By Oscar Halpert

Between the ages of 9 to 13,  my father used to take me to Delta Park in Portland, Oregon (USA) to watch soccer games. There were three soccer fields.  One of the teams I remember was called “Hollandia” and the players wore orange shirts.  I remember all these men had black ponytails and brown skin.

I could not understand why they were from Holland because they did not have blue eyes and blond hair.  This was in 1969.  I watched Hollandia play against a team called “Germania” – the brown skinned against the white skinned, yet both groups were immigrants from Europe.

Fast forward, today I am married to the sister of one of those pony-tailed European immigrant soccer players.  Now I understand.

 

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