What was the point

[squareshot]

Being raised in the south, there were times when we got into town. I asked my mother why there was a black water fountain, and a white water fountain, since the water was sprayed up and away from the fountain. No contact was made with facial parts. The only explanation she had was that sometimes black people didn't smell very good. Hell, if white people were dragging cotton sacks through the field all day, they didn't smell very good either.

 

[Renee]

Being raised in the south, there were times when we got into town. I asked my mother why there was a black water fountain, and a white water fountain, since the water was sprayed up and away from the fountain. No contact was made with facial parts. The only explanation she had was that sometimes black people didn't smell very good. Hell, if white people were dragging cotton sacks through the field all day, they didn't smell very good either.

This is why there is still so much racism in the south. An attitude that deeply instilled in ones psyche just doesn't go away. When that generation dies off, there will be a different attitude. Kinda like how young people see gay marriage etc.

 

[squareshot]

This is why there is still so much racism in the south. An attitude that deeply instilled in ones psyche just doesn't go away. When that generation dies off, there will be a different attitude. Kinda like how young people see gay marriage etc.

Hi RN, I fear that in the deep south it will take more than one generation for the nonsense to go away. But I do think it will go away, if black Americans are patient and don't kill Bubba.

 

[NightSwimmer]

Racism never was and still isn't restricted to the Southern region of the United States.

 

[Renee]

Racism never was and still isn't restricted to the Southern region of the United States.

Of course not...nor is liberalism restricted to the north. But you will find a disproportionate amount of each in certain Parts of the country. The south was raised with segregation and the belief that blacks were genetically inferior. Those of us here were not raised that way..there is a difference between personal racism and institutionalized racism. Was there racism? Absolutely!
Just because segregation is suddenly made illegal, does not mean that people's attitudes change it takes a couple of generations

 

[NightSwimmer]

Of course not...nor is liberalism restricted to the north. But you will find a disproportionate amount of each in certain Parts of the country. The south was raised with segregation and the belief that blacks were genetically inferior. Those of us here were not raised that way..there is a difference between personal racism and institutionalized racism. Was there racism? Absolutely!
Just because segregation is suddenly made illegal, does not mean that people's attitudes change it takes a couple of generations

I am probably older than you, since I am old enough to have personally witnessed segregation. I have probably also traveled more within the US, due to my chosen career path. Segregation was not limited to the South prior to the civil rights movement and racism most certainly still isn't limited to the Southern region of the US. I'll admit that there are, and have been, few incidents of institutionalized racism in certain regions of the US (Kansas and Montana come to mind) where there are practically no black people living -- but that doesn't win those regions any awards for non-bigotry in my book.

 

[Renee]

I am probably older than you, since I am old enough to have personally witnessed segregation. I have probably also traveled more within the US, due to my chosen career path. Segregation was not limited to the South prior to the civil rights movement and racism most certainly still isn't limited to the Southern region of the US. I'll admit that there are, and have been, few incidents of institutionalized racism in certain regions of the US (Kansas and Montana come to mind) where there are practically no black people living -- but that doesn't win those regions any awards for non-bigotry in my book.

First of all....no one is older than I am! Second,y segregation was state sanctioned in the south. You had separate water fountains, schools and buses. We never saw that in the north., though self segregation existed. We drank from the same water fountains , rode the buses and sat where we chose and there were black kids in my schools. That makes a big difference, Again I say, segregation was legal in the south. When you see it, and get explanations like your mother gave you....it sticks! Black people were clearly defined......inferior human beings .

 

[squareshot]

First of all....no one is older than I am! Second,y segregation was state sanctioned in the south. You had separate water fountains, schools and buses. We never saw that in the north., though self segregation existed. We drank from the same water fountains , rode the buses and sat where we chose and there were black kids in my schools. That makes a big difference, Again I say, segregation was legal in the south. When you see it, and get explanations like your mother gave you....it sticks! Black people were clearly defined......inferior human beings .

Hi RN, I really don't think my mother ever considered herself better than anyone. They were tenant farmers and plowed the fields, planted the crops (cotton and corn), planted their own garden, went to the river for baths, and lived in a tarpaper shack. Most of the meat they had was squirrels and fish, caught or shot. And we lived in the same areas as black people. She was raised by a black lady, and if she wanted a whipping all she had to do was lip off to her nanny. HER dad would blister her butt if he heard about it.

 

[Jen]

I was raised in the South but I never saw (or recognized it if I saw it) segregation. My church had all its services in Spanish, my parents' best friends were black, brown and white so our house frequently had people of any/ all colors in it and nobody told me that there was a difference between people in any way because of their skin color or because of the language they spoke. We had a friend who was hostess for some of the Middle Eastern military men who trained in San Antonio, so they came to our home to eat on many occasions.

I know that racism existed and still exists so I don't deny that. I can't wrap my mind around the why of it even now, but that doesn't mean it isn't and wasn't there. I wish people would just think things through a bit before they buy into thinking that the color of someone's skin makes any difference in that person's character.

 

[Renee]

I was raised in the South but I never saw (or recognized it if I saw it) segregation. My church had all its services in Spanish, my parents' best friends were black, brown and white so our house frequently had people of any/ all colors in it and nobody told me that there was a difference between people in any way because of their skin color or because of the language they spoke. We had a friend who was hostess for some of the Middle Eastern military men who trained in San Antonio, so they came to our home to eat on many occasions.

I know that racism existed and still exists so I don't deny that. I can't wrap my mind around the why of it even now, but that doesn't mean it isn't and wasn't there. I wish people would just think things through a bit before they buy into thinking that the color of someone's skin makes any difference in that person's character.

I find it hard to believe you were raised in the south but never saw segregation....unless you are much younger than I thought.

 

[Renee]

Hi RN, I really don't think my mother ever considered herself better than anyone. They were tenant farmers and plowed the fields, planted the crops (cotton and corn), planted their own garden, went to the river for baths, and lived in a tarpaper shack. Most of the meat they had was squirrels and fish, caught or shot. And we lived in the same areas as black people. She was raised by a black lady, and if she wanted a whipping all she had to do was lip off to her nanny. HER dad would blister her butt if he heard about it.

She did think black people smelled....they were so poor but yet had a black woman care for you...one rung lower I guess. I doubt if your mother was bigoted, but we all have prejudices

 

[squareshot]

She did think black people smelled....they were so poor but yet had a black woman care for you...one rung lower I guess. I doubt if your mother was bigoted, but we all have prejudices

NO! I misled you, my mother was the one who had a black nanny. And the idea that she said they smelled was not a personal observation, but an explaination to a child who could not understand. HER father had black people who worked for him and her nanny was the wife of one of those people. As far as the people who worked for him he treated them with great respect but he died young of heat stroke. My mom married a drinker and money was hard to come by, and what they got he drank up. He showed me what NOT too be.

 

[Jen]

NO! I misled you, my mother was the one who had a black nanny. And the idea that she said they smelled was not a personal observation, but an explaination to a child who could not understand. HER father had black people who worked for him and her nanny was the wife of one of those people. As far as the people who worked for him he treated them with great respect but he died young of heat stroke. My mom married a drinker and money was hard to come by, and what they got he drank up. He showed me what NOT too be.

Renee will twist your every word, squareshot. Don't bother to explain. She'll twist that too.

 

[Jen]

I find it hard to believe you were raised in the south but never saw segregation....unless you are much younger than I thought.

I believe I was sheltered from it because I only knew my family and their friends and there was no segregation there at all. I remember my parents talking about the pastor's daughters in the "Anglo" church we sometimes visited and thinking back I believe she thought they thought they were better than the people in our church, but at the time it didn't register to me as a "skin color" thing. I figured then that she just thought they were bratty snobs. But now I realize she thought they were racists and when she talked to my dad about them that one time, it her tone of voice and the things she said indicated she didn't approve of them, but race wasn't mentioned in such a way that I could understand it to be that.

I'm not saying it was a good thing for me to be sheltered from it, I don't know if it was or not. In the first grade when I went to play with my best friend at recess, her new friends threw rocks at me and called me "bolilla" so I had to go find new friends until her friends accepted me (which they eventually did). I didn't even realize that was racist.

 

[NightSwimmer]

First of all....no one is older than I am! Second,y segregation was state sanctioned in the south. You had separate water fountains, schools and buses. We never saw that in the north., though self segregation existed. We drank from the same water fountains , rode the buses and sat where we chose and there were black kids in my schools. That makes a big difference, Again I say, segregation was legal in the south. When you see it, and get explanations like your mother gave you....it sticks! Black people were clearly defined......inferior human beings .

You are just so blatantly wrong. Educate yourself, if you aren't afraid to.

 

[squareshot]

I find it hard to believe you were raised in the south but never saw segregation....unless you are much younger than I thought.

I am 74 years old. I saw segregation when we would go into town. But out on the farms my family worked side by side with black people. I was very young when my mother and dad came to a parting of the ways, and moved from that part of the world.

 

[squareshot]

I believe I was sheltered from it because I only knew my family and their friends and there was no segregation there at all. I remember my parents talking about the pastor's daughters in the "Anglo" church we sometimes visited and thinking back I believe she thought they thought they were better than the people in our church, but at the time it didn't register to me as a "skin color" thing. I figured then that she just thought they were bratty snobs. But now I realize she thought they were racists and when she talked to my dad about them that one time, it her tone of voice and the things she said indicated she didn't approve of them, but race wasn't mentioned in such a way that I could understand it to be that.

I'm not saying it was a good thing for me to be sheltered from it, I don't know if it was or not. In the first grade when I went to play with my best friend at recess, her new friends threw rocks at me and called me "bolilla" so I had to go find new friends until her friends accepted me (which they eventually did). I didn't even realize that was racist.

Hi JEN, I guess our perceptions of the way things were are pretty much the same as America. I can't say that it is over, but I have a very dear black friend in Texas and as far as I am concerned personally, she is a dear friend, not black or white. When she sees my wife and I, her smile brightens the room, and we love to keep track of her family. And she feels welcome at our table anytime.

 

[Jen]

Hi JEN, I guess our perceptions of the way things were are pretty much the same as America. I can't say that it is over, but I have a very dear black friend in Texas and as far as I am concerned personally, she is a dear friend, not black or white. When she sees my wife and I, her smile brightens the room, and we love to keep track of her family. And she feels welcome at our table anytime.

I grew up believing that the content of a person's character was what was important. Skin color was superficial...... same as eye color, hair color, height, weight...... and those things did not determine character. I still believe that and I think that most Americans are that way. If I am going into an elevator alone and someone comes in with me, their skin color means nothing. Their demeanor tells me all I need to know and my gut never lets me down on that.

 

[squareshot]

I grew up believing that the content of a person's character was what was important. Skin color was superficial...... same as eye color, hair color, height, weight...... and those things did not determine character. I still believe that and I think that most Americans are that way. If I am going into an elevator alone and someone comes in with me, their skin color means nothing. Their demeanor tells me all I need to know and my gut never lets me down on that.

You seem to have a sixth sense, and you have a good handle on things. So many old people get ripped off these days because they trust too many. And you have to be so careful with your personal information, and sometime even your location can put you in danger. We try to look out for ourselves. and our neighbors, and the phone is never far away.

 

[Jen]

You seem to have a sixth sense, and you have a good handle on things. So many old people get ripped off these days because they trust too many. And you have to be so careful with your personal information, and sometime even your location can put you in danger. We try to look out for ourselves. and our neighbors, and the phone is never far away.

That's absolutely true. I am very careful.