History Repeating Itself

My father said to me, "This ain't new."  He lived it at the height of Jim Crow in the South when African Americans were denied their rights.  He dealt with angry patrolmen firsthand or came face to face with injustices of all kinds.

We talked at length about what is happening in America today that bears a striking resemblance to the past on one of my visits home to a small town in South Georgia. He quickly reminded me that "this" isn't new.  He has seen it before.  He remembers the days of not being able to vote,  having to step off the sidewalk when whites approached, and as a grown man being forced to say "yes sir" to juvenile white boys.  He can also recall the cruel beatings and lynching of innocent black men, women, and children without legal recourse or a chance to fight back in court.

My father survived the economic injustice of the post-Civil Rights era.  Rents are sky-high in major cities and rural areas.  The average cost of a new home has also doubled since the housing crisis,  which puts the price of a modest three-bedroom home out of reach for many poor and middle-class Americans.  Like decades ago,  wages are again stagnant in urban areas,  with companies paying part-time wages for full-time work, as King said in Memphis.

Lastly, he endured the political upheaval of  American style Apartied.  Southern politicians campaigned proudly on segregationist platforms with little to no opposition from Northern liberals or conservative Republicans until the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.  It left millions of blacks off the voting rolls for generations. And dashed the economic, educational, and social fortunes of African Americans.

I came into existence at the tail end of Jim Crow.  I cannot recall the harshness of the era.  My father sheltered us from its ugliness or atrocities.  But he and others of his generation remember it well.  Sadly,  they will not be with us long enough to tell the story of a shady past.  And those of us with no inkling of history will be shocked by today.