The Deep South

Over the past two weeks we have toured the Deep South and have seen a lot.  Impossible to relay everything on this site, so what follows only scratches the surface of all we saw and heard. 

From the church in Kenner LA, we drove to Natchez, MS, founded in 1716, which makes it the oldest European settlement on the Mississippi.  Very historic, very interesting.  In its day it was a bustling port and the fourth wealthiest pre-civil war city in America – after NY, Boston, Philadelphia.  As in New Orleans, there are many antibellum (before civil war) homes which are gorgeous.  We toured Longwood, which they stopped building in 1863 because that’s when the life of privilege in Natchez came to an end – so Longwood is unique in that you get to see the completed ground floor but the other four floors have been left the way they were when building stopped.  The more you see of antibellum plantation homes the more you have to think about how these homes were built and maintained on the backs of slave labour.  

Also toured the William Johnson House built by (you guessed it) William Johnson, son of a white master and a mulatto slave woman.  His father freed him when he was 11 and he went on to set up three barber shops in Natchez and became very well acquainted with Natchez business and political class.  Next was the African American History Museum – featuring stories and information about interesting black people from Natchez – including author Richard Wright, whose most important books were Native Son and Black Boy, a heart wrenching story about his childhood and youth in the Jim Crow South, and in Chicago.  In this museum we met a lady who had grown up in Natchez who said Natchez’ schools weren’t integrated till 1990! and that now besides the official school integrated prom, there is also an unofficial whites only prom.

 Love the history, but much of it is difficult .  The most difficult spot to visit was Forks of the Road – just outside of historic downtown Natchez. This is the site of the second largest slave market in the deep south.  Slaves would be brought from the East by sea via Florida, New Orleans, and up the Mississippi, or down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, or - the hardest route - on land via the Natchez Trace.  Good signage explaining the horrendous events that happened here.  We posted some of the advertisements for newly arrived slaves. Slavery and the slave trade ended in Natchez in 1863 – when Union Forces freed Natchez from the Confederacy without a fight.  Ironically some of the Black Union soldiers on guard at Forks of the Road had been sold as slaves on the same spot years earlier.

Vicksburg, Mississippi is the site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War, which was won by Union forces giving them control of the Mississippi River, a turning point in the war.  We took the 16 mile tour through the Vicksburg National Military Park on the site of the battle.  Historical markers explained where the armies from each state – Union and Confederate were positioned and where actual combat took place.  Sometimes the armies were so close that soldiers could see the whites in each other’s eyes.  Soldiers from opposing sides were known to fight each other by day and chat with each other at night after orders to cease fighting had been given.

The red sign is where the Confederate Army was located the blue sign in the background is where the Union Army was situated.

17,000 Union soldiers are buried in the cemetery in the Military park. 13,000 were unidentified soldiers who had originally been buried right where they died and were later moved to the cemetery. The confederate soldiers are buried in a town cemetery.

We drove to Birmingham AL, where some of the most significant marches for Civil Rights took place in the '60s.  People marched  for Black voting rights (necessary because many state and local requirements prevented Blacks from voting), for the right to drink from the same water fountains, and the right to eat in white-owned cafes.  These marches and boycotts were organized and led by local pastors who invited Martin Luther King Jr to help.  We attended Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, one of the local churches involved in the planning of the marches and where King preached often.  It is also the site of the September 15, 1963 bombing which killed four girls, aged 12 – 14.  We heard Pastor Arthur Price give a powerful sermon on this first Sunday of Advent about Jesus who “exchanged divinity for humanity – without losing any of his divinity”.   Such a good command of language – wonderful oratory, e.g. “God’s divinity and glory was cloaked by his humanity…. Every now and then a glimpse of God’s glory was seen in the miracles he did… (such as) when he turned a box lunch into a anti-poverty program”.  

We also walked the Civil Rights Heritage Trail, the routes two of the marches took, which have many historical markers explaining specific events that happened along the march route. Also toured the “Civil Rights Institute” – across the road from the church. These bronzed shoes, at the beginning of the trail, were a poignant reminder of the death of the four girls.

From Birmingham we drove to Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital. In spite of the advice from the lady in the RV campground office, (“Y’all are best off takin a taxi”), we took the bus into downtown Montgomery.  It is an event in itself for white people to take the bus into Montgomery – where, it could be argued, the Civil Rights movement began – and to sit in the back of the bus.  Enjoyed a guided tour of Dexter Street Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King served as pastor from 1954 – 1960 and the parsonage. There is only one building between the church and the Capitol. Dr. King could see the

KKK gathering on the steps from his office window. 

In 1955 King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and a number of other local leaders/pastors organized the well-known Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks had been arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man.  Originally planned as a one day boycott, it lasted a little more than a year, and was supported by the entire Black community of Montgomery.  People still had to get to work, so car pools and other transportation options needed to be planned.  

We stood on the site where Rosa Parks boarded

that bus.

Tons more to say, but will leave it at that. As we hear world response to the death of Nelson Mandela, having just come from Montgomery, we can’t help but think of the similarities between Apartheid and the spirit of the Jim Crow laws in the US South.

Destin, Florida. Our first day back on the ocean was a foggy one with a momentary glimpse of the sun. From here we go toTampa, Florida where we'll stay until we fly home on the 17th. Our thoughts and prayers have been with our church family these past two weeks with the sudden death of Paul, a former member, and of Jan, who died after suffering much pain from cancer. We pray that God will give their family and friends comfort and peace.