They were our neighbors back on Cave Spring Road. Kevin and I were the same age. He was smart, athletic and artistic. I remember an owl that he drew. Funny what you remember from your past. Kevin's owl, I thought, was the most amazing drawing my 7-year-old eyes had ever seen.
The Greens were as much a part of my life as my cousins in Foster's Mill were. We ate together, went to school together and played together. I even went to Lake Winnepesaukah with the Greens one summer--my very first trip to an amusement park.
If you had asked me to describe Kevin, I would have told you everything I just said, and added that he was black. It was merely a descriptor, a differentiator. A way to explain more about him so that you could recognize him in a crowd of other smart, athletic and artistic people.
I had no clue that, just a few years before we met, Kevin and I would not have been allowed to go to the same school or eaten together or gone on vacation together.
What is amazing to me is that all these years later, there are people--of all races--who act and talk as though Kevin and I should never have ridden that Rossville log flume together. Equally amazing is the misinformation that is being propagated right now, adding fuel to the fire of unrest and violence across our country.
I have learned to tune out the loud mouths on CNN and Fox News. I long-ago quit paying attention to the activists who show up every time they see a so-called tv "news crew." What I did not know is that are wonderful, kind, well-meaning folks out there who are have beliefs about the race divide that are simply not true.
Just last week, 45 years after I spent a day at Lake Winnie with the Greens, my daughter told me about a conversation at school. She and some friends were talking about college. Two of the girls were talking about their interest in earning a scholarship to attend a historically black college, like Morehouse or Spelman.
The girls wanted to know if A had applied for any scholarships for white students at historically white colleges.
These are high school juniors, well educated, taking college-prep advanced classes in a top public school system. They SERIOUSLY thought there were colleges for white students and scholarships for white students.
My girl explained to her friends that white people don't have special scholarships or special universities. In fact, she noted, that would be against the law.
"No," she said, "They don't have those for white people. I'll be paying off student loans until I retire."
Misinformation. That's the problem right now. If we could ever just have an honest dialogue, without the presence of the hate mongers and violence inciters, things could be so much better.
Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that is happening, just not in front TV cameras or in public debates. They're happening around lunchroom tables and in science labs, where really kind, smart people are asking honest questions and learning from the answers.
Comments
Post a Comment