Outrage and Heartbreak Looking at Our History

Oh friends, I'm watching the movie "The Express" It is a movie about Ernie Davis, the outstanding running back from Elmira NY who played at  Syracuse University  and was the first black american to be awarded  the Heisman Trophy.  The year was 1961.  The movie recounts the difficulties this oustanding young man and outstanding football player faced during the late 1950's through 1962.

Ernie Davis was given an athletic ability that made him stand out in the crowd.  He received the attention of many american colleges because of his abilities and was shunned by others because the color of his skin also made him stand out in the crowd and during those years in our history fear and ignorance kept many folks at arms length to young men and women like Ernie Davis.

I was in high school during those years.   A white girl living in the south during segregation and ashamed today to admit pretty much oblivious to the heartwrenching injustices experienced by those whose skin was brown or black. 

In 1987 my life took a turn that changed my view of "color" forever.  Much happened in our country between 1960 and 1987.  Battles for freedom for all americans had been waged in Washington, main street America, schools, businesses and homes and finally in individual hearts.  Segregation was offically a thing of the past.  All races were to have the freedom to obtain an education and a good job.  In other words the incidents that Ernie Davis faced were in the past.  Or so it seemed.

In 1987 my daughter fell in love and married a young man she had met while working in high school.  This handsome, gregarious, young black american man was 6 years older than she and swept her off her feet.
Everything we professed to believe and held deep in our hearts was brought in the light.  I really believed at the time, as they did, that God could overcome any cultural or historical differences.  They received premarital counseling from our pastor and were married in a small wedding at our church.  She never looked more beautiful and my hopes for her future were never higher than on that day.  I wanted with all my heart for the naysayers to be wrong.  My deepest desire was that somehow the Lord would use this couple without a real clue at what they faced, to be examples of love overcoming years of prejudice.

As I watched Ernie Davis's story last night (I've written this over the course of two days)...every time someone booed him; every time a football player tryed to maim him (just because his skin was not white); every time someone shouted "spook" at him and his 2 fellow players, my heart nearly broke.  There was and still is a lump in my throat as I was bombarded again at how humanity can go so wrong that they would rather cripple or even kill someone because they don't look like they do..don't talk like they do...don't eat what they eat....don't dress like they dress..and the list goes on.

My life has been blessed beyond measure and my mind expanded outside my "own little world" since that day in 1987.  That was the day we became black and white in our family.

Don't miss my next post for more lessons learned in our cross cultural family.