This is a continuation of a series of posts:
Late 50’s – May Greene School – and the Lies I believed – Part 1
(He’s gonna’ kill me! 🙂 Don’t you just love the bow tie?)
My younger brother, Mark, has always made wiser choices than I have. That goes for the racist lies too. He did have an advantage over me, though, on that subject. He never went to an all-white school. He started out first grade at May Greene! Lucky dog!
We grew up in the same house but he never did buy the “rules” about relationships with African-Americans like I did. He said that he just knew that they were wrong. Many of his best friends were African-American. He tells me that none of the kids in his class had any problems along those lines. In my thinking, this just goes to show that it would have been best for both races to go to school together and share their lives with each other in the first place instead of being separated.
He says that he just ignored what he heard at home because he knew it wasn’t true. He visited his friends homes and spent lots of time with them; it didn’t matter to him one bit what color their skin was. And, like me, he says he was treated much better at his friends’ homes than he was at our house. He stayed away from home as much as possible also, just as I did.
To be continued….
Sprigg Street Memories, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 1960's 
Hi. I love your blog and seeing the movie “The Help ” brought back alot of memories. We were not well to do like those families but some of the things I remember. I went to Lormier school in 6th grade we had one black girl in our class, that was my first time in school with black kids. I went to Junior high and 2 years of high school in Cape.When I was a freshman in gym I use to talk to a black girl in my class named Mary Ann, and her friend. One day I was telling her how good the movie “Fall of House of Usher” was. I told her she should go see it. She looked at me smiling and said “You know I cant go to the show” I ask well why not , finally a white friend of mine changed the subject. After Mary Ann left my white friend told me. “Becky black people are not allowed in the shows.” I was shocked it was 1960 , people were suppose to be the same. For years I have wondered why didn’t I speak up , why didn’t I say how wrong that the was. Why didn’t I at least tell Mary Ann I was sorry. Things stayed the same we still dressed out for gym together and talked and laughed, but it was wrong and I knew it.
Rebecca,
There were many of us who SHOULD have spoken up and didn’t, to our shame. All we can do now is not ever make the same mistake again and do what we can now to make amends. It was good that you were her friend anyway. I saw that movie “The Help” too. I came out of there crying my eyes out remembering my childhood, the dilapidated houses just down the street, and the fact that I had been guilty of believing the lies. It was that movie and another website that motivated me to start this blog. The other website, in case you don’t know about it yet, is at http://www.capecentralhigh.com The writer and photographer is Ken Steinhoff. I think you would really enjoy it. Thanks for reading and thanks for being brave enough to leave your comment.
“The real world is how you perceive it.”. How you perceive the world may be entirely different than your neighbors. Who’s to judge who is right or wrong? Or as times and culture change how can we judge the previous cultures perception of what is right or wrong? Who are we to say their preception was “lies?” To them it was the truth just as you believe your precegtion is the truth.
I welcome your opinion, Paul. In many cases I would agree with you. When it comes to customs, ways of dress, or social life, etc., those things do change with the culture and time. However, when it comes to how to treat another human being, I would disagree. My opinion is that there is a God and that he decides what is right or wrong. The God I believe in, Jesus Christ, has made known to me that I am to love my neighbor as myself, without exception. And so, that is why I believe that it is wrong to discriminate against anyone based on their appearance.
Your opinion may be different than mine and it is fine for you to express it here. Differing opinions are part of what made America free. It got us away from King George 🙂