Mona in the Promised Land: A quote that I am ashamed of

As I was reading this book, I came upon a quote regarding one of Alfred's friends. "A field n****r, he called himself, even though he was one of the lightest Negroes Charlene did lay eyes on..." I feel like it is a shame that years after slavery, in the 1960s, a lot of African Americans ranked themselves based on where their ancestors woked on the plantations. It is even worst that some people still refer to themselves in that way today! I think once someone said I would have worked in the house in slavery days. If blacks are trying to escape the prejudice and the ostracizing in society, then why would they demote themselves this way? I absolutely hate when my brother and his friends call each other N***a this or N***a that. I strongly believe that we blacks will still refer to ourselves that way in the future, and nothing will change. The way that the African Americans in the book acted then is still the way that a lot of blacks that I know act today, which makes me feel ashamed sometimes.