Carlton Gary
Carlton Gary once said, 'I don't have any parents.' In a literal sense, of course, this was not true, he was biologically conceived of two parents. It was not completely true in a figurative sense either, for while Gary's father deserted him, his mother raised him at least some of the time. But it may have reflected a psychological reality that, as a child, he never felt truly bonded to his mother or anyone else.
Carlton Gary was born in Columbus, Georgia, on December 15, 1952. His father was a construction worker who wanted nothing to do with the son he had sired and would accept no financial responsibility for Carlton. The father saw Gary only once when the boy was 12.
Hans fattige mor levede et nomadisk liv og bevægede sig fra en adresse til en anden. Nogle gange var hun helt ude af stand til at pleje ham og deponerede unggutten hos sin tante på sin fars side, Lillian Nesbit eller hans tante på sin mors side, Alma Williams.
Hans tante Lillian og hans mor arbejdede begge på forskellige tidspunkter som husholdere for velhavende, ældre, hvide kvinder. Det er sandsynligt, at Carlton lærte foragt og had for denne gruppe gennem sin tante og mors oplevelser med dem. Ældre mennesker er ofte skadelige og klager som et resultat. Afhængig af personlighed, arbejdede de mennesker, som hans tante arbejdede for, også smålig, krævende og nøjeregnende. Da disse arbejdsgivere blev ældre i en æra, hvor der blev taget adskillelse og hvid overherredømme for givet, kan de også have været racister. Drengen har måske hørt om deres fordomme, og det kan have fodret hadet mod hvide, som han senere ville demonstrere.
Carlton Gary was a bright youngster with a very high IQ score. However, it is probable he also suffered some sort of brain damage. His mother or other guardian often could not scrape together enough money to feed him properly and the boy was malnourished, a problem known to result in brain deficiencies. The desperately hungry youngster was sometimes seen rummaging through garbage cans for food. In elementary school, the boy had an accident on a schoolyard ball field that knocked him unconscious.
Tilsyneladende blev Carlton en rejsende slags tidligt. Hans mors bror, William David, modtog et telefonopkald fra en militær politibetjent ved Fort Lee Army Post i Virginia og sagde, at et barn ville tale med ham. Carlton, derefter 8 år gammel, blev sat på telefonen.
'UNK, det er Gary,' sagde drengen. 'Kom og hent mig.'
David har sagt, at han aldrig fandt ud af, hvordan barnet kom til Virginia på egen hånd.
Carlton fortsatte med at blande sig mellem hans tanter og hans mor og (primært) mellem Columbus, Georgien og forskellige steder i Florida i hans midterste teenagere.
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