The Civil Rights Movement in the Southeastern US [Archive]

Sam

01-02-2009, 08:44 AM

OK Coolwater I promised to share a few experiences with you on this subject so...
I was working in a local restaurant 25 years ago. The local branch of the NAACP met there once a month in a back section of the restaurant to eat and discuss business. We welcomed them and served them and at the end of their meal we left them alone so that they could privately discuss their business. One day as we are getting everyone seated....A certain tall wavy haired black man comes in dressed to the nines! He stood straight as an arrow and he had a smile that was cordial but overly so. He asked me where they were being seated. I showed him the way as he introduced himself to me. His name...Jesse Jackson.
Then I heard a loud rambucious laugh coming from the entrance of the restaurant. There stood a man in a vibrant red baseball cap, red sneakers, red shirt and overalls. He looked as if he had just stepped out of a cotton feild! He had a woman under each arm. One was my boss whom he had know since childhood. The other was a lovely well-dressed black lady. She was very sweet and when she smiled it was like sunshine glistening on her face.
My boss called me to her and introduced them to me. It was Hosea Williams and his wife Juanita. She asked me to personally see to it that they got everything they needed and told me whatever they wanted was on the house. (Something she NEVER did before.) I heard someone from behind me call out a greeting to Hosea (Jackson) and Hosea called back a comical remark to him. They both roared with laughter and Hosea joined them in the back room. My boss sat out in the front dining room and ate with Juanita.
After they left....my boss' sister whispered to me...Do you know who that is?
I told her I didn't. She told me the story of when they were kids growing up in Attapulgas. How their father was a carpenter and my boss had helped her father repair houses. One of the houses they had worked on was Hosea's childhood home. Hosea and my boss had met and fell in love. They wanted to get married someday. They were 14 year olds at that time. But a nosey woman down the road had seen them together and Hosea was about to be lynched for it. Her brothers ran and warned him that the lynch mob was coming for him. Her brothers helped him get away.
Now these women and their entire family till this day swear that to be true so you can take it for what it is worth.

Coolwater

01-04-2009, 04:55 AM

Man, what sort of place gets a kid lynched for puppy love? I'm glad things have improved some. That's a great story, Sam.

We heard both of those folks, and Coretta Scott King, and Maynard Jackson, and a bunch of other amazing speakers at the march in Forsyth County. Do you know what Williams said? "I see a lot of white faces here today... What took y'all so long?" :D

Sam

01-04-2009, 03:52 PM

;) The fear of change Cool. Ignorance often breeds fear. And most people in the south were uneducated. They were too poor to travel and worked from before sun up to sundown. The religion here was mostly early Baptist preachers who taught that everyone began as a white man. They were taught that the different races and colors came as the result of a tower of evil that God had brought forward the destruction of because of evil doing. The darker the skin the more that person's ancestors were guilty of evil doing and their decendents would also do evil. Basically those churches were their schools. Occasionally someone from the North would come down and teach skills of reading and writing but if they tried to teach anything else..those good old church goers ran them out of town or worse.
Those who did travel to the north were wealthy plantation owners and it would not been to their benefit financially to release the slaves. So they came back home and told tales to those who were ignorant of all kinds of evil doing that went on it the north. Their stories were believed.
It stayed that way until the Civil War. But then...some people became more mobile and better educated so that by the time of JFK some were ready for
the changes to come about. But the majority hung onto the belief that "the Black Man" was still the axis of evil and their lives would be radically changed for the worst. Many still held the "black man" responsible for their loved ones who died in the war too.
Like I said...mostly it came down to ignorant people acting out of fear. Inexcusable!! But that was life in the south. More later but I have to go right now.;)

Littledevil

01-05-2009, 01:22 AM

The religion here was mostly early Baptist preachers who taught that everyone began as a white man. They were taught that the different races and colors came as the result of a tower of evil that God had brought forward the destruction of because of evil doing. The darker the skin the more that person's ancestors were guilty of evil doing and their decendents would also do evil.

Wow, did not know that about that part of the religion.

Coolwater

01-05-2009, 02:33 AM

Sam isn't exaggerating, LD. When I was wandering through the stacks at the University of Georgia one day, I ran across a whole bunch of old books that demonstrated the Biblical and social justifications of slavery. I took some of them home and they were AMAZING. The arguments using the Bible especially were quite plausible. :eek:

There is a post script to this story. UGA is the oldest land grant university in the US, I believe, and you can go to the old dorms and see where a young man of about 15 years old would have lived. He generally had not just one room, but a bedroom and a small study, and a third tiny adjoining room for his personal slave, who would have come along to "do for him." It occurred to me that maybe those old books had been on the shelves about that long, and folks had forgotten them. So, the next day I took them back to the librarians in the Civil War Collection, and asked, did they know the books existed and were on the shelves?

They did not! Oh, joyous librarians to be handed such riches! Oh, horrified librarians to discover such treasures sitting loose in the open stacks! Not any more - I'm probably the last person to be allowed to simply check them out and take them home. :rolleyes:

Sam

01-06-2009, 07:48 AM

Yes It's True!! It was mostly motivated by backwoods religious beliefs and ignorance. It wasn't until the 1960's that other religions began to move in this area.
Although my parents sent us to church regularly (Dad belonged to a religion known as Holiness which dispelled that belief of skin color and my Mom was Primitive Baptist.) he told us that the preachers were wrong on that. He told us they misinterpreted the Bible when it came to that. He taught us that we were all the same inside just different colors on the outside and that God created everything and everyone.
There are rumors in the family that say dad's grandfather was a plantation owner in North Carolina and used his plantion to hide and move slaves to the north. But I have no way of knowing if that is true.
I do know that my great grandfather owned a plantation that was taken from him after the Civil War and sold to a wealthy woman from the north. My father and grandfather were allowed to stay on as share croppers. So they did that in the mornings and late afternoons and did construction during the day while dad pursued his music career on weekends. Our next door neighbor farmed his share full time with the help of the two black men whose families lived next door to us.

Sam

01-06-2009, 08:12 AM

We were taught to treat these men and their families with respect but we were not allowed to go to their house to play and they were not allowed by their parents to come play with us. It was considered to be disrespectful of their right to privacy. But I believe that was really our parents and their parents way of protecting us from the more ignorant people.
The black women worked in the owners home cooking, cleaning and sewing and doing basically anything she asked. In most ways they were STILL slaves but she would not curse them or abuse them. She really cared about them on an emotional level but she still held their livelyhood in her hands. So to me it was still slavery. They could have left and gone wherever they wanted but it was the only life they had known so they chose to stay with her.
My father and grandfather would take food prepared by my grandmother and mother to their house whenever there was a death or illness in their family but we were told we had to stay in the truck. Still we were kids so we found ways to talk to each other on occasion but whenever they saw anyone coming our way..they ran and hid until the person passed and then ran home.
One day my dad and grandad went to their house to pick up one of the men who was to help them on the farm that day. One of the man's daughters got too close to the fireplace and her nightgown caught on fire. She panicked and ran for the fields but my dad and grandad managed to catch her and drop her to the ground and roll her in the dirt to put out the fire. They wrapped her in a blanket and rushed her to the local hospital 15 miles away. If they had not been there she would have died. Her family didn't know what to do nor did they have a vehicle. The hospital didn't want to take her. But my dad and grandad raised the roof on the place and called the plantation owner and finally they agreed to treat her. My dad and grandad did the farm work for the man and gave him his food and pay so that he could stay at the hospital with his wife and daughter. They checked on the rest of the family who stayed with their aunt and uncle and carried them extra food. They took food to the hospital for the family to eat too. And when their family members wanted to visit and had no way to get to the hospital..my dad and grandad drove them.
That was the way it was with average families. It was the Wealthy Socialites and politicians who refused to give in to equal rights.
Later on I will tell you about the desegregation in our schools firsthand.

Coolwater

01-06-2009, 09:31 PM

I'd like that. We had some of the same divisions up north, but not quite the same way.

Sam

01-08-2009, 05:56 AM

There were so many things that went on during the time of desegregation it's hard to decide where to start.
But I'll have some extra time this weekend (HOPEFULLY) to tell you my experience of it.
It does sadden me to say that in some areas of the larger towns it still exists.

So Cool...are you going to be cheering my Gators on this weekend???:p

Coolwater

01-08-2009, 12:38 PM

No. Gators eat boogers .:p

Littledevil

01-08-2009, 09:50 PM

History to me is amazing. The stories you hear can be so much better than the stuff you read about in books. though just as important.I wasn't exposed to much racism when I was growing up and I was taught not to be racist.

Dragon_Farm_Queen

01-09-2009, 06:10 AM

I was born and raised in Kentucky during the 80's. I do not personally know of any time growing up that I had to endure racial issues but my father and mother both had to experience it mildly.

Most people when they meet me see a fair skinned,red haired girl. Naturally I am thought of as white but little do they know of the rich racial and culture background that exists in my genes. My father's mother was what folks called Black Dutch, Melungeon, Roma, or Gyspy. She had black hair that was so black that when the sun shone upon it and straight as a board, it had a bluish tint. Blue eyes and she had skin that was near mahogany color and facial features of a white/native american person. She had a sister that was fair skinned and light haired but had the facial features of a black person My father was born in 1949 and yes Kentucky had segregation then but in the county my father was raised there was rarely anyone that was racist. In the early 1950's my father's mother applied for a job 3 hours away. She scraped up enough money to go for her interview and when she got to her interview she was reminded that not all cities/towns tolerate dark skinned folks like the town she lived in because the interviewer plainly told her "We don't hire n*****s.

My father told me that he often got asked what his mother was. They would not come out and ask if she was black but would say is he Indian, Mulatto, and various other cultures but the hidden question was they were curious if she was black. My father also told me growing up to make sure that when I got to the age of marrying that I needed to make sure that whoever I chose to marry knew of my family line because of a generational phenomenon that happens every 3 generations on this mother's side of the family. My father's niece was the one that in the 1980's experienced that phenomen. She is blonde haired and light skinned. She married a man that was brown haired and olived skinned but their daugther was born with the genetics of an african american. Even in the 80's this girl had to endure questions of if her mother had infact cheated on her father and other accusations of why she looked different than her other siblings. Today my father's family some acknowledge that the family get the luck of the draw basically as to how each child will look when it is born and others work to hide that part of our family.

My mother's father is 1/4 Native American made up of Cherokee and Choctaw. He too has mahogany skin and dark hair and blue eyes. He grew up in a long line of coal miners and up until last 20 years coal miners were regarded as the low lifes of the work force. So my grandfather grew up in the heart of the coal camps where you could get your life taken if you resisted against the mining companies but his family was also forced to dwell with he african americans because of skin color. He had some siblings that were ligh haired and olive skinned while others were like him, dark hair and mahogany skinned and all of them had blue eyess. Just like my father's family it is rare on either side not see blue eyes. My mother's father's father use to tell of numerous raids that the white man would do in the middle of the night on horse back and each time they would come to their area his father would wake up his wife and tell her to take all the kids and run and hide in the woods until the white men left and he would stay behind to guard the house because he looked white and would not be questioned.

Scarpetta

01-09-2009, 05:50 PM

First hand experiences like DFQ and others here are hard to comprehend for those of us who have not experienced racism as blatant as you have related.

As for first hand experiences this Opinion article expresses what many try to tell us is not that prevalent in the South.

In my opinion these attitudes lessen us as people and divide us as a Nation.

Racism in the South
By Angela Mosley

Since President elect Barack Obama has been voted in, the people here have been so VERY angry. I really can't even put it into words. The emotion here is strong, angry, and over-powering. Just about every 'average' white person in this region is quite angry. It's scary to some degree.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Racism-in-the-South&id=1844614

To me it seems like such a futile rage to hold within you. These are learned attitudes that dare I say reek of ignorance. To a racist those would be fightin' words. As the article writer I posted notes much racism experienced by her is in the name of religion. That doesn't bode well for their 'type of religion', in my opinion.

Sam

01-10-2009, 09:24 AM

:eek: NAH-AHHH Cool. GATORSRULE!! And they have Three Of These to Prove it!!:p
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/cocoknight2004/FLAGATORBALL.jpg

OK NOW BACK TO THE TOPIC!!
Thank You for sharing your story with us DFQ. I actually know a family who used to live here who had a similar experience. Although many people asked the family if the youngest daughter was adopted it was simply because they didn't understand how a family who looks "white" can produce one child who appears to be of mixed race. In this case it was insensitivity and ignorance more than racism. They didn't call her racist names or anything like what you experienced. They were just curious.

Sam

01-10-2009, 10:11 AM

Scarpetta that woman may very well be right. As I said earlier...THAT was the only type of religion here for MANY MANY years. Most grew up believing that B.S. They didn't travel outside the South because their religious and political leaders had them too gripped with fear that everywhere else was evil and it was waiting to get them if they strayed North.
But eventually some strayed North and some from the North moved South. And slowly but surely other religions began to move in too and change the beliefs of many. But she is right that it is those who claim to be most religious here who still are gripped with that fear and they will smile to your face and shake your hand and declare themselves to be your friend. But what she is wrong about is that it isn't limited to race. It doesn't matter who you are or what color you are. They treat everyone who doesn't look like them or think like them or act like them or have as much money as them or doesn't share their religious beliefs as their enemy and they will shake your hand while driving a dagger into your back.
I was 9 years old when I met my first Jewish family! They joined a church which had just opened in the area because there were NO synogogues here for them to worship in. The members of that church were accepting of their religious differences and Welcomed them. The minister there was the FIRST woman minister ever to be in these parts and she wasn't looked upon favorably by the other churches in the area. She was from the North!
BUT it was this Jewish woman who gave me my first job. A new paper mill had opened and it was owned by a company from the North. Her husband had relocated down here with the mill. She had opened a grocery store and had hired my older sister to help with the store. She gave me a job as her maid and babysitter on the weekends. The first Easter I worked with her she gave me a live rabbit. For Christmas she gave me a "STAR OF DAVID" necklace. It was the first piece of jewelry I had ever owned. I went home and showed it to my dad. He explained to me the little bit he knew of their religion and then he put it around my neck and told me that even though it wasn't our family religion that I should wear it proudly. AND THAT I DID!!
It was also during this time that school desegregation began. The year before our school integrated we were told by the Principal and the teachers that we should expect new students at our school. That they would be a different color from us but they were to be treated with kindness and respect.
We were told that they had not had the educational materials we had had (books, desks,teaching staff etc.). We were told we should help them any way we could and anything less would be unacceptable. Anyone trying to cause trouble for these students would be severely punished or expelled from school. And this school didn't play around when it came to rules. They enforced corporal punishment! You got your backside beat by a thick wooden board with holes in it by teachers and by school administrators. And HEAVEN HELP YOU if your parents got a call from the school. Because that was a social disgrace parents did not tolerate!
So the following year the new students came. Not one or two as you see depicted on tv. The first few days they were taken to their old school and then sent to the other schools. So that all students in the Elementary level attended what was once the "black" school. Which most of us never knew existed because we were not ever taken in that part of the town.

Sam

01-10-2009, 10:46 AM

The middle grade school students (which I was in grade 7) went to the school all "white" kids had attended except the high school students. And grades 9-12 were sent to the high school.
My new teacher for the year was a very lovely and sweet "black" Lady. She looked very much like a very young Whitney Houston. And at first the kids didn't quite know what to make of us. They lined themselves up beside the walls. They looked both terrified and ready to fight with somebody or anybody. The teacher told us to introduce ourselves to the rest of the class and tell something about ourselves. That helped ease the tension for many of them. Then she told us to take a few minutes to get to know each other. So we sat around and talked with her and each other about all sorts of things. Next it was time to hand out the books. And for the first time in my life I had to share a book. We had always had a book assigned to each of us. But there wasn't enough to go around. The young lady I shared my book with was named Peggy. She told me they always had had to share their books. Sometimes a single book was shared with as many as five different students. So Peggy and I agreed that she would keep the book one day and me the next and when we had assignments we would share our notes. It worked out pretty great.
But that was also the day I got introduced to "Ebonics" as the kids call it.
None of the "black" kids had any paper so the teacher gave them all she had. We gladly shared what we had too so that finally everyone had paper. So time to write...my parents had always sent us to school with two pencils. Just in case we lost one we would have a backup. So the teacher handed out all she had and again we shared. Peggy didn't have one so I gave her my spare. One of the young men sitting next to me said "Let me hold your pencil." I thought it was a strange request and kept asking why. But he just kept saying "Let me hold your pencil". OK now why he wanted to hold my pencil so badly was beyond me but I handed it over. MAJOR MISTAKE!!
The lesson started and I needed my pencil back to write with. So I politely told him I needed my pencil back. But he wouldn't give it back to me. The teacher seeing us talking without permission asked what was going on. So I told her "He asked me to let him hold my pencil and now he won't give it back and I need it." She told me that in their culture when someone asked to Hold your pencil they meant GIVE ME YOUR PENCIL!. I told her I didn't know that was what he meant. She told me I had to let him keep my pencil so that next time I would bother to learn how others speak. That language was different depending on color and culture and we needed to educate ourselves to that fact. OK LESSON LEARNED!! I spent the rest of the day sharing with Peggy the pencil I had given her. Our class got along quite well that year especially when the other kids saw myself and Peggy knock out a great rendition of "Band Of Gold". There was an occasional fight which would break out involving a black student and a white student but it was rarely over race and more just a general dislike of personalities. But that was one year and one school. The folowing year was a different school and a whole different thing.

pepeperfume

01-10-2009, 02:45 PM

Respect for others that are different from us is only going to come with much time, patience and unfortunately pain. I was born and raised in a small town in Wisconsin--and all white town in Wisconsin. Left that town when I was seventeen to live with my husband in California. In the small town we lived in there I didn't feel the bias--I didn't see it either, but a transfer from that town to Bangor, Maine, showed me just how cruel and ignorant people can be---when small black children were yelled at for walking on white peoples grass--and me and my own were shunned because I allowed my children to play with other children--no matter their skin color. Next I transferred to North Carolina and found that while there was no open bias or nastiness like I saw in Maine--there was still this stigma placed upon black people---I guess the closest I ever came to explaining it was that black people were treated likes the family pet would be---nicely, sometimes respectfully, but rarely given an acknowledged nod as to their intelligence.....I found this attitude almost worse than the open hostility---and with the open hostility you could at least idenitfy the ones who were holding you back--with the attitude in North Carolina I would have to say it more undermined, ate away at the black people--convinced them very gently that they would never amount to nuthin!

As long as bias parent teach their children to be bias--as long as a bias person will continue to ignore how ignorant their views are--the Civil Rights movement will never be what it needs to be.

We have made tremendulous strides towards the goal of respect--but as long as hate continues to breed, it will always find a way to undermined.....

It is one of America's great failings, that we can call ourselves the melting pot and yet, not truly accept those who qualify us to call ourselves that!!!!

Scarpetta

01-10-2009, 03:53 PM

As long as bias parent teach their children to be bias--as long as a bias person will continue to ignore how ignorant their views are--the Civil Rights movement will never be what it needs to be.

We have made tremendulous strides towards the goal of respect--but as long as hate continues to breed, it will always find a way to undermined.....

It is one of America's great failings, that we can call ourselves the melting pot and yet, not truly accept those who qualify us to call ourselves that!!!!

The movement (Civil Rights) is just that something that has begun and cannot be stopped. Confronting bigotry where ever it lurks one by one, case by case, person by person. Each of us has to continue to encourage our children, our grandchildren that diversity is valued.

We celebrate such a day on Jan 19th. Martin Luther King Day. It was he who said: "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirecty."

It isn't just a black/white thing it is a social justice thing.

With the problems mounting in our Nation and around the World bigotry should be the least of them. How do you reach someone who has been raised on bigotry? Exposing it little by little, never stopping. It is a major task, but as many of you who have experienced bigotry first hand, racism is the worst of the intolerant blind attitudes that has no place in a free society.

pepeperfume

01-10-2009, 04:10 PM

Scarpetta---hatred is world renown--it is why Palestine is bombing Isreal and Isreal is firing back. It is why 911 happened--or if not why--a very motivating factor.....but you are right--it take one on one confrontation, and a show of respect--even when it isn't shown back to you.

Scarpetta

01-10-2009, 06:44 PM

I will never give up on idealism pepe. Without it there would not be a United States of America.

Without civil discourse women in US would not be voting!

In 1917, Woodrow Wilson was the first President to include women in his inaugural parade. That seems like a timely and appropriate civil rights factoid!

As for Israel/Palestine the US must avoid being drawn in to military actions. Americans are never fearful of fighting but coerced into something and manipulated would be against the US National interest.

Sam

01-11-2009, 03:39 AM

IMHO to end racism it would be necessary first to tackle and get rid of hatred.
You have to let go of hatred and resentments. It has to start within ones self. Then move forward to others. How do we achieve that? By example! LIVE IT, BREATHE IT, BE IT!! Even the mosts hatefilled person can be changed when they are exposed to those who live without hate.
Martin Luther King was a very intelligent man. It not only showed in his wonderful speeches but also in his actions. He dispelled the myth that all "black" people were born of less intelligence than "white" people. He also dispelled the myth that all "black" people were violent. It was his ability to
show that which sent shivers of realization down the spines of those he encountered. It was also why those who did not want this change extinguished such a beautiful human being. Yes they killed this man but they NEVER counted on the fact that his spirit would live long afterward.
It is that very quality of kind, gentle, yet firm resolve which has gotten Barack Obama to this point. He doesn't need to vocally demand change. He
IS change!
The more you tell someone they HAVE to do something, the more resistance you will meet! But when you say "We can do this, this ,and that and the results can be......" And when people see it actually happening....THAT IS WHEN A CHANGE WILL COME! People will stop fighting about it and stop to think. And then they will open their eyes and see that there is an undeniable truth staring them right in the face.
I think Pepe made a very valid point. Racism exists in every part of the US.
The levels vary from town to town and state to state. But it also exists worldwide!
Far too many people view racism as "white vs. black". But racism exists in all skin colors and often has religious based roots and culturally based roots.

Dragon_Farm_Queen

01-11-2009, 07:13 AM

I agree that it exists in all towns and often has religious undertones behind it. When I married my husband in 1998, he refuse to attend the same church that I attended and to make peace between him and I, I joined his church. When I joined it, there was a single black woman with 5 children. The eldest was black but the other 4 were bi-racial. I immediately felt a strong connection to this woman and did not know why but to make a long story short, I ended up raising her 5 children for 2 yrs while attending college fulltime and working a part time job and dealing with one income because my husband underwent a surgery that we hoped would heal him but instead we found out he would be disabled for the rest of his life. Many times during those 2 yrs I noticed a sudden change in the seating areas at church. I was always left to set with the blacks, mexicans, and anyone of darker race at any function and service that the church held. My husband even noted how when it came to having someone appointed to deal with the dark skinned folks, the church would nominate me. One day I got the opprotunity to quench my curiousity and asked an one of the older ladies of the church about this subtle segeration that seemed to be going on. She said it is obvious that you do not hold any racial barriers and love people especially children regardless of their race, culture, or family background. She said it is not that we segregate you and them from the rest of us, but we can see it in their faces that they have taken you in as one of them and they are more comfortable with you than anyone else.

After I realized that it wasn't so much out of hatred but more about people not wanting to get out of their comfort zone my husband remarked that I could infact be making a difference. Especially among the illegal immigrants we had aquired in our church. They were fearful to open up to many "white" skinned folks but they would open up to me about their needs and even reveal they were not here legally but wanted to become legal.

I moved away from that town 3 yrs ago and even here in a new state and new town, I find here at work, that the management and bosses here at work in 1 yrs time managed to segregate our office and they placed me in the same side and cubicle area as blacks, italian, phillipino, and women and moved all white men over to other side of the room. I often get snide remarks here in TN that I only use to hear repeated on some TV movie and it is hard for me to comprehend how folks can have that much hatred for folks that are not just like them

Sam

01-12-2009, 04:32 AM

DFQ you are actually in a better position than you realize. Because as hurtfull as the situation is....you have actually achieved something that many leaders against racism strive to achieve. You have the ability to act as a bridge between those who are intolerant of differences and those they distance themselves from.
Don't be afraid to ask questions of those like the lady you questioned from the church. Your actions and your life whether or not you realize it is making an impact on these people. It is drawing their attention and forcing them to question their own stand. And that is good. It makes them take a closer look and the closer they look the more their eyes will open to the truth.
It is these subtle changes that will make a difference. You may see some changes in your lifetime or you may not but you have left a mark which will make life a little easier for the next person like you or those kids or your friends and their offspring for many years to come.
Change one mind at a time and you change one heart at a time.

Dragon_Farm_Queen

01-12-2009, 05:26 AM

You are right Sam! I know I am blessed to have the compassion and love for all mankind regardless of where they come from in life. I very much value teachings that my father taught me for which he learned from his own mother and she from hers and so forth, mainly " I am not above anyone else and no one is above me" Granted I do have family that even though they know they are not of any one "white" race and work really hard to hide it from those that do not know of their heritage they have had to witness me through my entire life even as a small child as I rebeled against them and it cost me 8 yrs of no contact with some of my own family but in the end they realized they were wrong and we are closer than ever now days. Some of them still work hard to deny their hertiage and harbor those ill feelings for those of darker skin but they do not voice it or try to show it when I am in their presence. Instead they grudgingly tolerate it and sometimes ask questions and will somewhat talk with me about my own heritage.

As you said it takes changing one mind at a time, but it requires changing the heart before you can change the mind. I work to change hearts and know that if I can do that, then the mind will soon follow

Littledevil

01-12-2009, 07:57 PM

That is a good point of view and a good way to live dragon.

Coolwater

01-15-2009, 02:41 AM

I grew up in Pennsylvania, in a steel mill town, with an Army post. We had every sort of person imaginable, because the mill attracted people from every wave of immigrants, and the post brought in everyone else. You know the sort of small talk people make when they first meet? "Where are you from, what do you do, how are you liking it here?" At my schools, the question was, "What are you?" meaning, what ethnicity or race are you? We had some good debates, like, how could a Black kid like Barry have such blue eyes, or how could a kid named O'Brian be 3/4ths Italian when his name was obviously Irish, and (my favorite), whose people's food was the best? The churches were all divided by ethnicity, you see, and the spring festival was the time to run around to all the church halls and try everything.

Not everyone was cool with it, though. My introduction to racism was in the first grade, when some big, 6th grade "bad boys" pushed my friend Billy off the merry-go-round and called him a nigger. :mad: Vonnie, Bruce, Craig and I fought back, kicking the bad boys' shins and shoving them away from Billy, while Cathy ran for the playground teacher.

Now that I think of it, it must have looked pretty funny to see all the little pipsqueaks attacking the bad boys. Wasn't fun to see Billy's mother cry, though, when she talked to my mother about it.:(