Mr. J’s extra-curricular teachings soon took a new turn. He told us about n*****s, and all the problems they were causing. These n*****s were lazy, had smaller brains, wanted to ruin our lives, and take our parents’ jobs. They needed to stay in their place, and the modern world just didn’t understand, he was very concerned. I already knew this was all wrong, but I was terribly conflicted. I loved Walter’s black friends, and they seemed as smart and considerate as anyone else. I didn’t know what to do. I’d put so much energy into wanting to be the new Eddie Spaghetti, the wild man of the
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