For some time now, I have been planning to start an online discussion group, maybe on Facebook, called “Florida History in Black and White.” I had the idea that perhaps I could entice people, both black and white, to participate in discussions and share their memories and knowledge of Florida history, and to be respectful of each other in the process.
I really enjoy discovering, remembering and discussing how society got to be what it is today – where we came from and how we got here. I have participated in quite a few online groups that share photos and memories from the past, but they are almost always groups of white folks, and the history is all white. If the discussions ever drift into the topics of segregation, integration, Jim Crow, or slavery, arguments break out and feelings are hurt, even when it is just white folks!
I participated in one “integrated” group that was sharing memories of our hometown, and when someone (it may have been me) shared memories of a racially-charged event, all hell broke loose. I had been looking forward to the discussion. I wanted to know what it had been like for the African Americans involved- how they remember it, and how they talk about it now. But there are still some strong emotions on both sides, and some folks on both sides just do not know how to treat others. It got ugly, and the group was shut down.
In the last few years I have been learning quite a bit about Florida history, and my family’s place in it. The problem is, I have been learning a white-only history, but I don’t believe. that they really lived in a white-only world. I know that there were African Americans around, and that our history overlapped with theirs. But our history treats them the way we have treated them when we lived it- as if they are invisible. If they appear at all, they don’t matter. They are a smiling face here, a “first-name-only” there. If there was trouble, it was because they caused trouble. We ended it quickly, moved on, and forgot about it. Nobody wants to remember trouble, except trouble-makers. That is “black history” as I learned it, and even though we now live in a much more integrated world, history is still segregated, it seems.
I have traced my family’s history back to where some African-Americans appear in it, in the year 1860. There are seven of them, a man and a woman, three little boys ages 1, 2, and 5, and 2 young girls ages 9 and 12, and my great, great, great grandfather, John Robert Speir, “owned” them. They appear on the 1860 slave schedule and they have no names- just ages and genders.
I had been told, like many others from white, southern families, that our family didn’t own any slaves because only the rich plantation owners had slaves. But there they are on the census. Who were they? What were their names? Were they a family? Where did they come from and what happened to them? Where are their descendants now? Nobody talks about those things. At least white people don’t. I was told growing up, that some slaves were treated so well that they didn’t leave when they were freed. They were part of the family. Well, if those seven were part of our family, I think it would be easier to find out their names.
I want to know what it has been like for the African American families, and I have been longing for them to tell me. Where our histories overlap, I want to put them together into one history, for better or worse. I want to know the truth.
Well the other day I was telling my daughter about all of this, and I had one of those stinging revelations. I realized that the information is there for me to find, and I don’t need to just sit back and wait for black folks to come tell me about it, all the while being honored that I am interested. If history is to be integrated, then “their” history is also my history, and I can go to the trouble to research it myself if I want to know. My attitude has been pretty lazy, arrogant and hypocritical.
I enjoy investigating Florida history and sharing what I find. So, I have created a magazine-styled blog and website called “Florida History in Black and White,” for just that purpose. I hope others comment, and I hope others will contribute historical features. In the meantime, I will enjoy sharing what I find.
So without any more fanfare, I would like to introduce you to the site. I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think.
Florida History in Black and White:
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Confessions of a Southern White Woman 