Let’s be real–before this year happened, how many of you were familiar with Juneteenth (Black Independence Day), celebrated by African Americans like the 4th of July. Admittedly, that was sure new information to me. I can’t deny–what an eye opener–I was totally appalled–not only regarding the fact that it happened in our country’s history–but also the fact that it was not taught to the majority of us.
Probably most of us learned in our history classes that Abraham Lincoln on Jan 1, 1863 issued the final Emancipation Proclamation to free all slaves. However, most of us did not learn that many slaves in Texas, over two years later (June 19, 1865), were finally notified by Union Civil War soldiers that they had been freed–how sad!
Juneteenth has also helped us remember/learn about the May 31, 1921 massacre where. a mob set fire to hundreds of black-owned businesses (otherwise known as Black Wall Street) and homes–leading to one of the worst episodes of racial violence in our history. Historians believe as many as 300 black people were killed and more than 10,000 black residents became homeless–seriously?
So why were these facts left out of our history books along with other too-numerous-to-count atrocities against the black population? Ignorance is bliss? NOT!
This pandemic virus as well as the Minnesota police killing of George Floyd, has exposed many racial inequalities for which I had been oblivious, however no longer.
My enlightenment journey actually began much earlier. Having grown up on a Wisconsin dairy farm and later moving to a small white rural community, it was some time before I would even see my first black person in Madison (we didn’t get out much). My father enjoyed singing old spiritual songs in a black-face quartet, yet we thought nothing of its deeper meaning and effect. The performances were intended to be entertaining to white audiences, but to the black community, they were demeaning and hurtful. Periodically derogatory comments were made in my family about black folks, however, I’m sure this was passed down from many generations. And being raised in a strict religious community made little difference in this regard–in fact, several Bible verses were pinpointed as reasons blacks were less than ourselves–what a conflict this created for me–weren’t we all created equal and weren’t we all one like the Bible states? Thankfully, more compassion grew in our family once my niece married a Christian black man.
In the late 60’s, my enlightenment journey continued after completing one year of Secretarial Science (after all I had straight A’s in typing) I took off that Summer with a girlfriend to visit an aunt of hers in Crystal River on the Gulf coast of Florida. What an adventure it was–especially past that Mason & Dixon line (which was alive and well). That’s when we learned we were Yankees–who would have known? At one point, Susan developed some abdominal pain and we entered the “wrong” (black) side of this clinic; everything was pretty much segregated–from drinking fountains, swimming pools, churches and schools. We were told that before our arrival, a young black man had been hung in that vicinity for swimming in the wrong water–good heavens–who would have known? And there was the KKK rally that we watched from a distance–again, who would have known?
These two country Midwestern bumpkins then worked as waitresses for $.50 an hour–and no, our tips did not make up for that wage as we were told since they were always out of BBQ as advertised–oh well, part of this crazy Mason & Dixon experience. Needless to say, our lives were forever changed by that Summer adventure!
Once back to Madison with $.50 to spare, I soon found work through an employment agency in an Oral surgery clinic on Mifflin St. where tear gassing and Vietnam protesting was common place–and then Kent State happened–talk about chaos–but on a positive note, that was thankfully the beginning of my medical/nursing path–I received 3 free uniforms and my wisdom teeth pulled for free–what a deal!
I enjoyed that experience, however, later chose to work in the VA Hospital’s nursing field as a nursing assistant–loved caring for all those veterans (irregardless of race) and eventually completed nursing school in Denver.
Later, having had a career in both the Army National Guard and then active duty Air Force as a nurse, retrospectively thinking, I honestly thought that I had been protected from racial inequalities due to the military system of earning rank, however, recently I’ve learned about inequality challenges there as well–but once again I was obvious since I was a “privileged white person”.
This week, I was pleased to learn that the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as the Air Force’s chief of staff, elevating a four-star general who is the first black man to hold the position and who recently spoke out about his experience with racism in America. I have no doubt that he will serve us well regarding positive change when he assumes his new position in August.
All of our “Mason-Dixon enlightenment” continues–let’s be open to learning more and having those transformative discussions to bring about more necessary equality–on both sides, Our holistic wellness will benefit–let’s exhibit more love and less hate for future generations, Warriors!