tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post5018892025178853100..comments2024-03-28T08:55:00.522-04:00Comments on The Misadventures of Widowhood: The Jim Crow Museum and Changing TimesMisadventures of Widowhoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-82881372467688020132016-08-22T13:33:59.840-04:002016-08-22T13:33:59.840-04:00Oh! What a story - needing to pretend he was the ...Oh! What a story - needing to pretend he was the chauffeur and not the owner. Those were NOT the good ol' days. One thing about globalism and now the Olympics - every skin color's and orientation represented and celebrated.GowitheFlohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01842273685414939160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-37470551832889862362016-08-22T08:19:01.873-04:002016-08-22T08:19:01.873-04:00What an interesting story about your husband and t...What an interesting story about your husband and the nanny. It reminded of a story I heard at the museum about a black guy who managed to make a lot of money in the entertainment business back in the '30. He wanted to buy a nice car but the only way he could drive it around and not get hassled was to get a chauffeur's hat and pretend it as a boss's car.<br /><br />Regretting your Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-1403779236132083552016-08-22T07:45:01.786-04:002016-08-22T07:45:01.786-04:00My father-in-law was born in Texas, and brought hi...My father-in-law was born in Texas, and brought his racism to New York, and Ohio. As a child, my late husband heard him say "I like n****. You can train 'em to do most anything". Well, I guess so. His mother and father hired a black nanny, who lived with them, even though she had her own children. She saw them only on her precious day off. She loved Ev and raised him like her GowitheFlohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01842273685414939160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-17915633458848285872016-08-21T07:57:38.250-04:002016-08-21T07:57:38.250-04:00Electing a black president did anger a lot of peop...Electing a black president did anger a lot of people who just assumed their "superiority" would never be challenged, in my opinion. It brought their prejudices to the surface and out in the open. I know a few people who fit in that category. They post nasty stuff on Facebook and have a long history of telling racist jokes at weddings and parties. Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-1617001144940386652016-08-21T06:07:16.993-04:002016-08-21T06:07:16.993-04:00Color me naive. I knew the Klan had been active he...Color me naive. I knew the Klan had been active here, but I didn't know they still had a significant presence. I assumed they were waning. Apparently we have six KKK groups and a plethora of other hate groups in our state. The article I found cited "anger over gay rights, racial changes in the population, and a black president" as the reasons for a revival of the KKK here (and I'Bella Rumhttp://bellarum.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-90886992510230846872016-08-20T23:39:59.885-04:002016-08-20T23:39:59.885-04:00Well said, Leze! People/kids are taught prejudices...Well said, Leze! People/kids are taught prejudices and hate just like on the other side of the coin when we teach children to have empathy and compassion. Dehumanizing people is always part of hating other groups, not seeing them as people. I think that was why Mr. Khan, the Muslim Gold Star father touched to many people, because he humanized a Muslim-American in a way not done before.<br /><br /Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-13540348557347719822016-08-20T22:56:07.130-04:002016-08-20T22:56:07.130-04:00Thank you for this post. I did not know of this m...Thank you for this post. I did not know of this museum.<br />I grew up in NYC. My neighborhood was mostly white. There were neighborhoods of different ethnic groups..the Italian neighborhood...the Irish area and the black neighborhood. We all went to school together (my HS was close to 50%/white 50%/black with all the ethnicities blended in there. But it wasn't until recently that we Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-38519286043705933262016-08-20T21:54:28.129-04:002016-08-20T21:54:28.129-04:00Amazon.com still has that book, I just looked at i...Amazon.com still has that book, I just looked at it and the reviews. I can't believe it never dawned on me that women were also in the Klan. Auxiliaries are attached to so many other groups. <br /><br />This museum has put together traveling exhibits that they loan out to other universities and some very famous people have been through this one. If I had my way, everyone should have to see itMisadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-49590862169253685342016-08-20T21:21:30.655-04:002016-08-20T21:21:30.655-04:00How wonderful to have a museum locally that looks ...How wonderful to have a museum locally that looks our racist history in the face instead of the "color-blind racism" stance of averting our eyes and pretending it all never happened. There's a very interesting book by Kathy Blee called <i>Women of the Klan</i> that focuses on the KKK and it's women's auxiliary in Indiana in the 1920s. If I remember correctly (it's been aAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-33447501705214066152016-08-20T20:49:43.583-04:002016-08-20T20:49:43.583-04:00Indiana is still a hot bed judging by the 16 hate ...Indiana is still a hot bed judging by the 16 hate groups listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center hate groups map. If your grandfather was in the KKK someone in your family did a good job of not teaching hate to other generations.<br /><br />Breaking a glass after a black person drank out it wasn't uncommon. We really have come along way since our parents' generation. That we can be Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-26097011983716965212016-08-20T20:25:24.225-04:002016-08-20T20:25:24.225-04:00I read this post with the same sick feeling I get ...I read this post with the same sick feeling I get in my stomach I always do when I see images and hear stories of the blatant racism that was commonplace in the past -- and still evident today, if somewhat more hidden. All the "isms" really, as you point out -- with the discrimination against women, other minorities, those who have physical and mental challenges, and more and more of donnajurenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10799559087972759233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-33143521822130547742016-08-20T17:00:35.005-04:002016-08-20T17:00:35.005-04:00A very good question you ask. Fear maybe? People d...A very good question you ask. Fear maybe? People don't like change? <br /><br />How is it in Hawaii where you live? I always assumed the melting pot there was pretty well mixed without many tensions. Though your "mix" is different than where I live. Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-14999543713333488542016-08-20T16:32:14.376-04:002016-08-20T16:32:14.376-04:00It seems we have "racism" for every grou...It seems we have "racism" for every group that enters the USA. Why do humans look down on other humans? Native Americans, Africans, Germans, Polish, Italians, Women, Hispanic, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Russian, now Muslims and Serbians and who knows who will be next? It's sad and heart breaking. Yet it continues. Thanks for blogging.The Awkward Widowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03729456066739275695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-3713613691138679052016-08-20T15:44:53.694-04:002016-08-20T15:44:53.694-04:00Isn't that a dichotomy---if that's the rig...Isn't that a dichotomy---if that's the right term for pious church going racists! I know a few people like that. <br /><br />I guess it shouldn't surprise us, though, because the second incarnation of the Klan was organized after Reconstruction by a Protestant Christian minister and religion was a centerpiece of their platform.Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-12916124785287639242016-08-20T15:26:01.146-04:002016-08-20T15:26:01.146-04:00A very interesting post. I grew up in a very small...A very interesting post. I grew up in a very small Texas town. Our little town was near a "sunset" town and I heard people talk about it. I can honestly say I did not personally meet a black person until after I was married. Growing up my world was very white. Thinking back about my parents I don't remember them being prejudiced against people of color. As an adult we had a Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11586429675286969340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-5658991316849073992016-08-20T11:31:40.738-04:002016-08-20T11:31:40.738-04:00P.S. I'm glad you took the time to watch the v...P.S. I'm glad you took the time to watch the video. It's does such a good job of showing what's in the musuem and why those objects are there as well explain the Jim Crow era and its influence still today. Wonderfully done!<br />Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-40565432565731465392016-08-20T11:00:37.031-04:002016-08-20T11:00:37.031-04:00One time Sammy Davis Jr. swam in a motel swimming ...One time Sammy Davis Jr. swam in a motel swimming pool and the management drained the pool afterward because, he said, the whites "wouldn't use it after a nigger did." There were several "pool for whites only" signs in the musuem. <br /><br />Someone in our group told about a "sunset" community that still existed up north in my state as recently as 10 years ago Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-90773686956812137682016-08-20T10:37:55.101-04:002016-08-20T10:37:55.101-04:00In the late '50s my family took a trip down so...In the late '50s my family took a trip down south and we saw the signs for separate drinking fountains and bathrooms for blacks and whites. That was my first exposure to racism based on color. (Prejudice based on religion I have firsthand experience with.) It was a shock---those signs---because, like you, it wasn't something I thought about in my all white neighborhood. We can't know Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-41527772070145883482016-08-20T10:31:42.329-04:002016-08-20T10:31:42.329-04:00Thank you for reading it and commenting. I think s...Thank you for reading it and commenting. I think shared memories and feelings can only lead to better a understanding how far we've come and how far we have yet to go in race relations. <br /><br />I'm not surprised at story about your teaching job. My dads' Italian family was large and full of immigrants who experienced push-back. No one thinks anything about the Italian or Irish Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-85685368724781969662016-08-20T10:00:21.910-04:002016-08-20T10:00:21.910-04:00There is a "sunset" community near where...There is a "sunset" community near where I live in Arkansas. I moved to the state in 1984 and it's only been in the last 10 years that people of color have moved into the town. I grew up in central Illinois in the 60s and I remember when the town built a swimming pool at a "sportsman's club". It was a membership only pool and the man who was selling it to my parents Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17283968618970973962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-42235820921024966472016-08-20T09:42:06.401-04:002016-08-20T09:42:06.401-04:00Wow, I knew it bad for the blacks in the past but ...Wow, I knew it bad for the blacks in the past but I didn't know it was that bad. I have some very close friends that are black and they are batter then some whites that I know. That part about President Obama was atrocious. I doubt that racism will ever end. There will always be people hating other people. As an Italian I've experienced some negative things in my life. When I got teachingCruisin Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13137904435537645207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-58287834435565074122016-08-20T09:41:07.366-04:002016-08-20T09:41:07.366-04:00This post made me feel stupid. Here I am, 71 years...This post made me feel stupid. Here I am, 71 years old and learning about how so many people were treated. For most of my life, I lived in the northern part of America. I thought Aunt Jemima was a representative for pancake mix and syrup, just as Betty Crocker was a representative for cake mixes and cook books. I never thought of it as a slur. My ex-MIL had a 'Mammy' doll toaster cover Sharonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02743921972328074980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-5604386503781529362016-08-20T08:40:23.398-04:002016-08-20T08:40:23.398-04:00I admire my dad, too, for many reasons including h...I admire my dad, too, for many reasons including how he was able not to be influenced by the era he was raised in regarding prejudice attitudes. He was probably a classic example of what they call "White Guilt", felt we got a lot of advantages in life simply because of our color.<br /><br />You're right, none of us are fault-free but I feel we are obligated to be honest with Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-51832056503020729812016-08-20T08:20:15.427-04:002016-08-20T08:20:15.427-04:00I love what you said about change, once it begins,...I love what you said about change, once it begins, cannot be stopped. That is so true. Unfortunately, hate groups including the KKK are still around and probably where you live---892 of them according to the Southern Poverty Law Center that tracks all hate groups. You can check out their map here: https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map You can sort by state, too, and if you click on any of the group Misadventures of Widowhoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17262709452281226620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5990351249805345004.post-34016791792456913482016-08-20T04:43:27.765-04:002016-08-20T04:43:27.765-04:00Thank you for a most informative post, including t...Thank you for a most informative post, including the video. I personally wouldn't have signed on for the tour - found it upsetting just to watch the video.<br /><br />You are more optimistic than I am in thinking racism will end. The tenet of racism - differentiation - is too pervasive. I can visualise a situation where the whites are outnumbered by the non-whites, become less educated and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com