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Mr. G?s voice quivered as he began to talk. He said: ?much of the hatred between whites and blacks had been with us since the days of slavery. In reality though it was much deeper than that. In all of recorded history there had been slavery and there had also been good and bad people.?
?In the early days slavery came from one nation conquering another and making their people slaves. This could easily be seen from study of the Bible. Even some people who first settled America had been slaves. As far as he knew though the black slave trade was the first to come from greed and was instituted for economic reasons.?
?In many countries children are owned by their parents and the young girls are sold into marriage. This custom far exceeds any kind of slavery in the world and no one has the right to own another person.?
He then pointed out that even though there might not be outright ownership, in a way we are all slaves to our environment. True freedom can only be achieved through economic independence. He talked on and on for hours. What surprised me most was he began to discuss teachings from the Bible. He had listened quite often when Aunt Minnie would read to us but we had never considered him to be that religious.
He specifically addressed two passages. The first was ?The meek shall inherit the earth.? He said you must not sit idly by and wait for this to happen. The other was the golden rule. He said it must be your guiding light throughout your entire life. His sincerity in his beliefs meant more to me than the wisdom of his talk.
THE GOOD TIMES
Time seemed to fly by and it wasn?t long before school was out. I would miss it and also miss the many friends I had come to know. We settled into the same summer routine as usual until one Sunday, right in the middle of harvest. Mr. G. came to uncle Willie and said we were not going to the fields the next week. We were all very puzzled because no one ever took off during the harvest.
For the next couple of days we worked on the house, first replacing all the loose boards, fixing up the windows, and cleaning the house like never before. Then on Thursday we began painting the house. It took two coats but when we were finished it looked like brand new.
Then on Saturday it all became very clear. Mr. G. called everybody together just before we started to the store for our usual trip. He said, ?I am getting married tomorrow.? Everyone was stunned but no one said a word. That night Uncle Willie made just one comment: ?Things are going to be different now.? How right he was.
Sunday afternoon Mr. G. came riding up in the buckboard and you could see he was not alone.
He called everyone together after helping his bride out. ?This is Mrs. G.? he said, ?but you may call her Mrs. Mary Beth.? Then he carried her up the steps and into the house. It struck me she was the most beautiful woman in the world. I also remember that somehow she looked frail.
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