During my junior year at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, I had a part-time gig as a journalist for a startup magazine. On this particular day, I was writing an article about the 16th Street Church Bombing because the anniversary was near.
When I left my desk for a moment to clear my mind, the owner of the magazine stopped me in the hallway to converse, as we did on occasion.
“You know Chris, the church bombing was horrible and I don’t condone it whatsoever. But, you know how people always say that those four girls could’ve grown up to become doctors or lawyers or somethin’?”
I crossed my arms and nodded. I had a feeling where he was going next, and he didn’t disappoint:
“I mean, how do we know?” he chuckled.
He squinted his eyes and leaned in closer. I also leaned in, uncrossed my arms, and put my hands in my pockets. My disarmed body language gave him the comfort to keep going:
“I mean, what if they’d grown up to become criminals or ended up on welfare? No one ever thinks about that.”
What he really meant was: “BLACK children usually end up becoming criminals or end up on welfare.”
