies* is fifty-three and a widow and lives in Massachusetts after spending most of her life in Texas. She works for the government in the area of social services.