A native of Jacksonville, Fla., he saw the hardships of black Floridians when he knocked on doors collecting payments for his father's furniture store.
Yet, in the face of that hardship, black people did what Americans do.
The kingdoms of West Africa's slave coast were built by selling Africans from the interior to make sugar and cotton in the New World for Europe, to distill the purest white sweetness and softness from the purest black bitterness and hardship.
But there were hardships, black cats thrown at him as he walked to the batter's box, daily threats against his family and body, teammates who wouldn't speak to him and opponents who made every attempt to terminally injure him.
"Black people are living hardship, that's their life every day, and white people feel guilty about that," she said.
South African blacks, however, face unusual hardship: Until the end of apartheid in 1994, it was government policy to deny black students an education in mathematics and science.
Remember (2004) chronicles the hardships of black students during the integration of the American public school system; aimed at children, it uses archival photographs juxtaposed with captions speculating on the thoughts of their subjects.
The Third Man walking tour retraces Harry Lime's footsteps through the city's cobbled streets, visiting many of the original locations and telling the tales of the black market, spying and hardships of post-second world war Vienna.
Then in his early 20s, Steve Bloom - now better known for his wildlife photography - witnessed the hardships facing black South Africans, and the force used by the authorities to try to quell protest.
Some psychologists have said that it may occur because people assume blacks have faced more hardship, which makes them tougher.
