"Ofay": force and etymology: a 1931 editor's position

[Douglas G. Wilson]

 From ProQuest:

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_Afro-American_ (Baltimore MD), 17 Oct. 1931: p. 6:

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[in bold type, apparently the editor's response to the letter following]
This Reader Flies to Conclusions Which are Not Justified. No antagonism
is Expressed in the Word Ofay (originally au fait), Applied to White
People, Any More than There is in the Word Sepia, Applied to Colored Folk.

To the editor of the AFRO:

First, I want to say I am an American Negro.

Second, I want you to explain the meaning of the term "ofay," which I
see so often in your valued paper. Is it used in a good sense or does it
carry with it some shame? ....

 >>

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-- Doug Wilson

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