As it just so happened, I read a book recently called “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom” by Ilyon Woo, and I am now reading “The Warmth of other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson. Consider this musing a ‘book report’ and more. I hope to acknowledge that my past education did not always teach the truth about the incredible breath of America’s racial struggles and the horrors black people went through for decades and decades.
Maybe as a young white girl I did not ‘relate’ to this history, so maybe I didn’t pay attention in my US History Class. My fault. Maybe there was too much information to squish into a 45 minute a day, five days a week, one semester class. It was just way too much for any teacher to get into in the given time allowed. And, really, maybe what happened all the way through to the civil rights movement of the 1960’s did not seem like history at all. Because: I mean, I started school in the 60’s in a northern suburban area. Most of my schooling took place in Ohio and not once did I consider how inner city slums came to be, how housing and education choices were so different, and how the migration of blacks out of the south happened, first escaping enslavement and incredibly inhumane treatment, and then once freed and looking for opportunities, they traveled north and west. The “African American” came in to the south, and once able, through a few generations, they have moved and reached most areas in the United States.
Both of these books have enlightened me: I certainly knew of the KKK, and I knew of Jim Crow laws, and I knew black people were held back in so many ways. I knew of horrible lynching and separate bathrooms. But, wow – these two books both tell of the very painful paths and why we are where we are now with racial divides still. Every American should learn this history.
Remember the slogan “Reading is fundamental”? It was a slogan to encourage young people to learn to read, and to LIKE to read. Reading can be fun (that’s what they told kids) , but more importantly it gives endless perspectives, and offers ways to open the mind, to see what other people go through. Reading widens perspectives and opens hearts.
My ancestors came from Germany. They left Germany before Hitler’s rise, and they came to America for a better way of life. They made a decision and came. Of course they struggled here, having to start over – to find a place to settle and to build it up from nothing. They crossed Pennsylvania and settled in central Ohio. They became farmers. My great grandfather opened a little store. It’s a nice story.
But!!! It’s a very different story for African Americans. And, it’s important to know. Difficult reading? Absolutely! But, both of these books I named above follow the lives of real people (these stories are NOT fiction) and the chances they took, the love they felt for each other, the commitment to find a better life, the span of time it took.
It’s relevant today. History shows us, and gives us the opportunity to connect to the past. (Like I said earlier… some of it is not that long ago!! Segregation from Jim Crow laws were in place until the mid 60’s. I was up north. I was in elementary school! And, as a white little girl I just did not know. ) Thankfully I was in a family where my parents did not ever speak of any group as being less, or different. I did not hear false superior language – or prejudice talk. Thank you Mom and Dad.
But, we are dealing with people and politicians now who want to ‘protect white people’ and ban truthful books – to cushion the history for our children. They want to hide the pain that southern plantation owners caused, because some were their ancestors. I live in the south now, and I love seeing the big plantation homes still here, but I also know the WHOLE story about that time period. I know about the abuse, the deplorable mental and physical anguish caused by the white men. The demeaning of other humans. We all need to know. The above books are both excellent reads to learn about it.
Read! Learn – and know better. When you know better, you respond better. And – You vote for those who will not hide the true American story.
Marla’s Musings 