Mrs. Doris Jefferys and What Else I Learned in Seventh Grade Earth Science Class

Beautiful fall afternoon! Seventh period, next to last class before the end of the day. Mind focused straight ahead on the weekend - Thanksgiving coming up soon too! 

But before that had to get through the dreaded next class -- math! Math for the 8th period on a Friday was awful as root canal or that feeling of the "spins" when you lay down after  night of drinking - the worst!

Mrs. Doris Jefferys was one of about three Black teachers (although we were still "Negro" then) in my ironically named Charles Sumner Junior High School 65 on Manhattan's Lower East Side. 

Mrs. Jeffreys was what I now know to be of that upper crust, well-educated, Southern Middle Class and had every bit of elegance that came with it. That was all alien to even we Black students, for although nearly all of our parents were from the South, none of them was from this part of the socioeconomic food chain of multi-generational, Black professionals. She belonged to a special class that was a peculiar side benefit of segregation - Black people teaching, training and nurturing other Black people to be the best - always.

She was medium brown with flawless skin and although clearly from our parents' generation, did not giveaway any age save for streaks of grey in her immaculately coiffed hair.  Elegance indeed and an accompanying grace. There was not a shred of arrogance or condescension in her voice or her manner to any student in this class which reflected the Lower East Side - Jewish, Italian, Irish, Puerto Rican Chinese and Negro. Mrs. Jefferys' demeanor was much of what we thought a college professor's would be. You felt special being taught by her. 

That Friday, strangely, my Math teacher, Mr. Schwab, came to the open door and beckoned Mrs. Jefferys out into the hall. He placed his hand on her shoulder and said something in a low tone. I could see her place her hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp.     

She nodded and quickly composed herself returning to the classroom. I'll never forget her expression, it started as a slight smile. Then she gazed upwards for a second as if contemplating her next words carefully:

"Well I guess as future scientists" she began, "I need to share this with you."  

Her pause seemed long. I recall thinking - maybe Mr. Schwab had an emergency and had to go home early - no Math class YAY!

But then her face turned undeniably serious.

"We have just learned that President Kennedy was killed in Texas..."   

Everyone gasped, a few girls screamed, I was sitting next to an Italian-American girl name Donna. Donna had long straight hair pulled into a ponytail -- she looked like the girls in the movie "Grease" years later. She wore these glasses that were pointed at the edges - like Batgirl.

She let out a scream and tears literally shot out of her eyes towards here glasses in a straight stream like they were shot out of a water gun. She became hysterical and a couple of girls went to her. Then Mrs. Jeffreys walked over to console her with a hug. Donna spent the rest of the class in tears.

I remember getting a burning sensation like hot pepper had been poured into my my nose. I was truly shocked.

A few moments later Mrs. Schwab returned and told Mrs Jeffreys that it although President Kennedy had been shot, it had not yet been confirmed that he was dead. These were the days long belong the internet, and what lie ahead for the next four days would be the first 24/7 news cycle.  

They dismissed the school after the 7th period, sparing us, at least, 8th period Math. We walked home in shock. Adults were crying and sobbing along the way.  People were stopping strangers and telling them what they had heard, others asking for updates. My older brother, Harry, told me later that he was walking past the AT&T headquarters building coming out of the subway. "When I heard people saying the President was shot," he said, "I thought they meant the President of AT&T ! I thought maybe some guy thought his phone bill was too high."

When we got down to PS. 1, where many of us had gone for elementary school, the flag was at half mast -- we knew then.

I got home an my mother was ironing clothes. it was one of only a handful of times that I ever saw my mother emotionally shaken.  

"Is he alright mama," I said with a Hail Mary's hopefulness.

She shook her head, "No he's gone."

President Kennedy had played a special role in the hearts of Black people. He was viewed as a "savior." For years afterwards you could see two pictures in many Black homes, side-by-side - Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. 

I said to my mother what my first thoughts were: "We got a bad president now!"

All I knew (or most Black people) was that Johnson looked mean and had a Southern drawl. You could easily picture him pulling you over across the Mason-Dixon line, state troop hat on glancing down at your "northern" license plates, hand on his gun, and saying "you in a heap of trouble boy!"

As it turned out it couldn't have been further from the reality. LBJ pushed hard for civil rights legislation and a slew of important social changes that today some dismiss as a "liberal agenda." Yeah - but take a moment and think of you would be now without them! 

Years, later I did run tin Mrs Jeffreys again - this time I was a Junior at Sarah Lawrence College. She was with Mr. Jones, another Black southerner who taught me. But he was more of the poorer class. His disheveled demeanor belied his intelligence and sharp wit. He was a large man - not at all afraid or intimidated of some bonafide  tough guys in my school. (Think Sidney in "To Sir With Love.")  Mixed it up with several of them, never lost. You get the feeling Mrs Jeffreys would be in DuBois' camp and Mr Jones in Booker T Washington's. But in reality I'm sure they could embrace both.

That day I told them about some of the other students they had taught who were doing well . Mr Jones just smiled and said, "I'm so proud of all our Black children." Mrs. Jeffreys smiled and had tears in her eyes.

I hugged her and gave him a firm handshake. I am proud to have had them as teachers - and lucky.

I don't know if they were around to see President Obama get elected - but I'm sure they would be proud of that too. And they should know that people like them played a role in Obama getting to the White House.

He should know that too...  

HOW "PRISONERS" MAKES AN UNDERSTATEMENT ABOUT RACE

"Prisoners" is a top-notch "Saturday-afternoon" thriller. It will literally keep you on the edge of your seat.  The theater was so quiet during the film you could hear every popcorn crunch.

Not to spoil it,  I won't tell you anything about it, except to say that the young daughters of two close families go missing and the worse is feared. But there is also something else missing.

One family portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello,  go with their two children to a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of  friends Terrance Howard and Viola Davis. Outstanding acting all around, by the way.

In the early scenes the couples do what friends do -- the adults drink, gossip, dish, and laugh, while the children, in another room tend to their own childhood entertainment.

What's missing here is any acknowledgment at all that one couple is white and the other is black. Not one comment about race in America, or Obama. Not one corny ethnic joke or any hint of racial tension (or even awareness of race for that matter) in this small suburban Pennsylvania town. Its as if this is perfectly - well normal. 

Maybe it is. But this is the movies, and most films are either "white" or "black." And although its a lot easier to identify the "black" ones, we can also readily identify the obligatory "black" characters superimposed in white silhouette in films and TV shows.

But "Prisoners," perhaps because of its strong writing, acting and fast pace, leaves the race question at the gate shortly after the film begins. There were brief moments when I wondered if the two families would be treated differently by the various authorities, but there was not even a subtle trace of that.

That is a good thing, and maybe art is lagging behind imitating life in issues of how we "all get along."

But I am not one who believes we are "post-racial"  because President Barack Obama is - well is he black or  bi-racial?  I guess either is a sign of progress.

We as a society are not post-racial in the same sense that we say post season. Post season is a similar phrase, in that it means something very different by how one is affected by it. If your team made the playoffs that's one thing. If it did not, then you will have to wait until another season has come and gone.

Clearly - and thankfully - there are many in this society, especially those under 40, for whom racial identification will have less of an impact on their lives. That of course is mostly true of those who have adequate income and education level, a fact subtly made in "Prisoners." Although clearly not wealthy, both families own more than comfortable homes, have more than one car, and Viola Davis is a veterinarian. There is no harbinger of a plant closing or of businesses fleeing the town. All of this makes it a bit easier to seem  post-racial.

But in the world outside of the film, it is still nearly impossible to get many people's heads around the fact that those uncomfortable, buzz-killing issues over race are still front and center in the lives of many. Just try to get major league sports teams to understand that they should not use logos and names that are offensive depictions of American Indians. They cling to those characterizations like some southerners cling to the Confederate flag - symbol of a war they lost nearly 150 years ago.

And as much as they try to deny it there are elected officials in Washington willing to bring the nation and perhaps eventually even the world, to the brink of financial collapse because the President is not white.

There's nothing naive about "Prisoners" in the way it deals with child abduction and the human drama that accompanies it. Ultimately it is not naive about race either. Some people get past it. And getting past it is a big step towards getting over it.  

But for many people its wait until next season....

 

"CAR 54" WE MISS YOU! 

What We Learned (or remembered) About Race, Class, and Culture 
in New York City From "Car 54 Where Are You" 

Long before "Barney Miller" or the often depressingly somber "NYPD Blue," there was a TV comedy show about cops in a New York City police station - the fictional 53rd Precinct in the Bronx in the early 1960s.

This was when most NYPD cops were working class Joes - before frequent pay raises and dynamite pensions propelled them into the middle and upper middle classes. When they lived in the five boroughs. Patrolmen (as they were called in the days before women patrol officers) Gunther Toody  (Joe E. Ross) and Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne) lived in the Bronx borough they patrolled -- not colonials in Nassau or Rockland County. Toody lived in a walk-up with his wife. Muldoon, a bachelor, lived in a modest house with his mother who rented out spare rooms.

These were the days long before it was the Boogie down Bronx.

I just finished watching several episodes on DVD - did not remember any of them (quite young when the show debuted) although I remembered the characters vividly. But most of all I remembered the feel of New York City, where I grew up. And the cops looked like cops did then. These were the days before the silk and satin look of "Miami Vice." These guys, in their off-duty clothes could just as easily have been plumbers, construction workers or sanitation men.

In addition to being funny and well-acted, "Car 54 Where Are You?" depicted New York as it was when men carried lunch pails to work instead of attache cases. And  like the best of the well-written TV shows, you felt as if you really knew the characters - even those with smaller roles.

But most importantly, "Car 54 Where Are You?" was one of the first integrated shows on television. When I said this to a friend of mine, he said: "Well how could you have a TV show about New York cops in the 60s and not have any Black ones?"

Believe me, they did. There were more Martians and extra-terrestrials on television in the first half of the 1960s than Black people.

One of the regulars was Frederick O'Neal, Officer Wallace. A tall impressive looking Black man with even more impressive real-life credentials. The Mississippi-native had appeared in some other TV shows, and films including Anna Lucasta, a breakthrough 1958 film with a largely Black cast starring Eartha Kitt and Sammy Davis, Jr. O'Neal also founded the American Negro Theater and later - the British Negro Theater. He went on to become the first Black president of the Actors Equity Association, a position he held for many years. O'Neal grew into a major labor leader in America, along with his civil rights activism.One other major accomplishment: He ranked high on the "master list" of  President Nixon's political enemies. Bravo!

Then there was the  53rd Precinct dispatcher,  well-known to Black audiences, comedian Nipsey Russell. Russell was a familiar figure at Harlem's Apollo theater and other largely Black venues. In real-life he was a decorated World War II medic who served in Europe, rising from the rank of private to Lieutenant. Russell was also known for his uncanny ability to make up rhymes -- a talent that kept him as a regular on game shows such as "The Match Game," "Pyramid," and "Hollywood Squares."  He was also the first Black ever to host a game show - the short lived, "Missing Link."  Russell also appeared on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show," Ed Sullivan," and in the 1990s was  recurring guest on Conan O'Brien.     

There was lots of other diversity in the show. You could regularly hear names tossed about like Katz, Rodriguez, O'Brien, etc - that reflected much of New York City.

And there was Al Lewis as Leo Schnauzer, Jewish cop with a shrewish wife. He went on to become "The Munsters" Grandpa character, but more importantly to some, was his political  activism as a died-in-the-wool leftist activist. Lewis got his start in vaudeville and spent some time in Broadway shows as well. After "The Munsters" he became a  radio commentator for Pacifica radio station, WBAI-FM, in New York, which provided a platform for his political and social views. He took on many powerful politicians and interests. Lewis even ran for New York governor on the Green Party line and garnered over 52,500 votes. That was enough (by New York state law) to guarantee that the Green Party have a line on the ballot for at least four years.  

"Car 54"'s  Producer/Director was Nat Hiken. It was not Hiken's  first journey into the "integrated" realities of life outside the TV world. That  was "The Phil Silvers Show," frequently referred to as "Sgt. Bilko," after the main character. "Bilko" featured a diverse group of white ethnics - Italian, Jewish, Irish, etc. And the occasional appearance of a Black soldier, one of whom was Godfrey Cambridge, who, throughout the late 1960s through the mid 1970s became a frequent guest on TV shows such as "Jack Paar's Tonight Show, where his intellect on politics and social issues could be displayed. That intellect, by the way, had gotten him a full scholarship to study medicine. Instead he dropped out his junior year to pursue acting. Cambridge was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award for "Purlie Victorious," and appeared in films such as the controversial  "Watermelon Man" (where he portrays a white man who colors himself black)  and "Cotton Comes to Harlem."

With all this "reality" TV going around, "Car 54 Where Are You" reminds us what is really possible when you put true talent in front of and behind the camera.

ANOTHER "FINGER-CROSSING MOMENT" FOR BLACK PEOPLE

It has happened again.

Twice.

Every Black person of a certain age (perhaps, sadly, most any age) has had these moments. You hear of a heinous crime on TV, radio, online. And as you gasp from the ghastly details, you cross your fingers and say "God, I hope whoever did this wasn't Black."

Because you know - that no matter what your station in life, your pay grade or education - the ones who perpetrated this action will affect you. Strangers will look at your differently, act differently - maybe even with hostility. Some who know you might also. A co-worker may ask - no demand -- to know why "Black people do such things and why unless a white person kills a Black person you don't get upset. And what about all the white people who get robbed, raped and killed by Black people?"

The biggest problem is that you feel that somehow you are responsible. It is hard not to. That this was one of our own. That you live your life going through the motions, consciously or unconsciously, to make the case for your race, to prove that Black people are competent, smart, well-deserving people who are victims of slavery and decades of horrendous slavery and racism.

And here they come to mess things up. For the race. For you.

It had been a while for me to have such feelings, they do occur with less frequency. But then the jogger got shot in his back by a bunch of joyriding thugs.

At first I thought "God that's awful - but Oklahoma? Hmm not too many Blacks there. it wasn't Oklahoma City, right? But then came the faces of James Francis Edwards, Jr., Michael DeWayne Jones and Chauncey Allen Luna in all too familiar orange clothes and mug shots.

Chris Lane was 22-years old and from Australia. He came here to play college baseball and I'm sure with hopes for more. Some day I might have seen in Yankee Stadium. His life, his dreams are worth remembering, as are those with less "credentials" who lose their lives in senseless street violence that doesn't make the papers. Chris was out jogging, as I do most mornings, when the bullets struck him in the back. The stomach churning reason one of the three youths gave was: "We were bored, so we decided to kill somebody..."

Before one could even stop shaking one's head, another "fingers crossed moment" came today.

An 88 year-old World War II veteran was robbed and beaten to death in Washington state. Delbert Belton had survived bullet wounds on Okinawa -- one of the fiercest battles in the war -- to die like this. We lose World War II veterans at the rate of almost 100 a day. They are all almost gone, the generation  that truly saved the world and built this nation. They are generation of many of our parents. Just imagine your parents. His son said that his dad was "the victim of senseless violence" and blamed the city of Spokane for this tragedy. Again, once the horror of this began to subside, when I first heard Washington state I thought "not a lot of Black people there either." And once again the knot in the stomach, and shame, and the anger and frustration.

And don't you know FOX News was all over this one. They have taken considerable heat from many with their coverage of the the Trayvon Martin murder, the protest movement it has created and the Zimmerman trial and verdict. So on the local FOX TV station in Spokane, you can watch the video of the suspects while reading the scroll at the bottom of the screen which says:
White World War Two Veteran Robbed, Killed By Black Suspects."

Great. Now they get even for the way poor old, good citizen, Mr. Zimmerman has been treated. Mr. Zimmerman of the "community watch,"  according to news accounts, has just bought himself a brand new shotgun. This model weighs in at less than 7 pounds, 26 inches long. And the description reads "it holds an impressive 12 rounds..."

This is not your Grandpa's shotgun.

When my parents moved back to North Carolina after they retired, my dad (who grew up in rural North Carolina and was a military police officer in the US Navy during World War II) bought a shotgun for home protection. He kept it unloaded in the closet. It fired one bullet at a time. But then that was dad.

Many will think these feelings are foolish, unnecessary outdated. "Why would someone like you think  that what these common street thugs affect how people see you?"

If you don't know the answer, then you have never been worried about being "stopped and frisked" or had to wonder if the state trooper's gun is going to go off as you reach for your driver's license.Or had "the talk" with your sons about how to act when approached by the police. (Maybe we should extend that "talk" to include community watch folks too?")

I thought more about this today while watching some coverage of the events leading up to tomorrow's March on Washington which is part commemoration and part rejuvenation of  a movement.

In a different time years ago, it was not usual for a Black police officer to see a group of youths committing a crime - even a minor one like talking loud at night, or graffiti, or other such behavior, and say to them: "you making it hard for Dr. King. He's down there fighting for your rights and you messing up here making us look bad." Sometimes this was followed by a smack or kick in the butt.

Yes it these incidents are still tragic regardless of who commits them or who the victim is. And without a doubt Black-to-Black crime carries its own set of  pain and frustration.

And I often wonder if those "fingers crossing moments" will ever go away. Hopefully they will continue to lessen. Or perhaps those moments are a good thing. A thing that makes me remember to not forget that there are still plenty of struggles left in this post-racial society.
   

OLIVIA POPE IS NO "SCANDAL" - BUT "CHEERIOS" IS TOUGH TO SWALLOW

It has come to this in our "post-racial" society: a fuselage of unspeakably cruel comments about an adorable child doing one of the most adorable things in a commercial in recent television history.

She has the cute type of face and  the heart-tugging voice that have appeared in ads since TV began - albeit more often than not those faces were adorned with big blond locks or big blue eyes.

If you haven't heard about it, or seen it, there was one "problem" with the commercial --  the child was  bi-racial. Her mother was as much a "White" TV mom as June Cleaver. 

Opening scene: Seated at a standard, American, suburban, kitchen table, is the white mother. Enter the "bi-racial" adorable child clutching a box of Cheerios in her tiny hands. She sits it on the table and says "Cheerios are good for your heart, right?" The mother responds that they are made from "whole grain oats and that helps lower cholesterol and that is heart healthy."

Scene II: So what does the child do? Grabs the box and rushes over to her dad sleeping on a couch (like many dads in American TV history). 

The Conclusion: We see dad wake up to discover that his chest is covered with Cheerios!

Cute, huh? Even funny!   

Oh - did I say there was "one problem"? Sorry there was another  -- the father was BLACK!

And not an Obama-esque "blend" -- this was clearly a BLACK man who had obviously slept with a WHITE woman to produce this adorable "bi-racial" child.     

Well that set off a furor on YouTube when Cheerios producer, General Mills, posted the video. The vile language and  mean comments posted were as angry as if General Mills wanted to bring  back "busing."      

General Mills, seeing these comments did not back down and pull the ad, as I'm certain many would have wished. To their credit it closed down the "Comments" section of the YouTube video, allowing those interested to watch it without the offensive language (something I wish more companies would do given the mean, stupid things often displayed). 

Why this outburst of rage and outrage in post-racial America? 

It is the male in the relationship who is Black. Don't think that makes a difference?  White males are touted in this society and culture as being (and I hate using this word!) the "dominant" creature beyond all others. I realize there are white men  out there cursing because they make a living picking up trash, repairing plumbing, building things, working in dirty sewers, etc.

I get that.

But believe me, even though you're not Donald Trump or Mitt Romney, you still got a slice of the white privilege pie (just not as big a piece as Trump or Mitt).

Still doubt me? You look at virtually every TV show or movie with an "interracial" couple and nearly 100% of the time the male in the relationship is WHITE.  The woman is Black or  some other  woman of color. The TV soaps have been full of such couples for decades. Yes, the white male can freely choose to take a woman of color off the vine -- the "exotic" Asian, the "hot" Latina, and of course the Native American "princess," to name a few.  

Then there is the matter of Miss Olivia Pope, shero of a show I love, ABC-TV's "Scandal." 

"Scandal" has captured the hearts of Black women (especially Baby Boomer ones who came of age in the "Right-on" generation of the 60s and 70s). I have not seen this much passion for a TV show since Alex Haley's blockbuster,"Roots," aired in 1978.    

And why shouldn't it stir such passions?  The lead is a beautiful, elegant, smart, tough, professional, BLACK woman (played flawlessly by Kerry Washington) who can take charge of any situation.

Except that her love interest happens to be married - a married WHITE man who happens to also be President of the United States. And -- as they say in the "Hair Club for Men" commercials - "is also a client." In this case for Olivia's high-end Public Relations and "Reputation Salvation" firm. It seems the only time Olivia Pope loses it is when  (usually after telling him she'll never see him again!)  she finds herself in ferocious lip-locking, clothes ripping, down on the floor, couch, any place they happen to be (White House, woods -- you get the picture) sexual intercourse.

All this makes for great television!

But I find it curious there's such a lack of  outrage - or even outcry -- about this "affair." Not only from those bigoted types who would even go ballistic over the "bi-racial" toddler ad -- but barely a peep out of the "Sisters." Black women are overwhelmingly cheering it on. And I say - why not? It's good television!

But take a moment and flip the script on this.

Let's make the main character OLIVER Pope, a BLACK man. And the President a WHITE woman who he has insatiable lust for against all odds. Hmm who should we cast? Don Cheadle might be a good one. Laurence Fishbourne?  I know Idris Elba - today's heart throb.

And the woman President? Hmm Jennifer Aniston? Anne Hathaway perhaps? Angelina Jolie? 

Well I'm sure there are lots of them. 

(I'll pause for the gnashing of teeth to subside)

How would the show fare in the ratings? Would the demographics of the fan base change?  

The latter is certainly true - the real fear and loathing of mixed race relationships in this society remains the Black male and white female. It is an almost primal leftover from the days of slavery and segregation. Is it as bad as it once was? Of course not -- even though there were (and perhaps still are) some states that still had laws banning inter-racial marriages until recent years. But we also have a Black Supreme Court Justice with a White wife. And we have other high profile Black men who have open relationships with White women (Tiger & Lindsay, Kanye & Kim), etc. Although it is still doubtful that June Cleaver's husband would be Eldrige, even today.             

But really should we care? Not to my way of thinking. Societal attitudes and "norms" are full of contradictions. Race in this admittedly increasingly "post-racial" society is  still complicated. Perhaps the most complicated cultural construct that we have to deal with. 

I'm not one who is convinced that President Obama made the nation more post-racial. He is indeed a by-product of attitudes shifting in that direction. Concepts and definitions of race and racial identity are always evolving. Often if you ask people 30 and under (who I would have previously identified as "Black" in my own head) how they self-identify, often they will answer with a nationality, a religion, a sexual orientation or as "bi-racial."  They don't feel the need to be categorized by a previous generation's notion of "Black."

Some will say that is clearly progress -- others will see it as a dangerous avoidance with being culturally identified with the Black race - at least as they interpret it. 

Anger will still be fueled in many who want to define a loving relationship in their own narrow terms and spew hate at those who are dating, mating and/or marrying outside of their race.

But a child? Come on!  

It's a commercial - it's a child.

Donald Singletary