Taking into account mine and others' discriminatory experiences it almost always felt like a constant fight between "us" verses "them", but taking in those two hours of historical revelations I realized that it wasn't just black people being oppressed -- it was also white people.
Not just the white people that came down to Mississippi to volunteer for Freedom Summer, but the white people who fought viciously against both the black and white Freedom Fighters. You see, those white people that displayed such hatred in their eyes and such disdain for the black race prevailing, they were following their races' ideology because they thought it was the right thing to do. Even if deep down they felt a twinge of compassion for the black race there was no room for tolerance, as they knew their people well and the violent streak that would ensue should they decide to "change" direction. With regards to the misinformed, the saying of "They know not what they do" makes even more sense.
Although white people in Mississippi had it better than black people livelihood wise, they were still oppressed because their entire way of life was dictated to them; women were to look and behave a certain way, children as well and there was no room for anything different. Everything had to remain the same with white men having all the money and power, because this was the true way of America. The only people that were truly free in this great nation were the white men that ran it, period.
Moreover, it took for white and black people to come together in order to initiate magnetic change, one race couldn't do it without the other race -- hence, the reason President Obama was elected twice.
We will always need each other and we'll always be stronger for it, but it's imperative to stay united against the fear mongering and hateful rhetoric -- for this is what's used as the great divider amongst the races. Now in the 21st century, it should no longer be a fight between black and white but a fight between good verses evil or truth verses lies. For people aren't bad or evil unless it is taught to them -- therefore, color becomes completely irrelevant and the hostile feelings is what remains at the forefront.
Hostility is what the Freedom Fighters were met with until it brought about miraculous change within The White House, where President Johnson won a second term and was compelled to stand up for what was right by writing into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (which key parts of the VRA was struck down just last year by the SCOTUS).
Lyndon B. Johnson had a tremendous weight on his shoulders, not wanting to stir up a second civil war among the races -- especially since Freedom Summer was deemed to be the most violent acts of domestic terrorism since Reconstruction. But the integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party couldn't be ignored, no more than its electrifying leader, Fannie Lou Hamer.
Change is hard yes, but change is also inevitable in which it most surely promises the progressiveness and betterment of future generations. How fitting that our first black president is literally "two sides of the same coin"; black and white, the two races which have been in constant feud for centuries.
One thing is for sure, as long as we stay privy to mainstream politics by engaging the electorate with our voices and votes, hope will never be to far behind.
We shall overcome, we will overcome and we must continue to overcome -- or die. Americans, in this upcoming November election let your conscience be your guide, just like Mississippians did in this past primary.
2014 LA
