Why Whites Can't See

By most accounts, Trayvon Martin was no saint. In the past 18 months we’ve learned he got into more than a few brawls during his brief lifetime. Trial coverage revealed he had THC – the chemical compound found in marijuana – in his system when he died.

Martin wasn’t a graduating merit scholar or high achieving student headed toward a career in biophysics that was cut down before he could join the ranks of the American professional class. If his parents’ public pleas for justice are an indication, he probably didn’t speak English with the preferred neutral voice – devoid of any accent or tell-tale twang associated with "Black English."

Therefore, Martin wasn’t – by some White societal standards – typical. He was, through many White lenses, stereotypical. He embodied the well-known caricature of a young Black “buck”: wild-eyed, unpredictable, opportunistic, prone to random violence and theft, sneaky and lawless. In the eyes of some, he held a social and moral status that wasn’t much higher than that of vermin. So, for some people in this country, he justifiably earned his death sentence. And, the rest of us – especially our men and boys -- bear yet another burden by association.

So, it didn’t matter that 17 year-old Martin was walking home through his father’s neighborhood, unarmed and with a pocket full of ice tea and skittles. It didn’t matter that George Zimmerman, an armed volunteer neighborhood watchman, approached the teen after local police told him not to. What mattered is that, in the eyes of a portion of our nation, he was guilty – like so many of us are – of being a stereotype.

Prejudice is a human trait?

Minorities in America, Europe and Latin America have pleaded with the White majority to see something so obvious to everybody but them. Something embedded within their culture or nature, perhaps, triggers a thalamic response against all others that don’t look like them.

freedigitalphotos.net

Just about every other race, culture and ethnicity in this world has been a victim of this unnamed and unidentified trait. Nazi Germany revealed how destructive that trait is if unchecked, unmonitored and unbalanced. Because of it, some non-White peoples – such as some Native American tribes – have been decimated to near extinction.

It’s not that just about all cultures haven’t historically demonstrated genocide, racial and ethnic bias and exclusion. Many Asian cultures are notorious for it. And, despite Arab Muslim arguments against prevailing racism in the West, they have a long history of enslaving Black Africans. African-Americans have been particularly brazen in their backlash against White people in recent years, although we tend to justify it as anger for years of oppression and exclusion. In my opinion, such blind rage leads to killing a canary with a cannon, thus unnecessarily wounding the innocent.

"Young Lady With Reflection" by adamr

www.freedigitalphotos.net

Two years ago, Belgian researchers, Arne Roets and Alain Van Heil, concluded that prejudice results from a human psychological need to simplify an overwhelmingly complicated world.  According to the Psychological Science. org press release, “People who are prejudiced feel a much stronger need to make quick and firm judgments and decisions in order to reduce ambiguity.”

So, I’m not arguing that racial bias is an exclusively European trait. Many studies have proven that people gravitate toward their own cultural or social groups. Seems we humans like to see ourselves reflected in others' faces.

While I take issue with that way of thinking, I can understand and accept the premise. But when bias goes one step further and devalues people’s lives – thus justifying killing them on the basis of their difference -- then that’s something else entirely.

My question is, where does it come from?

No empathy for dark skin

While researchers around the world have studied the perplexing issue of race and racism for decades, two social neuroscientists at the University of Toronto unveiled something I find a bit disturbing. In a study of White participants, they discovered a difference in brain activity when observing people of different races, Science Daily reported in 2010.

freedigitalphotos.net

While hooked up to EEG (electroencephalogram) monitors, participants watched videos wherein men of a variety of races – White, Black, South Asian and East Asian – simply sipped a glass of water. The article reports that most people – when observing someone else doing the same task – experience the same involuntary muscle movements as if they are doing it, too. It’s an indication of the motor cortex, the part of the brain that coordinates visual and motor function.  We humans are wired to respond empathetically to someone else’s movement at a subconscious level.

But, when participants observed minorities doing the same task, their brains barely fired an empathetic muscular reaction whereas they fired normally when watching someone of their own race.

According to researcher Jennifer Gutsell: “Previous research shows people are less likely to feel connected to people outside their own ethnic groups, and we wanted to know why. What we found is that there is a basic difference in the way peoples' brains react to those from other ethnic backgrounds. Observing someone of a different race produced significantly less motor-cortex activity than observing a person of one's own race. In other words, people were less likely to mentally simulate the actions of other-race than same-race people."

The response revealed a lack of human connection and empathy for people of other races at a neurological level.  Science Daily reported that researchers pre-tested participants for subtle racism and those who scored high showed even more pronounced disassociation.

"The so-called mirror-neuron-system is thought to be an important building block for empathy by allowing people to 'mirror' other people's actions and emotions; our research indicates that this basic building block is less reactive to people who belong to a different race than you," Science Daily quoted  research team member, Assistant Professor Dr. Michael Inzlicht.

Hope lies in connection

freedigitalphotos.net

Researchers of social psychology and race have all discovered one simple fact: when people have first-hand positive experiences with someone of a different race, they tend to see them as a part of their group. They no longer associate them as the “other.” All of us who dearly love our non-Black family and friends know that phenomenon well. It’s a strange thing. Our friends become our family when we see them from the heart. The superficial dividing differences seem to disappear. We just don’t make those connections often enough. Maybe it’s time to come out our comfort zone, resist the familiar and offer friendships with others unlike ourselves for our own sakes as well as theirs.

So, while science has proven prejudice exists on a neurological level, it has also revealed circumstances when there’s an absence of prejudice. It’s no mystery. We humans are proven capable of judging and treating each other as Martin Luther King predicted: “not by the color of our skins but by the content of our characters.” All our lives depend on it.

Sources:

“Research States That Prejudice Comes From a Basic Human Need and Way of Thinking,” Association for Psychological Science.  http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/research-states-that-prejudice-comes-from-a-basic-human-need-and-way-of-thinking.html

“Human Brain Recognizes and Reacts to Race,” Science Daily http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100426113108.htm

https://ose.utsc.utoronto.ca/ose/story.php?id=2135

Mid-Year Update

You may have noticed my posts have slowed to once a month. Here's why.

I officially plunged into the scary world of freelance writing in early November. Those who know me know I was a reporter and field producer in public radio, television and newspapers for decades. Building a freelance business means doing a LOT of writing, throwing it into the ocean and waiting for bites. But, clients have begun to bite and momentum is increasing. So, unfortunately, Cross Diggers has suffered a little. But, that's only temporary.

Meanwhile, my mother, Eleanor, is working on a website to publish her research. She's recently found more evidence proving definitively that Abraham Cross is our direct ancestor and father of Amos Cross.

Aunt Lucy's Folk Sense series

I, on the other hand, am writing a series of books on organic ingredients and recipes for homemade cosmetics. It's inspired by Aunt Lucy's health and beauty habits. So, I call it Aunt Lucy's Folk Sense. I'll post the introduction to the first book in a few days. 

Family writers needed

Don't forget I have issued an open call for all family writers. Refer to the "About" page to get an idea of the kind of story you might want to write. Drop me a line at crossdiggers@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. I admit I don't check the email address that frequently, but if you give me a heads-up on Facebook, I will.

Bullock-Cross Family Reunion

The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Herman and Elnora Bullock are getting together next week for the first Bullock-Cross reunion hosted by members of my generation. It's a small gathering of first cousins from a branch of the Cross-Marrow line. 

Share your pics

Feel free to send rare, old photos of your relatives to share. We are a family of many branches and vines. Many don't know each other, or at least, not very well. Share your side of the family with the rest of us. 

Is there anything you want to share? Email me at crossdiggers@gmail.com. As I said before, give me a heads-up on Facebook. I'd love to hear from you.

Hair talk and other practical things

Jessica Lewis, vlogger, MahoganyCurls

If anyone has been following my recent Facebook posts, they'll notice my new obsession with making organic hair products for natural hair. Based on the quick responses from family, I realize it's an important discussion for minorities -- particularly women.

Hair is our crown and glory. The glow of our skins light up rooms when we enter. Yet, being immersed in a world where European sensibilities and images are all we see, the beauty of our own God-given assets are obscured. It's a particularly sensitive subject for African-American women.

So, Mi Familia, what do you think about me posting a section of this blog dedicated to practical health and beauty tips? After all, I discovered a whole new world in the burgeoning natural hair movement that we all could learn from.

If anyone wonders what this has to do with family history/genealogy, I have to say ... EVERYTHING. We're genetically connected. Why not learn how to take care of the peculiar assets we've all inherited?

So, since my demanding writing schedule has slowed my family history reporting for this blog, I can immediately write about practical thins we all could use. After all, I once had a cosmetology license in three states. I can still put it to use.

Recipes for posterity

Think about it. Aunt Lucy lived to age 108 employing a lifetime of old fashioned folk wisdom until her dying breath. I've recently read others who use apple cider vinegar (ACV) in their diets much like she did. One young Asian vlogger demonstrated her daily ACV and water cocktail and I immediately got a tall glass of vinegar and water. As I sipped, I thought Aunt Lucy was, once again, vindicated.

Also, we've got a plethora of family recipes -- pickled watermelon rind, for instance -- that need to be preserved for posterity. Our elders are getting older and many recipes and centuries-old know-how may be out of our reach soon if we don't act. How many of us know how to plant a garden according to the almanac? I sure don't. But, Aunt Henrietta and my mother do. How many of us know how to can fresh produce or make damson plumb jelly? Again, only a few are left who know how.

We have a folk-wisdom cookbook already written in our history. We just have to put it on paper.

Black Indians of New England

Crispus Attucks

Few eyewitnesses to the March 1770 Boston Massacre knew much about Crispus Attucks. However, historians now know he was not the coffee-colored slave on 19^th century posters promoting abolitionists’ cause for emancipation. 

Some called him ‘mulatto.’ Others said he was a Nantucket Indian. But the key to his identity is in his name, said Judy Kertesz, a Lumbee Indian and assistant professor at North Carolina State University. In 2009, she spoke as co-curator for Smithsonian Institute’s IndiVisible: African-Native Lives in the Americas National Museum of the American Indian Symposium.

Attucks is the English version of the Wampanoag name, Ahtugees (ahtu-gees), meaning “little deer.” While Europeans assigned family identity through the father’s line, Native Americans did not, explained Kertesz.

“According to matrilineal Wampanoag and some West African peoples who were oftentimes matrilineal as well, identity was, and continues to be, reckoned according to who one’s mother is. As I like to put it, ‘it’s not who’s yo daddy, it’s who’s yo mama!”

Attucks’ father was Ashanti and his mother was Wampanoag, according to  symposium presenters. In early 18^th century New England, an African-Native love-child wasn’t that rare.

17^th century Northeastern Indians faced extinction 

No one disputes that early encounters with Europeans proved disastrous for Native peoples. 

Between 1617 and 1619, nearly 90-percent of the Wampanoag tribes, living on the Massachusetts and western Rhode Island borders, died of an epidemic. Modern researchers suspect it spread through rodents from European fishing and trading ships, according to a 2010 study published by the Centers for Disease Control. In 1633, just 14 years later, small pox nearly decimated all the region’s tribes including the Narragansett, Mohegan and Niantic.

Only 3,000 Pequot were left when English settlers and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies ambushed them in 1636. The survivors of the Mystic River attack were either enslaved or escaped among other groups.

Thirty years later, after the Pequot resettled in Connecticut, surviving Wampanoag, Narragansett and Nipmuck tribes attacked the colonists. Known as King Philip’s War, it was a desperate attempt to prevent further European encroachment on their land because they outnumbered Native peoples.

By the mid-1700s, remaining Natives joined with colonists in the French and Indian War, and later, the American Revolution. Indian men were dying out because of war and disease, according to Vicki S. Welch, a New England Native American genealogist.

“The number of men from given villages, often who served, included many between the ages of 16 and 60. They were scouts and experienced very high death rates, up to 80% in a given village,” according to Welch.

African man, Native woman 

However, African men were available.

Rhode Island was the hub of the New England slave trade by the beginning of the 18^th century. By the end of the century, the African population – both slave and free – grew from 1,000 in 1700 to roughly 16,000.

Slavery wasn’t as restrictive as it later became. Slaves were allowed to grow and sell from their small allotments at market once a week. Also, in many cases, slaves weren’t necessarily bound for life. Owners often chose to release them after, say, a decade of service.

For Indian women, African men brought a lot to the table. “The slaves worked one day a week for themselves and a lot of them bought their freedom and preferred to marry Native women for free offspring,” Welch said in an interview.

Hiding out in the open 

The descendants of these unions aren’t easy to detect. While some live on reservations, others live hidden within the African American community.

The Northeastern Black Indian story is different from the turbulent relationship between Africans and the five “civilized” tribes – Cherokee, Chocktaw, Chicasaw, Creek and Seminole. In those cases, African-Native families formed when tribesmen harbored runaway slaves or became slave owners. Also, free Blacks assimilated into tribes after forming trade relationships with them. 

In recent years, historians and genealogists have studied Black Indians of the five tribes more than ever before. But, precious little has been documented about the mixed-race tribes of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. 

One reason is many African-Americans with Indian heritage have identified with the Black community for generations. Family stories about Indian ancestors may have survived, but cultural affinity with them has been forgotten. Moreover, they don’t always look Indian. 

Secondly, many African American families claim to be part Indian, but, in fact, they’re not. Only 4-percent of African Americans can actually prove they have “measurable Native American ancestry” – that is, 12.5-percent or the equivalent of one great-grandparent, according to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in a recent article posted on The Root. 

“That means there's probably another explanation for your great-great grandmother's high cheekbones and straight black hair that swung all the way down her back!”

           

           

           

           

           

           

           

           

[i]

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IndiVisible:African-Native American Lives in the Americas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_iMjRJUJ0

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp5.pdf

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe http://mwtribe.exstream.tv/timeline

“New Hypothesis for Cause of Epidemic among Native Americans, New England, 1616–1619”Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 2, 2010, http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/2/09-0276_article.htm

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp5.pdf

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe http://mwtribe.exstream.tv/timeline

“New Hypothesis for Cause of Epidemic among Native Americans, New England, 1616–1619”Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 2, 2010, http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/2/09-0276_article.htm

Mystic Voices: The Story of the Pequot War http://pequotwar.com/history.html

“Native American Genealogy in Connecticut,” by Vicki S. Welch, CSG #7856 S, Connecticut Genealogy News, Fall, 2009, www.csginc.org.

“Chronicling Black Lives in Colonial New England: Historians and archaeologists piece together a revealing look at free and slave life in the North,”The Christian Science monitor, Ocotber 29, 1997. http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/1029/102997.feat.feat.1.html

“Seeking Proof of Native American Roots? Tracing Your Roots: A reader hopes a fire that destroyed family records won’t halt his search,” By Henry Louis Gates, Jr. posted March 29, 2013 at 12:47 AM  http://www.theroot.com/views/seeking-proof-native-american-roots

The Hunt for Anderson Marrow's Father

Early this month, I started digging into the slave and mixed-race origins of the Anderson Marrow family line and ended up knee-deep in confusion. As with most slave histories, the main obstacle is poor record-keeping.

In our case, the relationship between our relatives who were former slave owners and slaves endured after Emancipation. So we have the advantage of recent first-hand oral history.

We know that Drury Smith Marrow regularly visited Rebecca (Grandma Beck) and acknowledged their kinship well into the 20^th century. He was Thomas Field Marrow’s son. Thomas is among those suspected to be Rebecca’s grandfather. Then again, maybe not.

Our Marrow ancestors  

The earliest known record of our Marrows goes back to a fellow named Daniel Marrow, born about 1722, who died 1749 in Goochland Virginia.[i] His wife, Arabella Smith was born in 1728 in Henrico County, Virginia.

Their only son, Daniel Marrow, Jr. – born 1744 in Lunenburg County, VA and died 1817 in Granville, North Carolina –- had eight children. Five of them were boys. One of them may have been Anderson Marrow’s father. [ii] But, which one? 

Doing the math  

Now it’s a matter of elimination.

Anderson Marrow, Rebecca’s father, was born in Granville in 1823. Daniel Marrow Jr. died six years earlier so obviously he’s out of the running. Who among his sons was old enough or lived long enough to have fathered Anderson?

Daniel Marrow, III (Birthday unknown, died 1812). Actually, I’m not sure he’s a third, but it’s a way to distinguish him from his father and grandfather, both named Daniel. Rootsweb reports his marriage to Fannie H. Smith in 1808. He died 11 years before Anderson was born.[iii] Next?

William Marrow (Birthday unknown, died in 1816). So, it’s not him. He died seven years before Anderson.[iv] Next? 

Drury Smith Marrow (1786-1860). The records are weird. Rootsweb reports he died in Abrams Plains, Granville, NC in both 1860 and 1870 which could mean there are two death certificates on file. Moreover, there are multiple Drury Smith Marrows. Drury’s younger brother, Thomas, named his fourth son after him. See what I mean by confusion?

Anyway, he was 37 years-old the year Anderson was born. He married Susan P. Glover six years later.[v] Perfect time to have an “outside” child. So, he’s a candidate.

Alexander F. Marrow (1798-1865). Again, his death is recorded in 1865, then in 1870 in Granville. Rootsweb reports he married his first of two wives between 1820 and 1825.

He had seven children – five were boys. But, three of the boys’ names are recorded as unknown, including the oldest two. The first was born between 1820 and 1825, followed by the second son, born 1825 or 1830.[vi] 

No sense in assuming the firstborn on record could be Anderson. It was, after all, slavery. Unless we find a record of Anderson’s illegitimate paternity, we can best assume his father wouldn’t put it in writing. There are stories of slave owners having sex with their slaves while they were married, although we really don’t know how common the practice was. In any case, Alexander was 25-years old the year Anderson was born – whether he was married or not – making him a viable candidate.

Thomas Field Marrow (1805-1846). Records show Anderson belonged to one of Thomas’ children at emancipation.[vii] 

Thomas was barely 31 years-old when he died, leaving his older brother, Drury Smith Marrow, as executor of his estate. According to his property assessment, Thomas had roughly 50 slaves. Anderson was among them. Thomas’ son, Drury, was his uncle Drury Smith’s namesake. At six years-old, he inherited Anderson when his father,Thomas, died.[viii] 

He is probably the same relative of family lore that often visited Grandma Beck. He was born in 1840,[ix] so he’s a little older than she.

Altogether, Thomas had six children from his 16-year marriage to Parthena Kittrell. However, he was 18 years-old the year Anderson was born. So, while he would have been a little young, he wasn’t too young to have sex with one of the slaves. He’s another possible candidate.

Okay, so we have a shortlist of possible baby daddies: Drury Smith Marrow, Alexander F. Marrow and Thomas Field Marrow. But, the paper trail is vague and ambiguous.  So, buckle up, Kinfolk, this one’s gonna be bumpy.

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[i] Data furnished to Rootsweb by Peggy Chapman, in 1990.

[ii] Daniel Marrow II. Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=draper1&id=I3298 

[iii] Daniel Marrow III. Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=draper1&id=I49843 

[iv] William Marrow. Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=draper1&id=I49844

[v] Drury Smith Marrow I,. Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=draper1&id=I49845

[vi] Alexander F. Marrow. Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=draper1&id=I49849

[vii] Allotment of slaves as determined in the “Report from Court,  September term, 1857 – Daniel I. Marrow against Drury S, Marrow, executor of Thomas F,. Marrow.” North Carolina State Archives. Research by Eleanor Shelton.

[viii] “An inventory of the property of Thomas F. Marrow (deceased) which is in the hands of D.S. Marrow, his executor.” ABT 1852. Granville County, North Carolina. Research by Eleanor Shelton.

[ix] Thomas Field Marrow. Rootsweb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=draper1&id=I49850