James Cameron

The founder of the Black Holocaust Museum, James Cameron, 92, died yesterday. I'll be perfectly honest, I had no idea there was such a museum, in Milwaukee, or anywhere else for that matter. But when I heard about this man's death, it got me to thinking. No, I'm not black, but it doesn't really matter. What happened to this man (and many others) during his lifetime is a blight on our whole society. I know we've come a long way since those days, but I still see work to be done, on BOTH sides. I grew up in the south. I remember the "white only/colored only" water fountains (bubblers to you in Milwaukee), the "white only" restrooms, and the segregated lunch counters at the 5 & Dime. I remember not being able to go to the back of the bus to look out the window because my mom said "that's for THEIR kind, not ours, and it wouldn't be nice of you to take up a seat one of them might need". I was 5 and it made no sense to me why I couldn't look out the back window. I remember the grown up talking at their weekly cocktail party about how a man was found hanging from a tree. I didn't understand that either. I'm 52 now, and I still don't understand!