Oral History Interview with Raymond Clement, July 6, 1983 Page: 13
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Clement
13Cummings :
Clement:we went to, they weren't there. So I just flat hadn't
seen any.
Do you think your attitudes toward black people-- being
good, bad, or indifferent--were influenced by your parents,
your friends, your neighbors, your relatives? Who?
The whole community. It was just everybody. My dad and
I farm and ranch together some now, or at least both of us
are in the business. I have to be very careful when I'm out
in public with him because he's still got the 1930's ways of
speech and the 1930's attitude. He's developed a pretty
good like for the blacks, but they're not blacks. They're
not Negroes. They're still niggers. And he doesn't say it
out of spite or out of hatred. They use the word "nigger."
We had a guy that we bought several truckloads of alfalfa
hay from in Vernon, Texas, and he's a colored man. He'd
always come down and bring two or three black people with
him to unload the hay. One day the weight ticket didn't
match the amount of money he was charging us. My ol' dad
knows where every penny in the world goes--not like I am--
and he takes care of every penny. That's why he's got some-
thing. Anyway, he says, "Hey, these figures don't match.
There's a nigger in the woodpile somewhere." This guy looks
up at him, and he says, "I ain't never heard nobody say it
like that before." (Laughter) Daddy still doesn't realize
that he done anything wrong or said anything wrong because
that's a slang expression. So he can embarrass you when he's
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Marcello, Ronald E. & Clement, Raymond. Oral History Interview with Raymond Clement, July 6, 1983, book, July 6, 1983; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth223649/m1/15/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Oral History Program.