The Jan. 16 celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day has created many memories, views and thoughts for me.
Having grown up in the South during Jim Crow and leaving just as the area was being forced to integrate, it’s a time that brings back memories. As does living in a segregated North in which there were no signs or laws. Even though there were no Jim Crow laws, the North was almost as segregated as the South.
First the South: Segregation was the law, so we took it for granted. But, in actuality, most of us Black people were dirt poor back then, so we could care less about eating in White restaurants, or any other White only place, for that matter. We pretty much kept to ourselves and the White folk left us alone.
Oddly enough, most of the hatred came from poor Whites because well-to-do Whites understood that they needed Blacks to work their large farms, especially cotton ones. But there were also other crops, such as strawberries, potatoes, soybeans, corn, sugar, tobacco and others.
Blacks went to all Black schools mostly housed in a church, and Whites went to schools built by tax dollars.
As far as employment, all the good paying jobs were set aside for White men with a few positions for White women.
Black professionals could be teachers in Black schools. I never saw any Black doctors or lawyers. There were some in the larger southern cities, but very, very few. Other than the fields, there were Black barbers, hair shops, nightclubs, auto mechanics, but not much more for a young Black man or woman to look up too or dream about being.
When I came North, I really didn’t see much of a change. The only exceptions were Blacks could go to the same restrooms as Whites and we went to the same schools. However, there was a Black side of the tracks; that’s where we all lived––the poor, low-income and a few middle-income individuals. The White side of the tracks were where the low-income, middle-income and wealthy Whites lived.
We sat in the same classes, but we all practically went our separate ways when it was time to go home.
And even though we sat in the same classrooms, the GPAs were worlds apart, which was the same all over the United States.
Why? Simple. Whites and Blacks had different dreams. In small towns, medium side towns and large cities, Whites could look around them––out their windows and walk down their streets––to see Whites in high paying jobs; whereas all we, Blacks, could see were us as janitors, or in fast food and other entry level jobs. Many made the efforts, but were shot down. We saw educated Black men and women working in entry level positions, if that, for years with no chance of getting a promotion.
But it was because of people like King, that many, many, doors have been opened to Blacks at all levels.
Blacks no longer have to worry about signs stating, “For Whites Only” or “For Colored Only.” Now, we have to worry about that hidden mentality that is smiling in our face while only hiring, promoting or educating Whites.
Many people tell me we were better off back then, before King, the protests and rallies, than we are now. I beg to differ.
Just as we thought we had overcome Jim Crow, especially with the election of a Black president, we were brought back to reality with the election of Donald Trump.
Yes, yes, yes, we have a long ways to go, but we are a long ways away from the ‘50s, ‘60s or ‘70s, both in the South and the North.
King was able to bring about change via marching, protests and rallies while Thurgood Marshall was fighting in the court systems tearing down discrimination laws and implementing new ones.
Blacks are at a crossroads again. With the White conservatives winning the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and the White House, practically every law passed or pending that would have benefited Blacks is going to be challenged. So what we must do is identify what is in our best interest, and then pick and chose our battles.
Not every Democratic fight is our fight. Not every Republican crusade is bad for Blacks. The most critical issues for Blacks are economics and health care. The new president has a lot of knowledge in the economic field––he’s a billionaire.
What do the Black communities need the most? Money. Money that leads to businesses, which leads to employment, which leads to better paying jobs.
I’m not talking about White-owned businesses, but Black-owned businesses in the Black community. We can learn a lot from Trump and his buddies about building self-supporting businesses and independent social agencies in our communities so that we are not always walking around with our hands out for government or foundation help.
But we have to be careful about the Black people out front. King cared about the masses, he fought for the people with God as his guide. We must make sure that the new leaders have this same commitment to the masses and not just moving from ‘poverty pimps’ to greedy business leaders.
There will always be a place for marches and rallies, but remember the first successful King effort was a boycott of the buses in Montgomery, Ala. This boycott hit the government and businesses extremely hard in their pockets, which led to them giving in.
We must come up with a strategy that is going to help Blacks economically, that only comes through education and business. We must work with the Democrats, the Republicans, Independents and anyone else for what will benefit Black people, not a handful of political pimps.
(Ulish Carter is the managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier.)
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