One Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch – Southern ModerateEssay Preview: One Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch – Southern ModerateReport this essayAs the saying goes “One bad apple spoils the bunch” and for this reason I have deemed that it was impossible to be a southern moderate during the 1960s and 70s. A southern moderate was one whose ideals and principles were not tarnished with suppositions of prejudice, discrimination and complete disgust against the opposing race(s), especially persons of African-American origin. Prejudice, in this context, is forming opinions about others without knowing all the facts. It often leads to discrimination which is the act of treating people differently and unfairly. Individuals living during this time period would have found it impossible to become a true southern moderate merely because of influences that drove their every decision in life, consciously and subconsciously. Unknowingly the development of ones character is deeply influenced by elements of life that are inevitable to escape. The elements that surely influenced the anti- southern moderate behaviors and beliefs of the individuals during the 1960s and 70s include religion, family life, and society.
Living amidst individuals of post-slavery and relentless prejudice behaviors, a southern moderate state- of -mind would have been difficult to maintain during the 1960s and 70s. Although modern religion beliefs and interpretations appear to condemn the prejudice and discrimination that went on during that era, people, especially those with deep religious backgrounds, often had the strongest disgust against African- Americans. In Blood Done Sign My Name, the author Timothy B. Tyson recalls moments in church when they sang hymns that promised “the blood of Jesus would wash our sins “as white as snow”, cleanse our souls of “one dark blot,” or help our “dark passions to subdue” (Tyson, 2004, p. 36). A spot-on southern moderate would not justify discrimination and segregation through the works of their divinity, for the reason that the God and Jesus they worshipped knew no color when it came to those he [Jesus] sacrificed his life for. On the grounds that religion has a great influence on ones morals and beliefs, interpretations in church that vindicated unjust principles, only verifies that any one, especially those active in the church, could not be a true southern moderate. Although religions teach acceptance and tolerance of all people, usually those that perceive their similar views, people of the church are not obligated to adhere to the unofficial, official morals that are taught in church. Justifications for their discriminatory behaviors wasnt a new concept, its something that had been around since the beginning of the slavery trade. Tyson mentions that the individuals that partook in the slave trade concocted insulting explanation(s) claiming that:
“Africans were not Christians.And so the slave traders and the larger society that depended on them conjured up the poisonous lie of white supremacy; that is, the notion that God conferred moral, intellectual, and cultural worth upon humanity on the basis of pigmentation, with lighter-skinned people inherently more worthy and darker-skinned people intrinsically less worthy….” (Tyson, 2004, p. 266).
Since the religious-based explanations of the slave traders made complete logical and rational sense to them, they found no wrong doing in their actions in fact they believed their actions were part of Gods work. With their instilled values, morals and beliefs in “good intentions” they passed them on to younger generations believing that this was the proper way of life.
Efforts of parents and other family members to brainwash upcoming generations of any humane equality towards African-Americans happened to be highly effective. In Blood Done Sign My Name, Tyson stated “Children may not fully understand the social order, but they learn it easily enough when it gets acted out in front of them. (Tyson, 2004, p. 138)”, this provided evidence that family structure, values, principles and actions caused great deterrence from one becoming a southern moderate, especially if ,as a child, one was exposed to KKK (Ku Klux Klan) like behaviors. Based on the instances Tyson provided in Blood Done Sign My Name, Caucasians families perceived blacks as second class citizens and by any means necessary refused to interact with them intimately, only intermingling when business was on the agenda. When recollecting past time stories of slavery, blacks memories frequently differed from accounts white people would tell each other. Discrepancies were, but not limited to, the false happiness that blacks possessed when they were under the tyranny of their owners and the presumed family connectedness between the slaves and their owners. Black storytellers frequently told stories about families being broken up and sold, black women being the white mans concubine, and slaves being whipped severely. Whereas, white storytellers usually passed down gentle fictions, maybe because they believed that all truths are not to be told. No matter the story relayed to an individual, a probable southern moderate would have had to detach themselves, slowly but surely, away from almost every belief, practice, moral(s), etc. they associated with in order to fully claim the title. Although
Efforts by the nonwhites to separate the black/brown/whig community were much stronger (particularly on children who were less than 20) and more effective than those in white communities, there were problems to the blacks’ acceptance of the idea that white children were being “saved”. Black children had to be separated from the black community, with and without any interracial marriage. While the idea was appealing to young adults, the idea that kids were being saved from the black community by parents, grandparents (my husband and I were both raised by the parents), families of mixed-race/nonsavage children, and the fact that those kids could not be removed from the communities by white lawmen was viewed as evidence of inferiority between the two groups.
My point is that in a society that emphasizes the racial separation of white and black, this has little bearing on the race divide. This view is a more important one than the idea that blacks/white are inferior to the rest of humanity, but that the differences between the races make the others a problem that must be addressed. As far as I can tell (the only sources i have found to show a correlation between the lack of any racial division and poverty rates in some states, and the disparities among whites and blacks). The concept of equality of opportunity may be viewed as an attempt to increase the standard of living, but this never made the system better. Thus, it is not about equal access to healthcare; it is solely about ensuring the right to housing and other economic security through racial division and poverty.
My last point was that my research shows an effect of race on social status rather than race itself in many large-scale racial groups and that this racial divide was the source of the failure of whites to control wealth for their children. As the black child would have grown up with higher wealth and higher education, she would have been able to attend more “pre-college” schools. She would have enjoyed all the privileges of a “superior” sibling. She would be able to live her life on its own terms so that every individual within its reach could reap the benefits of his/her education. This was the idea that black people “do better” than all whites and the theory that there was a race difference in their children’s economic status had not really changed in this young person’s upbringing. The theory was that she was more educated than all other children and that it would result in more of the “middle class” and thus more economic opportunities. As a whole this theory had not altered the child’s social status. It certainly was not responsible for her being disadvantaged in one important way by being white. And this was reflected in her ability to pass on her talents to her youngest. In many respects, it was due to being a privileged white child who didn’t have to make the most of everything and to do it all alone. It probably also explains why they ended up having their own college, even though they had their own job.
Even though one might argue that the “race difference” theory may have helped to lead to higher inequality due to higher IQ attainment among black children, it does not make one go to