Detroit’s late, great Black Mayor extraordinaire explains white supremacy in his autobiography _Hard stuff_ with a story he heard from his grandfather.

Detroit’s late, great Black Mayor extraordinaire explains white supremacy in his autobiography _Hard stuff_ with a story he heard from his grandfather. <





“When I was old enough to begin contemplating the dynamics of labor unions, it was one of my Grandpa Young's Alabama tales that illustrated for me the fundamental racial dilemma inherent in collective bargaining. The way we had it figured at Maben's barbershop, racial unity in organized labor was the only way for blacks or whites to gain any leverage in the workplace. For the white man, however, the notion of rubbin shoulders with black men, while to his economic advantage, required him to surrender his sacred myth of superiority---- as i clearly understood when my grandfather' told me the story o fthe honey dippers.



In the old South, honey dippers were the men who drove the shit wagons and had the job of cleaning outhouses, which was done by removing buckets that had been placed in the holes or where there were no buckets, dipping out the waste with cups. Often, honey dippers came in pairs, one black and one white, the black one doing the dipping and the white one driving the mule team. When the black dipper had a bucket of shit, he would hand it up to the white driver, wo would fill the wagon with buckets to be hauled out to the dump. I one instance, however --according to my grandfather --- the driver suddenly had a change of heart and said to the dipper, "Tom, get up here in this wagon. " So Tom sat in the wagon and the white guy proceeded to hand him the bucket. When Tom's curiosity, finally got the better of him and he asked why they had swapped jobs, the white fellow told him, "I ain't ginna have no n-word handing me no shit"