Freedom Has Never Been Free

January 20 was a great day for this nation for good reason.

My life has spanned the civil rights movements of the 50s and 60s to the present day and I have been fortunate to witness this great time. I want to mark this Inauguration Day with some random thoughts on the subject of race and racism.

Preface:, the war for civil human rights goes on still. Here and abroad. Wherever there are people who are different, there are those who don't understand and fear the differences. Is this a human condition? I hope not. The Founding Fathers of this country declared that all men are created equal. I hope to live to see that day where this happens

The election of President Barack Obama symbolizes a major victory in the struggle of blacks in this nation. But he, like Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Muhammed Ali, and Harriet Tubman are only some of the most well known of those who have pleaded equality and risked their lives to prove their points.

There were many, many others. Some were heroes by choice, some martyrs by chance and most are unknown to all but their families.  The thing they all had in common was they knew they were in an important fight, and they wanted to prove themselves to be worthy.

Milton Olive III, 19.

I was brought up in a Northern low middle class family. Both my parents came from large farm families that weathered the depression. Neither my mother nor my father had ever met black people until they came to the urban environment of Northern Jersey. I would say that neither was a racist yet they had some racist attitudes. These attitudes prevailed throughout most of the white community where I lived and grew up in New Jersey. There was a general unwritten rule about separation of the races. And it took all the courage a person had to flaunt those rules.

Rosa Parks was 42.

I remember that my father didn't root for the Brooklyn Dodgers because there were too many black players on the team. Naturally, and only because, of the rebelliousness of my youth, I rooted for them. This brought some criticism and suggestions that I ought to get more serious about the sports team I cheer for. The "common" belief where I grew up was something was inferior about being anyone being different.

Equal educational opportunities eluded blacks in both the North and the South through these many years. In the North, it was just more sneaky I think.  As long as people knew their place, there was no trouble.  Not just blacks were excluded, by the way.  I recall that our local Catholic High School admitted a Jewish boy who was tormented by his classmates all four years.  

James Meredith, 29 at admission.

The word that begins with "n" was used commonly by almost everyone when I was growing up. And way into the 20th Century. You may recall that at the OJ Simpson trial, the police were accused of using it and thus prejudicing their work. It was only because of the Civil Rights movement and people like the Good Doctor King that the word became a serious no-no. I think it is unfortunate that we have seen the rappers bring it back to mainstream use again. Even if they mean it differently, it is a polarizing, segregating word.

As I grew up, I remember the scandals involving mixed-race couples.  It was in 1966 that a 14 year old white girl wrote a shocking song on interacial dating. Janis Ian was one of 5 white kids in an East Orange NJ school and she saw the situation from both sides. I clearly recall that it was especially reviled when a black man was with a white woman. Or even looked at a white woman.

Emmit Till, 14.

Until the 1950's there were no assurances from the Federal government that all citizens had the right to an equal education, fair employment, and non-discrimination in housing. There wasn't even a constitutional guarantee of the right to vote. These matters were left up to each individual state.

Thus, into the 1960's, 11 states still had poll taxes and literacy tests to specifically exclude black voters. There were 16 states that declared that interracial marriage was illegal with jail sentences of up to 5 years for the offense.

Mildred and Richard Perry Loving, both 25 when arrested.

During the middle 1950's, our nation seemed obsessed with the Communists in Russia. I recall that we would have frequent nuclear attack drills in elementary school. We would leave our little desks, march in the halls where we sat again the walls, our heads lowered between our knees. As if this would protect us somehow. If there was an attack, I think we were only in good position to kiss our asses goodbye. 

Astoundingly, the war that could have broken out was between US Army forces! In 1957 in Little Rock Arkansas,The governor of Arkansas mobilized the National Guard to prevent 9 black students from entering the white High School. In response, President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne division and "federalized" the National Guard, and the Guard complied with the President.

Ernest Green,16; Elizabeth Eckford, 16; Jefferson Thomas, 15; Terrence Roberts, 16; Carlotta Walls LaNier, 15; Minnijean Brown,16; Gloria Ray Karlmark, 15; Thelma Mothershed,17; and Melba Pattillo,16.

I did not know any of the Freedom Riders - those brave young people, both black and white, who sought to register blacks to vote during the summer of 64. I was a senior in high school that year and our star running back was black and the senior class president was black also. But we had a very small minority of blacks in rural Jersey at the time. I recall no demonstrations and little talk in the school itself of what was happening in the South.

James E. Chaney, 21; Andrew Goodman, 21; and Michael Schwerner, 24.

And there were fire bombings of churches. Yes, churches. I can't imagine that happening to the Roman Catholic church where our family belonged. My recollection of the sermons from that time centered around pleas for more money in the collection plates and a rather haughty attitude towards all non-catholics (we were the true faith). So, while we weren't anti-black, we were just anti-everyone else who wasn't Catholic. We prayed for the pagan babies who would never go to heaven because they were not baptized. We pledged to convert as many of the non-believers as possible to save their souls.  Even as children then, we were asked to proselytize.

And very sadly, I don't recall us praying for the victims of some of the horrible acts that were occuring so frequently then.

Denise McNair, 11; Cynthia Wesley, 14; Carole Robertson, 14; and Addie Mae Collins, 14.

Human rights issues are still on the table.  Gays, women, people of color, people of different religion in many nations, Chinese, Native Americans,Tibetans and many others.   The election of Obama is a major signal that things can change. 

I Can't Stand the Truth! (My Day in Court)

It started innocently enough one dark and rainy evening. We went out to dinner in Theresa's in Princeton and parked in a handicapped parking space. I didn't do it on purpose. Until I found the summons tucked under my windshield wiper, I didn't know it was a handicapped spot. It was not clearly marked, IMHO.

Like I said, it was a dark and stormy night.

For those not experienced in major parking crimes out there, handicapped parking violations are particularly reviled by the law. The fine is $250 for the first violation AND requires a court appearance. You can't just mail it in.

My lovely and litigious better half looked at this as an opportunity. "You have to be at court anyway," said she, "so plead innocent!" I pondered this for a moment. "You can probably get the charge reduced." Maybe Rita was right.

On the day of my court appearance, I arose early and timed it so I would get to the court house a little early. But I start out at the wrong courthouse. Hard to believe but there are two local courthouses in tiny Princeton.  There is a Princeton Township court and a Princeton Borough court. I went to the Township court. Oops. Damn. Now I had to hustle over the Borough court house.

Traffic wasn't horrible as I proceed across town to arrive at the correct court. There is a sizable parking lot adjacent to the court I notice...but not large enough. There are no spaces available. I become more nervous now..I am a little late and have no place to leave the car. Suddenly a parking space appears.  Except it's marked "Permit Only Parking." Yikes. There is no where else. I pulled in. It occurs to me that the reason I am here in the first place is illegal parking. Now I am illegally parking in the Borough Courthouse/Police station. Have I become a monster .. a Serial Parker?

I lock the car and hope that they don't tow here.

I go into the court house and take my seat in a very packed courtroom. There are many desperate looking characters of all sizes, shapes and types, young and old. I see some cheap suits also. Obviously, some of my fellow law breakers have lawyered up. There must be 100 people here.

The judge arrives. He looks like everyone's uncle. I am guessing that looking kindly yet stern when he had to be is a major qualification for getting elected to Judge to a municipal court.

The prosecutor, a man who is as red-faced as can be, with a sport coat 2 sizes too small and a tie from the 1970s, begins the role call of perpetrators. Most of the perps are here, yet amazingly, a good number are not. Who would skip town over a traffic court appearance?

A couple of the absentees have sent friends or relatives in their stead. One of these indicates that her cousin and gone back to Mexico and is never coming back. "Oh," says Uncle Judge. "Case dismissed." Hmmm. I wonder if I should have asked Rita to go and indicate I went back to Poland? 

At last role call is finished and now we are going to the pleading part. Again, the prosecutor calls out the names one by one but now reveals the charges. There are some tough looking hombres here. One is charged with going through a stop sign, and yet another desperado apparently drove recklessly. Yet another didn't have proof of insurance. Some plead guilty and were immediately "sentenced" to pay a fine. Others plead "innocent" and will stand trial immediately after all the pleads were entered. On and on the pleading went.

Finally, my name is called with the charge of "one count of parking in a handicapped space." I approach the bench and feel like a thousand eyes are burning holes in the back of my head. I can hear people thinking how low could anyone go to steal a primo parking spot from handicapped citizens?

My plan to plead innocent-- to get a lower penalty -- is abandoned now. I don't want to stand up here any longer than I have to and I don't want to wait for the trial that will follow. I can't stand to go through the whole role call again. "How do you plead?" says Uncle Judge. "Guilty" I say. "But I want to make a statement for the record!" The judge looks a little surprised, and maybe a little miffed. There are a lot of people in this courtroom. But he nods yes.

I bravely state that this handicapped space is not clearly marked and does not have any indication of 'handicapped' only on the parking meter itself. Isn't is supposed to be blue?

I am floored when Uncle Judge agrees! "In fact," Uncle says, "I even have photos of this space because it is the most notorious handicapped spot in Princeton." He waves a binder with photos at me. He actually looks proud.  What is this, I think?  Parking entrapment?  The opposite of a speed trap? Mistrial my brain is screaming!  I object! YOU ARE OUT OF ORDER! YOU CAN'T STAND THE TRUTH!

Collecting myself, I timidly suggest that the spot be more clearly and appropriately marked. He actually says, for the record, "I am not a sign or parking meter painter.," Uncle Judge's eye twinkles. "Write a letter to the Princeton Safety Board" he advises. OBJECTION I SCREAM IN MY HEAD.

"OK," said I, meekly.

I slither away from the bench, and then slink out of the courtroom. I pay the fine at the clerk's office. I am now wondering if I received a citation for parking in the courts reserved space.Is this another trap?   Would I have to go through this again next week?

Tune in next time!