In the 1880s, this teen sees a world where more Black voters are registered in Louisiana than White voters. He sees large numbers of Black voters registered AND voting in other southern states as well.
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A š§µ on Forgotten Lives
Often, I think about the lives led by those who came before us. Perhaps due to my fiction writing, I try to put myself into an individualās shoes
And one ālifeā I canāt stop thinking about is that of a 16-year old Black Southern teen in the mid-1880s
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In the 1880s, this teen sees a world where more Black voters are registered in Louisiana than White voters. He sees large numbers of Black voters registered AND voting in other southern states as well.
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And with this high level of Black participation in elections, this 16-year old grows up seeing Black men (not women yet) serving in office at almost every level.
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I would never want to understate the racism and challenges this 16-year old faces in daily lifeā¦
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And if he studies his recent history, this teen also is buoyed by the response of Pres. Grant when white supremacists tried to stop this new Black participation.
But as our 16 year old ages just a few years, things change.
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(And the reason given for the new obstacles is that Black voters like himā¦
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To give an example, in his 20s, this young man mightāveā¦
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But his white neighbor who is less literate than he is, and also failsā¦.he still gets to register because his grandfather was registered to vote in 1864..
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This young man also encounters other obstacles to voting (new taxes he canāt afford, party primaries heās barred from voting in because heās black, etc.)ā¦
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But far more than just not voting, the results of that lack of voting are everywhere.
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But even these feel small, since unless this man lives into his 90s or more, from his mid-20s on, this man will likely never see a local Black officialāwhen they were present at all levels when he was 16.
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Unless he makes it to close to 100, he will die not knowing if the new generation of young people demanding change will achieve it, orā¦
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And while he may have achieved personal happiness and meaning Ā in many other ways, Ā THAT is the trajectory of his public life as an American.
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I would love to talk to him, and hear more about the forgotten and intentionally erased history of that original world he grew up in. I would love to hear him explain what the failure to fight for a fullā¦
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I imagine heād remind us that what happened was not inevitable. But was a product of poor decisions along the way. Not just by the racists and White supremacists. But by the othersā¦.
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Or chose to compromise to get other things done, while he paid the price. People who took for granted that progress would just continue.
Why else do I think so much about this 16-year old from the 1880s?
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And how, like our 1880s teenager, their lives will be shaped by the actions we take in the next few days and yearsā
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