Yet another coincidence. Opening my blog, this prompt was directed at me.

I feel like I need to say something about the statue being removed from Confederate/Springfield Park. I had no idea this was taking place. I think many people didn’t know. There was no uproar like the recent past of Mayor Curry’s term in office. Recently people fought hard to remove other statues honoring the Confederacy.

Some have compared it to honoring Hitler. That got responses. “How dare you!” But truth be known the whites were fighting for the right to enslave a race of people. To maintain the right to treat them like animals. To own them. To make money off of their labor. To violently whip them. To rape the women. To believe in White Supremacy. That is like Hitler. He believed he was of a superior race. Well, guess what? He wasn’t. He lost the war. His beliefs were wrong and the opposition prevailed.

Jacksonville is a hard headed city. Severely slow to change. For the most part it is Baptist. Evangelist. Continuing to boil the soup of racism. People will deny it – but

The statue needed to come down.

It was said, that maybe it could be placed in a cemetery, by the graves of soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

I thought of Gravely Hill where my ancestors are buried. Wonderful, historical, people who were branded miscreants an evil by a local writer. I was shocked. One Tommy gun toting gangster does not define the whole group. Not to mention, they were people of their time. This cat might be a bit prejudice as he touted his father as being like Jimmy Carter after having told a story numerous time about his father enjoying the story of a black man being killed. That is not like Jimmy Carter. Sorry.

We twist the past into the present. We color it with whatever Crayola we choose.

The statue is a woman holding a baby. She portrays the mother of the south. The Confederate South.

For one thing, that concrete Southern lady could not go there because the section my ancestors are buried in is historical. It is a part of Jacksonville public land. It’s on land that was once a plantation. It is as Southern as it gets. They were all Crackers by birth.

I cringe to think of that statue being there further prompting the fictitious idea that there was something good about slavery and white dominance.

But many do not see it like that. They continue to romance the idea of the south, with our Confederate Jasmine.

We have a distinct culture. Saying hello, nodding, hugging, fighting, and drinking sweet tea. No matter if we only went to the fifth grade or have a PhD. We are part of the United States. And that encompasses a large land mass. Separated by our cultures. In New York they hate the Puerto Ricans. Out west they are still circling the wagons. South West it the whites against the Mexicans. Every division of our country is divided by our pasts. Our culture is disappearing. Along with the statue all of our ways are being erased. And truth be known, there are many things about our way of being that I much prefer over anything northern.

It’s funny, most people that I meet from up North assume because of my Southern drawl, I am uneducated and untravelled. Ugh. Prejudices abound.

A fellow Westsider, portrayed my family as people who are low IQ and mocked our Whitehouse/Westside accent like we are toothless fools. Good Lord. One extreme to another.

We have ALL been through a lot. Things have changed. We were forced to change by affirmative action. We were forced to integrate.

I have beautiful stories of people my age who grew up in this era. I also can tell ugly stories.

Today as I am writing this. Having lived through the 64′ riots. Yes, I was a child but I remember them well. There is no way I am going to portray all of the black people as being good wonderful, minstrels in LaVilla minding their own business and all of the white people as being evil killers. That is a convoluted and twisted image to portray in this day and age. Yes, it will get you attention and sell your books. It will coincide with todays climate of opposition, separation and hate. Why take these painful steps climbing the stairs out of darkness, only for a hand to reach out and push us backwards.

I am for peace.

It’s much more difficult to walk a path of peace. Than to stir the pot of problems.

Take a look at Jacksonville. Because of affirmative action forced on us, fighting and scratching all the way, we have educators, firemen, policemen, city workers, meter readers, electricians, plumbers, who are people of color. We have neighbors of color. Many interracial marriages. ( Which by the way, produce the most beautiful babies you’ve ever seen.) This is not the old south. This is the new south and it’s going to get newer.

With people like Donna Deegan, our mayor, pulling us forward, the change is accelerating. Once again we’re feeling the pain, like babies cutting teeth. But it’s just another progressive step towards equanimity. Jacksonville is growing up.

One day it could very well, ALL be people of color. Does that mean we will all be happy, joyous and free? I don’t think so. People are people.

But in the meantime, I will not participate in the hate and denigration of all white people.

My race is human.

I am a Cracker by Birth / A redneck by default / A peace activist through reading, writing and education.