I've heard the urgent and frequent emotional plea that our nation needs to have a 'race conversation.' I suppose the logic behind this request is that the process will render some understanding of America's racial history and injustices. Perhaps the various races would begin identifying and understanding racial problems and begin moving in meaningful directions towards solutions. I'm thinking, only a fool would reject this resolution-concept but it would be a bigger fool that would attempt such a project without first examining from whence they got their 'own' ideas about race relations and feelings about 'those' other folks who look differently, worship differently and perhaps speak differently. Before any 'conversation-on-race,' we all need to engage in self-introspection.
I'll begin my personal examination by stating this> Before I came to understand America's 'melting pot,' I was aware of some East St. Louis ethnic and racial factors before my 5th grade teacher gave us that pop quiz about 'The Melting Pot.' My city was comprised of many different kinds of people. There were neighborhoods known primarily to be Italian, Polish, Irish, German, Hispanic and Black. Note: For the sake of honesty and my own integrity, the 'Black' part of town in the '40's was referenced as 'colored. Th e aforementioned races, except Blacks came to this Ameriça of their own volition seeking refuge and/or a better life. History documents Blacks brought to these shores by Whites who perceived them as property (slaves) and used them for hard labor tasks, which bolstered the White man's economic fortunes. Of course, the East St. Louis Blacks of my youth had long been 'freed' from slavery but still in a position of far lesser opportunities than all other ethnic groups that I observed.
Those ethnic neighborhoods of my youth were most often the design of specific ethnic group who sought to be near other people like them for language and cultural support. All groups except the Blacks. The Blacks were located primarily in the Southend where there was cheaper housing. Although, many White families I knew were not much better off than some Black families except there seemed to be a prevailing attitude that whites were better off if for no other reason than skin-color. I noticed Black women were welcome in our White neighborhoods to do domestic work i.e., house cleaning, washing and ironing for low pay. Those women often remained with 'one' family for years...an interesting sense of loyalty. That said, I ocassionally saw Black men in White neighborhoods picking up alley trash or doing some odd jobs. My understanding was most Black men employed worked in chemical and other factories and the stockyards/meat processing plants.
I did not attend elementary or junior high school with Black students but in 1954, I entered East Side High and even though there was a all-Black public high school (Lincoln) there was a small but significant athletic-contributing number of Blacks on our East Side 'Flyers' teams. As I began making more Black friends, I still heard confusing comments from older adults. 'Those' people are lazy.' Not my teammates. I made Black friendships on the basketball court and baseball field but we went separate ways socially, which was not particularly unusual because in the industrial city of 86,000, close friendships were neighborhood driven.
Here is a rather interesting fact regarding East St. Louis Senior High sports history. The 'Flyers' football teams were highly successful when the school was all White, a mixture of Whites and Blacks and more recently as all Black. Basketball teams experienced above average success when all-White and racially mixed but when it became all-Black the teams were top notch caliber. Wrestling, tennis and baseball programs during the all-White era were outstanding championship caliber. They have collapsed during the all-Black enrollment. Track and Field was good when all-White but outstanding all-Black. Make what you will of those reality statements. Before coming to your conclusion consider what my late good friend a forty year Major League Baseball scout, Ken Bracey told me after watching a Decatur Thanksgiving Boys Basketball Tournament featuring seven quality athletic Black schools: "Mel, Jim 'Catfish' Hunter once asked me, 'Where 's all that great Black baseball talent in Illinois?' I can now tell him that all those kids who could be the next Ozzie Smith are not playing baseball but they're on the blacktop playing roundball." Bracey added a personal note: "If those 5'7" guards spent the same amount of basketball time on baseball they might make the MLB but they ain't gunna make the NBA."
Next blog: 'The Awakening'
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