How would a young, wanton girl react if the devil came knocking? Many young girls would react very similarly to Connie’s character in Joyce Carol Oates’s coming of age short story, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” Connie is a bit apprehensive at Arnold Friend’s arrival at her doorstep while her non-intrusive parents were at a repugnant family gathering. However alarmed Connie was at the initial shock of Arnold’s appearance, she quickly warmed to him during his eloquent pop culture diatribe. They had found common ground: Bobby King. She begins to notice characteristics about Arnold that to someone as superficial as she, would not take notice of at first glance. Oates paints a picture of Arnold being the devil incarnate with her description of a deceptive appearance. Joyce Wegs, in her article, “Don't You Know Who I Am?”: The Grotesque in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'” offers great insight into Arnold Friend’s deceiving way by illustrating how his masquerade allows for the religious undertone in Oates’ story. Wegs however fails to provide the possibility of the flipside of the coin: the possibility that Arnold may in fact be a savior of sorts. In Connie’s position though, without the moral influence of parents and yet with rock and roll influence of 1960’s, it’s easy to see how she would accept--even with apprehension--the attentions of Arnold Friend.
Oates describes Connie as a fifteen year old that “had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right”. She is an egotistical girl as many young and pretty girls can be. The attention that these types of girls receive can inflate their sense of self and lead them down a destructive path. Pop culture has shown us this time and time again-good girls gone bad. Connie’s behavior when Arnold intrudes on her quiet summer afternoon is a firm demonstration of how the sin of vanity can delude a person into a sense of safety. Arnold Friend demonstrates to the average reader that he is the devil incarnate, Satan in the flesh, arrived to violate the innocence of a pretty, young thing. Wegs’ interpretation of Oates’ story reinforces this average reader’s assumption. What Wegs fails to explore is that Arnold Friend may also represent a savior. If we explore the idea that Arnold is not a nemesis of God, but in fact a representation of God, it completely changes the negative responses that one might have at first glance.
While Connie is at the diner, leaving with Eddie, she notices Arnold Friend: enter Arnold. Arnold “wagged a finger…”and says, “Gonna get you, baby,” to Connie when she turned to acknowledge him for the second time in the parking lot (Oates). This sample text of the story could be interpreted as God’s intention to passionately seek out His children-Arnold being the ‘savior’ and Connie being one of the ‘children’. Arnold’s use of the number code on the side of his ‘gold jalopy’-“ He read off the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn't think much of it.”-could be referencing a piece of scripture from the Old Testament (Oates). In most Bibles, the 33rd book is Judges. In the verse Judges 19:17 it reads, “And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?”(KJV Judges 19:17). The significance of this passage in the 19th Chapter of the book of Judges may support that Arnold is in fact a savior. The Israelites faith in God had disintegrated as well as their unity as a nation. They could have taken possession of the lands had they followed God’s command, but they did not. The traveler had stopped in the city square and no one took the traveler in to their homes to feed and allow him rest. In these times, it was disgraceful not to provide hospitality to those traveling through one’s area if they were in need. The man who noticed the traveler gave him respite, as was their custom. However, the traveler who was traveling with his slave concubine, turned from God’s direction when evil men came knocking at the man’s home he was invited to. He sent his concubine out to be raped by these evil men and when the traveler returned home he murdered her, dismembered her and spread the 12 pieces of her body across the land of Israel.
If a little research is done, we can conclude that if in fact the numbers on Arnold Friend’s ‘jalopy’ indicate that specific verse from the Bible, then it fully supports Wegs connotation that he is a manifestation of evil. Wegs says of Connie, “By the end she knows him to be a murderer, for she realizes that she will never see her family again. However, only the reader sees Arnold's Satan identity”. It is however possible to view Arnold as a savior of Connie in the respect that he’s taking her away from her uninterested family. To many young girls, that would be delightful. The undertone created in the suspense throughout the story indicates otherwise.
In “Don't You Know Who I Am?”: The Grotesque in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Wegs clearly explains that:
"Because the devil is not a mortal being, existing as he does in all ages, it is not surprising that he slips in remembering what slang terms are in vogue. Similarly, his foolish attempt at a bow may result from a mix-up in temporal concepts of the ideal lover. In addition, his clumsy bow may be due to the fact that it must be difficult to manipulate boots if one has cloven feet!"
The devil, according to Christianity and other religions, is truly not a physically mortal being. He is a fallen angel. God cast him down from heaven after his rebellion against God’s command. The Bible tells us that Lucifer, who is the devil, was a very beautiful angel who rebelled because of his pride was cast out of Heaven by the Arch Angel Michael. He despises God and God’s laws, is the embodiment of sin, prowls the Earth like a lion and is the God of this Earth. It is very evident that in today’s culture, the devil is making short work of enticing us weak and faithless humans to turn from good into the waiting arms of evil. This is exactly what Connie does. She turns away from good moral standing at some point within her disillusionment with herself and runs headlong into the arms of moral indifference.
The possibilities are nearly endless as to how to interpret Joyce Carol Oates’ story. It is highly doubtful that Wegs’ interpretation is the only available. Oates’ character Connie is a small town girl who is morally bereft. In essence, she’s a typical coming of age teenager with nothing floating around in her brain but boys and an over-inflated opinion of herself. When she sees trouble, she runs to it without regard for anything but her own wants. Arnold Friend is there, available, to provide all of that and more, which she’s not anticipating at all. Like most kids, she’s bitten off more than she can chew in this situation and she will more than likely pay a dear price for it. At first glance it is not difficult to agree with Wegs interpretation that Arnold Friend is a manifestation of Satan himself, but isn’t it also possible that he’s Connie’s savior; saving her from the dull and vapid life she is leading? There is always more than one way to skin a cat.
Works Cited:
King James Bible. 11/24/2009 < http://kingjbible.com/judges/19.htm>.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Returning to the Flock
The Catholic Church, as an authority, would have us believe that the Pope is infallible, that a confession of sins must be made to cleanse ourselves of such sins and that Mary, the Mother of God, had no other children than Jesus. I do not believe these things despite my upbringing. I was raised by my mother to follow these teachings, to walk the path of a good Catholic girl and to become a good Catholic woman. I rebelled, as is cliché of Catholic girls to do.
Stanley Milgram writes in his essay “The Perils of Obedience” “For many people, obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct.” (764). The “teachers” in Milgram’s experiment pushed past their ethical objection to the pain they were inflicting upon the “test subjects.” They had continued on with the sadistic nature of the experiment despite their objection. It appeared that as long as the “teachers” believed they held no personal liability for the “test subject’s” well being as a result of the test procedure, they would continue - going so far as administering the maximum voltage of 450 volts. As a result of the “professor’s” insistence that the experiment must be carried out, they believed that they were following the authority figure within this situation and all in the name of science.
There have been many times that I have rebelled against the constraints of authority. I took a stand against the Catholic Church and refused to own their doctrine that was laid with the supposed strength such that of brick and mortar. Although I had done as was asked of my Mother, I loathed every moment of it. When authority is defied, is it always a negative? I don’t believe so. Something from within my soul was screaming that what the Church would have me believe was wrong. These abhorrent feelings clawed with tenacity at my mind and had pleaded with my intelligence to look farther than what was placed in front of me. I did not realize with all of my angst that this hunger, this driving force behind my defiance, had put me in the engineer’s seat and I was driving a speeding train toward the Truth.
I, as a child, followed the authority of my Mother by adhering to her rules regarding my attendance and participation in the Catholic Church and their sacraments. As I became older, my intelligence began to expand and my own opinions began to form. There became a distinct point in which I could no longer go along willingly; that I was to defy this authority no matter how obligated I felt. I began to feel the obligation to myself, to my views on the Catholic Church and my strong dislike and distrust of Papal authority.
Milgram states that “The ordinary person who shocked the victim did so out of a sense of obligation-an impression of his duties as a subject-and not from any peculiarly aggressive tendencies.” (772). I have pondered what was it that the “teachers” were thinking was their “sense of obligation.” It is very difficult for me to believe that these random people who responded to the newspaper ad or the students at Yale felt a sense of deep obligation to these scientists. I cannot comprehend why they would feel so intense about fulfilling their so called duties. The prospect that somewhere deep within themselves they are sadistic and are taking out their frustrations on the “student” is a plausible reason. Although, there is nothing indicating that to me throughout Milgram’s essay. He takes the time to demonstrate just how ordinary the “teachers” are. There is the possibility that the culture of the time period had a major impact on the “teachers” sense of obligation. My parents and grandparents demonstrated a deeply ingrained sense of obligation and personal responsibility that greatly differs from the culture of today’s youth. It is impossible to say how this experiment would have played out in today’s society. I have not seen any research papers to indicate that repeat performances have taken place. I suspect that there would be an increased quantity of willing “teacher’s” who would move forward past the 300 volt mark based on peculiar aggressive tendencies.
When a person defies authority though, it is not always wrong. A person standing up for what he or she believe is right with a venomous tongue is not either. Other people may find that they are, but that would generally be because it goes against their personal beliefs, morals or ethics as well. Milgram writes that “many people were in some sense against what they did to the learner, and many protested even while they obeyed. Some were totally convinced of the wrongness of their actions but could not bring themselves to make an open break with authority.” (772-773).
I view those people who cannot find a back bone to stand up and fight for their beliefs weak and powerless over their own lives. Henry David Thoreau writes, “O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through!” (727). I find it infinitely possible to have an opinion, even a very strong one, and vocalize it within reason. There are those who cannot stand up for themselves. They are those who are helpless children, abused persons and those who are disabled. There are logical reasons why that in courts of law they have advocates. Everyone should be equipped with a voice to fight for their beliefs and to take a stand against things that are morally wrong. The teachers in Milgram’s experiment who had opposition to continuing should have made that open break from authority and defied those who would have had them abide by things they found unethical.
My own personal experience with the Catholic upbringing and my open break from my mother’s authority regarding my participation within the Catholic Church, speaks clearly of defiance of authority. I naturally held my Mom in high esteem, but her beliefs were not my own. It was a difficult thing for me to defy my Mom, but I felt compelled to change the course I was on. To exercise my voice, to express my disagreement with her, and to out-and-out defy her took an extreme amount of courage and back bone. Although I defied authority, I pushed my boundaries and in doing so I found much freedom – freedom in God’s grace. It is for that act of defiance that I will forever be proud of because I separated from a restricted, bound flock of sheep and the Good Shepherd has returned me to my rightful flock.
Works Cited:
Milgram, Stanley. The Blair Reader: Exploring Contemporary Issues 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2008.
Thoreau, Henry David. The Blair Reader: Exploring Contemporary Issues 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2008.
Stanley Milgram writes in his essay “The Perils of Obedience” “For many people, obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct.” (764). The “teachers” in Milgram’s experiment pushed past their ethical objection to the pain they were inflicting upon the “test subjects.” They had continued on with the sadistic nature of the experiment despite their objection. It appeared that as long as the “teachers” believed they held no personal liability for the “test subject’s” well being as a result of the test procedure, they would continue - going so far as administering the maximum voltage of 450 volts. As a result of the “professor’s” insistence that the experiment must be carried out, they believed that they were following the authority figure within this situation and all in the name of science.
There have been many times that I have rebelled against the constraints of authority. I took a stand against the Catholic Church and refused to own their doctrine that was laid with the supposed strength such that of brick and mortar. Although I had done as was asked of my Mother, I loathed every moment of it. When authority is defied, is it always a negative? I don’t believe so. Something from within my soul was screaming that what the Church would have me believe was wrong. These abhorrent feelings clawed with tenacity at my mind and had pleaded with my intelligence to look farther than what was placed in front of me. I did not realize with all of my angst that this hunger, this driving force behind my defiance, had put me in the engineer’s seat and I was driving a speeding train toward the Truth.
I, as a child, followed the authority of my Mother by adhering to her rules regarding my attendance and participation in the Catholic Church and their sacraments. As I became older, my intelligence began to expand and my own opinions began to form. There became a distinct point in which I could no longer go along willingly; that I was to defy this authority no matter how obligated I felt. I began to feel the obligation to myself, to my views on the Catholic Church and my strong dislike and distrust of Papal authority.
Milgram states that “The ordinary person who shocked the victim did so out of a sense of obligation-an impression of his duties as a subject-and not from any peculiarly aggressive tendencies.” (772). I have pondered what was it that the “teachers” were thinking was their “sense of obligation.” It is very difficult for me to believe that these random people who responded to the newspaper ad or the students at Yale felt a sense of deep obligation to these scientists. I cannot comprehend why they would feel so intense about fulfilling their so called duties. The prospect that somewhere deep within themselves they are sadistic and are taking out their frustrations on the “student” is a plausible reason. Although, there is nothing indicating that to me throughout Milgram’s essay. He takes the time to demonstrate just how ordinary the “teachers” are. There is the possibility that the culture of the time period had a major impact on the “teachers” sense of obligation. My parents and grandparents demonstrated a deeply ingrained sense of obligation and personal responsibility that greatly differs from the culture of today’s youth. It is impossible to say how this experiment would have played out in today’s society. I have not seen any research papers to indicate that repeat performances have taken place. I suspect that there would be an increased quantity of willing “teacher’s” who would move forward past the 300 volt mark based on peculiar aggressive tendencies.
When a person defies authority though, it is not always wrong. A person standing up for what he or she believe is right with a venomous tongue is not either. Other people may find that they are, but that would generally be because it goes against their personal beliefs, morals or ethics as well. Milgram writes that “many people were in some sense against what they did to the learner, and many protested even while they obeyed. Some were totally convinced of the wrongness of their actions but could not bring themselves to make an open break with authority.” (772-773).
I view those people who cannot find a back bone to stand up and fight for their beliefs weak and powerless over their own lives. Henry David Thoreau writes, “O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through!” (727). I find it infinitely possible to have an opinion, even a very strong one, and vocalize it within reason. There are those who cannot stand up for themselves. They are those who are helpless children, abused persons and those who are disabled. There are logical reasons why that in courts of law they have advocates. Everyone should be equipped with a voice to fight for their beliefs and to take a stand against things that are morally wrong. The teachers in Milgram’s experiment who had opposition to continuing should have made that open break from authority and defied those who would have had them abide by things they found unethical.
My own personal experience with the Catholic upbringing and my open break from my mother’s authority regarding my participation within the Catholic Church, speaks clearly of defiance of authority. I naturally held my Mom in high esteem, but her beliefs were not my own. It was a difficult thing for me to defy my Mom, but I felt compelled to change the course I was on. To exercise my voice, to express my disagreement with her, and to out-and-out defy her took an extreme amount of courage and back bone. Although I defied authority, I pushed my boundaries and in doing so I found much freedom – freedom in God’s grace. It is for that act of defiance that I will forever be proud of because I separated from a restricted, bound flock of sheep and the Good Shepherd has returned me to my rightful flock.
Works Cited:
Milgram, Stanley. The Blair Reader: Exploring Contemporary Issues 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2008.
Thoreau, Henry David. The Blair Reader: Exploring Contemporary Issues 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2008.
There Is Not Only Us
The culture of the county in which I was raised is segregation-based. This antiquated segregation has been self-imposed, passed down from previous generations and at one time fell short of men in white sheets. Racism toward the African-American community is exceedingly evident there. I cannot recall one black man or woman residing within the county lines until I became old enough to move away from my family and beyond its borders. I was blessed richly not to become one of its many victims.
I grew up in a small community where the closest neighbor was at least a half of a mile away. My family home sat on 1.5 acres and we had a fairly good sized farm of 87 acres. I lived seven miles outside of the town where I went to elementary, middle and high school, and all of these in the same building. Nearly all of the families that neighbored my home were farming families. The breeze moved with the lush scent of cow, pig and chicken manure. The crystalline blue sky was filled with the charming music of chugging tractors, buzzing grain augers and blaring car horns of people foreign to our meandering style of driving. To us though, that is home. 96% of us are white. The other 4% is a very small mixture of Hispanic migrant workers, Hispanic migrant workers who became permanent residents, and Native Americans. The population is just under 35,000 as a whole. Almost 33,500 residents are white!
In the socially stunted area where I grew up, the racial demographics have always been predominantly white. As a child, I remember an incident where my Mom was driving my Nan-nan to the hospital for some sort of medical procedure. Our county does not have a hospital, so we had to drive about 45 minutes to the next major city (we have no major cities) to have a hospital available to us. As we are driving, we pass a grouping of dilapidated, project-like row houses. I, being a small child, was gazing out of the window at the unfamiliar scenery that passed by outside of my Cadillac rear seat view. My Nan-nan snaps at me, “Stop starin’ out the winda at them damn ‘porch monkeys’!” I’m not sure how I felt about what she had said to me. I just followed orders and planted my face into my book trying to figure out what Nan-nan had meant by that. My Mom had no comment at all and that is a bit of a shock to think back on how that situation played out.
Nan-nan was a vital person in my upbringing. She was strong willed, outspoken and vivacious. She encouraged me to stand up for myself and speak my mind. Later in life came one of the hardest moments with Nan-nan that I had ever encountered. She was so stubborn that when she was diagnosed with leukemia, she refused treatment. As a result, she eventually suffered a debilitating stroke and waited patiently for me to come to her bedside before she would allow herself to leave this Earth. Assuring her through sobbing tears that I would be fine and that I did not wish for her to suffer, she passed away. I loved her fiercely and though I had become achingly aware of her racism throughout the years, she helped to mold me into the strong, resilient, outspoken woman that I am.
My Dad was an appalling person. He was extremely self-centered, misanthropic, abrasive, and volatile. My Dad worked hard, drank even harder and treated his family with the hardest of hearts. He was a rock star of the Alcoholic Underworld. He not only treated us badly, he treated everyone badly; behind their backs. He was prejudiced against black people. He hated them. If there had been a KKK Klan meeting in our county, my Father would have been there with bells on, offering to light the torches.
My Mom was the most wonderful person in my entire world. She carefully sculpted me into who I am today with her tools of the trade: love and discipline. She was a fair-minded person and the least prejudiced person I have ever known. She taught me not to hate people because of the color of their skin. She instilled in me that skin color had no such effect on just who a person was. The remaining members of my family did not share the same views.
There were a few occasions where Mom had a couple friends over to visit and they were black. I recall my Dad being absolutely fuming when he walked in the door noticing his thoroughly unwelcome guests, who were having a delightful time in our home. He uttered not one word from his lips as he stalked past us all with a scowl on his face. I distinctly remember my Mom and me catching each other’s glances with a brilliant grin upon our faces. Ignorance did not bode well with Mom, as is now the same with me.
Jim Crow laws, superior attitudes and personal fears contributed greatly to racism. From 1876 to 1965, Jim Crow laws were established to separate white from black people. These laws were intended to segregate, but maintain equality; it did not work well. Many attitudes regarding “negroes” were honed by irrational fears. I do not understand the illogical thought patterns that fueled this fear embedded within people. Is it because their skin color is different? If we treat them with the kindness afforded to most human beings, will we catch the slavery bug? And oh no! What if our ancestors had went to the bathroom AFTER a black person had? Lord, have mercy! We might have acquired a darker skin tone! Or heaven forbid that a young Rosa Parks had sat next to one of the racist bigots who were sitting in the front of that now famous bus. They might have learned that there isn’t one single thing to fear from someone who is different from them!
My grandmother grew up in a small town, much like the area where I grew up. She has told me stories about “Nigger Dick” and “Nigger Dori”, an African-American couple who lived outside of the city limits. “Usually on my way to school, I’d pass Nigger Dick walking laboriously home from town. Nigger Dori and Nigger Dick didn’t come to town that often,” she had said to me in a casual tone. They were partially accepted in town, but strictly abided by the Jim Crow laws despite that. Dick and Dori were identified to all the town folk by addressing them as “nigger” before their given name and even referred to themselves as such. Couldn’t they have called them Mr. Dick and Ms. Dori?
I have always been struck by how it seemed absolutely appalling that Dick and Dori were treated like that and even viewed themselves this way or had accepted their lot in life. With every racial situation that I have either witnessed or been partially involved in, I have been stunned at the ignorance hemorrhaging forth from the offender.
Though I find the backwoods thinking of many of the residents of my home town/county distasteful, I think longingly for the simple farm life. I imagine driving as slow as molasses along a country road, behind a roaring, green John Deere combine as it fills the expanse of the road with its ready-to-churn header. I ache for the comforting scent of cow manure as I approach my childhood home. I have been back to once again live for a short period within its simple-minded confines and relished the easy going life. As much as I miss the little things that I was afforded in “that” life, I was never destined for it. God had planned something a bit different for me. I was to go out into the world and forge my own way. There are so few are those who grow up there that leave. Those of us who do, we find it only tolerable to return for short visits because we have found that there is a world outside of those county lines.
I find myself very lucky to have grown up in an area such as I have and racism hasn’t attached itself to my brain like a malignant tumor and metastasized though me. I believe that friends and family back home would fall over astounded to learn that I haven’t acquired their thought patterns regarding black people. They would assume that because I was raised within the folds of their community, I think along the same skewed wave length as many of them do. I am white. I am Irish, Scottish, Norse and German. I have loved a black man. I live with two bi-racial young ladies and adore a bi-racial little girl who I treat with reverence as if she was my own. I am pale and have freckled skin, auburn hair, and brilliant blue eyes. There is no difference between myself and Oprah but trivial things like skin color. I am a human being and so is she. That is all the matters. There is so much more to living than hatred. There is not only us on this Earth, on this continent, in this country, state or county. This country is the land of opportunity and freedom…might we try consider extending our hand and live up to the hype?
I grew up in a small community where the closest neighbor was at least a half of a mile away. My family home sat on 1.5 acres and we had a fairly good sized farm of 87 acres. I lived seven miles outside of the town where I went to elementary, middle and high school, and all of these in the same building. Nearly all of the families that neighbored my home were farming families. The breeze moved with the lush scent of cow, pig and chicken manure. The crystalline blue sky was filled with the charming music of chugging tractors, buzzing grain augers and blaring car horns of people foreign to our meandering style of driving. To us though, that is home. 96% of us are white. The other 4% is a very small mixture of Hispanic migrant workers, Hispanic migrant workers who became permanent residents, and Native Americans. The population is just under 35,000 as a whole. Almost 33,500 residents are white!
In the socially stunted area where I grew up, the racial demographics have always been predominantly white. As a child, I remember an incident where my Mom was driving my Nan-nan to the hospital for some sort of medical procedure. Our county does not have a hospital, so we had to drive about 45 minutes to the next major city (we have no major cities) to have a hospital available to us. As we are driving, we pass a grouping of dilapidated, project-like row houses. I, being a small child, was gazing out of the window at the unfamiliar scenery that passed by outside of my Cadillac rear seat view. My Nan-nan snaps at me, “Stop starin’ out the winda at them damn ‘porch monkeys’!” I’m not sure how I felt about what she had said to me. I just followed orders and planted my face into my book trying to figure out what Nan-nan had meant by that. My Mom had no comment at all and that is a bit of a shock to think back on how that situation played out.
Nan-nan was a vital person in my upbringing. She was strong willed, outspoken and vivacious. She encouraged me to stand up for myself and speak my mind. Later in life came one of the hardest moments with Nan-nan that I had ever encountered. She was so stubborn that when she was diagnosed with leukemia, she refused treatment. As a result, she eventually suffered a debilitating stroke and waited patiently for me to come to her bedside before she would allow herself to leave this Earth. Assuring her through sobbing tears that I would be fine and that I did not wish for her to suffer, she passed away. I loved her fiercely and though I had become achingly aware of her racism throughout the years, she helped to mold me into the strong, resilient, outspoken woman that I am.
My Dad was an appalling person. He was extremely self-centered, misanthropic, abrasive, and volatile. My Dad worked hard, drank even harder and treated his family with the hardest of hearts. He was a rock star of the Alcoholic Underworld. He not only treated us badly, he treated everyone badly; behind their backs. He was prejudiced against black people. He hated them. If there had been a KKK Klan meeting in our county, my Father would have been there with bells on, offering to light the torches.
My Mom was the most wonderful person in my entire world. She carefully sculpted me into who I am today with her tools of the trade: love and discipline. She was a fair-minded person and the least prejudiced person I have ever known. She taught me not to hate people because of the color of their skin. She instilled in me that skin color had no such effect on just who a person was. The remaining members of my family did not share the same views.
There were a few occasions where Mom had a couple friends over to visit and they were black. I recall my Dad being absolutely fuming when he walked in the door noticing his thoroughly unwelcome guests, who were having a delightful time in our home. He uttered not one word from his lips as he stalked past us all with a scowl on his face. I distinctly remember my Mom and me catching each other’s glances with a brilliant grin upon our faces. Ignorance did not bode well with Mom, as is now the same with me.
Jim Crow laws, superior attitudes and personal fears contributed greatly to racism. From 1876 to 1965, Jim Crow laws were established to separate white from black people. These laws were intended to segregate, but maintain equality; it did not work well. Many attitudes regarding “negroes” were honed by irrational fears. I do not understand the illogical thought patterns that fueled this fear embedded within people. Is it because their skin color is different? If we treat them with the kindness afforded to most human beings, will we catch the slavery bug? And oh no! What if our ancestors had went to the bathroom AFTER a black person had? Lord, have mercy! We might have acquired a darker skin tone! Or heaven forbid that a young Rosa Parks had sat next to one of the racist bigots who were sitting in the front of that now famous bus. They might have learned that there isn’t one single thing to fear from someone who is different from them!
My grandmother grew up in a small town, much like the area where I grew up. She has told me stories about “Nigger Dick” and “Nigger Dori”, an African-American couple who lived outside of the city limits. “Usually on my way to school, I’d pass Nigger Dick walking laboriously home from town. Nigger Dori and Nigger Dick didn’t come to town that often,” she had said to me in a casual tone. They were partially accepted in town, but strictly abided by the Jim Crow laws despite that. Dick and Dori were identified to all the town folk by addressing them as “nigger” before their given name and even referred to themselves as such. Couldn’t they have called them Mr. Dick and Ms. Dori?
I have always been struck by how it seemed absolutely appalling that Dick and Dori were treated like that and even viewed themselves this way or had accepted their lot in life. With every racial situation that I have either witnessed or been partially involved in, I have been stunned at the ignorance hemorrhaging forth from the offender.
Though I find the backwoods thinking of many of the residents of my home town/county distasteful, I think longingly for the simple farm life. I imagine driving as slow as molasses along a country road, behind a roaring, green John Deere combine as it fills the expanse of the road with its ready-to-churn header. I ache for the comforting scent of cow manure as I approach my childhood home. I have been back to once again live for a short period within its simple-minded confines and relished the easy going life. As much as I miss the little things that I was afforded in “that” life, I was never destined for it. God had planned something a bit different for me. I was to go out into the world and forge my own way. There are so few are those who grow up there that leave. Those of us who do, we find it only tolerable to return for short visits because we have found that there is a world outside of those county lines.
I find myself very lucky to have grown up in an area such as I have and racism hasn’t attached itself to my brain like a malignant tumor and metastasized though me. I believe that friends and family back home would fall over astounded to learn that I haven’t acquired their thought patterns regarding black people. They would assume that because I was raised within the folds of their community, I think along the same skewed wave length as many of them do. I am white. I am Irish, Scottish, Norse and German. I have loved a black man. I live with two bi-racial young ladies and adore a bi-racial little girl who I treat with reverence as if she was my own. I am pale and have freckled skin, auburn hair, and brilliant blue eyes. There is no difference between myself and Oprah but trivial things like skin color. I am a human being and so is she. That is all the matters. There is so much more to living than hatred. There is not only us on this Earth, on this continent, in this country, state or county. This country is the land of opportunity and freedom…might we try consider extending our hand and live up to the hype?
The Chains That Bind
There is a critical need for more attention to be brought to the issue of sexual human trafficking in today’s society. In researching sexual human trafficking many sources are currently available. This is a recent development; a result of women voicing their enslavement. The atrocity has been occurring for a very long time, but was undisclosed. The time is now to take action, any sort of preemptive action, to stop this horrendous crime from continuing.
In 1862, Abraham Lincoln declared after the Union’s victory at Antietam that slaves would be granted freedom (Murphy). History has shown us in our rough and tumble existence that slavery has been prevalent throughout the ages. It has been known to exist since as early as the 18th-12th century B.C. in the Shang Dynasty of China.
According to the online Encyclopedia Britannica:
In addition, the Chinese practiced self-sale into slavery, the sale of women and children (to satisfy debts or because the seller could not feed them), and the sale of the relatives of executed criminals. Finally, kidnapping seems to have produced a regular flow of slaves at some times. The go-between or middleman was an important figure in the sale of local people into slavery; he provided the distance that made such slaves into outsiders, for the purchasers did not know their origins.
Modern day slavery does not seem much different than the practice the Chinese made of it centuries ago. We, as American citizens, have seen programming or learned about slavery in our history classes; little did we know that it still exists within our borders. Some people may happen to catch a glimpse of a news report about “sex-trafficking”, but it is commonly associated with young women and children of foreign countries.
An article written in 614 Magazine posted on Gracehaven.org best describes this horrible crime against society, “Human trafficking, according to the UN’s definition as laid forth by 2000’s Palermo Protocol, focuses on the exploitation of human beings - be it for sexual exploitation, other forms of forced labor, slavery, servitude, or for the removal of human organs.” There has always been a constant fear in a parent’s mind of their child being kidnapped, but the terror has not been as drastic when taken into consideration the prevalence to sexual human trafficking in today’s modern era. The UN states, “Trafficking takes place by criminal means, through the threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of positions of power, or abuse of positions of vulnerability” (Denino). The criminal aspect flows into every aspect of human trafficking: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring and the receiving of such persons. The definition of human trafficking not only applies to the international trade of persons—it also is applied domestically (Denino).
The fact that this happens under our very noses is appalling. These young women and children being forced into this unfortunate existence may even be our own neighbors. “There are more than 15 court cases in recent Ohio history involving human trafficking, including a bust of more than 50 pimps in a child sex-trafficking ring in Toledo” (Denino). The youngest survivor was six years old when she was found in 2006 here—in Columbus, Ohio—in our community. A community where just around the corner from my own home there is a home which is an Ohio historical landmark from the Underground Railroad. In an article on ABCnews.go.com entitled “Teen Girls’ Stories of Sex Trafficking in the U.S.,” “The FBI estimates that well over 100,000 children and young women are trafficked [domestically] in America today. They range in age from 9 to 19, with the average age being 11.”
Victims of sex-trafficking are not limited to runaways or those who have been neglected/abandoned by their families. Teenagers and pre-teens are in an area of confusion at that period in their life and can easily be lured away from their ‘happy’ homes.
Child predators are everywhere--lurking around every corner. There are many different venues in which predators may initiate contact with their victims, the most common being face-to-face and the use of the Internet.
On a weekly basis, sex offender notifications arrive in mailboxes statewide to give notice to residents within the infiltrated neighborhood that someone who has been convicted and released from prison is living within the vicinity. Child predators are watching our children walk home from school, targeting those young girls whose parents seem to not care what their daughters are wearing--even targeting young men as well.
The Internet has also become an instrument in facilitating this abhorrent crime against society. ‘Joe Pimp’ is on a computer surfing the social networking sites, such as Myspace.com, attempting to convince ‘Tamera Teenager’ that they are the best thing since sliced bread. Their motive: to lure that young, impressionable girl into her own personal hell.
The loss of morals in today’s society has greatly affected the way that young people knowingly, or unknowingly, make themselves targets. The popular culture has impacted the ideals of American society. The economic status of our country within the past thirty years, if not longer, has driven households to become dual-income earning in order to survive day to day living. With the rise of both parents working, that leaves little attention for the children and they are left to their own devices: television, the internet, film, video games and their groups of friends. The psychological damage inflicted by the lack of face-to-face attention from parents drives children to derive that attention from another source. It is a roll of the dice as to what that source might be and who it may be coming from.
Human trafficking is an appalling abuse of basic human rights that affects the most vulnerable among humanity. The victims are baited into a situation and unwittingly find themselves held hostage for deplorable things, in equally deplorable living conditions. “The United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention estimate that approximately 2 million women and children are trafficked each year” (Burke). This daunting number is only on the rise and increasing at an alarming rate. “It is further estimated that global trade in women as merchandise for sex industries generates between seven and twelve billion dollars annually” (Hughes).
Innocent children who become trafficked frequently are subjected to not only physical violence, but mental and emotional abuse. The physical violence alone could cause gross injury or death. “Children are hit, beaten with fists and with objects, and raped in order to ensure their compliance with the expectations of their captors. It is not uncommon for children who have been trafficked into sex slavery to be forced into sex acts with up to 20 men daily” (O’Connell). The physical and psychological torment that the victims of this heinous crime have endured is reprehensible. In addition to the numerous accounts of violence and repeated raping, there is the psychological damage from being torn from their parents or caregivers along with the threat of continuous harm to themselves by their captors. Survivors of sex slavery often suffer from depression, drug abuse, post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Child victims have said they feel as if they are worthless and are ashamed. “Another common reaction to an abusive and dangerous situation is to identify with the abuser” (Burke). It is also feasible that victims of sexual human trafficking as a child will grow into the “business” as well, possibly seeking children out, just as they were besieged.
In our modern society, there should be no allowance for these vile circumstances for those targeted by such predators who would sell them into sexual slavery. In my affiliation with staff from Gracehaven (www.gracehaven.org), I have built a relationship with a young woman who, herself, was a victim of sexual human trafficking. Like the many that I have read about, she too was a vulnerable little girl, conned into the illusion of a better life, drugged by her captors and repeatedly raped. A beautiful little girl’s hopes and dreams shattered by the sadistic machinations of a couple deluding her into the idea of a happy home and a successful modeling career.
Where has culture changed so drastically to allow the slimy underbelly of society to rise into such daunting positions of power? It is heartbreaking to read and hear the accounts of these young women and children. As a Christian woman I am torn between being angry and sad. I think about what I can do and I become distressed with what little I have available to make a difference.
Where there is darkness; there is light. I have a voice and I am calling out to all, not just mothers, fathers, or grandparents; I am calling out to all of humanity. We have all been children and to think what our lives may have been like, or even if we have endured this regrettable crime to speak up and bring awareness to the issue. If there is a young person that someone may suspect is a victim of sexual human trafficking, it is our duty as a human being to make someone aware.
It takes just one person to make a difference in another person’s life. As cliché as it sounds, contact your Congressman or woman, your Senator, the Governor and even the President and First Lady of the United States. There is a need for laws to be made in order to protect those who may be, or have been victimized by such atrocities.
Sadly, children who are rescued from their enslavement are shuffled into juvenile detention centers and charged with prostitution. Seriously, would these judicial figures think that a six year old would willingly prostitute themselves? There are numerous short term shelters scattered across the United States that provide respite for minor children. However, in this country, we have only three operating long term programs. One of these three is located in Toledo, Ohio. These long-term programming homes provide the assistance to minors who are victims of sexual human trafficking. Dr. Jeff Burrows and Theresa Flores (a victim of sexual human trafficking herself) of Gracehaven have dedicated themselves to the overwhelming need for action. Gracehaven will be opening a fourth home for human trafficking victims outside of Columbus, Ohio this coming spring. We are fortunate to have one, and soon a second, in Ohio. However, overall there is a general lack of federal, state and local funding for such programs like the one in Toledo, Ohio and that is a disgrace.
It is a rewarding experience to volunteer to make a difference in another person’s life. I implore you to contact local agencies that educate the community, do your own personal research on this startling subject, volunteer and if you can…donate to a qualified organization. The time for action is now…get involved with an organization that provides some sort of assistance to these unfortunate victims. Why don’t you walk a mile in her shoes? Literally.
Works Cited:
Burke, Mary C. “Child Sex Trafficking.” Brief Report-Child Sex Trafficking. Web. 01/14/2010.
Denino, Kae. “Breaking the Chains.” 614 Magazine, 2009. Web. 01/07/2010.
Hughes, Donna. The “Natasha" Trade: The Transnational Shadow Market of
Trafficking in Women. Journal of International Affairs, 2000. Web. 01/14/2010.
Murphy, Gerald. “Africans in America.” Judgment Day Part:4 1831-1865. Web. 01/07/2010.
O’Connell, Julia. Children and the Global Sex Trade. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. 2005. Print.
Poulson, Kevin. “Pimps Go Online to Lure Kids into Prostitution.” Wired, 2009. Web. 01/10/2010.
“Slavery.” Slaving Owning Societies. Web. 01/07/2010.
“Teen Girls’ Stories of Sex Trafficking in the U.S.” ABC News Primetime, 2006. Web. 1/10/2010.
In 1862, Abraham Lincoln declared after the Union’s victory at Antietam that slaves would be granted freedom (Murphy). History has shown us in our rough and tumble existence that slavery has been prevalent throughout the ages. It has been known to exist since as early as the 18th-12th century B.C. in the Shang Dynasty of China.
According to the online Encyclopedia Britannica:
In addition, the Chinese practiced self-sale into slavery, the sale of women and children (to satisfy debts or because the seller could not feed them), and the sale of the relatives of executed criminals. Finally, kidnapping seems to have produced a regular flow of slaves at some times. The go-between or middleman was an important figure in the sale of local people into slavery; he provided the distance that made such slaves into outsiders, for the purchasers did not know their origins.
Modern day slavery does not seem much different than the practice the Chinese made of it centuries ago. We, as American citizens, have seen programming or learned about slavery in our history classes; little did we know that it still exists within our borders. Some people may happen to catch a glimpse of a news report about “sex-trafficking”, but it is commonly associated with young women and children of foreign countries.
An article written in 614 Magazine posted on Gracehaven.org best describes this horrible crime against society, “Human trafficking, according to the UN’s definition as laid forth by 2000’s Palermo Protocol, focuses on the exploitation of human beings - be it for sexual exploitation, other forms of forced labor, slavery, servitude, or for the removal of human organs.” There has always been a constant fear in a parent’s mind of their child being kidnapped, but the terror has not been as drastic when taken into consideration the prevalence to sexual human trafficking in today’s modern era. The UN states, “Trafficking takes place by criminal means, through the threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of positions of power, or abuse of positions of vulnerability” (Denino). The criminal aspect flows into every aspect of human trafficking: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring and the receiving of such persons. The definition of human trafficking not only applies to the international trade of persons—it also is applied domestically (Denino).
The fact that this happens under our very noses is appalling. These young women and children being forced into this unfortunate existence may even be our own neighbors. “There are more than 15 court cases in recent Ohio history involving human trafficking, including a bust of more than 50 pimps in a child sex-trafficking ring in Toledo” (Denino). The youngest survivor was six years old when she was found in 2006 here—in Columbus, Ohio—in our community. A community where just around the corner from my own home there is a home which is an Ohio historical landmark from the Underground Railroad. In an article on ABCnews.go.com entitled “Teen Girls’ Stories of Sex Trafficking in the U.S.,” “The FBI estimates that well over 100,000 children and young women are trafficked [domestically] in America today. They range in age from 9 to 19, with the average age being 11.”
Victims of sex-trafficking are not limited to runaways or those who have been neglected/abandoned by their families. Teenagers and pre-teens are in an area of confusion at that period in their life and can easily be lured away from their ‘happy’ homes.
Child predators are everywhere--lurking around every corner. There are many different venues in which predators may initiate contact with their victims, the most common being face-to-face and the use of the Internet.
On a weekly basis, sex offender notifications arrive in mailboxes statewide to give notice to residents within the infiltrated neighborhood that someone who has been convicted and released from prison is living within the vicinity. Child predators are watching our children walk home from school, targeting those young girls whose parents seem to not care what their daughters are wearing--even targeting young men as well.
The Internet has also become an instrument in facilitating this abhorrent crime against society. ‘Joe Pimp’ is on a computer surfing the social networking sites, such as Myspace.com, attempting to convince ‘Tamera Teenager’ that they are the best thing since sliced bread. Their motive: to lure that young, impressionable girl into her own personal hell.
The loss of morals in today’s society has greatly affected the way that young people knowingly, or unknowingly, make themselves targets. The popular culture has impacted the ideals of American society. The economic status of our country within the past thirty years, if not longer, has driven households to become dual-income earning in order to survive day to day living. With the rise of both parents working, that leaves little attention for the children and they are left to their own devices: television, the internet, film, video games and their groups of friends. The psychological damage inflicted by the lack of face-to-face attention from parents drives children to derive that attention from another source. It is a roll of the dice as to what that source might be and who it may be coming from.
Human trafficking is an appalling abuse of basic human rights that affects the most vulnerable among humanity. The victims are baited into a situation and unwittingly find themselves held hostage for deplorable things, in equally deplorable living conditions. “The United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention estimate that approximately 2 million women and children are trafficked each year” (Burke). This daunting number is only on the rise and increasing at an alarming rate. “It is further estimated that global trade in women as merchandise for sex industries generates between seven and twelve billion dollars annually” (Hughes).
Innocent children who become trafficked frequently are subjected to not only physical violence, but mental and emotional abuse. The physical violence alone could cause gross injury or death. “Children are hit, beaten with fists and with objects, and raped in order to ensure their compliance with the expectations of their captors. It is not uncommon for children who have been trafficked into sex slavery to be forced into sex acts with up to 20 men daily” (O’Connell). The physical and psychological torment that the victims of this heinous crime have endured is reprehensible. In addition to the numerous accounts of violence and repeated raping, there is the psychological damage from being torn from their parents or caregivers along with the threat of continuous harm to themselves by their captors. Survivors of sex slavery often suffer from depression, drug abuse, post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Child victims have said they feel as if they are worthless and are ashamed. “Another common reaction to an abusive and dangerous situation is to identify with the abuser” (Burke). It is also feasible that victims of sexual human trafficking as a child will grow into the “business” as well, possibly seeking children out, just as they were besieged.
In our modern society, there should be no allowance for these vile circumstances for those targeted by such predators who would sell them into sexual slavery. In my affiliation with staff from Gracehaven (www.gracehaven.org), I have built a relationship with a young woman who, herself, was a victim of sexual human trafficking. Like the many that I have read about, she too was a vulnerable little girl, conned into the illusion of a better life, drugged by her captors and repeatedly raped. A beautiful little girl’s hopes and dreams shattered by the sadistic machinations of a couple deluding her into the idea of a happy home and a successful modeling career.
Where has culture changed so drastically to allow the slimy underbelly of society to rise into such daunting positions of power? It is heartbreaking to read and hear the accounts of these young women and children. As a Christian woman I am torn between being angry and sad. I think about what I can do and I become distressed with what little I have available to make a difference.
Where there is darkness; there is light. I have a voice and I am calling out to all, not just mothers, fathers, or grandparents; I am calling out to all of humanity. We have all been children and to think what our lives may have been like, or even if we have endured this regrettable crime to speak up and bring awareness to the issue. If there is a young person that someone may suspect is a victim of sexual human trafficking, it is our duty as a human being to make someone aware.
It takes just one person to make a difference in another person’s life. As cliché as it sounds, contact your Congressman or woman, your Senator, the Governor and even the President and First Lady of the United States. There is a need for laws to be made in order to protect those who may be, or have been victimized by such atrocities.
Sadly, children who are rescued from their enslavement are shuffled into juvenile detention centers and charged with prostitution. Seriously, would these judicial figures think that a six year old would willingly prostitute themselves? There are numerous short term shelters scattered across the United States that provide respite for minor children. However, in this country, we have only three operating long term programs. One of these three is located in Toledo, Ohio. These long-term programming homes provide the assistance to minors who are victims of sexual human trafficking. Dr. Jeff Burrows and Theresa Flores (a victim of sexual human trafficking herself) of Gracehaven have dedicated themselves to the overwhelming need for action. Gracehaven will be opening a fourth home for human trafficking victims outside of Columbus, Ohio this coming spring. We are fortunate to have one, and soon a second, in Ohio. However, overall there is a general lack of federal, state and local funding for such programs like the one in Toledo, Ohio and that is a disgrace.
It is a rewarding experience to volunteer to make a difference in another person’s life. I implore you to contact local agencies that educate the community, do your own personal research on this startling subject, volunteer and if you can…donate to a qualified organization. The time for action is now…get involved with an organization that provides some sort of assistance to these unfortunate victims. Why don’t you walk a mile in her shoes? Literally.
Works Cited:
Burke, Mary C. “Child Sex Trafficking.” Brief Report-Child Sex Trafficking. Web. 01/14/2010.
Denino, Kae. “Breaking the Chains.” 614 Magazine, 2009. Web. 01/07/2010.
Hughes, Donna. The “Natasha" Trade: The Transnational Shadow Market of
Trafficking in Women. Journal of International Affairs, 2000. Web. 01/14/2010.
Murphy, Gerald. “Africans in America.” Judgment Day Part:4 1831-1865. Web. 01/07/2010.
O’Connell, Julia. Children and the Global Sex Trade. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. 2005. Print.
Poulson, Kevin. “Pimps Go Online to Lure Kids into Prostitution.” Wired, 2009. Web. 01/10/2010.
“Slavery.” Slaving Owning Societies. Web. 01/07/2010.
“Teen Girls’ Stories of Sex Trafficking in the U.S.” ABC News Primetime, 2006. Web. 1/10/2010.
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