An Escaped Christmas Tree

During a predawn run, another runner greeted me, “You look like an escaped Christmas Tree!” 

It was true. Thanks to my “Noxgear Tracer360”  multicolored, illuminated vest and headlamp, I was lit up like a Christmas tree!

December is chock full of holidays that are associated with light. Here are just a few:

Dec. 8: Rohatsu (Bodhi Day) — Buddhist

This holiday celebrates the historical Buddha’s decision and vow to sit under the Bodhi tree until he reached spiritual enlightenment.

Dec. 10 to 18: Hanukkah — Judaism

This is the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, which celebrates the Maccabean revolt in Egypt. Eight candles are lit with a menorah to honor the holiday.

Dec. 21: Solstice/Yule — Wicca/Pagan

Yule, otherwise known as the Winter Solstice, marks the longest night of the year. Since the night hours will only get shorter after that point, it is the symbolic end of the cold and dark winter and the return of light.

Dec. 25: Christmas — Christian

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s when Christians celebrate God’s love for the world through the birth of the Christ child: Jesus, the Light of the World.

Dec. 26 – Jan. 1: Kwanzaa – African American and Pan-African

Created by Maulana Karenga, Kwanzza is based on African harvest festival traditions. Each day of the celebration is dedicated to one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa and families come together each day to light a candle in honor of that day’s principle. 

Neptune Beach, Florida Town Center

Throughout December, I really enjoy all the festive, creative lighting – homes decorated with colored lights, inflatable characters and our local Deck the Chairs displays.

A fellow volunteer and I were talking about our love of Christmas lights when she said, “It upsets me when people say, ‘Happy Holidays.’ I always correct them by saying, “It's Merry Christmas.” Another volunteer chimed in, “I do, too. I know they don’t want us to say it, but I do.”

Lighten up!   Christmas is a federal holiday, the only federal holiday that honors a specific religion - Christianity. No one, except yourself, is stopping you from saying “Merry Christmas,” just like no one stops you from saying, “Happy Fourth of July” or “Thank you for your service” on Veterans' Day. Congress made Christmas a federal holiday. “They” will not prohibit you from saying. “Merry Christmas!”

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech...”The First Amendment is not meant to promote one religion over any other, everyone in the United States has the right to practice their own religion, or no religion at all. Everyone in the United States also has the right to observe their own holidays and say the holiday greeting of their choice.

So why be upset if someone, usually a store clerk, says, “Happy Holidays?” Why insist that everyone use your preferred, December greeting? My preferred December greeting is “Merry Christmas,” but if someone greets me first with another December holiday greeting like, “Happy Holidays!” I respond, “Happy Holidays to you, too!” 

Lighten up! Perhaps that person who says, “Happy Holidays!” is simply acknowledging the fact that Christmas isn’t the only December holiday and wants you to enjoy your holiday, whatever it may be.

How did I respond to the runner's greeting - “You look like an escaped Christmas Tree!”?

Simple, I borrowed a line from Clark Griswold, “I hope this adds to your enjoyment of the holidays.”

The runner laughed and called over his shoulder, “Namaste!”

Perfect!

 

 

Running into the Past

 

I grew up in Moline, Illinois which was “The Farm Implement Capital of the Word.” John Deere has its headquarters and factories in my hometown. Living in “The Land of Lincoln” meant learning about our famous President and the Civil War. I think I was in the fourth grade when I first learned our country had slaves. Up until that time, I thought our country was perfect. “Why did our country have slaves?” I asked my teacher.

She replied, “Well, people were different back then.” Which did not answer my question, “WHY?” Our class had learned earlier that our nation was founded for “freedom” and “liberty.” We learned about the Declaration of Independence - “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...” My fourth-grade brain couldn’t understand why those words did not apply to slaves.

I didn’t ask the question again. I sensed that the teacher was not interested in, nor comfortable with, my question. Yet, as a child, I wanted to understand why some people were enslaved and treated horribly while others were not. Once I asked my mother why the Nazis murdered millions of people. Her response, “Because they were Jews.” So I asked, “Why Jews and not Lutherans?” Her exasperated response, “Just because. Now stop asking questions!”

I am sure I was, and still am, a “pest” asking questions no one wants to answer. I eventually learned not to ask them … out loud. I often heard, and still hear, the phrase,“It’s in the past. Who cares? Move on.” Today I would have been called a “woke” child.

By the time I was in high school, I was wide awake. I graduated with 8 semesters of “social studies.” My favorite classes were “American Problems” and “Four Societies” – a study of American; Chinese (communist); South African (apartheid); and Indian (caste) societies. Often our class discussions became intense and uncomfortable. Thankfully, my teachers encouraged civility, inquiry, and would often challenge us with a simple question, “How do you know that?” These classes (plus home ec, driver’s ed and civics), had a positive impact upon my life. I am thankful for my public school education.

Now, as an amateur genealogist, I explore “social studies” through family histories. I have come across many facts from a family’s past that make people uncomfortable. An ancestor who was a convicted criminal; parents or grandparents who “had to” get married; or ancestors who abandoned their families – all evidence of human flaws and mistakes. Throughout history people have been making these types of individual choices regardless of the world events around them.

Often awareness of a “wayward” ancestor leads to a desire to exclude that ancestor from your family tree; deny you are related; or simply minimize your ancestor’s choices by saying, “Well, people were different back then.” Basically you want to run away from the past because you are fearful of what it might say about who you are now.

Recently my husband asked me to research his genealogy. A relative had told him that their ancestors owned slaves. To be sure, many Americans still do not like to confront slavery, - “Well, people were different back then.” or “It’s in the past. Who cares? Move on.” - Those are responses of people who want to run away from history. The fact is slavery was a societal institution, enshrined in the pre-Civil War Constitution, and, even after the 13^th. 14^th. And 15^th. Amendments were added to our Constitution, still has societal consequences today (example: Black Lives Matter). To his credit, my husband wanted to run toward history instead of away from it.

His ancestors did own slaves. They are considered “First Settlers of Virginia” and had head rights to vast tracts of land. Who was going to work that land? English settlers?

English immigration did not meet the demands of working the large tracts of land in the Virginia colony and indenture contracts were not popular with English immigrants. Slavery then became the dominant mode of operation for Virginia planters and, eventually, the backbone of the colonial economy.

First, they enslaved Native Americans.

 By 1649, the enslavement of Native Americans in Colonial English households and the stealing of Native American children for the slave market was a common means to obtain a cheap supply of labor. A 1670 statue specified that slaves taken into Virginia by ship (meaning Africans) would be slaves for life while people taken into slavery on the land (meaning Native Americans) would be slaves for a set number of years – adults for 12 years and children until 30 years of age.

I also researched his ancestors’ wills. They inherited other people as property. Unborn children were enslaved before birth, and upon their birth they were taken away from their mothers to become the property of another person. This is not “critical race theory,” this is history!

The last slaves owned by Peter, my husband’s ancestor, were recorded on the 1820 United States Census. Peter owned two slaves, a woman and a young girl, while living in Chesterfield, Virginia. By the 1830 Census, he was no longer a slave owner. Peter could have sold his slaves; allowed the woman to hire herself out to earn the money necessary to purchase their freedom through manumission; or he could have emancipated them. Unfortunately, I was unable to determine what happened to the woman and young girl he enslaved.

If learning about the history of slavery makes you feel uncomfortable, good. My first mile of a run feels like crap, but I keep going. Sure, I could avoid running altogether so I won’t ever “feel bad.” Or I could deny or minimize the fact that running sometimes feels uncomfortable. However, the benefits of running far exceed the occasional, uncomfortable feelings. Likewise learning about the past may feel uncomfortable at first, but the benefits of an educated citizenry far exceed the "comfort" of ignorance.

Running away from the past involves fear. There is no direction, you just want to get “away.” You are motivated by an emotional need to avoid, deny, or minimize. While you can run away from danger, you can’t escape the past. My husband’s ancestors, and maybe even yours, enslaved people. On the other hand, my ancestors, and maybe even yours, did NOT enslave people. Either way, regardless of whether or not your ancestors were involved in slavery, our whole country was and still is involved!

Running into the past involves courage. It is directional - into history. You are motivated by an intellectual need to gain knowledge and understanding. You want to discover information and explore the ramifications of our ancestor’s choices. You want to learn!

Take a step back into the past, learn about our history … all of it, “good” and “bad!” The mistakes and human failings of the past are still relevant today. They educate and motivate us to fully realize these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

 

"Nothing to do with me"

Journal Entry - August 13, 2017, (the day after the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia)

I was enjoying a quiet, Sunday morning run. Traffic was almost nonexistent when I noticed a young woman across the street ahead of me. She was standing in a driveway holding a sign that read: “Stop the Hate!”
Suddenly, an older woman ran out of a house, grabbed her sign, and yelled, “Get in there and get ready for church. We have nothing to do with that!” 

I was immediately reminded of an exchange my mom and I had several years ago…

She was visiting our home in Leesburg, Virginia and we made the short trip to Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia. A National Park Ranger there presented an engaging and informative program about John’s Brown’s 1859 raid. The Ranger explained how it was a pivotal event leading up to the Civil War.

As we walked out of the program, I commented to my mom, “That Ranger was great! He really knows how to breath life into history.”

My mom responded, “That’s not my history, I have nothing to do with it.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well,” she answered, “my family didn’t come to this country until after the Civil War and slavery. It has nothing to do with me because we weren’t here.”

“Our family wasn’t here for the War of Independence.” I said, “So does that mean the we have nothing to do with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights? Citizenship isn’t a smorgasbord where we pick and choose only the parts we like and ignore the rest. As American citizens, all of our history – successes and failures - and every current event – positive or negative- has something to do with us.”

My mom paused, then groaned and said, “You are such a smarty pants!” 

2020: As I reread that journal entry, I was not surprised at my mom’s thinking. I know many people who think the same way: “... white, American retirees with the normal white American views about slavery: it was a long time ago, you can’t change the past, let’s not talk about it, let’s not think about it, don’t you dare make us feel bad about it.” (1)

Most discussions I have had with my peers about slavery, Jim Crow laws, or Black Lives Matter marches inevitably lead to stories of how hard is was for their immigrant ancestors and include comments like: “they just want handouts”- “civil rights are unfair to white people” – “stop playing the race card” – “Black Lives Matter is too political” – “they just need to forget the past, and get a job” - “it has nothing to do with me.”

So what does this “have to do with” running? Like many white runners, the sense of peace I feel when running reflects my racial privilege. I run when and where I please, I wear whatever clothing I want and no one bothers me. Most people greet me verbally and, if not, they wave and smile.

Contrast my experience with African-American runners’ routines, intended to deflect the sort of suspicions that turned deadly for Ahmaud Arbery:

• steering clear of “white” neighborhoods,
• going out only in daylight,
• wearing an Ivy League T-shirt to broadcast respectability (2)

“Running is still a white privilege. Just being able to walk outside your door and go for a run is a luxury. Being able to run with both of your earbuds in...is a luxury. We encourage all of our runners to be aware of their surroundings and to be able to hear everything around them. Being a black runner in this climate, we are even more on alert.” - Tenia Fisher (3)

I have been running for decades and I have never:

• had someone call the police on me because I was running – simply running!
• had a police officer stop me during a run to question me about why I am running
• been passed by the same police car three times in three miles
• been followed by a police car during my run (4)

The American Civil Liberties Union has since taken on cases like these, instances of what many runners across the country have become familiar with as “running while black.” (5)

Running is a normal, everyday activity. But before a black runner has even taken one step he is labeled “suspicious” and marginalized. Imagine what the rest of his day – his life – is like! When a black runner heads out for a run, he is not asking for a “handout,” and he is not " playing the race card.” He is simply running, just like me.

“Running while black” is just a snippet of the wider discrimination that still exists because we insist our country’s history of racial discrimination “has nothing to do with us.”

I wonder how our history might have been different had “we the people” identified personally with the plight of slaves and acknowledged their inhumane treatment.

What would have happened if “we the people” had spoken up when freed slaves - American citizens - were denied jobs, restricted to red-lined neighborhoods, sent to sub-standard schools, required to pay to vote and were brutally lynched?

We may not have made our history but it made us. And, unfortunately, our country at large is still deeply wounded and deformed by slavery and racial discrimination, and no healing or progress will occur unless this vital truth is recognized. 

So what might our future be if “we the people” acknowledge our history of racism and understand its ongoing impacts – like “running while black”?

We remember and reflect on the past for a reason, for a purpose. We want to ensure that what happened and is happening to the victims of racial discrimination doesn’t happen to anyone else in the future. Treating one another with humanity and respect and "has everything to do with us.”

That young woman protesting in her driveway 3 years ago was not silent. Very few people saw her on that Sunday morning – but I did! She was bold enough to speak up where she was. I hope she is still speaking up wherever she is now.

And, contrary to what my mom said, I was not then nor am I now a “smarty pants.” I am merely a human being, speaking up where I am - still trying to break my silence by:

• acknowledging that racial discrimination exists
• striving to treat people the way I want to be treated
• listening to people’s experiences and not dismissing or ignoring them
• taking time to read and research
• and admitting that our shared history – our humanity -“has everything to do with me.”
  

As a retired librarian, I would be remiss if I didn’t include some suggested resources. Here is a video and five books I found beneficial as I continue my journey towards understanding our history of racism and its ongoing impacts:

VIDEO: How Running's White Origins Led To The Dangers Of 'Running While Black' (8 minutes)
 

BOOKS:
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Heavily researched and well written -either you will love or hate this book but, either way, hopefully it will get you thinking! If you only want to read one book, read this-but be prepared for a desire to learn more!

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Explains how a lot of the racial segregation taking place in our neighborhoods actually happened as the result of very specific and very racist policy choices, going back at least to the F.D.R. Administration

Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil by Susan Neiman
The book begins with this sentence, ‘I began life as a white girl in the segregated South, and I’m likely to end it as a Jewish woman in Berlin.’ After a life time of experience and five years of research, the author invites us to think more deeply about who suffered the real harms, then and now, and what practical steps we can take to begin working off the past and addressing the unanswered questions of justice.

Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America by Cameron McWhirter
After World War I, black soldiers believed their participation in the fight to make the world safe for democracy finally earned them rights they had been promised since the close of the Civil War. Instead, an unprecedented wave of anti-black riots and lynchings swept the country for eight months - across the South into the North and the Midwest, even to the nation's capital. This book explores the first stirrings of the civil rights movement that would transform American society forty years later.

White too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones
Combines painstaking data analysis, history, theology, sociology and memoir into a rigorous look at the ways white supremacists have regularly distorted and manipulated a faith dedicated to love and justice to rationalize racism. It challenges people of faith to chart a new path forward. 

 

End notes:

1. Grant, Richard. The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi. Simon & Schuster, 2020.

2.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/opinion/running-jogging-race-ahmaud-arbery.html

3.  https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a34044395/milwaukee-running-segregated/

4.  https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a32678089/black-indigenous-people-of-color-runners-experiences/

5.  https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a34759281/pioneer-run-crew-sidney-baptista-normalize-running-in-the-black-community/

Still running with Maud ...

This could be a street in my neighborhood.
Memorial for Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia.

"Always remember, they didn't make arrests because they saw the tape; They made arrests because we saw the tape." – Keith Lowell Jensen

February 23, 2020, Brunswick, Georgia: Ahmaud Arbery - a young, black man went out for a run. But he never came home. He was shot in the street by two white men, who thought he fit the description of a man who committed a recent crime. They armed themselves, followed him, then shot, and killed an innocent man.

In America, we have the right to move freely. I have run, solo, without fear for decades - I take this freedom of movement for granted. But African-American runners don’t get to take freedom of movement for granted. An “easy 3 miler” can become life-threatening when you are automatically perceived as “suspicious.” The killing of innocent people by private citizens usurping the role of law enforcement —is not going to stop by chance. 

Make the acknowledgement of ongoing injustice a part of your reality, not just a sad story to be forgotten. Run with Maud everyday.

Walking & Democracy

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person:

Walkable (and “runnable”) neighborhoods have long been prized among urban designers and residents. Walkability is linked to benefits including higher property values, less crime and better health among residents. For example, one recent study found that older adults living in easy-to-walk communities not only had better physical health, but also higher cognitive functions. 

According to sociologist Robert A. Bullard, “The health benefits of walking are so overwhelming that to deny access to that is a violation of fundamental human rights. All communities should have a right to a safe, sustainable, healthy, just, walkable community.”

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association:

Another study found that walkable neighborhoods are associated with higher levels of civic engagement. "The exercise of democracy begins as exercise, as walking around, becoming familiar with the streets, comfortable with strangers, able to imagine your own body as powerful and expressive rather than a pawn. People who are at home in their civic space preserve the power to protest and revolt, whereas those who have been sequestered into private space do not.” 

Walkability is a sign of a strong democracy and is essential to the basic human right to freely assemble in public spaces. Dictators know that democracy must be exercised, regularly and on foot. So they restrict or eliminate public spaces, forbid public gatherings, and use force to break up protest walks.

Increasingly “democratic” governments are fencing off public spaces and placing barricades on public walkways which effectively force citizens out of civic areas. This retreat deprives us of the opportunity to see fellow citizens, converse with them and, perhaps, discover common concerns. Being able to walk in accessible, public spaces is a key way to uphold democratic rule, fair and free elections, cooperative conduct, and individual and minority rights.

The Exercise of Democracy:
Democracy is fragile and therefore needs to be reinvented every day in small acts as well as huge movements. Even when there are no “big issues” to galvanize action, walking itself can be a powerful way for people to commit to civic conduct as they move through their community and engage with others on public walkways. Walking provides a series of difficult and delightful experiences that invite you to think, feel, and be alive to possibility. People are noticing you and you are noticing them. You feel healthier; you are contributing to the microclimate of your community and encountering new opportunities for participation in democratic action.

Democratic life is about learning how to respectfully challenge oneself and others to improve the common good by balancing individual and collective interests. The first step - walk in your community. Walking literally puts you in touch with public spaces and community members. If you find that your community is not walkable, perhaps this is your opportunity to engage in microdemocracy. The exercise of democracy begins with one step.