'Segregation's Constant Gardeners': How White Women Kept Jim Crow Alive

It is clear that some white women were as this article describes; however, my only experience with a white woman, mother, public school PTA member was my mother who, interestingly, attended and graduated from Little Rock’s Central HS a few years before the desegregation clash. She was a strict disciplinarian who did not tolerate backtalk including any response that did not include ma’am... mostly yes ma’am or no ma’am. She taught her four sons to treat everyone with equal respect regardless of race, creed or social status. It was a matter of her honor that we would be offending if we did not behave as gentlemen towards everyone. She made sure we did not avoid anyone in our neighborhood, a modestly populated rural area about a mile or two outside of town. Our biggest challenge was another white boy whose father ran the beer joint just down the road. He was rude, crude, mean and generally unpleasant... but was welcome at our house where we were to be gentlemen. We learned a lot. He did to. We grew up together. There were other ethic groups represented scattered around the area we lived there ranged from very poor to rich. An ok share cropper would drive his mule team drawn wagon to town from a few miles further into the country from us every week or two. He was a black man named Simon who was legally blind. I don’t know how my mother knew he was an excellent open pit barbecue chef but I remember wh n I learned it. She took me with her when she drove out to his house by the tracks way down a dirt road that ran along them. She went to ask if she could hire him to cook for an event she was planning for her adult Sunday School class. They discussed his fee and he agreed to do it. He gave her a list of supplies to have ready and the deal was done. She asked when she should pick him up and he said his daughter would bring him. She lived in town and had a good comfortable car he said. He made his own barbecue sauce from scratch (my dad had built a good sized brick barbecue pit before he was totally disabled... my dad had a TBI from an auto accident a year after I was born... my mother worked as a civilian draftsman for the Air Force after that. We were on a really tight budget). Simon spent the better part of the day cooking over that pit before the afternoon meal. That was the absolute best barbecued chicken I have ever eaten to this day. He would not tell us his sauce recipe. It was his secret weapon. I remember that my mama was so impressed that she doubled his pay. (She decided that he did not put an appropriate value on his work.). We never were allowed to treat anyone in any manner other than how we would want to be treated. That was her standard. Not all white women act the same. In my experience there were lots of white women like my mother. We’re Texans though. In my growing up that meant friendly to everyone.

As for the disparity in percentages of ethnicities in various areas of major cities, there will never be an homogenous distribution and it is a mistake to present the statistics as if that is a reasonable or even achievable objective. There are many factors involved in determining where one chooses or even must live. Income level is probably the biggest but then there is proximity to workplaces, preferences, availability and other factors. There are prejudices still but most of the prejudice is against lower socioeconomic classes... rich folks live in rich areas and they don’t want poor folks (and the kinds of homes they can afford) in their neighborhood. This effect spreads across the spectrum from the mega-wealthy down to lower middle class. Race has been all but eliminated as a factor as it has been illegal since the 1960s. Anyone of any race can chose to live among others who share their economic status... and they do.

Finally, people want to gather near other people who share their values beliefs and culture. Similarities are attractive to people and make them comfortable. People chose to live near others who are just like them far more often than they chose to NOT live near people who are different from them.

Interesting share Neil.