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In reply to the discussion: My heart broke today... I just don't understand. [View all]Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)everywhere we went except in Europe. Walking together we could hear some comments being made such as N****r Lover etc. I quickly learned how often racism came into our lives in some form or fashion. I have a better understanding of where black people are coming from having walked miles, while not in the shoes of a black person, next to the shoes of a black person. To hear the stories told to me by my wife's Auntee, Uncle and Father of the days under Jim Crow were a shock to me. If you ask me, those are the folks who would have a good excuse to be racist. Blacks in the South have all grown up hearing of these stories, whites not so much! So when you hear a black person play the race card, whether you believe they were justified in playing it or not, understand that you have no real understanding why they feel so strongly about it!
To give you an idea of where we are, James Byrd was dragged to death behind a truck in Jasper, Texas a few years ago and that is about an hours drive from here. I am 15 minutes from an oak tree where they have hung blacks for over 200 years from its branches, the last ones done secretly back in the 1950's. That town was all white until the Federal government stepped in and tried to place blacks on Section 8 Housing waiting list from my town to the neighboring all white town about 10 years ago. In the end it didn't work out, they could not keep them safe. The hanging pictures from the early 1900's can still be seen in the library. I have always wondered about all of the kids present, what parent thought that would be a good idea?
Desegregation did help to some extent. The youth of today know several kids from other races from school. They learn of the cultural differences, and of the similarities they share. Before desegregation it was easier to demonize another race because you did not know or understand them because you did not talk to them much. The racists of today are usually isolated by their own choice, never a good decision.
oh and one last thing I learned being married to a black woman, NEVER, EVER GET THEIR HAIR WET!!! LOL