Posted on 07/05/2009 9:49:41 AM PDT by Lloyd Marcus
Some people are screwed up. Broken. They choose to hate and nothing will change their minds. I believe most people are basically good. Given an opportunity, they work things out. Here is an example.
In 1956, my dad, Dr. Rev. Lloyd Marcus Sr, was one of the first blacks to break the color barrier into the Baltimore City Fire Department at Engine 6. Unlike the white firefighters, dad did not have free reign of the fire house. A bunk, toilet, sink and single set of eating utensils were marked “reserved” for him. Even the general coffee pot was off limits. White firefighters voted on which TV program to watch. Dad was excluded.
They refused to speak to dad, except to criticize or chastise him for a rookie mistake. His pleasant “Good Morning” and “Good Evening” were met with cold stares and silence. Sometimes their disdain got to dad. Feeling obligated as a representative of Christ, he stayed pleasant.
Dad was a young assistant pastor at a storefront church. Optimistic by nature, he found a blessing in the white fire fighter's rejection. Dad said it caused him to spent a lot of time praying and studying his Bible in the back storage room which they sarcastically called, “the pastor's office”.
Dad could not find the spoon marked “reserved” to stir his cup of instant coffee. He put another spoon in his cup and went to get milk. Upon his return, Herman, a white firefighter had the spoon in his hand. “This is one of our spoons. You keep your filthy hands off of it!” Herman threw the spoon into the sink, turned and walked away. Dad said he took his Bible to the back storage room and prayed, “Lord, give him to me”.
Herman and Dad had another run in. Like the whites, dad propped his foot on a wooden chair while shining his shoes. Herman ordered dad to get his foot off of the chair. Dad said he was not harming the chair. Herman said, “If you don't get your foot off of that chair, I'm going to punch you in your black nose!”
THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW! Despite knowing he could be terminated and that he had five kids and a wife to feed, testosterone won over reason. Dad challenged Herman to “duke it out” outside after their shift. The shift officer caught wind of their scheduled duel and ordered dad to go home IMMEDIATELY after his shift.
Two years passed. A new white firefighter came up stairs to dad's bunk and invited him to join them for a cup of coffee. Dad accepted. Though hearing grumbling, dad drank his first cup of coffee from the general coffee pot.
Dad stayed committed to excellence in his work and remaining pleasant.
About four years into dad's career, Engine 6 responded to a fire in a two story building. The shift officer ordered his men out of the blinding smoke filled inferno. A firefighter named John asked, “Where's Marcus?” John immediately ran back up the ladder into the deadly smoke and flames. Herman, who once threatened to punch dad in his black nose, was right on John's heels.
Dad's mask had malfunctioned. He became overcome by smoke and disoriented. A thought came to him, “Everyone has to go sometime. You're going to die by fire.” Dad instantly said, “Jesus! Jesus!” Then, the floor turned upside down as he passed out. Dad awoke to someone calling his name, “Marcus!” “Marcus!” “Marcus!” Dad yelled, “Over here!” John saw the light from dad's flashlight. John crawled towards the light. He dragged dad to the window where he and Herman carried him down the ladder. Dad said he remembers Herman's comforting voice, “Hang in there Marcus. You're okay. We got you...we got you!”
The hospital staff had to open windows because the smoke in dad's clothes and skin burned their eyes. Miraculously, dad was not burned and made a full recovery. Dad went on to win Firefighter of the Year two times.
Herman, John and dad became great friends. John was a licensed plumber on the side. On one occasion when our pipes froze, John repaired them in freezing weather in the crawl space under our home for free. Dad, now 80, was honored to speak at both Herman and John's funerals.
What changed the hearts of these white men causing them to risk their lives to save the life of a black man? I do not know. However, I suspect it had something to do with dad's character. We all hear the generalizations, “White people are this! Black people are that!” While in reality, people are individuals.
Herman, John and my dad were three decent men with various up bringing and beliefs who found common ground and friendship. God did answer dad's prayer. He gave dad Herman and threw in John for good measure.
Lloyd Marcus, Singer/Songwriter of the “American Tea Party Anthem”
President, NAACPC (National Association for the Advancement of Conservative People of Color)
http://www.LloydMarcus.com
Walter E. Williams and Justice Thomas are my biggest heros, but not because of their uncle Tom-like views on race. Both are brilliant and accomplished.
This is a thread that was pulled on Free Republic due to Language.
http://martynemko.blogspot.com/2009/06/white-teacher-speaks-out-what-is-it.html
It nicely addresses Racism today.
Nice article.
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Thank you for your touching story. It brought tears to my eyes. It sounds as though your father is a real blessing to you and those around him.
I was raised from a young kid, to judge people on their actions, not by the color of their skin.
It has always baffled me, how folks could conduct themselves any other way on issues of race.
I’m glad your dad came through this okay.
Our own government needs to stop victimizing minorities and make let them succeed on an individual level.
Our own government needs to stop discriminating against white people and causing minorities to hate them.
White people of today cannot change what happened in the past nor should they have to pay for those sins. We need to start at square one and accept people at face value.
Lloyd,
Great post! I met you and your wife Mary yesterday at the tea party in Longwood!!
Watch this video when you get a chance of how and who REALLY formed our great country. I think you’ll really enjoy it.
http://www.intouch.org/site/c.cnKBIPNuEoG/b.4945473/k.BE35/Home.htm
Fascinating article and even more fascinating comments. Even if we assume some hyperbole on the part of the teacher (Mr. Jackson), his reports say a lot about the failure of American education.
It certainly explains while upwardly mobile Blacks (regardless of their current living standard) in Chicago move to the suburbs and/or send their kids to Catholic schools.
Great story.
Only thing I’d change—and it’s not a criticism, just a suggestion, is is that the title might read: “Seeing people as people,” instead of as individuals. Because although we’re all individuals, we’re also all fundamentally parts of family, friends, and community.
Part of this story is that the firefighters had a close-knit community, but for racial reasons that were inbred at that time the newcomer wasn’t allowed to be part of it. Then, after showing what he was, a good man and basically one of them, he became a part of it.
Aristotle says that man is a thinking animal. He also says that man is a social animal, because we are part of a family, community, and polis, or city-state. So we’re individuals, but not just individuals.
Libertarianism or individualism tends to think only in terms of self, which risks becoming self-centered, but I don’t think Christianity does.
A Cure for Racism in America: don’t talk about it,don’t know who said it but it sounds right.
Your father sounds like a fine man. Thank you for the excellent article. If you don’t already write about him on Fathers’ Day, maybe you could. I expect you have more to share about his character, faith, and insights.
I recall a conversation I had years ago with a receiver at a home improvement center where I was delivering freight. It was nearly a trailer load with a variety of shipments, so I was there helping unload and check in the cargo for a good part of the day. In the course of such deliveries, many a conversation would ensue.
The man who I was working with was black. And he was a big guy. At one point during the job, he mentioned something about whites being prejudiced. I took the opportunity to point out that a white racist was much more likely to make disparaging remarks to a fellow white such as myself than to a big black guy who might kick his ass. And despite this fact, the number of anti-black comments I hear are almost zero.
Now granted, the people whom I choose as friends are generally those who share my conservative, Christian worldview, and are therefore less likely than the average person to harbor prejudices strong enough to effect their words or actions. But I have a lot of relatives and come in contact with many people from all walks of life and with all sorts of different personal histories. And yet, it is quite rare to hear anyone anywhere talk about black people. At all.
Which brings me to this fact which must be stated: White people don’t care about black people. We don’t. We don’t care about white people, so why should we care about black people?
Does that mean that we don’t care about people at all, white or black? No. It means that we don’t give a rat’s ass what a man’s color is. And we’re not interested in having a conversation about race. Period.
Most white people get up in the morning, eat breakfast, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat dinner, interact with their families, and go to bed. We don’t go around thinking about race, and we don’t intend to.
If that fact hurts some folks’ feelings, that’s too bad, because it’s just the way it is.
Hi there, Mary here. Lloyd’s wife.
Thank you for your comment. Just want to let you know,
Lloyd did write about his dad on Father’s Day. You can find it on his website. Here is the link.
http://www.lloydmarcus.com/?p=347
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