From My Grandmother's Files: Maninge Skellum
by Shirley A. Littleford Johnsen, edited by Kirsten Ellen Johnsen
It was when I was standing on the train platform in Johannesburg, taking in the outrageous scene of thousands of black people milling about, just having disembarked, or waiting to board third class trains that I first noticed the rest rooms. They were clearly marked in both English and Afrikaans "Europeans Only" and "Colored" or "Natives". Although there were twenty or more times as many of the latter two categories of persons, there was only one rest room apiece for them, while the "Europeans" (which meant all whites in general) had several restrooms, as well as a large comfortable tearoom.
I was fourteen then, fifty-five years ago, but even with no prior knowledge that such conditions existed in the world, I thought: "Some day there's going to be a blood bath." But I can't say I told you so now, because I never told anyone my thoughts that day.
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