[Taltarzac725]

I am a white, Anglo-Saxon male.

I remember going for an interview-- which they paid to fly me from O'hare near Chicago to Raleigh-Durham-- for a law librarian reference position around 1994 at North Carolina Central University's Law School. When I applied I was just applying to every opening in law librarianship there was not realizing that North Carolina Central University is primarily an African American school.

I found that out while researching for the interview.

When I got there, the man who picked me up from the airport could tell that I was a little worried. It was more about my 224 613 Project though and not going into a very unfamiliar place where I would become the minority and quickly. (My 224 613 Project was/is to improve the quality of materials accessible for survivors/victims of crimes in libraries through creating a dialog between victim/witness providers and librarians).

I never saw so many shades of black while at NCCU. My fears about my 224 613 Project were set aside too because Professor Fred Williams admitted to me that he had been a victim of crime and he taught Criminal Law.

I did not get the job or do well further in the interview process because the Law School Dean accused me of lying about supervising document retrieval on my resume to what seemed like the shock of the law librarian. Pretty much this is done by anyone with student employees who works on a reference desk in a busy library. Not lying but checking the work of students who are copying items requested over the phone or fax. It is like being a waiter and checking water glasses if they need refilling.

My points here are that racism is never simple. It seemed to me that darker shades of African Americans were sometimes the victims of prejudice when compared with those of lighter skin. And, vice versa as well. There did seem to be status groups at NCCU. Unfortunately for me, the Law Librarian who chose to fly me out at their expense was not high on the totem pole.

And, that people can lie, cheat, and manipulate no matter what their race if there are political forces at work. I was fighting some powerful forces with my 224 613 Project and seemed to make enemies who would do anything they could to deny me re-entry into the law librarianship profession. Many of these people were white, some black, some of some kind of undefined colors. I remember seeing a man who looked like a African American albino at NCCU Law School.

And I do think that racial thinking came into play with how they handled me at NCCU. They always made sure that there were some of the very few whites on their staff at the various functions I went to during my stay at NCCU. At the lunches, interviews, and from the man who picked me up at the airport. A Southern white gentleman who was one of the reference librarians. He did notice that I liked a little worried about coming to a very different place. I do think that they had a charming Southern white man pick me up at the airport assuming that I was of the same race.