I am A WOMAN BLACK AFRICAN AND ALSO AMERICAN WITH MY FAMILY ROOTS DEEPLY

[Heather MC]

Embedded, In the Southern Mountains of Virginia Since the 1700's. Well that's as far back as ancestry.com is able to trace my line so far on both my parents sides.

Not that I speak for the entire African American community. Nor can I, however I am a black woman.
And I've been around for quite a few decades not to long a respectable amount, almost 50 years.(48)

I came from a town that was comfortably openly racist even towards kindergarten children in Southern Virginia. They didn't call us the N-word in the eighties, But even as a four-year-old I understood the subtle racism we were living under. There was a clear racial divide in the town between where the black people lived, and rather white people resided. And even at 4 years old that's what it felt like, they allowed us to live in their presence in a very specific area. And so we grew up calling that "the white area" and our side of town was the black side town. And I knew about the stories of how the public pools got closed after they made integration legal. Because the powerful white people of the town didn't want to allow black people in their pools. Because when I was growing up I played in a park, Riverside Park, that held a never forgotten relic of Segregations past in Lynchburg VA. What IS left, was filled with dirt and grass growing over The former "White People Pool". However even today The evidence of segregations past still lives in that park. As a gentle whisper of a reminder to all of us, if they want to, "When we choose to, we can do it again."

And to their credit they didn't lie about it. They closed the pool to keep the black people out of it. When you grow up in a town with casual relics of racism laying around like that. You grow up observing racism your entire life Beginning at the age of 4 years old, for me.

My grandmother was a teacher in the town for 31 years. During segregation she taught at the black high school. That high school has etched in Stone DUNBAR HIGH SCHOOL. It's still there even today. However, by the time I came along in 74.. The town had decided Dunbar high school was only worthy to be a high school to black kids. And now that school is a middle school instead. When you're a child learning to read and you're told the building is a middle school but what's etched in stone is high school. You find out why when you ask. And again it's Another subtle reminder that they get to decide whether our buildings are middle schools or high schools. And they get to allow us to always remember during integration we downgraded your school to just a middle school. It didn't deserve being a high school like the other 2 high schools that got to remain in that town.

I say all that to say this. When I look at the 2 parties. Democratic versus Republican party. I make my decision based on their ideologies. Not the people necessarily running for the open positions. Don't get me wrong they have importance. Let's face it progressive democrats are the future.💜

However, just looking at the 2 party ideologies I can't help but notice something. Something, I only recently realized, that I've been noticing since I was 4 years old. I can't help but notice that 1 party is a choice of freedom that we the people as a majority keep making over and over and over since Gore V Bush. And the other party keeps bending back to 1776 when only one minority group was able to speak for everyone.

And that is why I say the Republican party is a pro slavery party. And if we started honestly having that conversation about that party in that way.. We as a country would never be swayed by the Republican bullshit to make us believe that they are anything more than wanna-be slave owners again.

And so when I use the word SLAVERY, when I called the Republican party the pro slavery party. It is only because of what I have seen over the last 50 years. And the information that I have read and consumed. And all the history this country told us was so important for us to learn and so I did I love to learn about history.

And even when you hear them say "this is our 1776ers moment". There's a huge amount of republicans foaming at the mouth To drag this country kicking and screaming back to 1776.

I mean do you honestly think if they take away women's rights successfully. They will just stop there.

MY husband is white. The year he was born this country made biracial marriage legal in My Beautiful State of Virginia. And around the country. And right now the only thing keeping our marriage legal is the thought that maybe Clarence Thomas won't take away that right from us because he also has a white wife.

And to be perfectly honest with you I don't believe that's enough of a reason for a man like Clarence Thomas not to vote to get rid of my marriage.

And if they get a chance to do that. Do you think they will stop there?🤷🏾‍♀️


It is incumbent upon us to stop lying about what the Republican party is and what their ultimate agendas are. Listen to them when they say the 1950s was the best of America. Absolutely, for white men. They had women they could beat, maids they could rape, They had all the jobs. They had all the opportunity to make all the decisions. For the rest of us. They could even murder a young man like Emmett till, and then come on national TV after getting acquitted and tell the world what they did with a smile on their faces.

And that's what the republicans want us to do they want to drag us back to the 1950s with this facade of happiness because the white man was on top of everything.

And my saying that, people will call me the racist. Even though every word I just typed was 100% TRUTH

Do you agree?
That of course is your right to choose.
I Will just say this, I've lived too Damn long to start telling lies now💜

I gratefully ask one thing, If you decide to share what I have written with others please leave my name out of it. This country has a history of killing the messenger. And literally telling my life story puts my life in danger. Respect me enough as an unknown mother black American, WOMAN.

Please choose to help me, protect my family.
Thank you
💜

[sop]

1. Excellent essay.

[Heather MC]

2. 💜

It's just my life.

[MLAA]

3. Thank you for putting your story/history down in black and white.

I was around 10 or 11 when integration of schools began in my medium size North Florida home town. Previously my elementary school was a block or two away. After integration I rode a bus a few miles to a historically black elementary school that was repurposed to only have 5th and 6th graders from all around town. I had absolutely no issue, I don’t recall any of the children having any issue with it but I’m it sure caused plenty of white parents ‘angst’. This experience led me to see that ,sadly, racism is taught to children and the terrible harm it does.

After the last number of years Republicans have no room to hide. If one is a Republican then one is a racist. Plain and simple. No longer any cover provided by the empty phrase ‘I’m a conservative not a racist’. Maybe there never has been any cover, but now it is, as Malaise would say, pellucidly clear.

[Heather MC]

4. 💜

I appreciate your comment. However I respectfully disagree with the idea that all republicans are racist.

We live in a world of chaos, it's very difficult for us to find truth when we were filled with lies.
If you ever have the opportunity to speak to someone who's a Republican voter. You will find that their personal motivation is not bent toward racism. Typically they have bought into the sub categories that the republican elected officials claim exist within their Party. They might be pro small government.
They might be a one issue voter about abortion because they tie it to their religion.

They're not looking at the big picture of the overall ideology of the Republican party. Simply because they're comfortable with their one issue that they've determined makes them a Republican.

So I understand where you're coming from because we are outside looking into their party. Just as they do the same to the Democratic Party. And when you're outside of a party it looks like everyone is there with the same goal. But once you go inside you realize each person has an individual reason for being a part of that party. And very rarely is that reason racism.

Thank you for your comment though it is beautiful.
💜

[MLAA]

5. Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

My entire extended family are southern, small, rural town Republicans.
They are primarily Evangelical Christians. They hide behind this banner despite voting for the most un-Christian of policies (not helping the poor etc) and un- Christian of candidates (Trump, twice.). Not a one of them is a multi-millionaire, let alone a billionaire so I can’t attribute their affiliation to greed.

You are right, they may not all be racists (and anti LGBQT), but if they aren’t they sure don’t mind embracing and being accessories to racists. For this reason I put them in the same category as racists.

[Heather MC]

8. That I agree with you,

It's amazing that they see the same things we see, but are still able to dig in do they one belief that keeps them a Republican. They treat their one belief as if it's not part of a hole that's keeping the watch ticking.

It's OK the tides are turning, even Fox noise is beginning to let more truth leak out.

[plimsoll]

14. What you're describing is the functional racism that exists.

Many Republicans may not be racists, but they seem to be silent when members of their party come out with openly racists statements or policies. If you aren't a racist, but you're OK letting your police department or other government agency engage in racist actions can an outside observer actually tell that you're not a racist?

I've watched and looked at things for a long time as well, what I can see are centuries of bigotry from mild to extreme that are perpetuated to maintain one dominant culture in this country. An example is changing your name to make it more English looking/sounding. The myth our great grandparents told their children was that the immigration people did it because they couldn't understand the names. The truth is the immigration people had the passenger manifests and knew what the name was, sure some things don't transfer into English orthography, but it was the individual who changed the name to make themselves appear less foreign. That's pretty benign I guess, but it changed lots of European ethic groups into white, English and stripped plenty of people of more unique heritages.

But white folks who could change their names were lucky, it's harder for people who don't look white and English to pass. The problem is that all those white folks seem to have passed on the resentment of having to pass to their kids, but didn't acquire any compassion to temper it.

[sop]

16. As long as law enforcement is on the wrong side of racism, we are a racist nation.

[plimsoll]

17. Hard for me to argue,

even though it is personally painful.

[halfulglas]

10. You are right in that not all Republicans are racist. However, the Republican party is racist.

And also getting worse. It is becoming totalitarian. And the "conservatives" don't want to recognize the racism.

[MLAA]

21. Also they don't want to acknowledge/admit the racism.

How many times have we heard people caught in the act of blatant racism on tape then say ‘that’s not who I am’, ‘I was having a bad day’ or ‘I was drinking’ ad nauseous.

[Heather MC]

22. 💜

It's interesting on how republicans tongues always slip on racism isn't it

Oops

[Bobstandard]

6. I am saddened and uplifted by your story

Thank you for sharing.

[Heather MC]

7. 💜

I didn't mean for it to sadden anyone
I hope people see the beauty in the truth
And it provides the clarity we may need to lean on when the republicans are trying sew a seed of complacency within the Democratic Party potential voters.

Example Rising Gas Prices
That's always an easy hot button they like to push whatever democrats are in office.

Remember when Jimmy Carter was in office and there was a gasoline shortage and everyone blamed poor jimmy Carney.

And what did we get next Ronald Reagan a man who used cocaine. Funneled into the black communities is crack... In an attempt to fund illegal operations in the unran contra affair.

And then had the audacity to make crack, carry more for prison symptoms than cocaine.

And so not only did they create a money making scheme and a listed drug into the black communities. They also use that opportunity to completely destroy the black community and make money off of our black men and women by throwing them into their now for profit prisons. And not one president has decided to correct that wrong in a meaningful enough way.

Those people's records are not exponged, Those people don't get pardons, Many of those people only recently got their voting rights back.

Find the joy in the truth. Does the long as we remember history.

We are not doomed to repeat it💜

[Lonestarblue]

9. Powerful words about your lived experience.

I believe that we as a country have never come to terms with our racist past—not that racism is in the past. It is alive and well in many of the sick parts of our society. I fully agree with you that much of what the Republican Party stands for can be described as slavery. To be enslaved is to be held in bondage. The plight of black and brown school children forced to attend substandard public schools is a form of bondage because most of their parents cannot afford to send them to better schools.

The plight of undocumented agricultural workers who are denied a path to citizenship is a form of bondage because they have no rights without citizenship, even after having worked here for decades.

The plight of women forced to birth unwanted children is a form of unwilling bondage because the woman is now forced to carry the burden of caring for a child, often without the economic resources to do so.

The future plight of LGBTQ if Republicans are able to resurrect sodomy laws and overturn same-sex marriage and other civil rights will become a form of bondage as LGBTQ will either have to flee for their lives from red states or face living in secret and fearing being caught.

The image of slavery should no longer be the black person in shackles. The Republican Party has found ways to metaphorically shackle black and brown people, women, and LGBTQ.

[Heather MC]

11. 💜

And if we always speak about the Republican party in terms of their Is unstated ideology.
Our entire country would never fall for their bullshit. Because let's face it. No one has ever chosen to be a slave.

[Traildogbob]

12. The best thing about the 50's

Was only two cops in the town, Sheriff hated guns, and the bumbling deputy had to keep one bullet in his shirt pocket. And of course Aunt Bees home cooked meals to any rarely locked up citizen. But that beautiful scenario would only work in a town with no blacks there criming everything up.

[Heather MC]

18. 💜

And the only person married was the town drunk🤣🤣🤣

[Wild blueberry]

13. Thank you

[Heather MC]

20. 💜

[Delphinus]

15. Thank you

for sharing your truth.

[Heather MC]

19. 💜

THIS IS OUR TRUTH

My story is the American story. THAT never gets told. HOWEVER IN OUR HEARTS, we all know TRUTH when we hear it. Read it, and also experience it.