Heros

Two years ago, or so, was the 50th anniversary of Brown vs The Board of Education. Throughout that year I heard and read many stories from the time of integration. The stories came from many different cities and were mostly about people I hadn't heard of- people who's stories hadn't been turned into books or movies. Obviously those stories are still with me today.

As I took in these stories, I felt them from the parent's point of view for the first time. I had always thought that Ruby Bridges and the four (I think it was four) kids who were the first to integrate Birmingham's high schools were awfully tough kids. They had to have police escorts to school and once they were there they found empty classrooms or angry people. They were yelled at, spit on and humiliated over and over. But at least as a group, they never gave in. I've always been amazed that even so young those kids cared so much about getting a good education. But, as I listened to story after story, I realized also how brave their parents were.

The parents of those kids believed so passionately that integration was right, that they were willing to let their kids take real risks, especially the high school kids. (High school kids can be as young as 14 years old! Don't get the wrong mental picture when I say "high school" kids.) I wish that I could remember some names so that I could stop calling them, "the kids," but I can't. At any rate, the kids were harassed by other kids, by teachers, by other kid's parents and by the community at large. They bore a huge responsibility on their shoulders, and their parents let them. Those moms and dads must have been tough as nails, and/or had the faith of saints. I'm sure the parents did everything that they could to keep their kids as safe as possible, but they did not back out. They did not choose a safer path. They, and their children, absolutely did not value their own comfort over the attainment of real, positive change for all people.

I understand that on some level these parents were "just" doing whatever had to be done to obtain the best education for their children, the same way most parents do today. However, I just don't see marching your baby through hateful, screaming crowds, in the same light as the "choices" people use today in order to get the best "option" for their family.

So here's my salute to the brave parents of the Civil Rights Movement: I am humbled by your courage and inspired by your faith. Thank you for making it possible for my children to grow up in a multi-racial world and to be saved from the chains that hold the oppressor as well as the oppressed. May your sacrifices not be for nothing.