Thursday, 07 May 2009

• Porter Irony

  I heard a great story on that NPR this morning.  Since y’all don’t listen to that liberal rubbish enough I thought I’d share it with you – just part of our continuing commitment to excellence here at AliasUndercover®.

   

  I think this story defines irony.  See if you think so, too – For about 100 years the most elite and luxurious way to travel in this country was by train in a Pullman Sleeping Car.  They were marvels of luxury, comfort and even opulence, but the absolute key to the experience was The Pullman Porter.  This kind, gentle, polite servant is what made the trip, even for the wealthiest, an unparalleled pleasure.

   

  George Pullman patented the revolutionary design for his comfortable car and insisted on materials only of the highest quality, but at least as important – if not more so – was the staff of each car.  Pullman designed the job specifically with the African American male (Negro, as he was called in the politest society at the time) in mind.

   

   

  His wretched, Darwin-ish, evil, and successfully sound reasoning went like this:

   

  1)      The Negro had been bred for and was quite experienced with subservience.

  2)      They would work for much lower wages.

  3)      The powerful railroad unions would not accept Negros as members.

  4)      Because of the societal circle or “class” difference between white and black, a Pullman guest could behave however he or she desired without fear of gossip that would get back to his or her peers.

   

  The porters were often victims of cruel racism and condescension, but the worst, even worse than the horrible N-word, was being called a “georgy”.  As if the porters were enslaved to George Pullman.  Because it was so demeaning, few porters ever discussed their job even with their family.  By and large, they collected their small wages and kept working.  However, there exists tremendous power in a small wage, if it is steady and handled wisely.  Many of the greatest black professionals in the 20^th century were the children and grandchildren of lowly Pullman Porters – who directly witnessed the benefits of education and therefore, encouraged and paid for the education of their descendants.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Because of idiotic,

  lunatic,

  evil,

  vicious

  racist attitudes,

  Pullman created a job fit solely for the oppressed Negro, thus creating (100 years later) a black middle-class that would have horrified him! Ironic, I think.

   

   

   

   

   

   

  On December 1, 1955 42 year old Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat in the middle of a bus and move further back.  The first call she made upon her arrest was to E. D. Nixon.  E. D. Nixon then called a list of 13 local ministers to support a bus boycott; 3^rd on his list and the only one to volunteer (after some thought) was a young Martin Luther King, Jr. The rest, as they say, is history.

   

  So, not discounting Ms. Parks’ brave civil disobedience, the driving force behind the Civil Rights Movement was E. D. Nixon – president of Montgomery Branch of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, most commonly known as the Pullman Porters Union.  And now you know

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  the rest of the story.

   

  AU~out

   

  • 12:39 PM
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