Half of you I Know

When I was a child I grew up in a sheltered upper middle class white Chicago neighborhood. It was the early 60’s I new nothing about race relations but as I was walking through the house I heard this voice coming from the TV. It was a strong powerful voice, as I stopped to watch and recognized the Lincoln Memorial, I heard this black man speak, it was like I was hearing the voice of God. So simple a nine year old could understand and agree and forty years later I have never forgotten it. How could anyone be against equal rights? Wasn’t that the basis of our country? Isn’t that the backbone of Christian tradition?

My family moved around at that time, I lived in Dallas in 63, Montgomery in 65 and Chicago in 68 I guess you could say I had a front row seat for the 60’s but saw it through a child’s eyes. While in Dallas we were invited by some neighbor kids to go swimming the little girl asked my sister what church we went to, they left without us and never had any contact after that. I was hurt and couldn’t understand what difference what church we went to had to do with anything. I thought back to what the man on TV was saying and I knew which side I was on. One day one incident one child, I couldn’t imagine everyday every time every child. When I was sixteen my Mother died suddenly and my family disintegrated. I found myself on the train headed to Chicago to live with relatives.

I spent my last $60.00 on the train ticket; it was a 14-hour trip. The car was about half full and though not cramped we sat close to each other. I met black women in her mid 60’s who was traveling with her two grandchildren, she was taking them home to spend the summer with her. After seven or eight hours on the train I was hungry but had no money, about that time I felt a tap on the shoulder, there was the women standing there asking if I would please eat this sandwich because her grandchildren didn’t want it. I knew it was a story I knew she had two kids to feed but I was hungry and ate the sandwich. I always remember this as an unsordid act of generosity, it was just a sandwich but it was more.

This black women born and raised in the segregated south living under Jim Crow her entire life, yet out of a train car load of people had noticed, she noticed someone was hungry and shared her lunch with a young white man. Their were plenty of white people on the train none of them noticed or cared. I jump ahead years I had just started a new job and was broke, my battery died on my car and I didn’t have the money to replace it until payday. I asked my room mate to jump me off, he said he would but it would be awhile as I put the jumper cables on my car, I saw a car turning around in the lot across the street he pulled around till his car almost reached mine and he popped his hood. I cranked the car and got out to take the cables off, I went to the drivers window to thank the driver a Black man in his 50’s said “No problem” he showed up every day that week sometimes he wouldn’t say a word sometimes just wave.

There were plenty of white people but none of them noticed or cared. I eventually had the privilege of having a customer who was a Tuskegee airman and being a fan of both aviation and history I loved to talk with him. He was very forthright and direct; he was telling me that even as a combat veteran he had to stand on the train home from St Louis south while German prisoners had seats. I asked him weren’t you angry? “He explained no, that’s just the way things were back then” I was still angry about not going swimming and this man could let it all go. I didn’t think I could let it go. Have I had bad experiences with black people? Sure I have, I have lived in white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods I’ve had more trouble with white neighbors.

This crap, and that’s what it is crap, Black looters while whites were merely searching for food, take a look at the oil companies looting your wallets while making record profits. Guess what color they are? Can we shoot them? Enron, thousands of people lost their pensions. Gone! No do overs guess what color the Enron board of directors were? Can we shoot them? But it’s not like that anymore, Bullshit! I watched from my porch a motorcycle cop pull over a car with two black men in it. The motorcycle cop got their Id’s and called them in then a squad car pulled up they got the men out of the car and put one in the back seat. Then a car with detectives pulled up they but the other man in the back seat. After forty-five minutes they let the first man out of the squad car then the second. The motorcycle cop pulled off the squad car pulled off then the detectives leaving the two black men in their car with no ticket. Does this happen to you White America?

Growing up in the south I’ve heard the N jokes I heard it all and its all Bullshit. The black population of this country gives and gives and gives and all they ask in return is an even break. A young black man commandeered a school bus after Hurricane Katrina and picked up stragglers walking along I-10 depositing them at the Astrodome. Police wanted to question him but the passengers declined to identify him. Do you think they wanted to give him a metal? If he had been white would you have heard more about this? Harry Truman was once taken to a Klan rally by supporters who thought he should speak with them he told them “Half of you I know, the other half I can figure out and if I need your votes to get elected, I hope I lose. That’s about right, half of you I know the other half I can figure out. Traitors to the principles that America was founded on and the living embodiment of the hands that crucified Christ. If we need your votes to set this country right, I hope we lose.

spent a lot of time in the south in the early and mid 60's and saw and experienced many of the same things you did. As a young child, I didn't understand a lot either of why things were the way they were...

Ranging from a 4th grade teacher who told us (an all white class) she couldn't teach them 'fuzzy headed little niggars becuase, just look - they have that tight hair curls - - ain't nuthin' can penetrate that hair - they are unteachable." (Dad pulled me out of that school even tho it was on the base - Maxwell AFB to be exact)

---------------------OR------------------------------

How about when my dad and I were walking a street in Montgomery AL when a black man bumped into my dad and immediately fell to his knees begging my dad NOT to call the poooolice as he didn't want no jail, he had babies to feed and he knew he was on the wrong side of the street, but he didn't think it was no bother, it was just a shortcut. (we helped him up and gave him a ride home)

---------------------OR---------------------------------

the Woolworths where blacks had their own soda fountains and rest rooms and 'every white person just KNEW there were unmentionable and extremely contagious diseases in those areas so you didn't even look in that direction.' We didn't shop there after that.

--------------------or-------------------------
The time we had a cross burned on our yard complete with white hooded figures who told us 'nigger lovin' was not acceptable in those part. We had a black family over for dinner. The guy worked with my dad in the AF band. The next day my dad went to the C.O.'s office to protest the cross burning and they told him they were glad he was there, as they were taking a stripe from him.

Yep, the 'old' south was ugly. Trouble is, there are still some people (and MANY MANY of them are in this admin) who still practice racism, just under cover.

I have taught my kids it's wrong and that everyone is pink inside and as long as we obey the laws of the land, we are all equal. It confused me when I was young and now that I am older (quite a bit) it pisses me off royally that these folks still get away with racism.

What really set me over the edge was when some 'fine suthern belle lady types wanted to remove the signage from some doors and water fountains in AL which had the words, 'colored' and 'niggers' on them as they now found them offensive.

Well you stupid women - it IS and WAS offensive and it is also a dirty part of history. Just taking down signs won't make it all go away. By their thinking, we should probably do away with the prison camps in Germany and hey, why not the memorials at Pearl Harbor too?

We all learn from history - even when it's ugly.

NOTE: Apologies to all for using the 'n' word.

I find myself in a general sense of agreement; however, race relations (unless I've been told different than the truth) in the "delta" of Arkansas weren't near as bad as in the larger cities. So, I've not heard stories from my parents or grandparents about the localized difficulties. Institutional racism, though, is horribly pervasive. In the 7th Census of the United States, the general statistic blocks look like this: White (Male-Female); Free Black and Mulattoes (Male-Female); Slaves (Male-Female). For some reason as I was looking at this data, I wondered why they didn't have the gumption to just call free blacks the n-word.

Yet, I wonder where this frame of mind has gotten us today. What exactly does it mean? And, how involved in the current "racial constructions" of the federal government are these 18th century ideas?