Social Stratification in the Deep South

Today being Memorial Day, nearly everything in Montgomery was closed. This gave the city a really interesting feel, especially considering it’s the capital. But I guess that’s why the effect was so strong. We’re staying close to downtown, so all the federal buildings down there were closed and not too many people were around.

This morning we went to the Interpretive Center on the Selma-Montgomery Trail. We watched a really great film on the Selma-Montgomery March. I find that a lot of films of this nature lose my attention, but this one didn’t. As could be expected, I was again appalled at what I learned. My roommates and I had to do some research on the event last night, so it wasn’t all new information, but we got to see film of the original event, which gave it a new perspective. On the first attempt of the march, often called Bloody Sunday, the marchers were only able to get six blocks, to the Edmund Pettis Bridge. When the crossed over the bridge, they were attacked with tear gas and billy clubs. The images of this were heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to go through that. It’s so hard to see all these images and to think that people legitimately thought it was acceptable to treat others in that manner. There is simply no justification or excuse for these actions.

After we finished the movie, we were walking through the rest of the mini museum. While we were doing so, this man came in and started talking to us. He was a resident of the area who was just driving past and saw the bus, so he came in to talk to whoever was touring. He walked around with us for a bit, and when we got to an enlarged picture of five men from the day of the march, he told us about how he was one of them, the one on the end. Susan took a picture of him next to the life-size picture of him from so many years ago. It was so nice of him to come and talk to us. There was no reason for him to come in, yet he did.

The land where this memorial site is constructed is the place were displaced sharecroppers lived. When the civil rights movement started, white landowners kicked the African Americans who worked for them (and lived off their land) out, giving them nowhere to live. This area between Selma and Montgomery was one of a few “tent towns” that were constructed. Families lived in tents, some for a few years, in all sorts of weather. It made me think back to the night I spent camping in the snow over Easter Break. We spent one night in it and all thought we were dying. It was easily one of the most intense experiences of many of our lives. None of us slept a wink. Now place that as a common occurrence during the winter months. I don’t think it probably snows really frequently in Alabama, but it certainly gets much colder than would be comfortable. The sacrifices these people made are astounding. Moreover, the fact that it was a necessary step angers me. I just wish everyone could really believe and accept that all men were created equal…and start treating people that way. It is 2007, after all.

When we got back to Montgomery, we had a very interesting reflection time. Marcus had us read this article that had statements pointing out instances of white privilege. There were a lot of really obvious ones, such as “I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.” On the other hand, there were tons that I had never really thought about, or at least not thought about at length. Some examples are: “I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systematic racism for their own daily physical protection…I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race…I can choose blemish color or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skin.” These were all things I’d honestly never considered. The idea of training your children to deal with racism makes me so sad. I can’t believe we have to raise children in a society where that must be done. And there’s little being done to change that fact. During our discussion, Marcus had only the African Americans talk, so as to let them comfortably voice their personal experiences. I was upset to hear every one of them tell multiple stories of daily racist encounters. It really is true, what Dr. Hattery had us discuss last semester…those in privilege never have to think about their privileges. Those who are underprivileged constantly have to consider it. While I think this will always be the case for most people, I am so glad that I came on this trip because it is opening my eyes to so many things that I’d never once considered, leaving me more aware of how the smallest things that I, or other people, do can have terrible emotional effects on others.

After this, we walked down to the downtown area. We walked down Commerce street to the area where the old slave trade auction block was located. Now an elaborate fountain stands in its place. We all thought it was quite interesting that the name of the street where the trading block used to sit was Commerce…and really rather appalling. After this we walked to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s old church. It’s so exciting to walk past so many areas with such rich history. After that we continued to the capitol building. This building was the original white house and capital of the confederacy, before it moved to Richmond. There are monuments of all sort of historic Alabamians around the building. In addition there is an atrocious confederate monument that seemed almost as tall as the building. It had sayings on there about the “knightliest of the knightly race” and “the great fight” and talked about the white in the confederate flag as being symbolic for purity. It was all I could do not to throw up. It was the most disgusting display of southern backwardness and intolerance that I have ever seen. It was all I could do not to cry at the sight of it, for I knew how much it hurt the people I was with and how much it would continue to hurt others who saw it later. Once again I was unable to understand how someone could think that it is okay to construct such a thing, no less something of the size that is was and next to the capitol building. Clearly Alabama has progressed by leaps and bounds since the end of the Civil War…and the Civil Rights Movement. Or maybe not…