You hardly ever hear the positive stories from yesterday about race relations, though there are many out there to be shared. I wonder why human nature trends toward the negative? My mom, a former teacher, had a story to tell yesterday that left me speechless. I vaguely remember the time - but the year was 1970-1971..the year for total desegregation... Mom was moved from the local historically black school to teach at the "white" school across the little town. Most if not all of her students were white. She was also shifted from elementary to seventh grade (we all know how challenging middle school/junior high students can be.) That was an extremely tough year for my mother.
Saturday, 4/7/2012 mama received a call from one of her former students from that middle school experience. Some forty years later, this lady still found a way to reach out to her seventh grade teacher - just to touch base and see how she is doing. My mom stated that, over the years, the lady has always just "popped up" out of the blue just to speak to her on the phone - checking to see how mama is doing, and sharing her life updates as well. It warms my heart to think about how, even within the raging storm of the process of desegregation, there was a quiet, uncelebrated bond formed between a black teacher and a white student that would last for generations.
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