Where Is She Now?
Where is she now? Where is the country that I grew to love?
I grew up in Somerville, a small town of 1300 residents. The population was roughly 2/3 Caucasian and 1/3 Black and Hispanic.
In lieu of a police force, the merchants pitched in a few dollars every month to pay Mr. Massey to be the Night Watchman.
Mr. Massey would patrol the streets every night to insure that all the doors were locked and that his presence would be seen around the businesses. He never had an encounter and there were no arrests.
During my first few years of school, there were three school systems-white, black, and brown. Mexicans were already attending the white high school when I entered first grade, but there was still a one room Mexican grade school taught by Mrs. Woods.
That school was closed and the students integrated into the white school without protest or resistance when I was in the fourth or fifth grade.
“Whites Only” signs were common throughout town. Generally, those signs were aimed at Blacks only. Mexicans were welcome in restaurants, movie theaters, and other public gatherings. Their Cinco De Mayo celebrations were attended by a number of their White neighbors.
The horrible discrimination against Blacks finally began to change in the second half of the last century. First was President Harry Truman's integration of the U.S. military in 1948. This was followed six years later with the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision desegregating schools.
Initially, there was violent objections and resistance to that decision. But by the turn of the century, however, all of the country had morphed into a system of relative harmony. Blacks from all levels were advancing to the highest positions in industry and the government.
While this metamorphosis was going on, things were going smoothly in the political arena. The two party system was producing results. Democrats and Republicans were working together and getting things done. As President Johnson said, “Compromise is the art of politics,” and regular compromise was producing results.
In my early days, murder and mayhem were not daily occurrences. I vaguely remember hearing of one or two murders in my area for my first 20 years or so. There were some reports of desperados like Bonnie and Clyde, but no daily head counts of murder victims.
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre in which seven gang members were killed in Chicago occurred in the year of my birth. So I do not know if it made the local news, but for most of my life mass killings were rarities.
Even after radio and TV became common and popular in every home, murder, riots, and mayhem did not open every news broadcast.
Then the world changed. January 1, 2000, marks more than a change in the calendar. Race relations are rapidly tumbling back 60 or 70 years, there is a weekly mass killing of some kind, and Democrats and Republicans at all levels cannot even agree on what day it is.
Why are we traveling in reverse gear?
There are probably as many answers to that question as the number of individuals considering an answer.
My answer is that a leading cause, but by no means the only one, is the media. Why do all news broadcasts and headlines have to start with a prolonged description of murders somewhere? This glamorizes the vicious acts and provides the spark for “fame” in other individuals.
Then, frequently, the murder scenes are followed with lengthy coverage of the latest riots that are in many cases described as peaceful protests.
Even though this will draw loud screams of protest from many, one other factor in the deteriorating picture has to be mentioned. Part of the Black community is also pushing us back to the first half of the last century.
Regardless of the circumstances, anytime a Black is killed by a White, it is portrayed over and over as a result of racism. Blacks killed by Blacks, Whites killed by Blacks, or Whites killed by Whites are just ignored as routine.
All of this is reflected in Anne Murray's singing “A Little Good News.”
So here's the perspective.
This was a great lovable country for many years. It had its flaws, but there were genuine efforts to correct them.
Now politicians cannot or will not agree on anything, racism is increasing, and the police are regarded as the bad boys.
Will it take World War III to turn back the clock?
enough
