Faces of America Viewership - Influenced By Opinions About Dr. Gates?

[Note: this post is intended to generate dialog and discussion.  I don't often stray into opinion on this or any of my blogs, but there are times when I seek answers to questions from readers and colleagues and the only way to "jump start" such a process is to write a post that will include opinion.

Our community of genealogy bloggers has demonstrated the need for dialog around a variety of issues.  Dialog is good as long as it is civil and adds to our experiences as family historians and genealogists.  I strongly encourage readers to leave comments on this post.]

My question to my readers is this: on a personal level, has your opinion of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and his Cambridge arrest in July 2009 influenced the way in which you watched the Faces of America series?  Did you, anyone in your household or a friend refuse to watch Faces of America because they had a negative opinion of Dr. Gates stating that the arrest was motivated by racial profiling and his African-American heritage?

* * *

I have some opinions as to the arrest and how it played out last summer, but before I get to that, let me say this: I was able to separate my views of the arrest and how it was handled from the job that Dr. Gates did as host of Faces of America.  Unfortunately I've encountered many people who were unable to do so - in fact when I mention Dr. Gates' name to them in public recently, the face scrunches up or the eyes roll and they launch into a diatribe about Dr. Gates' his arrest and the ensuing involvement of the White House into a discussion of race relations.

While most of these people appear to be somewhat informed and were able to discuss the arrest issues competently and in detail, I found that overall they were uninformed as to Dr. Gates' body of work, especially his involvement with African American Lives and African American Lives 2.  I've always had - and continue to have - respect for the work that Dr. Gates has done.

But many times, people allow themselves to be impacted by a quickly formed opinion in terms of their latest interaction with a public figure.  Personally, I closely followed the news of the arrest and here is how I saw it: lots of people said lots of stupid stuff.  That's as plainly as I can put it.

Imagine that you had just traveled back from China (probably filming the Yo-Yo Ma portions of Faces of America) and you can't get into your own home.  You are tired.  You are cranky.  I've been there.  I've been in situations where I wasn't at my best.  Then imagine that you are confronted by police on your own property.  And imagine that your local police force has had a history of racial profiling.  And imagine that in your research you know factually that police forces engage in racial profiling.

I think you get my picture.  Dr. Gates was initially charged with "disturbing the peace" which can be very liberally used by police officers to cover a multitude of situations.  Do I think Dr. Gates was right in his reaction?  Yes, I do.  Because I've been in similar situations with police where I was very vocal concerning a situation.  And the situation involved lack of sleep and frustration.  Do I think the police reacted appropriately? Yes, I do.  I can understand how an officer with no information as to the property, property owner etc. might want to arrest someone who appears combative.  It all comes down to perception.

Unfortunately when the media gets hold of a story it can often spiral out of control.  However, there is good that came out of this incident: it did get the nation talking about race relations.  Very often this is a topic we don't want to discuss for a variety of reasons.

* * *

Whatever someone's opinion as to Dr. Gates, I hope they are able to put such opinion aside - be it positive or negative - and simply view Faces of America as a body of work that stands by itself to be judged on its own.

Photo: Photo of Henry Louis Gates. Jr. dated 18 April 2007.  Digital image.  Joe Irons via flickr.  Used under Creative Commons 3.0 license.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

African-American History Month and My Genealogy

I just want to quickly point out a great series of posts over at Walking the Berkshires that have been dealing with the history of slavery in the United States and how, for many of us, it intersects with our family trees.

If you haven't yet done so, take a look at what Tim has posted. He has done a quite thorough documentation of slave owners among his ancestors and it really has made me start to review my own research to see what I can find.

As I stated in a comment on one of Tim's posts, this isn't easy to do and some may question why it has to be done at all:

"Discussing "ownership" of past offenses and sins against another race or group of people is a heavy topic. With my family going back to the mid 1600s in this country, I am certain that there were slave owners among my ancestors. When I see behaviors or practices that seem very out of place in modern times, putting them in their historical context does not necessarily make them right or help to explain them away. But one of my goals is to thoroughly research my ancestors and their role in the practice of slavery: how did they acquire slaves? is there any evidence as to how they treated slaves? were they part of social or religious communities that spoke out against the slave trade?

But nothing that I do in the way of research or writing can ever even touch the pain or misery that such a practice has wrought - not only upon those enslaved and their descendants but among those of us who involve ourselves in the "looking back" and sometimes don't like what we see."

Civil Rights and Diversity: Serving Witness, Giving Voice

Miriam over at AnceStories2: Stories of Me for My Descendants has an interesting journal prompt this week. Entitled Civil Rights and Diversity, she asks her readers to write about the various challenges that families faced in terms of racial, religious or other forms of discrimination. And even if your family was not a target of such practices, if you remember other families, friends or neighbors who were told that they lived outside the margins of the rest of society.

Before I start I want to thank Miriam for this post and challenge. Very often as we pursue our own genealogy or family history research, we can do so with a set of "blinders" on and not realize what others may have experienced in our ancestors' communities. I've often wondered if my ancestors owned slaves or were abolitionists, if any of my female ancestors were suffragettes or women's libbers (that's a term I haven't heard or used for a while!), if any of my relatives practiced forms of discrimination or helped to break down barriers put up against others. I try to remind myself, from time to time, to step outside of "my family" and look around at what was going on at that time, then step back in and put my family in perspective.

What was the racial, ethnic, or religious situation in the community where you grew up? Was your family part of a racial, ethnic, or religious majority or minority? Were there differences in your community or family such as developmental disabilities, mental illness, or social class differences? Were there bi-racial or mixed-faith families?

I grew up in Liberty, Sullivan County, New York which is part of the Borscht Belt of Jewish resorts made famous during the 1940s and 1950s. By the time I grew up, the community had a very sizeable Jewish presence with a bakery and deli that closed on the High Holy Days. Our school also had off for Yom Kippur and Passover. Many of my friends in school were Jews and through them I became very familiar with religious practices and customs especially the Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah.

The concept of mixed-faith families was a hot button issue in the late 1960s as was mixed-raced families. Keep in mind that inter-racial marriage was still illegal in some states up until 1967. I knew several mixed-faith families and because of certain prejudices it often meant that there would be turmoil especially around holidays.

How did this affect you and your family? Did your family experience discrimination or prejudice, or were family members prejudiced against others? Have you ever feared for your life because of prejudice?

Growing up, my mother was one of the only divorced women in our town. This was at the time when the Roman Catholic Church no longer considered divorce a reason for excommunication from the church. Having attended parochial school for the first three grades, I always felt "set apart" when it came to interacting with other students. When questioned about my father and why he didn't live with us, I often declined to answer. Even I myself did not really understand it at that time in my live.

I have found quite a bit of prejudice, especially against Jews and Blacks in my family. My mother was a big advocate of taking me and my brother aside after a visit to relatives where someone made bigotted comments. She explained that those views were not shared by her or by open-minded people. She also made it clear that we were not to make those comments either. I think it is only actions like these that help break the chain of prejudice in a family.

In my research of letters and diaries from the 1940s through the 1950s, it is disturbing to see my relatives, some still living, use derogatory terms to describe others. It also puts me in a difficult position of deciding whether or not to include such terms when transcribing documents. As a family historian, as much as it may cause commotion and strife, I believe I need to be true to the document. And I shouldn't try to "explain away" why that person used such a term. I can, however, put it in context of the times, much as we do slavery in this country. It doesn't mean it was right, but it gives witness to the fact that it did happen, and that it had and still has consequences.

What were you taught about people who were different from you? Do you still believe this? Why or why not? If not, what made you change your mind?

Sometimes I still laugh at one piece of bigotry that a family member tried to pass on to me: that Jews had horns on their head. I never believed it, nor did I embarass myself by asking school mates to show me their horns. It was only in college that I found out how this bit of "urban legend" came about: as I studied Art History, I noticed a statue of Moses by Michelangelo. Moses is stunningly executed but also with horns on his head. Through my research I found out that Michelangelo relied on a translation of the Bible that mis-interpreted the Hebrew term karan (meaning "radiate light") to mean "grew horns" (similar to the Latin "cornutam").

Thankfully I am a true skeptic and live up to my first name. If I read or hear something which just doesn't fit for me, I am off to research it and try to get as many facts and differing points of view as necessary. My mother taught me to do this and to not accept at face value what people say.

Were there households in your neighborhood or community where a couple was co-habitating rather than being legally married? Were there gays and lesbians in your community? Or did you grow up in such a diverse household? What was your family's or the community's reaction to this?

Being gay I have a somewhat advantaged perspective on the LGBT issue. I am also the only self-identified (I dislike the term "out") homosexual in my family of over 100 living relatives. My family overall has been very accepting (I agree with Miriam on the use of the word "tolerant") and to be honest it is a non-issue. My partner (I'll call him Fang) and I travel home and visit relatives and are invited to gatherings and celebrations just as any couple would be. Since I made the decision in 1983 to be open and honest with my family about my sexuality, I am amazed at not only how far my family has progressed, but how the rest of society has as well.

But it wasn't always easy. While my family and work environments were always free from any discrimination or bigotry, there were times when school and even living with neighbors was difficult. Many don't know that for a short time in my life, I was a seminary student, and an openly-gay one at that. I was involved with a denomination that permitted LGBT people to practice ministry and thought, at that time, it was a career to pursue. I had my challenges but the seminary supported me 100 percent. And more recently, Fang and I were in a difficult situation with a neighbor involving some hateful behavior directed towards us. We eventually had to move out of our home but thankfully due to civil rights protections in Illinois, we were able to get a monetary settlement for what we endured for two years.

Do you remember the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s or the AIM movement of the 1970s? What about the Equal Rights Amendment or the AIDS epidemic? What were your feelings or thoughts on these matters? Did they affect you directly, and how?

I don't remember the Civil Rights Movement as much as I do the American Indian Movement or the push for the ERA amendment. And the AIDS pandemic was just beginning when I came out in 1983 and in the ensuing years it would affect me directly. I lost so many friends and acquaintances that I stopped writing names in ink in my address book. I couldn't stand to see so many people crossed-out especially when they were less than 40 years in age.

What do you remember about meeting someone for the first time who was different from you in some way? What preconceived ideas were dismantled as you got to know this person as an individual, rather than as a symbol of your differences?

While I didn't have any pre-conceived notions as to others who were different, I relished the opportunity to meet people of different races and faiths. Going to college at age 17 was an eye-opener for me, especially since it was in a culturally diverse city - Washington, DC. We all think of it as the capital of the United States but once you live there, you realize how many different cultures and faiths inhabit that area. I worked in jobs with many Ethopian, Somalian, and Filipino people - I enjoyed celebrating various holidays and sharing different foods.

If you are a person considered "different" by the mainstream, do you have a successful experience to share where you were able to change someone else's preconceived ideas about your diverse situation? How did that occur?

Being a "different" person (and I don't mind that term), I think being able to convince my family that I was still the same old Thomas has been my biggest success. I am able to show them that not everyone defines success as having a wife and children and that the word "family" represents different concepts to different people. I also believe that living my live in an honest fashion is the best testament to success - it helps to break down people's prejudiced views as to what a gay person is or how they act.

Are there any oral histories in your family about being able to vote or own land or other civil rights for the first time? What about stories were rights were denied? Are there events in your family history where ancestors or relatives triumphed over social injustice? Were any of your ancestors social reformers? Are you?

So far, my research has not turned up many social reformers or "agitators" as I like to call them. And then there is me. During the 1990s I was very involved with several movements including increased funding for AIDS research. I also was part of a group that stood vigil at the funeral of Randy Shilts (author of And The Band Played On) against actions threatened by the Rev. Fred Phelps and other members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.

Race and Family History

This is what I call a "stumbled upon" topic. Last night I was wracking my brain as to what to write about today. Too early for Thanksgiving topics and I'm saving my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories.

We went to dinner at some friends' house here in Chicago last night, in a neighborhood I had not heard of - Budlong Woods. It is named about the Budlong high school nearby. We had a great vegetarian dinner (there were so many allergies among the attendees that I could have made a killing selling benedryl and epi pens. Perhaps killing isn't the correct word). Squash soup with ginger. Organic green salad with pears, roasted walnuts and walnut oil, Vegetarian lasagna. And a killer dessert made of a pecan shortbread crust, cream cheese filling, pumpkin pudding and whipped cream.

We had a very diverse group and the discussion got around to racial slurs and what you heard family members use as a kid. I won't go into exact details since I don't think such terms have a place these days, but we talked about what terms were used to describe certain people of certain races. And how overhearing these terms affected us.

I was impressed that several people stated that at some point their parent or parents sat down and told them, "You may have heard Uncle Dan say the word ________. This is not a nice word and here is what it means. We don't use words like that to describe ________ people. It isn't right."

Several of us grew up in families with no encounters with black people until much later in life. To this day, one person's family has never had a black person in their house. Another person didn't understand the word "colored" as a child and promptly began drawing on his skin with a crayon and told his mother he was "colored." Someone else's first encounter with a black person was at a carnival. The ticket taker handed over tickets and my friend, as a young boy, saw that the man's palms were almost white. So he theorized that the color of the skin on black people wore off over time.

The discussion also touched on diversity and how children today seem to be exposed to many more races and types of people including LGBT people. Much of it is how mass media handles race and sex nowadays.

I grew up in a family where grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins didn't have black, latino, asian or native american friends or acquaintances. The only encounters were usually in public as merchants, tradespeople or service people. I think the lack of exposure, and the way mass media worked back then allowed a greater sense of misconceptions about other races as well as racial slurs.

I'd be interested to hear from other genea-bloggers on the issue of race - how it affected your family or you growing up. Are there or were there any interracial marriages in your family tree?

Photo: Rosa Parks, Birmingham, Alabama, December 1, 1955