Confronting the fact that the USA is a racist country is not an easy thing, especially in this new century, but it is:
A vivid childhood memory is burned in my memory. I was going crawfishing with my grandfather at about 4:30 am when the smell of burning flesh assaulted us. My grandfather instructed me to lie down on the seat and not sit up until told to do so.
The smell was awful.
When I asked about this later, my grandfather told me in a very quiet, fearful voice that we had passed the remains of a lynching and burning of the body.
A few years later on another crawfishing trip, we were caught unaware and confronted with the remains of another lynching. The body still in the tree lit only by the light of a fire that would eventually consume the body of a man whose disappearance would never be explained.
So, do you think this had an impact on me?
Yes. I am afraid and praying for the Obama family. Some say I am paranoid, but reality affirms my concern. Humans can be a horribly violent species. Not to be trusted.
Good Night.
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We stand as a nation on the brink of a moment of glory, I think, or of utter and total destruction. Sadly some have been itching for a race war for decades. Let us hope that most of us will rise above that to prevent it and to claim the glory of a people who overcame bigotry, intimidation, and fear.
ReplyDeleteJesus, what a video and personal story. I cannot imagine growing up in the deep south during those times.
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