Interview 2

This is an interview with and elderly lady I know that talked to me about what her life was like growing up.

What is your name?

Roncque Applebee

Where did you grow up?

New Albany, Mississippi

What were your parents names and occupations?

Marques and Deola Applebee

Do you have any siblings? Yes or No, names?

No siblings

What was your life like growing up as a black girl in New Albany?

I grew up in a small house in the middle of nowhere, today there’s traffic and houses everywhere but when I grew up my surroundings changed, my school changed, I had my first encounters with white people when my father would get gasoline for his car, I noticed that white people looked different than my family did but I didn’t ask about it.

Did you ever encounter racism? Explain?

It started when I was in school, I would be called the N word but I didn’t understand it at my age yet, I grew up trying to be respectful but I felt I received no respect

What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race?

I talked to my parents about it when I started school, I had not been around that many white kids,  

What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman?

I remember one day that I came home and I was sad because I had been made fun of and looked down upon by whites, my mother told me there was nothing wrong with me and that they just didn’t understand, it was a large misunderstanding of people, I did the best I could to not let it get to me.

Did you graduate and attend college?

In high school I met a guy named Dennis, we got married a year or two later, I wondered what I should have done then but I became the stay at home wife so no I didn’t go to college.

Did you have any children?

Dennis and I had two kids and they’re about to finish college themselves now, I felt it was my duty as a woman to have children and to have a family, I knew if I had kids that they may have to go through the same sort of things I did, but that was after blacks had their rights so I knew it would be a better life for them than me.

What do you think about people dating outside of their race?  Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?

I’m not really for it, races should stay their race, they have disagreements but neither side is wrong or right they just need to stay in their place and respect the other race for who they are.

  What issues do you think most affect black Americans today?

Today Obama has a lot on him, I don’t necessarily agree with all his decisions, he is setting an impression for all black people that are judged wrongly by his decisions.