Anna Vallone – 7/4/2010 Message
Subject: Personal
Dear Dr Swain and Mr Edgerton,
I have lived my entire life in Philadelphia, PA, and as you might know, this city is said to be the most racially divided in the entire USA (and its not even in the “evil ol’ South”!) I’m 50 years old, and so have seen a lot here in my time.
Racial hatred against white people has always been extreme here, and the feelings are usually returned (remember, this city is host to not only the New Black Panthers of “kill crackers and their babies” fame, but also the Black Israelites,a group that is just as anti-white and anti-semitic as the NBPP).
But since being on Facebook, I have met wonderful black folk like you two, and it has made me see that the rest of the country is not like Philly (I guess you can tell I don’t travel much, lol). Thank you for that. I’m not at all politically correct, so I would say you folks have been a credit to your race, but I know that goes over like a lead balloon these days, PCness or not! lol
I was raised by a colored lady named Miss Lula Cochran. She raised my Daddy too, and she, like both of you, was from the South (born in S Carolina in 1897, to be exact!) She took over when my grandmother died (I was 2), so she was sort of like my granny. And in many ways, you folks remind me of her. Devout Christians, Southern, not buying into that PC crap…basically, a pleasure to talk to and be around (well, as much as you can “be around” someone on the internet, lol).
And btw I use the term “colored” as a term of endearment. Its what Miss Lula called herself; she used to tell me that “black” was what the “troublemakers” called themselves, and so didn’t want any part of it, and so neither do I.
I also wanted to mention something else (did I mention I tend to be longwinded?) There is someone I friended at his request; I don’t know who he is, but twice now he has posted images that I find very offensive to colored people, and black people too. I deleted them, and have asked him not to post anything like that to my wall anymore.
In case you saw them before I had the chance to remove them, I apologize. If he does it again I will remove him from my friends. You might want to do the same if you have him in your friends: his name is David McGovern Jr.
Frankly, I wouldn’t care if his images offended the kind of blacks we have here in Philly! But the last thing I would want would be to offend either of you, or the other people like you I have met on Facebook.
God bless you both, and have a nice day (as best as we can with this heat!)
Anna
