We’ve been watching the Democratic National Convention; Brad especially has been interested in the political process of late. Last night as Barack Obama came on stage, it really hit home that this is indeed history in the making.
I wanted Brad to understand just how recent the Civil Rights movement was, just how much things have changed in what is really a very short time period. Martin Luther King’s fight for equality isn’t something that only happened in history books - this great man did his work during my lifetime.
The prejudice that blacks face(d) is something that I’ve seen first hand and I wanted Brad to hear this, so we stayed up late talking about MY history as it relates to current history. The rural community in which I grew up was very white. I remember seeing the occasional “mixed couple” (visitors, of course) and hearing the whispers about how indecent it was for a black man to marry a white woman, and wondering why. I remember Roscoe Phillips, the only black student in my high school and an excellent running back, being told that he only made so many touchdowns because there were so many white players chasing him. And here we are today watching a black man run for the president of the country.
Whether you plan to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain, and regardless of which man becomes our next president, this election is a momentous occasion. It IS history in the making.
August 28, 2008 @ 4:24 am
Things have changed tremendously in a relatively short period of time. When I was in elementary school (we’re the same age??) integration was fairly new in N.C. and black and white children mostly played and ate lunch separately.