Dr. Harold Thompson b.1948 Chicago, Illinois | Athens County Corner.

"I have African American, and Native American blood, and I have white blood. However, my parents identify as black. All of my grandparents identified as black. My mother could not pass for white but my father could. Three out of four of my grandparents could pass for white. When I was in highschool, I went down to the employment agency like everyone else did, trying to get jobs and so forth. I got a job selling the Merit Encyclopedia. So, I had to go to training sessions to learn how to do this. I was the only black person there, and I am only a kid. I was listening to them talk about how to sell, and I noticed one of the fellas said laughingly, “You tell them, if they don’t buy these Encyclopedia’s those blacks are going to move in next door,” and they all started laughing. I didn't go in there saying one thing. I just didn’t say anything. So, now I am in this situation, what do you do? I never purposely tried to be something; I just didn’t say anything. When people overcome this race thing, I am just amazed. People always ask me, “How did you make it?” And I say, “Because I had a family.” I had a strong family just by the fact that I could say I knew my great-grandmother. Most people don't even know their grandparents. I could build on that. I had two grandparents who went to college, in the 1920’s. I took it for granted, and it didn't dawn on me. My grandmother wanted to be a schoolteacher so she went on to college. In those days, it was just two years of college. But my other grandfather went to Howard University; I took that for granted, it didn't even dawn on me at the time.