Love as a Way of Knowing

Between 1944 and 1963 the author was born into and grew up in the literal and violent Jim Crow culture and spirit within the Mississippi Delta. In all matters of life and death within this Jim Crow world, white males were its interpreters of spiritual and secular rules, their interpretations, and implementations. This worldview was fluid and often implemented through literal and occasionally violent and deadly means by white folks who set examples for all sub-cultures such as black folks. Those examples and both spoken and written words from and by white males to black folks defined the parameters of what, when, how or whether most black folks had rights to white male-definitions of life, and poverty. For many black males it was understood that the Old Testament of the Bible was the unspoken and clearly understood overarching spiritual source of religiosity for all and passed down from white men to black males and preachers in particular. In a similar manner, the white superintendent dominated all aspects of the towns and its surrounding area’s education through his control of the black superintendent. It was implicitly understood in my home that the source of all these beliefs and feelings was the Old Testament of the Bible and that 'God was a wrathful God.' In short, God did not tolerate any form or kind of sin. In the black home, the male was the dominant figure and his primary responsibility was to enforce 'the white man’s rule' to the best of his abilities, and that was usually limited by his education and mental capacities. An ignorant black male with limited to no education, intelligence, compassion or lack thereof, was a serious concern in any home. If that person was ignorant, mentally challenged, and violent, the lives of the lady of the house and their children may be in a state of constant danger. The author grew up within this kind of home and environment and this is his story.