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https://zora.medium.com/from-separate-drinking-fountains-to-separate-lunch-tables-ac5d62931eef>
"In response to 2023 racial justice efforts, some white folks I know like to
remind people what things were like 50 years ago.
As one acquaintance put it to me recently, “You act like we haven’t made
considerable progress on race issues.”
They’re referring to a time when society was legally separate.
There were separate drinking fountains, separate restrooms, separate schools,
you name it. All permissible.
States and cities literally all over the country (not just the South) legally
prohibited people from consorting with members of another race. There were laws
prohibiting intermarriage and other places that ordered business owners to keep
their Black and white customers separated.
Georgia, for example, mandated that restaurants served either patrons who were
all Black or all white, but not both. The state was so racist it wouldn’t even
let Black and white people be buried in the same places.
In the North, Maryland segregated passenger railroad cars by race.
Oklahoma had mandatory segregated fishing. Even separate telephone booths. Can
you imagine? A telephone booth that fits one person would be designated as
Black or white only. Whites didn’t even want to occupy a space previously used
by Black people. Oy.
In Texas, Black people weren’t allowed inside white-designated libraries.
Thankfully, most official laws and policies like these were overturned in the
1960s, although it took some places into the 1970s to comply.
One would think, then, society would finally integrate into one big happy
American family.
But what’s happened since is the opposite, and it’s been devastating to our
ability to move forward as a nation.
America remains segregated."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
