Race relations, the Confederacy, and the Old South are in the headlines again. I am old enough to have lived through a part of the history of the South. Let me tell you my story.
My daughter convinced me to have a DNA test recently and I came out 15 percent Native American Indian (probably of the Taino tribe, the natives of Puerto Rico); 18 percent African, and the rest Spanish/Italian/Greek.
As a child, a Puerto Rican of mixed race, my family moved here to the continental USA and lived in Columbus, Ga., beginning in 1958. My father was a career soldier and was stationed at Fort Benning. I attended segregated schools and lived under Jim Crow laws.
The authorities determined my sisters and I should attend “white” schools. One day walking back from school, I was attacked and called the “N” word by whites who thought I was too dark. On another day I was attacked and called “cracker” and “whitey” by blacks who thought I was too white.
It took me a while to understand why complete strangers hated me. I learned to carefully choose the route I walked home.
Despite all the hatred there were a few enlightened good Christian people around and we survived. I especially remember some good teachers, like Mrs. Bean from second grade at Muscogee Elementary School, the nuns from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School and our priest. My best friend in those days was from Hawaii.
We moved to Texas in 1963 for a few years and lived just outside Fort Hood. Texans were extremely friendly compared to Georgia at that time. We continued to move where the Army sent us and returned to Columbus, Ga., again in 1966, where I attended middle school at Eddy Junior High for a couple of years before we were sent to Germany for three years. We then were stationed in Fort Eustis, Va., when they began mandatory school busing about 1971-72.
I graduated from high school in Virginia in 1972 and went to Puerto Rico to attend college. I was surprised that in Puerto Rico I found fellow countrymen that hated me because my Spanish had an American accent. They called me “New York Rican” and told me to “go home.”
During my lifetime I have seen how much has changed for the better because of the civil rights movement and the great Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership. My faith has taught me to forgive all the injustice of the past. Things have improved enormously here in the continental USA and I love Georgia and chose to retire here in Georgia.
A statue, flag or the name of a street, building, or military installation does not bother me at all. What worries me is the hatred that remains in a few people’s hearts, whether white, black, Hispanic, whatever race, who seem to want revenge, to get even, or to punish those that look different from them.
Racial hatred is a world problem, not just in the USA. One example: In 1994 in Africa there was a war between two African tribes that resulted in about 1 million people murdered. They were all African but from two different tribes, Hutu vs. Tutsi. Racial hatred and tribalism is not unique to the USA.
I have learned in my life that no matter where you go in this world you are going to find someone there that hates you because you are not like them. The answer is faith, love, forgiveness and endurance. In God’s eyes we are all the same and we all will be judged on how well we love our neighbor.
Bart from Fayetteville
[Name withheld by request.]
