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Sept. 20, 2005 He seemed like a nice refined southern gentleman. He asked me if I was married. I said no. He asked if I would be interested in going out with him and I said yes. The next day, I drove over to his house. Hound dogs were barking all over the place. There were a pick-up truck parked and a Confederate Battle flag flying in his yard. I peeked inside his house. There were a bear head, a bear rug and several stuff deer heads on the wall. There were guns all over the place. I quickly concluded that this was my first date with a genuine redneck. He asked where I wanted to go. I told him that it has always been my Mecca to see where Thomas Jefferson slept with Sally Hemmings. As we got into his car, he advised me that a great man like Thomas Jefferson would not sleep with a darkie. "A darkie!" I thought to myself. The last time I heard that term was when I read Gone with the Wind in junior high. "Gee," I had advised him, "not only did Thomas Jefferson sleep with a "darkie" but he also slept with his late wife's half sister because his father-in-law also slept with a "darkie." He started to growl but I was having fun, "and furthermore, Sally Hemmings was only fourteen years old when Thomas Jefferson slept with her. Just think the scandal in modern times." My date advised me that we would not be driving to Charlottesville to see Montacello. We were going to Roanoke, Virginia to visit the bookstores. That suited me just fine. I like books. Soon, we were in a theological debate. I told him that the only thing the KKK ever got right was to burn those darn instruments of torture called crosses. Suddenly there was a long silence, "We don't burn crosses………. We light them!" my date said. Soon, I learned more about the history of the KKK from an real live source. The KKK is a Christian organization. Lighting the cross is one of their ceremonies. It means to shine the burning bright light of the cross. The hooded men represent the ghost of confederate soldiers. The Klan was started as reaction to the reformation after the civil war. The KKK was not anti-black, they were pro-white. I thought to myself, "Gee, I wonder why he uses the N-word so much:" I told him about a gentleman I took care of in Home Health Care. He was an elderly gentleman who remembered the Jim Crow Laws. He talked about going to the local diner. They could make purchased in the back of the diner but they couldn't eat in the diner. If they wanted to go clubbing they had to go to the other side of the county. There were stores they couldn't go to. He even told me that as a boy, he and his friends sat on top of a mountain and watched the KKK do their burning cross ritual. The school they attended on top of a hill. This man experienced the history that I read about in school. He was fascinating to listen to At first my date was incredulous that I would actually care for a black person . "Of course, the agency assigned me to him figuring that I would mind about his color because I am from Los Angeles and they were right." I loved listening to elderly folks talking about the past because they were living history books. They like talking, I liked listening and got paid for it. It was a good arrangement. In California we were taught, "thou shalt not be bigots.!" I am certainly glad that black folks don't have to go through the humiliation of Jim Crow Laws anymore. At least, we made it to Roanoke for our wild date at the book store. I snickered as I headed for the Metaphysical Section. He was nice enough to purchase some books on Astrology for me although he did lecture me about proper Christianity. Afterwards, he asked about dinner. I couldn't talk him into finding a Sushi bar. I would have love to introduce him to the adventures of raw fish dipped in wasabi. We found a seafood restaurant. I ordered the most expensive item on the menu. Steak, Lobster and New York Cheesecake, Yummy!!! We were headed home to West Virginia. My date gave me a compliment. "We have very different backgrounds, but you are still a very pleasant person. I think you will make me a good wife after I convert you to proper Christianity and you get rid of some of your strange ideas." I pondered his comments. "The man does have money. He seems like a decent enough person even if he does think my ideas are strange. How would I explain my teenage son's fondness for biracial girlfriends. Most likely, I have the wrong heritage to be a Klan member's spouse." I quickly changed the subject, and started asking him about deer hunting. My date talked about that and to how to train hounds for bear hunting the rest of the way home. ------------ About the author: Bonijean Isaacs is a freelance writer and Astrologer in West Virginia. Email: inez4liberty@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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