While browsing in a secondhand bookshop recently, I came across an English children’s story entitled Although He Was Black. Readers might like to complete the title for themselves: although he was black, he was clean; although he was black, he was honest; although he was black, he was clever. The last sentence of the book, however, reveals all, and reads:
Dear old chap, he was one of the whitest fellows I ever knew—although he was black!
The dear old chap in question was Sambo, an orphaned black boy brought to England by a wealthy Englishman called Mr. Darrell who, for a reason unspecified, had spent some time in Kentucky. His two sons were expecting him to return with a parrot or a monkey as a present from such exotic climes, but he brought back Sambo instead, telling his two sons that
“I want you each to understand that Sambo is to be kindly treated, although never allowed to take li ...This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchase
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Anthony Danielss most recent book is In Praise of Prejudice (Encounter Books)
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This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 19 May 2001, on page 15
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