QOTD: Southern Geography

Essau McCaulley, op-ed writer for the New York Times, describing a version of "the talk" that black parents give their children about navigating racism around them. An excerpt:

"Many of us are familiar with 'the talk.' I have in mind the African American version in which we outline for our kids how to engage with law enforcement. This is not an instruction on the nuances of legal rights. Instead, Black children receive tools to survive the moment.

But there is another talk that exists largely in the states of the former Confederacy. It’s a lesson in Southern geography.

I knew two maps as a teenager. One revealed the quickest way from, say, Huntsville, Ala., where I lived, to Jackson, Miss., where I sometimes visited family and friends for the weekend. But overlaying that map was a racial one depicting the detours we had to make as we journeyed through the land of Dixie in Black bodies.

My mother informed me of this second map the first time I planned a trip outside the confines of our hometown. She explained that I needed to fill up my gas tank before leaving and was not to stop in any small towns. 'Under no circumstances are you ever to go to Cullman, Arab or Boaz,' she said.

Her advice transcended this particular journey, transforming it into a lesson on the nature of Black life in the South. During those years, I never heard of any official Green Book directing Black travelers to safe stops in the South. This was just local knowledge passed down from mother to son. I vowed to obey her on all my journeys, to make sure that I never crossed into those forbidden hamlets."  (our emphasis)

It's heartbreaking to realize that black children have to be taught that lesson, to avoid dangerous racist communities and areas for fear of their lives. That's their reality and it's a bitter rejoinder to those that would literally whitewash history and paint a false picture of America's past greatness. McCaulley's article is eye-opening and well worth reading.

(photo: Facebook)