Pike County, OH: Black As I Wish to Be

[AJL]

I was listening to this tonight on NPR. It's fascinating and great food for thought regarding race and identity.

It's an audio program, but here's the text from the webpage -

"In this episode Al Letson and guest producer Lu Olkowski visit a tiny town in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio where, for a century, residents have shared the common bond of identifying as African-American despite the fact that they look white. Racial lines have been blurred to invisibility, and people inside the same family can vehemently disagree about whether they are black or white. It can be tense and confusing. As a result, everyone’s choosing: Am I black? Am I mixed race? Or, am I white? Adding to the confusion, there’s a movement afoot to recognize their Native-American heritage."

Did anyone else listen to this? I'd love to have a discussion about it. 

Listen to the program here - stateofthereunion.com/pike-county-oh-as-black-as-we-wish-to-be/#prettyPhoto

[Cicero]

Say what? I'm actually pretty familiar with Pike county but this is news to me. Off to read.

[Cicero]

Nevermind. Did not realize there wasn't an article. I'll try to listen to it tomorrow. It sounds kind of fascinating.

[AJL]

Oh how disappointing. I just heard of this program tonight.