I was born at the beginning of World War II. That, I suppose, does seem to most like a long time ago, but it really isn't. Not even a century has passed.
Yet, I knew many black men and women who could not read or write. And I knew many who could not sign their name.
And twenty years later, often times a black person would bring his paycheck into the bank were I worked, and we'd have to get a couple of witnesses to attest by signing below his "x" that he was the payee. We're talking now about 1962.
At fourteen (1954) I got my first job. I was a soda jerk at a neighborhood drugstore. Single dip ice cream cones were still a nickle. Sometimes black children would come in to buy an ice cream cone and they'd sit at one of the stools at the soda fountain while I was scooping their treat.
The pharmacist would call me over and insist that I tell them they couldn't sit at the counter. My answer was always the same, "Part of the nickel people pay for ice cream goes for rent on a stool while they eat it. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to tell that fellow he can't sit there." The pharmacist would then read the boy the riot act, while unhappy with me that I didn't see it his way.
This week, less than a half-century later, the black boy is now a man, he can sit wherever he wants, he can read and write and sign his name, and he's going to be sworn in as President of the United States. Oh, I know it's not the same person who sat at the soda fountain, not even the one who couldn't sign his name or read or write. Nevertheless, he is most certainly their powerful representative.
I don't want to ever hear again that America hasn't come a long way.
BILL CHERRY, REALTORS
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Hi Bill... you are absolutely right... the times are changing and America is too... but while we have definitely come a long way, we still have a long way to go. There is still all sorts of prejudice rampant in out society... recent votes like California's proposition 8 initiative make that perfectly clear. I am hopeful that President Obama will find a way to bring our nation together and unite us in a way we have never seen before!
Steve, we all have the same hopes. Interestingly, though, we now know that Americans have the ability and intellectual mentality to accept change.
The most ridiculous prejudice that was ever advanced, as far as I'm concerned, was the idea that if John Kennedy were elected president, since he was a Roman Catholic, he would become a mouth piece of the pope. Kennedy didn't win by much, if memory serves me, but it was long thereafter that people didn't talk about the pope dictating to the presidency.
I have more trouble with unintellectual hared and discrimination that anything. Second on my list is either side of any issue not accepting compromise....the "all my way or the highway" mentality.
Thanks for your superb comments.
Bill
Bill - When I think about the election of this present, I realize that this is a time when America faced it's demons, and ultimately did the right thing. I am so hopeful that Obama is successful in leading the country. As Newt Gingrich has said, we have deep problems, and only a fool wouldn't want him to succeed.
Myrl, you bring up two very interesting points. Thanks for adding them.
And it's also worth mentioning that if Newt Gingrich could have just kept his personal life straight, he may have risen even higher in our government...perhaps even to president. One of the smartest men ever when it comes to government and politics.