This postcard shows a couple of African-American kids at the park. It is a Dexter Press postcard that probably dates from the 1960s.Dr. King, of course, gave his great "I Have a Dream" speech in the 1960s, which includes this quotation:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I wonder if things went well for these two black kids in the 1960s, growing up in Tennessee?
12 comments:
Thanks. I haven't heard much about Martin Luther King Day today. i didn't have anything appropriate to post, but I like your card, because it is such an unpretentious slice of life. Wonder where those kids are now.
I don't know if you know this, but East Tennessee was largely Union. But not for ethical reasons, but because it was too mountainous for slavery to be very helpful - not great terrain for plantations like in the western part of the state. Still, I don't think life for African American kids was a piece of cake anywhere in the South then.
BTW, Cove Lake is a cool part - I
ve been a couple of times.
" Still, I don't think life for African American kids was a piece of cake anywhere in the South then."
I don't know from experience, of course, but it probably wasn't a piece of cake in pretty much all the US either. While the North did not have explicit Jim Crow, there was still major segregation, red-lining, and other forms of discrimination.
I'd never heard of Cove Lake until I pulled this postcard out today. I have no idea where I got it. There's no writing on the back.
Very timely! Im sure that there lives are better today due to Dr King and others like him.
I was born in the late 60's and only vaguely recall hearing of his speech.. We didn't learn too much about American history.. that's a nice postcard.. I think those kids would've turned out just fine..
Great postcard and great tie-in to today's holiday.
Lovely card and I think the kids offer a pleasant contrast to the seediness of Memphis. I think MLK would have seen the meaning in this and been touched by it.
I also think I'd like to put you on my list, if that's okay.
I appreciate your post, dmarks. Hope the kids are still having a good life as adults. Life isn't easy, but it has its beauty and goodness.
That's a cool looking postcard. I wish I could walk into it and escape the cold.
A lot of my Facebook friends have been posting MLK quotes. He was so eloquent.
Thanks for the comments.
Churlita, I'm not so sure Tennessee is that much warmer, is it?
SecretAgent: I don't want to be rude, but I think you are mistaken about east TN being Union.
Tennessee is called the Volunteer State precisely because it had more confederate soldiers than any other state. Some have said VA with TN second. There are plenty of wide valleys where slave owners had plantations - not like in AL, GA, etc., but they were there. However, the small farmers occupied the bulk of the area. They didn't have slaves but they volunteered for the confederacy. It's so hilly that farmers looked horizontal when plowing.
dmarks: TN can get very cold. Coupled with the humidity it can feel like it's going through to your bone marrow.
TN: Thanks for the elaboration. I was surprised to read that TN had split during the Civil War, myself.
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