HOW TO HANDLE BLACK PEOPLE: A BEGINNER'S MANUAL

                 The main thing is.
Try as hard as you can to be
                 courteous and forthright
at all times.

No matter how insolently,
                          familiarly, or
                          offensively
you ordinarily treat others,
Try to keep firmly in mind that
                 this is not the right tack to take
                 with black people.

Firmly resist any impulse you may feel
                 to be crude or insulting;
Try hard to control the temptation
                 to verbal abuse.

                 when they are being demeaned.

Also, try to state your purposes
                candidly.
Try not to lie or
                          dissemble or
                          evade or
                          manipulate.

Black people are quite alert to that kind of thing.

if, by some misfortune,
                 your purposes are such that
you find it impossible to be both
                 courteous and candid
at the same time;
If, by some unhappy accident,
                 you cannot find it within you to be both
                 honest and civil,
It would be better for you
                 not to deal with black people at all.

But if you should slip up;
If, despite your best efforts, you should
                 regress backwards to
                           rudness
                           abuse or
                           dishonesty
in your dealings with black people

--and this is important--

Do your best not to pretend it didn't happen;
do not regress to make-believe.
Under no circumstances must you ever
                 act out this charade
                 in the presence of black people;
do not expect their complicity.
Under no circumstances must you ever insult their intelligence in this manner.

They won't like it
They won't cooperate
They won't respect you
They'll think you are ridiculous.

The authors of this manual
                 hope you will find it useful.

Good luck and have a good day!

______________________________________________________
      Adrian Piper, “How to Handle Black People: A Beginner's Manual”, Decide Who You Are, Adrian Piper, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, 1992, p. XXV.