A story went the rounds about a San Franciscan white matron who refused to sit beside a Negro civilian on the streetcar, even after he made room for her on the seat. Her explanation was that she would not sit beside a draft dodger who was a Negro as well. She added that the least he could do was fight for his country the way her son was fighting on Iwo Jima. The story said that the man pulled his body away from the window to show an armless sleeve. He said quietly and with great dignity, Then ask your son to look around for my arm, which I left over there.
A story circulated about a white woman in San Francisco who refused to sit next to a Black man on a streetcar, even after he made space for her. She claimed she wouldn't sit beside a draft dodger who was Black and said her son was fighting in Iwo Jima. Her attitude highlighted racial prejudice and class division at the time.
The man responded quietly and with dignity, pulling his sleeve to reveal he was missing an arm. He suggested she ask her son to look for his arm, which he had left elsewhere, emphasizing the unjust nature of her prejudice and advocating for respect and understanding.
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