420082
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(Tsxas)


F~~LIX HAThOOD Is a temperamental and whimsical old Negro of San Antonio, Texas, who still sees the Bunny aide of his 92 years, in spite of his total blln&ness. He Wa~ born and brsd. a slave in St. Hedwig, Bexar Co., Texas, the son Sf slave parents bought in Miss1s.~. ippi b~r his master, William Gud1~w.~ Before and during the Civil V~ar he was a sheep herder and cowpu.ncher. His atitobi.graphy is a colorful contribution, showiflg the philos~phica1 attitu~de if the slaves, as well as shedding some light upon the lives of slave owners whose su.pp•rt of the Cenfed~eracy was not accompanied by violent hatred. of the Union.



	~	sir, I‘m Felix Hz~ywooc1, end I can answer all those things that yo~i want to know. But, firBt, Ist me ask you this: Is you all a white man, or is you a black man?“

	“I1in black, blacker than you are,“ said the caller.

	The eyes of the old. blind Negro, - eyes like two irnirkey brown marbles - actually twinkled. Then he laughed:

	\J*No, you ain‘t. I knewed you was white man when you comes up

the path and speaks. I jus‘ alwa~ya asks that question for fun. It makes white men a little insulted when you dont know they is white ‚ and it makes niggers aU conceited up when you think maybe they is white.“

	And there was the key note to the old Negro‘ s character and. t~iperamsnt. He was making a sort of privileged game with a spOErtive twist out of‘ his handicap of blindness.

	As the interviewer scribbled. down a n•te, the door to the little shanty • on Arabsila Alley epened and a backless chair was carried out on th• porch by a vigerous •]4 colored woman. She was Mrs. alla Thompson,
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