Me
wanta be the good Jap boy,
Kick ball on playground, see?
For
me not much the great big joy –
Nobody want to play with me.
May
14, 1913
Note - I read
this as being sympathetic, but – in case that’s not accurate – will attach the
disclaimer:
I’ve
left what are often inappropriate or even racial terms and or descriptions as
written. They are rare, and probably weren’t seen as objectionable within even
New England society at the time. More importantly, they exist, and editing them
out would be dishonest. Things were what they were. Still, including them, as I
have done, remains awkward for obvious reasons, including personal taste and
the harmfulness of their use. Hopefully, doing so will at least present an
accurate picture of how ingrained some prejudices, or at least callousness to
them, still were at the time, even among some of the more progressive people of
the era.
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