The Civil War Exhibit

Yesterday I decided to head on up to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Civil War exhibit.  It was really interesting and I hadn't realized that so much was going on in Texas during that time period.  I learned a lot but have to say what a sad and horrific time in our countries history this was.  So much death and destruction took place during the war years and for so many years afterwards. 

My mom's grandma and her family were all from Georgia along with many relatives who were from South Carolina, so I had ancestors who served in the confederate army.  One in fact was an ambulance driver or a "teamster".  I had  many more relatives who could have been in the Union army but so far I haven't been able to locate any war records for them.  I've always thought of myself as a "Yankee" even though I have southern roots.  I've wondered if I had been born in the South like my family was would I have fought against Northern aggression, or would I have had the courage to do all I could to help black slaves gain their freedom?  I can't even imagine how hard that must have been for families to be fighting against each other while their country was being torn apart.  Short of being transported back in time I guess none of us will ever know what we would have done had we been in their shoes.

I do remember growing up in Utah that it was rare to see anyone with skin darker than what you would naturally get from a summer tan.  When I was in 2nd and 3rd grade we were taught about the civil rights movement and I remember being shocked to learn about all of the restrictions that African American citizens had to live with.  I wrongly assumed that we were all the same when it came to what we could and couldn't do. 

I came home from school one day and asked my parents if it was really true that black people had to drink out of a different drinking fountain than we did just because our skins were different colors?  After they confirmed what my teacher had told me I remember saying that it was the dumbest thing I had ever heard!  Later in that conversation they told me that most of the people in our neighborhood would sell their homes if a black family moved in next door to them and it just didn't make any sense to me.  For the first time in my young life I realized what being a racist meant even though I had never even heard that word before.  It just felt so wrong for all of these people to be treated so unfairly when they hadn't done anything wrong to deserve it, and deep down I was embarrassed that I looked like the people who were treating them this way.  How could this be happening in our country; the land of the free and home of the brave?  A place where every one was supposed to be free to live their lives how ever they chose as long as they didn't hurt any one else? 

I'm thankful that my children were able to grow up in a world where these injustices have been done away with and that they were able to go to schools with children of all races and nationalities.  We are all children of God and everyone deserves to be treated with love, kindness and most of all respect.