Days 77-79, Why my parents didn't trust whites...

The Mississippi Delta, 
a place I will always call home...


I was born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.  Mound Bayou is a city with a population of approximately 2,500 people.  It was founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves.  In terms of population, it is 98.4 percent African-American, one of the largest African-American populations of any community in the United States.  Almost half of the population lives below the poverty line.

My family did not live in Mound Bayou, but lived in Greenville, Mississippi instead.  Greenville's population is approximately 48,000.  It's racial make-up is approximately 69% black and 21% white and 10% of the population is made up of other races.  Approximately  29.6% of the population lives below the poverty line.  Mound Bayou is about a 30 minute drive from Greenville. 



I asked my mother how I ended up being born in Mound Bayou, since we didn't live there.  What an interesting story!  My parents drove to Mound Bayou so that my Mother could deliver at Taborian Hospital.  For more than two decades, the hospital provided low-cost health care to thousands of blacks in the Mississippi Delta.   My father owned a car repair shop and had always had a huge fascination with all things mechanical.  He owned cars, buses, vans, dune buggies, you name it– and even built motorcycles.
It turns out that he had really wanted to buy a very special boat, as he was an avid hunter and fisher.  He asked my mother to go see it and she also fell in love with it.  She decided to make the drive to Mound Bayou to deliver their baby (ME:), as a special gift to my father.  They couldn't afford a delivery in Greenville and the boat.  So, as most wives do, she sacrificed and made a thirty minute drive while in labor so that my father could buy his boat.  WOW!  Although Taborian hospital is no longer open, it is where my life began.  On my last trip to Greenville, I drove through Mound Bayou.  It was hard to see the place where my life began look as decrepit and lonely as it now stands.  Yet it is a rich reminder of my family's humble history. 

It was hard to see the place where my life began – as decrepit and lonely as it now stands.

My parents grew up when the awful "Jim Crow" laws where in full effect, when "separate but equal" was the lay of the land.  I now understand why my parents always kept us away from whites.  They feared whites, didn't trust them and wanted us to stay as far away as we could.  I can remember a little white girl in Greenville who lived across a major road from my Grandmother's house.  She would yell across the highway, "I don't want to play with you" – over and over and over again  – and after hearing it for days at I time, I can remember finally yelling back, "I don't want to play with you either!"

My grandmother was very upset when she found out about my conversation with the little girl – and at that time, I didn't understand it...but as I look back on what my parents and grandparents had to endure, I understand my parents' reservations around whites.  They lived through the Civil Rights movement, integration of schools, the death of Medgar Evers, Emmett Till, Dr. King and so many more.  I can only imagine how horrible it must have felt to be slaves, to later be treated as slaves and to be denied opportunities that all Americans deserve.  The stories my mom tells are too many to write, too disturbing to ever put on paper and most depressing to hear.

As you can imagine, this past weekend was a great weekend for our family.  It was like reliving freedom all over again.  We sat in silence watching Obama's speech in DC at the Dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr.  Monument.  It was a historical moment for our country and the world and a teachable moment for our children.  It was a reminder of how far we have come as a race and a reminder still of how far we have to go.  I am encouraged.  I have opportunities that my parents only dreamed of having.   My children have opportunities that I only dreamed of having.  I also thank God that my mother has lived to see a different day.

I pray that this cycle continues and that our future continues to be brighter than our history.

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