"Klansville, USA" - A PBS Film (2015)

I just read this book back in January and somehow never reviewed it here. Don't know why, except that one book ends and another begins. Sometimes a good one gets left out. Such was the case with that one. But, in case you missed the book there is a PBS documentary of the same name and by the same author; David Cunningham.

Reading the book was an eye opener in that I would never have guessed that over half of all the KKK memberships and claverns in the United States were located here in North Carolina; many within 100 miles or less from my home. Kannaoplis; which is 18 minutes from my house; was a particularly active area. There is a tree located about 3 miles from me which is indicated on the chart showing the location of each of the lynchings which took place between the turn of the last century and the dawn of this new one. 

The film is stark and will leave you wondering how the hell they got some of these films. They actually show the "secret" initiation ceremony and other portions of the documentary show men, women and children parading; with hoods up in broad daylight; down the streets of Salisbury, Greensboro and other cities throughout the state. Watching them reminded me of the people who indiscriminately allow themselves to be filmed saying and doing idiotic things today. What were they thinking? 

I passed through North Carolina for the first time when I was 9 years old in early 1964. We were on a trip to Virginia and Washington, DC when we decided to go a bit further and see where my Dad's cigarettes came from. So, we wound up in Raleigh and also Durham, where the biggest cigarette manufacturers were located.

The most memorable part of the trip for me was stopping at a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge, complete with restaurant and orange roof. What could be more welcoming than the familiar corporate colors, which meant comfort and civility? We entered the restaurant and ate our meal. I was amazed listening to the accents and hearing the waitress call everyone "honey" and "sweetie." Man, I was down South! Then the Coca-Cola truck arrived to make a delivery.

The waitress behind the counter greeted the driver flirtatiously and with honey dripping from her every word. The driver, too, played his part perfectly. With his rolled up short sleeved Coca Cola shirt and a cigarette dangling from his lips he was the embodiment of an American workingman. Then they spoke.

She began by barking, "Boy! The trucks here, get it inside!" A small black kid; skinnier than me; came out from the kitchen area. He never looked up; only down at the floor and mumbled "Yes, 'aam." And as he went to to the door and the task of wheeling in those cases of soda; which were taller than either of us; the driver added, "And don't you break nothing now, y'hear?" This film captures that with crystal clarity.

"Black and White" by Richard Williams (2014)

I only took this book out of the library because I was interested in Richard Williams’ early life growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1950’s. He was born there in 1942 and by his teen aged years was a justifiably angry young black man with very little hope for a secure future. At least that’s the way it would’ve worked out if not for two things; a strong mother and a commitment to break away from the expected outcome of his life.

On that level the book delivered beautifully, living up to my every expectation. But the real surprise of this book was that it was able to hold my attention all the way through his daughters winning their celebrated championships.

But the meat of this book is in the fact that Mr. Williams; no relation to me; had the idea of creating the award winning sisters before they were even born. He was married at the time to the woman he loved and was raising 3 step children with her. Life was perfect. Many people do not realize that Mr. Williams was already a very successful businessman before his daughters became champions. He owned a cleaning service, a car wash and some real estate. Before he was 30 he had amassed around $800,000 before giving it all away.

Watching TV one day with his adopted daughters he saw a young woman winning $20,000 for a tennis match. He was instantly seized with the vision of raising 2 girls to become champion players. His adopted children were too old at the time to train adequately. So he proposed the idea of having 2 more daughters to his wife. Whether she believed in the idea, or was just enthusiastic about “trying” we will never know for sure.

 

Shortly after the girls were born, about a year and a half apart, Mr. Williams moved his family from a comfortable home in Long Beach to the crack infested neighborhood of Compton in Los Angeles. He wanted his daughters to be strong and independent, and to that end he showed them the prostitutes, the drug slingers, the gangs hanging on the corners; all in an effort to show them what they should aspire not to be.

He literally fought the street gangs to regain control of the local park tennis courts; which were on the “turf” of the gangs. He lost 10 teeth and had countless ribs cracked; and he even chased them down with a shotgun before finally winning.

In short; this is a book which will surprise you. If you think you know enough about Venus and Serena Williams from reading the headlines and the magazines; think again. Until you have gotten to know their father, you haven’t even scratched the surface.

"Freedom Riders" - A PBS Film (2011)

This post is in remembrance of former Assistant Attorney General John Doar, who passed away in New York City this past week. He was 92 years old. Many will be familiar with him from the Civil Rights demonstrations of the 1960’s, where he was on the front lines facing the violence of segregation on its deathbed. He was dispatched to Montgomery, Alabama in 1961 along with John Seigenthaler, to protect the Freedom Riders.

The Freedom Riders were a group of young, idealistic students who wanted to dramatically demonstrate to the world that it was not possible to travel from one state to another without the risk of violence if you were African-American. This demonstration came at the same time as the Lunch Counter sit-ins which took place in many of the segregated cities were occurring.

John Doar’s role in the movement came about in a kind of left handed way. The Kennedy Administration was about to have its first summit with the Soviets and the specter of violent protests calling attention to the lack of freedom for African-Americans was the last thing they needed to be packing along with their bags when they went abroad.

This was the beginning of Mr. Doar’s 7 years of service as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, where he was frequently on the front lines of the Movement, where he became highly regarded as both a committed and somewhat fearless man. He was present at the admission of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi, confronting Ross Barnett and providing Meredith with protection. He was also the lead investigator in the 1964 case of the 3 missing Civil Rights workers; Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner; as later depicted in the film “Mississippi Burning.”

He prosecuted Collie Leroy Wilkins for federal civil rights violations in the murder of Viola Liuzzo. This was extraordinary as the jury was all white and the trial took place in 1963 in the segregated state of Alabama. Later that same year he confronted and calmed an angry mob after the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, murdered outside his home. The following account of the rioting which took place in the wake of that murder demonstrated Mr. Doar's faith in non-violence as a weapon.

The full story is at  http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/trialheroes/doaressay.html

"Into the no-man’s land between the police and the rioters walked John Doar.  The crowd stopped for a moment, stunned as though they were watching a ghost. Then bottles, bricks, and other missiles began crashing around him. Doar called to the crowd.  “You’re not going to win anything with bottles and bricks,” he said.  He could hardly be heard above the roar of the crowd, which began to encircle him. A man with a tire iron lifted it and took aim at Doar’s head. 

An angry black woman yelled in his face, “We get our rumps shot up!”  She asked with sarcastic disgust, “Are we gonna wait for the Justice Department?” Doar pleaded, “Aw, give us a break.” Then he shouted again, “Hold it! Is there someone here who can speak for you people?”  One black youth emerged from the demonstrators and joined Doar in the street.  “This man is right,” the youth said, pointing at Doar.  

“My name is John Doar—D-O-A-R,” the official called again and again.  “I’m from the Justice Department, and anybody around here knows I stand for what is right.”  He walked toward the mob, shouting—begging—for the crowd to disperse. “Medgar Evers wouldn’t want it this way,” he called.

In an alley, a CORE worker grabbed a teenager with a rifle who was taking aim at Doar. “Hold hands with me and help us move these people along,” Doar said to some nearby protesters.  A few people linked hands and they slowly began to push the mob back from the police line. A massacre was averted.  Barricades were removed and a motorized streetsweeper began whisking up the broken glass and other hurled debris."

During the March on Montgomery in early 1965 he was in the front of the 3^rd; and successful; attempt to reach the state capitol, walking “point” one block ahead of the marchers. He was Assistant Attorney General to Robert Kennedy at the time.

This film captures all of the drama and fear that were part of the Freedom Riders campaign. Utilizing one Greyhound Bus and one from Trailways, these brave activists; recruited by the Congress for Racial Equality, or CORE; set out to highlight the segregation that was commonplace in the cities throughout the Southern states.

On May 4, 1961, the first group; consisting  of 13 African-American and white civil rights activists left Washington, D.C., in an attempt to integrate the rest rooms and waiting rooms at bus stations along the way on the journey South. African-American Freedom Riders tried to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters, and white participants attempted to use the “Colored Only” facilities.

What many people do not realize is that the Freedom Rides were meant as a replication of the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, designed to test the 1946 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Morgan v. Virginia. That decision held that segregated bus seating in Interstate Commerce was unconstitutional. This did not apply to the individual states and it would be another 9 years until Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a local bus in Alabama.

The violence began as soon as the first bus hit Rock Hill, S.C. on May 12. The next day they were again attacked in Atlanta, Georgia where some of the riders boarded a Trailways Bus. By the time the Freedom Riders hit the state of Alabama the violence was so out of control that the bus could not even stop at the terminal. With an angry mob slashing tires and breaking windows the bus left with a contingent of angry whites chasing it.

When the tires finally gave out the bus pulled over and the white driver fled. The mob then threw in gasoline bombs in an attempt to smoke the passengers out. When they emerged they were beaten under the watchful eyes of the Alabama State Police. The images of the burnt bus made the front page of newspapers worldwide.

Throughout the summer the Freedom Rides continued until the Interstate Commerce Commission issued new regulations barring discrimination in accommodations at bus stops acroos the country. Thjis had the same effect as the 1946 Supreme Court Ruling, and it would be another 4 years before the Civil Rights Act would be finally passed and enshrined as law.

This film captures all of the drama and violence which invaded our living rooms via the nightly news, and eventually changed the way we looked at ourselves in terms of being a truly free country. And while all of this was happening here, the struggle in South Africa was portrayed as something different and more evil, while in reality there was no real difference at all.

This is an important film for these times, when some people are calling for a repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other legal protections which were won by the hard work of many people at grave risk to themselves. The fact that there are people trying to roll back those protections is ample proof in itself that these laws are still very necessary. Watching this film is one of the things you can do to honor the memory of the late John Doar.

Cliven Bundy and the Negroes

Thank you Mr. Bundy; until your comments on the “Negro” surfaced I was not sure of what I would be posting today. Thanks to you I am now clear on that question.  So, in case you have been buried somewhere in a hole; or just had your head in the sand lately; here’s some background.

Cliven Bundy is the Nevada rancher who has been grazing his cattle on your land for 20 years, or more, and doesn’t think he owes you any money for. He was repeatedly warned about this practice and ignored several warnings which were given concerning our government seizing his cattle as payment. When the bill came due and our government sent marshals to do that, he met them with armed resistance. After a brief stand-off, our troops decided not to kill him and his supporters and left. Mr. Bundy has been crowing ever since.

I use the pro-nouns “our” and “we” in describing the government because that is exactly who the government represents; you and me. Mr. Bundy and his friends are so busy casting things in terms of “us” and “them” that I felt the need to remind everyone who “we” really are.

We are the government; though at the present time we may not all be happy with our representation; either at the local or federal level. The fact remains though, that when Mr. Bundy picks Uncle Sam’s pocket he is really stealing from you and me, since there is no Uncle Sam; just a treasury with “our” money in it.

So, why all the surprise that this guy is a racist who supports the idea of slavery; search me? Here are his remarks. If you like this guy, more power to you; just don’t steal any more of our money. The next time I’m rooting for the Federal Marshalls.  I have highlighted the double negatives of this highly educated man. It's the same old crap - just in a different hat. You can't make this stuff up...

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children; they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”