What will Tate grow up learning about this amazing man? Certainly, hopefully more than I learned in school. I definitely learned that he was a man of strong convictions, an open and loving heart, proud, courageous, an amazing and moving speaker and a man who changed the world he lived in. But what do I really know about him? I should know more. As it is my parents grew up revering him. They grew up 'with' him in their midst. They grew up sitting in the backs of the buses he wanted de-segregated. They grew up drinking from the colored water fountains he wanted dismantled. They grew up eating in only certain restaurants that he wanted open to all. They grew up using second and third hand books in schools when all he wanted was a fair and good education for all. So I should know more. Why don't I know more? Is it because I'm scared to know what my life could have really been like? Is it because to know would shame me for taking all that I have and all that I've been allowed for granted? And what's worse, I wonder who I would have been had I grown up in the 40s, 50s and the 60s, black.
Black in the 40s, 50s, and the 60s.
A black woman in the 40s, 50s and the 60s.
Sitting in the back of the bus. Would I have been like Rosa Parks and refused?
Sitting in the 'colored only' parts of restaurants. Would I have participated in sit-ins?
Using 'colored only' restrooms. Would I have ridden on the buses of the Freedom Riders and gone into the 'white only' restrooms?
I fear I wouldn't have done any of those things.
And that doesn't make me very proud of myself.
And imagine had I had a child, my child, my black child, my black son in the 50s. (Forgetting for the moment that his father is German, white and German).
A black son in the 50s. As a mother what would I have done to make him realize he was all that he needed to be. The color of his skin was not nearly as important as the content of his character. That though he would be scorned and despised he was loved by God and he was as worthy as any other human being on this planet.
Would I have been woman enough, proud enough to risk my very life to be sure he knew these things?
I fear I wouldn't have been.
And that in and of itself makes me immensely sad.
Oh I would have complained. I would have marched in protests. I would have made phone calls and attended meetings. But would I have risked my life to single myself out?
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Harriet Tubman
Medgar Evers
Ruby Bridges
Frederick Douglass
Sojourner Truth
Malcolm X
These are the men and women I need to make sure Tate know about. For without them and many, many more he would most definitely not be here today. I stand on their backs; I ride on their coattails; I am because they were braver than I can ever imagine being. This I know for sure.
I am one generation away from having to sit in the back of the bus.
One generation.
I am one generation away from to use 'colored only' bathrooms.
One generation.
One.
And yes we have a black president. President Barack Obama. Oh my, and if Dr. King had been alive on November 4, 2008 he would have been so proud.
But he would also know that though we had made it to the mountain top we have not made it to the other side. And even today, January 16, 2012 we have not made it to the other side. And I may not make it there with Tate, but my prayer for him is that this gorgeous, smart, funny black son of mine makes it to the other side.
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| May he run, run, run to the other side. |
3 comments:
This is a wonderful, thoughtful post. I too have had many thoughts about today, and the past and what my life is like and what it would have been like had I been an adult back then. I know for sure that back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, my life would have been very different. I know for sure that my daughter and I would not be together. A white woman with a black daughter simply would not have happened. How sad that makes me feel. I know that things have changed, and yet, we still have miles to go. That Even now there are places in the world and even the U.S.A. that I will never take my daughter because I fear that these places that have really not moved forward enough, if at all... I am the white mother of a black child, I must make sure that she knows about those who have come before her, all the injustice that occured, and the heroes who stood up and demanded change. I must make sure she grows up to be proud of who she is and that understands that she can do anything she wants to do. But still we must remember the heroes. Rosa Parks has always been one of my heroes. Know this my friend, although you may not have stood up and protested on the bus, I would have sat beside you, and I would have been standing right beside you at every rally! I too am remembering Dr. King today and am thankful for all her did and the legacy of change that continues because of him.
We are all one generation away from those days. So why is it that we don't know more--that we don't teach our children more. (In 16 years in the classroom, I've seen very few of my coworkers mention any of this--let alone read a book or show news clips to their students.)
A few months ago I was watching the PBS documentary on the Freedom Riders. I was glued to the screen far past my bed time (and you know how important bed times are for us working SMC's!). I could not heop ask myself, would I have done that? Those college students were real, live heroes but was in my 40's before I knew their story? I have two degrees in education, for heaven's sake!
Long comment just to say thanks for this thought-provoking post.
What a great post! Thanks for being a great example for your son!
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