Tonight Allum {aka SpenceLowry} & I were engaged in a “Twittersation” about the arrest earlier today of Harvard Professor & Scholar, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Allum’s observation – it’s been an “interesting” week in race relations.
A desecrated historic black cemetery. Innocent children turned away from a Philly pool. A Mayoral email in EXTREMELY poor taste. Now the arrest of one of our most noted Scholars on race relations?
Whew! My take – definitely a more public facing week of race issues, but not out of the ordinary at all.
It’s a sad testimony, but true one nonetheless.
While we {black folks} may have been surprised by WHO was arrested {my God, did Cambridge police mess-up or what?!}, I’d be shocked if any one of us could not identify with the circumstances surrounding Dr. Gates arrest.
Instructing our young black males on how to respond when “driving while black”, or entering “the wrong neighborhood” is darn near a 16 yr. old Right of Passage!
Sometimes the slight is subtle – “Oh my, your child is so articulate!”. Sometimes not so much… like today I was mistaken for a maid. Was I in a uniform? NOPE! Was I carrying a mop or broom? NOPE! I was just walking down a hall, when a man stopped me to ask – “Are you the cleaning person?”.
What the heck?! {Luckie exhaling…}
Now, for the disclaimer – do I believe every white person is a racist? Nope. Do I have a deep dislike for white people? Some of them. But for the record – there are also some red, brown & black folks I don’t dig too much either!:-)
All this is to say, that sometimes we [all of us - black & white alike] need to be reminded that there is much, MUCH work remaining to heal the blemishes of the past.
Just 45 years outside of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even with an adorable brown family resting at the White House, we still have a long road of change to travel…
Tombstone Tuesday – Emmett Till, Burr Oak Cemetery.
Lest we forget…
Luckie.
Our Alabama Roots ~ Barwick & Related