Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Black History: When We Were Colored

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VERBATIM


During this my 65th year of being, Black History Month is a time to remember from whence we came, what we went through, what we have achieved and where our promise lies.  My mother used to leave me exasperated referring to us as Colored People; until I found my birth certificate and appreciated that I was listed as Colored.  During my time we have gone in the popular vernacular from niggras to colored to negroes to Negroes to Black to Afro-Americans to African Americans and back to Black again.  NWA a popular group wants to regress us further and comics think nothing of using the N word gratuitously rather than get us to laugh at the humor in our lives.

Growing up “Colored” in Durham, NC in the south, it was unacceptable for kids not to go to school or not read or not behave.  We all were taught and appreciated that for the masses, education would allow us to make a way out of no way.  No one owed us anything; it was up to us to get and fight for what we wanted.  Parents regardless of their socio-economic status took a certain pride in having children who defied the stereotypes placed on us for our families were our safety nets and most important institutions.  On my block most of the children were born within a marriage and every home with a child had a father in that house who worked every day taking whatever pay to help his family find its way.   The Historically Black Colleges were an anchor and stimulator of our cultural and intellectual heritage sponsoring band festivals, summer science and math programs, sports meets, homecoming parades, unparalleled lyceum series bringing in the Joffrey Ballet or an opera singer such as Mattawilda Dobbs of the Atlanta, GA Dobbs and higher educational opportunities denied us by white institutions were made possible through them.

Prior to the sixties we rarely strayed to the white side of town or frequented downtown unless to our businesses there; not because we were afraid, but because with few exceptions we had most of what we needed within the confines of our own community.  There were painters, carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, cabs, a dry cleaners, postal substation with likely the first black postmistress in Mrs. Bernice H. Ingram, a newspaper with “The Truth Unbridled”, library, about six doctors, several dentists, our own financial institutions and so much more.  My father would say about utilizing segregated businesses-you don’t pay a man who segregates you to then serve you.

The church was our rock and from the one my father assumed (The White Rock Baptist Church) had come the local library, public health services in the minority community, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, community recreation programs, worker organization efforts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and so much more to engage citizens on all levels.  International relationships were there from those engaged in Africa or with an Asa T. Spaulding, Sr.’s of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance company’s sponsorship of George Allen from the Agency for International Development.  We also learned to take care of the poor without government help from our clothes closets, food drives and special offerings for scholarships, those burned out of their homes or from the efforts of our home mission societies.  And we marveled as one of our own, tore up the NBA in the person of Sam Jones whose records for accuracy and championship rings elevated him to the ranks of one of the NBA Hall of Fame’s top 50 greatest athletes. The church would do and provide what wasn’t available elsewhere.

Reminiscing with my fellow baby boomers, it is not uncommon to hear folks say in many ways we were better off during segregated times than we are now — Integration stripped away a history which was the base of our foundation as well as that for this nation.   We were required to assimilate while others have taken our knowledge as their own and we watch as our kids don’t appreciate the relevance of personal liberty which coloreds had as important to our well-being and survival.  Blacks were pivotal in building the US Capitol, laying out the streets of Washington, DC via Benjamin Banneker as well as building a clock to keep us on time, being the model for the Statue of Liberty given to the nation in recognition of the end of slavery (not as a beacon for immigrants), establishing the Republican Party, fostering the economy of the south and many of the inventions of the industrial revolution as well as through the work of Charles Drew showing us that blood can be transfused from one person to another across ethnic lines making us all brothers under the skin.  

If only there were more time for I love to tell the story, which in so many ways is my inspiration.

9 comments:

  1. If the government had not interfered just think where Americans would be with this lady’s background and family values among the Negro/Black Americans.

    Cousin Bill

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  2. Birmingham Alabama had a vibrant black community during that time that had its own businesses that were self-sustaining. Now the whole city has been greatly diminished & is dying.

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    1. Horace Smith March 14, 2013 at 1:56 AM

      In my youth I delivered milk, newspapers, and Coca-Cola in the black residential and business areas of Asheville. It never occurred to me to be afraid and I was always treated with dignity and respect. Extensive experience with supervising and promoting black workers in Aerospace plants was always mutually rewarding and I now sit in church surrounded by black people. If you had to be a racist to secede I don't think North Carolina would have ever seceded. It's not about race and never was. It's about Freedom for All.

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    2. It's about Freedom for All.

      Well said.

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  3. Children of all ethnicities are taught to be racist and/or to be dependents of the taxpayer. I know this from personal experience.

    The standard of living depends very much on what area of the country and even to the county of which you reside.

    Me? I live in a county where the majority are blacks, and more recently single young whites on welfare. These select folks vote a straight party Democratic ticket because they want to continue to sit at home and get their EBT cards & Medicaid. The vast majority are low information voters.

    No, they do not represent all blacks. In other areas of the country and even the state you will find varying backgrounds of blacks. I would dare say some counties get the most educated and socially responsible blacks, just as they do whites and other races. Sadly, in this county of NC, that is not the case.

    I am not racist and I see more whites now than ever following the same path. Why would they work when they can get a check?

    Respectfully,
    D.Stroud
    ENC

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    1. Yes, both sad and pathetic. As you well know Debra, we do have some good, conservative blacks in our neck of the woods, though. In fact, it seems like they are the ones we talk to the most at the reunions.:) By the way, the Spring PATCON will be the first week in May, if y'all can come. The information is at the very top of the page entitled:

      Spring 2013 NC PATCON & 2nd Amendment Rally: Thursday May 2nd to Monday May 6th

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  4. Yes, there are a great many good and conservative people of color, but you will never hear them on mainstream media outlets.


    It's as bad as trying to convince an athiest there is a God. A bad situation that is very hard to get around when the children are taught early on they are being held back and held down by whites. And they are taught that "entitlement attitude" that I cannot abide in any person, regardless of race. If anything the government is holding us ALL down to progress their socialist agenda. If you don't go along with the left-wing liberals, you will be persecuted!

    I speak of people in my own family, who I have a very hard time seeing at family gatherings knowing I pay their rent and grocery bills every month. It's very hard to hold my tongue.

    PS: I'll check out the PATCON. We have to SAVE our second ammendment. If you notice local news all around the country, the media reports first and foremost "GUNS FOUND" on almost every arrest report, which ends up in "gun confiscation" by law enforcement. This is the very beginning....

    Mad As Hell and Don't know what to do about it!
    D.Stroud
    ENC

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    1. the government is holding us ALL down to progress their socialist agenda.

      Good point.
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      It's very hard to hold my tongue.

      I don't think I could be too friendly.
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      "GUNS FOUND" on almost every arrest report

      With the race of the suspect in many instances strangely missing.......

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