God in the deatils (1960)

[sagehen]

 Wilson Gray writes:

>> I associated that "devil" with the (mega-unPC) proverbial "n*gger in
>> the  woodpile", the hidden problem that will cause trouble if not sought
>> out and  eliminated.
>
>Interesting! I've always assumed that this saying meant only that a
>person purporting to be of pure European(-American) ancestry was
>suspected of hiding African(-American) ancestry.
~~~~~~~~~
There was some discussion of this expression on ADS-L  several years ago
(perhaps the archives  could be consulted) in which it appeared that quite
a few people understood its meaning to be as you describe. Most of them
were young enough that their experience of its use was probably literary or
at least second-hand.  Only us old farts knew the real skinny.  But here
you are, one of us (OF), and had the same idea.  Was this understanding
general among blacks of your generation?
A. Murie