![]() ![]() This new lie felt better than the ones that had been written about him long before he was born because, at least for a while, it felt like it was his to control. He clung to it, even if it meant he had to perpetuate a lie. ![]() He stumbled into a place where he suddenly felt welcome and accepted, and he went with it. He certainly didn't anticipate that being perceived as fresh from Africa would come with its own set of wild assumptions. Zora wasn't thinking about any of that when he went all Prince Akeem on a whole university. When you're black and someone makes up their mind about you the moment they see you, without you ever having a chance to speak up and announce yourself, it can be so diminishing. But being black in America is not like being awkward or having the wrong clothes or being bad at sports. Maybe you don't like the way people see you. So when he spotted a young woman walking down the sidewalk with a purse, he made a decision. He hoped to find a stray purse or wallet, but he couldn't. But one afternoon, he finally committed a crime where he couldn't ignore how ugly it was.Īfter a failed burglary the night before, he drove around looking for something to swipe in broad daylight. But because Peter never saw his victims face-to-face, the crime felt a little abstract, like robbing a business and not a person. And this time, he really started to unravel.Īny kind of stealing is pretty tawdry. But within a year, secretly, he started going back to the casino. He was more involved in church than ever. He served some time, came out.Īnd now, of course, we all knew he was Spider-Man, and we rallied around him and rooted for him as he built this new life and went to meetings for his gambling addiction. He never stopped to think, five dozen burglaries in a row in the same neighborhood during the same hours every day- wouldn't the cops catch on? They did, and caught him. Peter was a really great thief in some ways, and a really dumb one in others. At church, we were all so impressed by how composed Peter was, how well put together, without realizing it was because he was trying so hard to be composed and well put together. And this is the thing that struck me, talking to him about all this. He put on the Italian shoes, kept his feelings to himself, and hoped no one would notice he was different. It left him always feeling like an outsider. ![]()
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