Perseverance — Page 9
Part I – Life Before Islam 9 St. Louis who was called to administer services to Robert Kennedy when he was shot. WORLD WAR II I was in high school when the United States decided to fight in World War II. I received induction papers to be drafted into the army. I sought guidance from friends how to avert joining the army. One friend told me to take aspirin on an empty stomach, then eat some apples in order to increase my heartbeat and give the impression that I had high blood pressure. When I showed up for the army physical, the Caucasian doctor greeted me in a jolly mood, “How is the boy this morning?” These were fighting words to a young black man. I responded, “I can’t tell ya how the boy is, but I can tell you how the man is!” The doctor then asked, “What is a man but a grown up boy?” I stopped to think. I said, “I never thought about it that way. ” He pulled me out of the line of young men and told me to stand by myself in another part of the room. Another doctor noticed me and approached me. He asked me why I was standing there and I replied, “The other doctor told me to stand here. ” This doctor, assuming that I was separated for further evaluation, asked me, “When you are standing by yourself, do you hear any strange voices. ” Catching on that he was probably a psychiatrist, I played along. I said, “Yes I hear voices but I have more sense to believe that someone is talking to me when I don’t see them. ” He told me to stand in another line where a third doctor asked me regarding my small stature, “Have you always been this small?”