"The Grace of Silence" by Michele Norris

I don't watch TV and I almost never listen to NPR, so I had no idea who Michele Norris is, or what she does for a living, when I picked up this book. The time period of the 1940's holds a special allure for me, after all, it was the decade in which my parents met. I have always been fascinated by the clothes, the politics, and the music of this era. The South, fueled by my Mother's stories of driving down to Florida and seeing the "Whites Only" signs on bathrooms and drinking fountains, has also always held me captive, with stories of racial injustices and the Ku Klux Klan. I grew up with Bull Connors always there on the sidelines in Birmingham, causing me to ask my 4th grade teacher what was so different about South Africa and Apartheid, when compared to what was happening in Alabama?

So this book seemed to have all the elements of what interests me in a memoir. I got more than I bargained for. Ms. Norris has penned a book that is, at first glance, the story of her father and his service in the Navy during the Second World War, and at the same time chronicles the history of the Civil Rights Movement, from it's real beginnings at the end of that war. Building upon this story, the author has created a vivid portrait of America from the 1940's through the present.

Beginning the book with some family history, the author quickly moves into the early 1960's when her father, Belvin Norris, Jr. bought a house in an all white neighborhood in Minnesota. The family has to work twice as hard to show that they are responsible homeowners. They are the first family to shovel the snow, and their garden is the most well tended. Gradually though, white flight does takes place, as was common all over America at the time.

Her parents were both Postal Workers, and they worked hard instilling pride in their children. The story of Ms. Norris' grandmother is a perfect example of pride. Ione Hopson was one of the many "Aunt Jemima's" who would travel from city to city making pancakes to advertise the product. As humiliating as this job might seem by today's standards, the author's grandmother showed some real backbone when she took this job, which only emblazoned the image of a happy black "Mammy" in the public eye. In deep contrast to this, she was the woman who began the U-Meet-Us Senior Citizen Center in Minneapolis, when there was no place relevant for black seniors to go.

After her father is discharged from the Navy, he heads home to Birmingham. At that time, and on through the turbulent 1960's, Birmingham would be the center of the Civil Rights Struggle. Within 2 weeks of being discharged from the Navy, Ms. Norris' father is involved in a scuffle with the police, during which he is shot in the leg. Ms. Norris grows up never hearing anything about this. When her father passes away, a family member lets this fact slip out, leading the author to chase down the story, as well as some of the surviving players. What she uncovers is the story of a nation, just returned from a war to promote Freedom, while denying that same right to it's African-American Citizens. This is the real beginning of the modern civil rights movement. Angry Veterans, returning home after fighting for their country, decided that they had endured enough. They wanted to be full citizens of the country for which they had just fought.

At this point the book turns from a memoir into a history of the Desegregation of the Armed Forces under President Truman. This came about in part due to the blinding of a recently discharged African-American named Isaac Woodward, who was a passenger aboard a bus traveling from Georgia to South Carolina. He was beaten and blinded by 2 police officers during a "rest stop" in Batesburg, South Carolina. Although his name has largely been lost to history, his ordeal sparked a national outcry, which included Orson Welles beginning a running commentary on his ABC radio show, entitled "What Does It Cost To Be A Negro?" For several months he shone a light on the officer involved, during which he said, "We have an appointment, you and I, and only death can cancel it." He was warned to back off and eventually fired.

This is a very unusual book, in that it is part memoir,and part history. It would be hard to seperate the history of the author's family from the history of the racial strife which has rocked our nation from it's birth.

For me, the most enduring character in the book is the author's father. He lived through those turbulent times. He paid, in sacrifices we can only imagine, for all of the freedoms he came to enjoy. He earned the legacy that his daughter stands on today.

At the beginning of the book, Ms. Norris talks about having a dialoque on race. The title of the book makes more sense to me. There is a special grace, and even dignity in silence. There is an old admonition that one should know when to say nothing. You cannot force someone to listen to that which they do not want to hear. The story of Ms. Norris' father, and all that he silently endured, proves it.

"Rising Road" by Sharon Davies

America at the close of World War One was a diverse mixture of nationalities and religions. By the early 1920’s the Ku Klux Klan had re-organized and begun a campaign of xenophobia and hatred that spread across the land. At the same time there was a growing Socialist movement involved in labor organization. All this served to pit one American against another, either along the lines of religion or race, politics or money.

Beneath the emerging prosperity there was a growing discontent and intolerance for views that differed from ones own. By 1925 the Klan was marching in Washington, DC, unopposed, down Pennsylvania Avenue and past the White House.

Catholicism was under severe attack. Its adherents were likened to “cross kissers” and “papists.” Into this seething cauldron that was America in the summer of 1921, two people married. This seemingly innocent event would turn into a sensational murder trial involving the girl’s father, Edwin Stephenson,(a former barber turned lay minister)Reverend James Coyle,(the local Catholic Priest) and Hugo Black,(a KKK sympathizer who would go on to become a Supreme Court Justice.)

Ms. Davies has done the seemingly impossible with this book. She has at once presented us with a true life murder-mystery, as well as a complete and accurate overview of the social issues of the time. No easy task.

The two lovers who bought about this commotion are of great interest. The girl, Ruth Stephenson, a Protestant,who is fascinated by the Catholic Church, meets Pedro Gussman at the age of 13 when he is doing some work at her family's home. He is a practicing Catholic from Puerto Rico. He is 24 years older. This is a doomed relationship from the start. The three strikes of race, religion and age make it imposssible for the couple to begin dating a few years after they meet.

Added to this combustible mix is Mr. Stephenson's lack of work as a barber. After accidentally shooting himself in the foot he can no longer stand for long periods of time. He becomes a Protestant lay preacher. Birmingham was a thriving town where many runaways went to get married in civil ceremonies. Mr. Stephenson takes to wandering the steps of the court house in an effort to seek out and marry these young wayward couples in the eyes of God. This effort is frowned upon by the Reverend Coyle, who feels not only that his church is being cheated of the revenue afforded by these marraiges, but also that these marraiges are not valid in the eyes of God.

Ruth's growing relationship with Pedro only fuels her passion for the rituals of his Catholicism and she decides to convert and marry him in the Catholic Church. She is 18 and does not need, nor does she seek, her parents consent. This enrages Mr. Stephenson to the point of confronting Reverend Coyle on the porch of his rectory. What happens there triggers this sensational trial for the Reverends' murder.

There is no doubt that Mr. Stephenson did it, there were witnesses to the act. The trial, instead turns on the "why" behind the murder. Was Ruth brainwashed into becoming Catholic? Aren't Puerto Ricans merely light skinned blacks, as claimed by future Justice Black? And therefore not entitled to marrying outside of their race? The fact that Hugo Black would go on to become such a stalwart advocate of Civil Rights only makes the book more interesting.

The motivations of all the characters involved is mind boggling. Every one has an ulterior motive for the verdict they wish to see. Race, religion and politics, a volatile mixture back in the 1920's, has not changed all that much. The racists seek to keep another group down socially, while the religious crowd tries to force their particular God down your throat and the politicians attempt to walk a fine line, attempting to satisfy us all, on their way to higher office at our expense. One of the arguments presented by the Defense touches upon what would later become known as the "Miranda Decision", in which a defendants right to counsel is affirmed by the arresting authority. This was not done in Mr. Stephenson's case, and Hugo Black skillfully uses this argument to cast doubt upon the evidence for the Prosecution, which included Mr. Stephenson's confession on the night of the murder.

Mr. Stephenson is freed by a jury that takes it's course from the Bible, rather than enacted law. Mrs. Gussman never reconciles with her parents, citing "years of abuse" as her reason. This is a riveting book with applications to today's world and our continued division over these same issues.