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ESSAYS

THE FREEDOM FAMILY

MANY YEARS ago I was born into the Cardozo-Goode family, in Washington, D.C., and spent my very early childhood there among my many blood relations. My father died when I was six, and my mother brought our small immediate family-my two brothers and myself-to New York, where she could better earn a living and educate us in nonsegregated schools. 
  In New York, in Harlem, I found that I belonged to a much larger family-the Negro family-and that I had 15 million Negro relations.
  In the public schools of New York I learned that I belonged to a still larger family, the American family, and that I had 150 million American relations.(This proved to be a mixed blessing, however, because some of the mean, white, arrogant members of this family kept trying to exclude, abuse, persecute and even kill Negro members, and treated us like black sheep and poor relations.)
  When I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, I joined the Christian family, and found that I had millions of Christian relations all over the world.(But this, too, proved to be a mixed blessing. I joined the Church because I believe in the ideas and the ideals of the Christian religion-especially in the Brotherhood of Man, the do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and the peace on earth goodwill toward men, ideas-only to find that many of my Christian relations also keep trying to exclude Negro members, treat us like black sheep and poor relations, and if they believe in their ideas and ideals they certainly do not practice them.)
  At College I joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, thus becoming a member of the Greek letter family. This was interesting and fun, but proved not to be particularly important.
  Then I took a most important step in my life. I married into the Robeson family, thereby acquiring a super-duper husband, later a wonderful son, and now a dear and lovely daughter-in-law and a grandson who are out-of-this-world. I didn't pick up many new rela-

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 16:52:50