Well, it’s about time

When you are black, most of the time it IS all about race. Except when it comes to making the best of the education you are getting and seeking more when you need to. I had the distinct pleasure of being a teacher for over 10 years in the classroom. One day, I asked my students what was keeping them from getting an education. Some said that they didn’t have a place to study or that there was no one to help them at home. These were all issues that could be remedied. However, one student told the class and me that the white man was keeping him from getting an education.

I was truly shocked. I then asked the student and the class about this mysterious white man. Was he at your house, turning on the television and video games while you were trying to do your homework? Was he standing at the front door of the school, blocking the door? When I broke it down to them like that the class laughed and, hopefully, saw the silliness in that remark. Of course, they were not really aware that there are factors that, later on in life, will indeed conspire to keep them from getting a good education, but I thought that might be a bit too advanced for fourth graders.

What this reminds me of, and now I come to my real point, is the Little Rock five. As a child of parents who lived through the civil rights movement, I was treated to a viewing of Eyes on the Prize when it aired on channel 13 and my parents’ VHS set. These students wanted a white man keeping them from entering the school? How about the National Guard of Arkansas?? Complete with guns? I so remember the video of those brave, brave children who walked the gauntlet of screaming, ugly white folks, hitting them on the heads with bricks and spitting on them. One of the girls, I think it was Elizabeth Eckford, who was memorable to me because of her shades, white shirt and gingham/checkered skirt said that the white people had spit so much that she had to WRING OUT HER SKIRT to get all the spit out. How foul!

All this, as usual, to say that the Little Rock Nine have finally been honored on a coin issued by the US Mint. See article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/19/AR2007051901031.html?sub=new.

We have so much to thank those who were so brave so that we can be where we are today.