[Vision2020] spokesman commentary: "Slavery: as it was"

[Debbie Gray]

Spokesman Review
 Friday, November 21, 2003

Spokane

As it was? Look again at slavery

Kevin Blocker - The Spokesman-Review

On a wall in the family room of my home hangs a grainy black-and-white
picture of the last known slave in my family.

Her name was Martha Early, and she was my great-great-grandmother.

After my grandfather died in Baton Rouge, La., roughly seven years ago, my
father stumbled across several photos while sifting through his personal
belongings. One of the pictures was of Martha, accompanied by one of her
daughters.

There was a note with the picture saying Martha was born into slavery
sometime in 1840 in the Mississippi Delta.

She, like other slaves in the South, gained her freedom after Abraham
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. But
like most slaves, she continued to pick cotton for the most of her life
because that was all she knew how to do.

The picture was taken in 1927, shortly before she died.

I look at that photo every day. When I experience tough times, I realize
anything I've ever faced, or will face, pales in comparison to Martha's
years in slavery.

Knowing the history of slavery like I do, I was left dumbfounded when I
saw an Associated Press story about a private event to be held in February
on the University of Idaho campus.

The event will feature Doug Wilson, minister of Moscow's Christ Church,
and Louisiana minister Steve Wilkins. The two men are co-authors of a
booklet titled "Southern Slavery, As It Was," the story said.

The two men contend that slavery wasn't as bad as the historical record
indicates and, quite possibly, was a benefit to the relationship between
blacks and whites, the story said.

University of Idaho officials issued a written statement last week saying
that they don't agree with the position of the two men, but that the First
Amendment guarantees their right to express their views.

Well, as an African American born in the United States with full rights
entitled to me, let me share mine.

I like my freedom.

I enjoy being able to go into any restaurant I want with my wife, Kyndra,
who is white, and our three biracial children, Brendan, Adria and Aliyah.

The only racial disharmony you might see out of us is when Brendan or
Adria fight over a toy.

In 1967, the year I was born, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Loving v.
Virginia that a ban on interracial marriage was unconstitutional. Just
imagine: 36 years ago, my marriage would have been illegal in some states.

I also like the fact that as a free black man I don't have to work 18 to
20 hours a day in a field without pay. I like the fact I, unlike Martha,
was born into a society where it wasn't against the law for me to learn to
read. I enjoy writing for a living.

It's also a privilege and a pleasure to vote. From board positions at my
local credit union to presidential elections, put a ballot in front of me
and I will cast it.

And while the Dougs and the Steves worry me, I must say I'm more concerned
about the Warrens and the Larrys.

Warren Sapp, who is African American, is an all-pro football player for
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earlier this month, he used the analogy of
slavery to describe the relationship between the National Football League
and its players.

Sapp seems to think that all the rules and regulations imposed by the
league -- like keeping shirts tucked in and socks pulled up during games
-- amounts to the slave master keeping the slaves in check.

Then there was retired pro basketball player Larry Johnson, also African
American, who in 1999 told the media that he and his New York Knick
teammates played basketball like a bunch of runaway slaves.

If earning millions of dollars a year playing sports is slavery, then I
should have shackled my wrists and changed my name to Kunta years ago.

The views of Wilkins and Wilson are abhorrent, but two African American
millionaires who both grew up impoverished and don't know the history of
their people is beyond despicable.

Slavery was brutal and dehumanizing. For anyone to suggest otherwise is
uneducated, and for millionaire athletes to compare themselves to slaves
is idiotic.

Kevin Blocker can be reached at (509) 459-5513 or by e-mail at
kevinb@spokesman.com. By the Way is a weekly column that reflects on the
people, issues and events of our community.

Debbie

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  Debbie Gray      dgray@uidaho.edu      http://www.uidaho.edu/~dgray/
  We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to
  have the life that is waiting for us." --Joseph Campbell
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