Papa Was a Rolling Stone

I was in Starbucks with my boyfriend, Milton, who had seemed to be becoming more and more pro-Black over the past few months. “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by The Temptations was playing on the loudspeaker and we both sang along.

“I love this song,” I said.

He agreed that it was definitely a classic.

We sang some more of it.

“George Michael did a version of this song too,” I said.

“You would like the white man’s version better,” he scoffed, in a nasty tone.

“I didn’t say I liked it better, I just stated that he recorder a version as well!”

My feelings were hurt and I turned away from him, and replayed his nasty remark in my head.

“You would like the white man’s version better.”

This coming from a guy who had been walking down the street singing Hall & Oats’s songs with me a couple months earlier.