In response to several recent letters that sought to vilify Greenfield Town Councilor Penny Ricketts and disregard half a century of American progress, I would like to share another perspective: My (white) mother grew up in segregated Memphis, Tennessee. She went to segregated schools until college, and drank out of “Whites Only” water fountains. She was in Memphis when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated there.
I have no idea if she referred to black people as “coloreds,” because I have not once, in my whole life, heard her use that term, much less the disgustingly similar “N-word” that was – and I daresay still is – used somewhat interchangeably with the word Councilor Sund used in that Town Council meeting.
It would certainly be culturally, geographically, and age-appropriate for her, yet somehow she managed to move on. While, of course, I think my mom is amazing, I don’t think this was particularly incredible on her part; she simply changed with the times, because it was the right and respectful thing to do.
My view of the world is one in which white supremacy – with its ongoing violence, systemic injustice, and yes, its language – urgently needs to be made a thing of the past, and while Ellen Thompson is right that no one can be forced to adopt that view, I am deeply saddened and concerned to find that so many citizens of Greenfield only want to (very publicly) defend it instead.
It should not be up to Councilor Ricketts to explain why the term is inappropriate; it is the responsibility of all white people to educate ourselves and reach outside of our comfort zones to understand. The “babies” in this situation are not those of us who are offended by racist language; they’re the people who have refused to learn and grow beyond the vocabulary and worldview of a (thankfully) bygone era.
Rachel Gordon
Greenfield