http://opt.lindseybobby.com

 

Michael Smith

Re:

http://spot.superior-trophies.net

 

Michael Smith

 

Re:

http://get.nflwtgta.win

 

Michael Smith

 

Southern Heritage

I am a Southerner.  I love Sweet Tea, Fried Chicken, Rasslin (also known as Wrestling), Coca-Cola, Magnolia Trees, and open spaces.  I used to catch fireflies and make lanterns with them.  I have “Tubed the Hooch.” I have loved and hated the Braves, despised the Dawgs, and cheered the Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech.  I love how you can go from the city to the country in less than an hour.  Southern Born and Southern Bred.  This is my heritage.

 I have also listened to my parents talk about whether the daycare that I attended in Kindergarten separated children by race (1970- Peter Piper Nursery at the corner of Enon Rd and Cambellton Rd).  I have traveled to Orlando with my parents on a vacation to Disney World.  And while out with my mother one night and being confused about the directions to take, hearing a Southern White Female yell out while driving by at the traffic light “Red Nigger, Red!”  I entered high school as a 2-year Tuba Player.  Seated next to a White Freshman who liked to converse with me. Sharing things like “You Dumb Nigger.” Until I threatened him with bodily harm in Un-Christian terms.  I listened to one of my High School teachers suggest that things would have been better during the Civil Rights movement if Martin Luther King, Jr had not spoken out because violence surrounded him everywhere he went.

In the summer of 1981 I was picked up by the Roswell Roadrunner Baseball Team to play in the District Tournament.  The District games took place in Cumming, Ga in Forsyth County. My parents joked with each other a few times “we need to make sure we are out of here before dark.” I didn’t know the history at that time of White Residents of Forsyth County forcing out almost all Black Residents in the early 1900s. It was ironic then that in 2010 while attending a Church Planter’s Conference at Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, Ga that I was singled out and asked to show my credentials by a White female greeter while other people were allowed to roam freely. Considering that this church was situated in the northern suburbs with no access to public transportation, it is safe to say that you were only at the conference if you WANTED to be there i.e. no stragglers. It was a cold day so I along with other people had my jacket on.  However, as I observed afterwards, she asked no other attendee while I was in the vicinity for their credentials.  If you did not know, the Church Planting world is predominately white and male dominated.  I emailed the pastor of the church about the incident and received no response. 

I am also reminded of my days working for UPS as a Part-Time Supervisor in Atlanta. My area manager was a smooth talking Southern Gentleman. A “boys will be boys” kind of guy.  One day out of frustration with another member of management he said in my presence and that of a few other supervisors “That D—n Nigger.” I was furious.  I spoke to him a few days later and said to him “you need to keep your convictions to yourself.” He later spoke to me and said our conversation really bothered him and he apologized. And then he proceeded to justify himself.

This is my Southern Heritage as well.

All of this is significant because as an African-American in this country, we know that there is a dark history and heritage in the South, concerning slavery, discrimination, and yes, The Confederacy. To applaud and highlight those who in the past owned slaves, fought to preserve slavery, and possibly murdered Black People is insane. So I can find points of agreement on some things. But I will never be ok with honoring Plantations, The Confederate Flag (the battle flag), and those that fought to preserve that “way of life.”

 

 

http://csun2.devalier.org/treatment.php

 

Michael Smith