#285 The Tale of Almost- David Dante Troutt
Will Kelly was born a black slave, but with a blemish, a
white birth mark appeared under one arm. They called the affliction mulitis. As
the civil war ended, and reconstruction was underway, Will’s “condition” spread.
White marks were making rings were showing up all over his body.
This cause all sorts of scorn: “Will Kelly was no better
than a mule, a beast with blood between the races who’d drown one day forever
more.”
It not only effected the way the public viewed him, but
cause himself alarm, although his self-identity never waivered: “His neck was
half white, and he was pale behind the ears. The colony of cream had not yet
reached his face, nor his loins, nor his heart.”
During this time, there were several black leaders looking
to him for help, and using his skin color as a cause, but to most a black man
was a black man no matter the tone: “So, black men hung from trees, and high
yellow burned like the darker variety.”
Soon, his identity was questioned by all parts of society.
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