When I got to Austin, where the University
of Texas is, I, it was, I'm sure it was like
ninety-something degrees.
Well, Texas, Texas and Idaho are entirely
different.
And here I had this heavy wool stuff on.
It was like maybe six o'clock in the morning.
And I'm sure that there was some arrangement
for the family that I was to stay with, for
them to pick me up.
But nobody was there.
And since I had to go to the restroom I looked
around and that was my exposure to "colored"
and "white."
So I said, "Gosh, what am I?
Am I, I'm not colored, and I'm not white,
so what shall I do?"
But since nobody was around I snuck into the
"white" area and later I asked somebody, "What
am I?
Am I 'white' or 'colored'?"
They said, "Oh, you're supposed to go into
the 'white' area."
But Seattle did not have that segregation,
so I didn't know.
But that was my first exposure to segregation.
