Texas is home for me. It's where I was born and raised. Although I lived in Sacramento for 22 years, and Texas for only 18, China, Texas will always be home.
China was a very small town. There were about 1100 folks, and I'm sure they counted pets and the deceased, to come up with that number.
It was/is an agricultural area, with rice being the biggest crop. Most folks worked on farms, and the lucky ones at the oil refineries in Beaumont, about 20 miles away.
Like all town/cities/communities at that time, it was segregated. The railroad tracks were the dividing line. All the white folks lived on one side of the tracks, all of the black folks on the other. It was like that in 1956 when I was born, and to a large degree, it's still like that today.
I remember the "whites' only signs for the restrooms and water fountains at the gas station. At the general store, the whites parked in the front, the blacks on the side.
The white side of town had paved roads, sidewalks and underground drainage of waste. There were no sidewalks on our side. The roads were layered in dried shells, which was hard to drive on and even harder to walk on. The drainage pipes emptied waste into the ditches, which was a festering ground for the spread of disease by the many mosquitoes that lived there.
Of course, the schools were segregated.
Everyone in the school system was black. The principal, teachers and all support staff. It was like this for me from 1st thru 6th grade. Our school served all students from 1st thru 12th grade. When I was in 1st grade, my brother Forrest was in the 11th grade, on the other side of the building.
My black world extended beyond the school. The doctors, dentists, pharmacist, and all the other professionals whose services we used, were black, too.
We integrated my school when I was in the 7th grade. My K-12 school became the middle school. Everyone in 1st thru 6th grade, now went to the white school across the tracks. All of the white kids in 7th and 8th grade, came to our school, and in the 9th grade, we were all bussed seven miles away, to the town of Sour Lake, where we went to high school.
As I mentioned, all of my teachers were black before we integrated. After integration, I had one black teacher from 7th thru 12th grade. All of those black educators lost their jobs.
Although integration opened many doors, I'm not sure if we did an accurate job of counting the cost. We didn't always have the latest textbooks or the best supplies, but we had role models and teachers who had a vested interest in our success. The black staff knew the challenges we would face, and they worked overtime to ensure our success. They absolutely refused to let us fail.
When we integrated, we shared the same space, but we didn't always get the same education.
As I look back on that time, I marvel at the fact that our coming together was peaceful. There were no protests. No sit-ins. No demonstrations. We black folks understood how dangerous it was to push back, so we didn't. We were taught how to behave to avoid trouble. We knew our place and stayed in it.
Some may see this as cowardly. I see it as an exercise in smart thinking. We understood our lives and livelihoods were at stake. Literally.
The good thing about being raised in the South was, we knew where we stood. Their was no ambiguity about how someone felt about you. It was revealed for all to see and deal with.
This is my history.
This is what I passed on to Ben and Frankie. This may help to explain why for years, I objected to their dating white girls. My rationale was twofold. I was absolutely concerned about their safety, and I wanted them to appreciate black women and the richness of our culture.
Both Ben and Frankie are married, and I love their wives and the choices they made. Neither of the women are black.
My thinking evolved.
I loved what President Obama stated, when he said his thinking about gay marriage has evolved. So too, has mine about interracial marriage. I've grown. I've matured. I understand that love comes is many packages and in many colors.
I always encouraged Ben and Frankie to marry smart women. And they did. Could they have found smart black women? Of course. But they didn't, and that's OK.
I've grown. I've matured. I've evolved.
Thank God!
Evolution is a good thing.
China was a very small town. There were about 1100 folks, and I'm sure they counted pets and the deceased, to come up with that number.
It was/is an agricultural area, with rice being the biggest crop. Most folks worked on farms, and the lucky ones at the oil refineries in Beaumont, about 20 miles away.
Like all town/cities/communities at that time, it was segregated. The railroad tracks were the dividing line. All the white folks lived on one side of the tracks, all of the black folks on the other. It was like that in 1956 when I was born, and to a large degree, it's still like that today.
I remember the "whites' only signs for the restrooms and water fountains at the gas station. At the general store, the whites parked in the front, the blacks on the side.
The white side of town had paved roads, sidewalks and underground drainage of waste. There were no sidewalks on our side. The roads were layered in dried shells, which was hard to drive on and even harder to walk on. The drainage pipes emptied waste into the ditches, which was a festering ground for the spread of disease by the many mosquitoes that lived there.
Of course, the schools were segregated.
Everyone in the school system was black. The principal, teachers and all support staff. It was like this for me from 1st thru 6th grade. Our school served all students from 1st thru 12th grade. When I was in 1st grade, my brother Forrest was in the 11th grade, on the other side of the building.
My black world extended beyond the school. The doctors, dentists, pharmacist, and all the other professionals whose services we used, were black, too.
We integrated my school when I was in the 7th grade. My K-12 school became the middle school. Everyone in 1st thru 6th grade, now went to the white school across the tracks. All of the white kids in 7th and 8th grade, came to our school, and in the 9th grade, we were all bussed seven miles away, to the town of Sour Lake, where we went to high school.
As I mentioned, all of my teachers were black before we integrated. After integration, I had one black teacher from 7th thru 12th grade. All of those black educators lost their jobs.
Although integration opened many doors, I'm not sure if we did an accurate job of counting the cost. We didn't always have the latest textbooks or the best supplies, but we had role models and teachers who had a vested interest in our success. The black staff knew the challenges we would face, and they worked overtime to ensure our success. They absolutely refused to let us fail.
When we integrated, we shared the same space, but we didn't always get the same education.
As I look back on that time, I marvel at the fact that our coming together was peaceful. There were no protests. No sit-ins. No demonstrations. We black folks understood how dangerous it was to push back, so we didn't. We were taught how to behave to avoid trouble. We knew our place and stayed in it.
Some may see this as cowardly. I see it as an exercise in smart thinking. We understood our lives and livelihoods were at stake. Literally.
The good thing about being raised in the South was, we knew where we stood. Their was no ambiguity about how someone felt about you. It was revealed for all to see and deal with.
This is my history.
This is what I passed on to Ben and Frankie. This may help to explain why for years, I objected to their dating white girls. My rationale was twofold. I was absolutely concerned about their safety, and I wanted them to appreciate black women and the richness of our culture.
Both Ben and Frankie are married, and I love their wives and the choices they made. Neither of the women are black.
My thinking evolved.
I loved what President Obama stated, when he said his thinking about gay marriage has evolved. So too, has mine about interracial marriage. I've grown. I've matured. I understand that love comes is many packages and in many colors.
I always encouraged Ben and Frankie to marry smart women. And they did. Could they have found smart black women? Of course. But they didn't, and that's OK.
I've grown. I've matured. I've evolved.
Thank God!
Evolution is a good thing.
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