Shame

“A Shameful Youth”

The excerpt entitled “Shame” by Dick Gregory paints an accurate picture of the life of a typical black child, and how his family struggled just to survive. Gregory recalls a time in his life when he was in elementary school and the first time he felt “shame” in his life. This was especially painful for Gregory because Helene Tucker, the girl he liked, was present when he was humiliated in front of the entire class.

One might think as a child Gregory never thought about the embarrassment of being in a relief program and having to go to the “Worthy Boys Annual Christmas Dinner”, wear the same brown and orange mackinaw that many other ...