I went back and re-read this thread again. Like many things, it interest me a great deal since I seem to be in a very reflective mood most of the time. Looking back a lot at my childhood experiences. People pass judgement so easily on things they have little understanding of, and that would include me.
Commenting on southern racism with no experience of it, is like trying to tell a rocket scientist he used the wrong fuel because the rocket blew up. It just doesn’t compute. Others will disagree, but if you did not grow up in the deep south of the United States then, IMO, you have no concept of what casual racism was or is.
The only near comparison I can think of, which comes very close to explaining how things were, is to say all Germans were Nazis. I refrain from passing judgement on Germans who lived in Germany during a certain period of time. We all might refrain from passing judgement on Kate Smith. What is racism now, was not racism then.
A little test for you all.
I remember visiting grandma in the 1950’s. It was a small southern Texas town and the sidewalks were wooden walkways. As we walked down this sidewalk, my grandmother, my aunt, my mother, and me-three white woman, one white child-walking side by side. Two black men walked up the sidewalk toward us.
As we grew closer, the black men stepped off the sidewalk, tipped their hats to us, and passed us by. Once we had passed, like ships on a river moving in opposite directions, the men hopped back on the sidewalk and continued on. We never missed a step or acknowledged them. Was their behavior dictated by racism? Yes. Do you know why?
If you know why their behavior was considered racially motivated, then judge away. If you don’t know why then consider not judging. Consider the same situation, in the same place, in the same period only substitute white men for black men. What would the white men have done differently? We, the woman, would have reacted the same no matter who the men were.
If you have seen movies from this time period, you will also know the difference in behavior that would have occurred involving this situation between these two groups of men towards white woman. Who has the answer?
