History hidden under the soil of Annapolis

Washington Times ^ | Mar 27, 2008 | Gabriella Boston

[Albion Wilde]

They preferred national brands ... probably because they would have been shortchanged ..

This could be true; but it also may just be a statement. A look into the grocery carts of people who use food stamps bears out that this tendency to buy "the high-priced spread" may continue today. It is a way to say, "I'm just as good."

[Albion Wilde]

"...part of West African religious rituals that include caches of bones, glassware and feathers hidden under doorsills, hearths and the northeast corner of rooms. This was a very common custom in England and the colonies, and might not have anything to do with African customs.

I renovated a house that had been owned by Italian immigrants to the U.S. in the late 1800s. It had coins, baby shoes and booties, bottles, bus tickets and subway tokens in the floors and in a closed chimney. I thought it was just accidental, but a neighbor told me this was a commonplace ritual to "mark the territory."

[Albion Wilde]

...centuries spent in slavery doesn't exactly foster a gun culture.

They would have been more likely to use traps and bow and arrow.

....perhaps unscrupulous vendors just ripped them off, knowing that recently-freed slaves had practically no recourse to fight this kind of injustice.

I received this treatment when traveling in Southern Italy and in France. It's a regrettable human commonplace. It's also an incentive for those who are able to open their own businesses serving their community, as many ethnicities have done in this country. Discrimination against women at work was my incentive to go into my own business in the 70s. Part of being in the land of opportunity.