Racism In America: Past, Present, and Future

Part 2

I would like to recommend an excellent DVD entitled “Driving While Black: Race, Space, and Mobility in America.” It was produced by PBS and it gives a complete history of African Americans who faced tremendous racism as they traveled across America. While watching this film, it brought back memories of when I was a child and my father drove us south to Alabama to visit my grandparents. He drove a big white Chevrolet. This was in the early 1950’s.

I will never forget how he would pull aside in the dark of night on the road to get some sleep after driving for miles. He would tell my mother to remain awake and watch out for anyone who was suspicious. I was about 10 years old, and at that time I did not know the danger of traveling south. There were no superhighways during this time. We could not stay in the hotels to sleep over night to get rest from traveling long hours. My mother would roll up the windows so my father could sleep. When I watched this film, I realized what danger we were in when we traveled south.

Driving while Black is a two-hour documentary. It examines the history of African Americans on the road from the 1930s to the 1950s and beyond. From the depths of the Depression to the height of the civil rights movement and on to today, this film explores deeply embedded racism and mobility in America. It gives the historical background and it really deals in reality. Jim Crow and the rise of the Klan is explored. The turbulent time of race is highlighted. It goes through racial, cultural, and political history. It is a must- see film for all Americans. It explains why Blacks took most of their belongings while traveling south. They took food, blankets, coolers, and clothes in big trunks. This also reminded me of my mother, who packed fried chicken and pound cake for us to eat along the way. Restaurants would not serve us. Blacks had to travel along the backroads to avoid attention to any white person who wanted to stop them.

I really appreciate this film because it features a number of African American historians. The film was written by an African American scholar named Gretchen Sorin along with Ric Burns. It was released in 2020. I would recommend that families watch it together and perhaps have some discussion later.