A Racist Neighborhood Learned A Lesson From A Factory Worker
When getting even can be productive
On the outskirts of a cornfield in a South Carolina neighborhood, it was midnight.
Neighbors saw spotlights flickering from a yard in the neighborhood. Spotlights from the three-acre backyard of a factory worker named Pearl Fryar.
Years earlier, while house-hunting, Fryar learned neighbors did not want him in their neighborhood. The reason: Racist stereotyping about African Americans not keeping up their yards.
Indignant, and determined to prove the stereotype wrong, Fryar bought a home in the neighborhood and set a goal to win Yard of the Month honors from the local garden club.
So, after a full day of work, as a beverage can factory worker, Fryar would work in his yard till late at night. Three years later, he won honors from the local garden club. But how he won inspired many people and baffled industry experts.
Fryar had no gardening knowledge or formal training; only a 3-minute pruning lesson from a nursery owner and inspiration gained from replanting discarded nursery plants (Weigel).
“I don’t follow the book. I break all the rules. I didn’t know I was not supposed to do what I do. For one time in my life, ignorance paid off,” said Fryar.
Patience, precision, and dexterity are undoubtedly some of the skills Fryar transferred from his factory job, but it does not explain the sophisticated level of artistry he created.
Pearl Fryar’s story underscores the mystery of innate ability and hidden aptitudes.
Fryar’s artistic ability may have come, in part, from the ability to see images in 3-D. It’s an aptitude called Structural Visualization, and not everyone has that innate talent (Johnson O’ Connor).
People have traveled from all over to see Fryar’s so-called yard. And he has been interviewed by Oprah, featured in national magazines, and invited to speak at Harvard University.
Fryar’s challenge of a specific racial stereotype uncovered a tremendous hidden talent, and that is amazing.
Thank you for reading.
Sources
Updated Jan 5, 2019
