Trucks of distinction, this is an old Cowboys truck in Texas.
For today.
When I tell my grandkids segregation was REAL and that I never attended school with black students. They are floored. It is a concept completely foreign to them. They cannot imagine that being accepted. And I agree with them.
When dad pastored a country church the closest kids were
the Davis’s, a black family. We played together every day. BUT I was not allowed to eat at their table. I had to sit on the firewood behind the wood stove. Mammy, as she was affectionately called, would tell me, “It ain’t fittin’ for whites and coloreds to eat together, when you get growed, you will know that.”
I was too little to know that the black family could get into BIG trouble breaking the ‘segregated rules’ (1944). I was confused because they sat at the table at our house. There is a lot built into ‘how you are raised and the society at the time.’
I said all that to emphasize that our society, or populace determines much of our thought processes. The big scandal now on the web-news is bribing to get children of the wealthy into the better colleges. One of the actresses in involved was dumb struck and made the statement, “I didn’t think that bribing was such a big deal.”
WHAT? ..... At my level bribery is still WRONG!
But ignoring the normal rules of courtesy and fair play has become too common place. So much so that I think politicians and people in power feel the same, what is the big deal?. When something becomes common place, it changes thought processes.
Nite Shipslog
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8 comments:
I was in high school in 67 and 68+ - during desegregation - a whole story in itself here in Georgia.
The year I graduated1968, we had four black students that graduated with us. It was a first.
It was a different time. It’s never been right, but that’s the way it was.
The cheating to get kids into the “good colleges” scandal gouged me deeply. I scraped and worked my butt off for everything I got. But there are kids who never got a shot because of the color of their skin.
I never experienced segregation in school. I do remember my mom commenting that the kindergarten we went to (which was public and then for 1st grade we moved to the Catholic school that didn't offer kindergarten) kept having more African American students in subsequent years. My sister, the oldest, had 5 African American students. By the time I was in kindergarten 3 years later, there were more American American students than Caucasian ones, but mainly because African American families were migrating up in the city so to speak and there were more in the neighborhood. When I was in high school there was only 1 African American family in our district but for a year due to over crowding at one of the other high schools, they bused some African American students over to our school. It was an interesting year. Lots more fights on campus and usually between the 2 races.
There are so many kids that try their best to get into college and can't because of money or barely meeting grades that it is a shame about the latest scandal especially in the one case that the actress mom/designer dad wanted their daughter to go to school and the daughter had no interest in it. That place was taken away from someone that may have qualified if given a chance. It will be interesting to see what punishments are given to the parents for their actions.
betty
I think that those that lived in the south saw a lot more segregation than we in the north did. I was amazed, not a good thing either, as took my first trip south and saw the difference. It was something I'd mostly read about or saw on the news. Sad to think that there are some that think bribery is nothing to be concerned about. It's been going on for years and years, now maybe they'll be thinking twice. Sometimes it takes something like the recent scandal to wake some people up.
Segregation and bribery are both wrong. It's a constant struggle that should be no more. Prayers for unity.
love n' hugs from up north where this girl is plum worn out
Shaking my head over here about your friend's Mammy segregating YOU. (I'd no idea they may have gotten in trouble.) How blessed you were with parents who saw beyond one's flesh!
During my early years, Los Alamos' population was wholly homogenized. I may have shared before, my own brush with segregation. In '57, we'd just disembarked the QMary and were awaiting our turn to pass through customs. I made a bee-line for the nearest water fountain; but before I could drink my mother pulled me aside, "No. That one's marked 'colored' folk." She wasn't an awful person -- just a conformist, I suppose.
We lived in Illinois, along the Mississippi. On our side, no blacks lived. On the Missouri side, there was a community of blacks.
I never saw a black person until I was a teenager in 1966. It was literally dangerous for a black person to cross the bridge and drive through my hometown.
I didn't interact with blacks until I went to college.
We had ONE black gal in our small high school; she was loved and adored by all, a cheerleader and totally delightful. Somewhat like Mevely's Mom, I lined all the kids up at the water fountain in front of a gas station in Mississippi (late fifties) and looked over to see little brother Robert, at the "colored" fountain. His remark when I tugged him away, "colored water might be Kool-Aid, Glenda".
I read with disgust the news concerning the affluent bribing to get their children into a prestigious college. Sad reflection for the kids, it'll be interesting to see how this shakes out. Great post, Jack!!!
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