Perseverance — Page 7
Part I – Life Before Islam 7 they’d finally find something for me to do and after the summer I would return home with approximately $3,000. I enjoyed spending my money on expensive clothes. One time I remember looking for an overcoat. The store owner brought out a coat and the first thing I did was look at the price tag. It was $69. I asked him for something better. He brought out another in the $80 range. I persisted to ask him for something better and he brought one for $200 and simply based upon the price I told him I would take it. I did not pay attention to the quality, the fabric or the cut; I simply wanted the confidence of having expensive clothes. This was important in my culture. People judged you by the clothes you wore. INCIDENT OUT WEST One incident I recall took place in Pocatello, Idaho. The environment was socially segregated with occasional racial outbursts. We noticed a fight between two Whites and a Black. One White was on the ground with the Black on top, and the second White on top of him. When we saw that, we thought we should help the black guy. We took the White off the Black and he began to run. We then noticed that the black man had a knife and was stabbing the white man. When we saw the blood, we quickly withdrew because it was no longer a simple race issue. When we saw the incident on the news later that night, they reported that there were three Blacks attacking two Whites, and the police were looking for the other two Blacks. We thought we should leave as soon as possible on a train. Although we came to learn that the black man who we helped had asked for us, we left