Marking A Historical Day

Since Rodney and my mother-in-law were in Washington, DC to see history made in person, I invited my 76-year old father-in-law to join my mom and the kids for dinner last night. It was an interesting dinner guest list -- and older, black man; an older, white woman; a middle-aged white woman; a bi-racial young boy and a tri-racial baby girl.

Of course our dinner conversation was about the historical nature of the day - the Presidential Inaugeration of Barack Obama - our first president of color. When my father-in-law said that he really still couldn't believe that Obama was elected, I had to agree. Being married to an African-American man certainly allows me to hear and view things that I probably wouldn't have if I had married a white man. And somehow this white girl has become the keeper of historical data about the Williams Family. It really is fascinating.

Mr. Williams' (yes, I still refer to my in-laws in this formal fashion -- even after almost 15 years of marriage) grandparents were the first of his ancestors born free - Sam (1872) and Fannie (1874) Williams - after slavery was abolished in 1865...just 100 years before I was born.

He grew up in Mississippi and moved north to the Chicago area when he was a young boy so he wasn't there in the mid-fifties as the Civil Right Movement began when Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on the bus. He joined the Army with the permission of his mother at the ripe young age of 16. He remembers traveling south with a white friend and seeing for the first time signs (Whites only) meant to ensure that the races did not mix. He shared one story of watching a young man at the "wrong counter" (aka, white counter?) who could not get anyone's attention to get waited on. Once he moved the "right counter" (aka, black counter?) the same folks who wouldn't wait on him, greeted him as if he had just walked up and then proceeded to wait on him. I've always wondered how parents explained this to their children - it's heart-breaking to me to think about having to ensure my children were institutionally taught at an early age to protect their lives!

My in-laws met and married at the justice of the peace almost 45 years ago. Mr. Williams was able to secure a loan to buy his house with some good, old-fashioned tenacity even though he didn't yet have a formal job. I just learned that not only were he and my mother-in-law in Detroit during the riots of 1967, but it was his after-hours joint (refered to as a blind pig) that was raided and where things got out of hand and spilt onto the streets. I'm not at all surprised that he was involved :-)

The Williams wanted a better life for their boys and were one of the first families to move into the mostly white suburb of Canton, Michigan when Rodney and Reggie were still young boys in the early seventies. Rodney talks about the ignorance he encountered while beginning to play hockey, not so much from the kids, but from their parents! It is a testament to their entire family's strength and character that they were able to live in Canton the length of Rodney and Reggie's school years. And it is a testament to the fact that the times, well they were changing, that so many of the kids and their parents that he played sports with embraced their family. Rodney remains friends with these guys today.

As I watched President Obama walk the hall and steps down to take the Oath of Office, I felt the pride of our country - everyone in our country - and the aguish of those who have lived through racial violence, tension, and prejudice that they still question whether their eyes have deceived them and that they have lived to see this day. I said to my 76-year-old father-in-law, "It is amazing, isn't it?" And even though I haven't lived through what he has, I think he knows that I do understand.