POLITICS IS EVERYWHERE. Fictional by L. Handiboe
Leeann's, mother was a good tennis player, she wasn't good at anything, seems. A place long ago. in the area of NE, Washington, DC, they called "Turkey Thicket," had a tennis court. Cost about 50 or 75 cts. to play and they supplied the tennis rackets, balls etc.
When she went there to play tennis, there was usually a guy there a young man, who wore a black leather jacket and always said well, POLITICS' IS EVERYWHERE. He was sort of an uneducated young man, white a rather good looking a, ... very local philosopher I guess.
It didn't matter to this man that DC, his home town was world famous for politics, what seemed to matter was that politics, is just another word for idea's, so therefore idea's are everywhere. Well, make's sense doesn't it?
The young man, a Caucasian, by today's standards would be called a white racist, but almost looked as if he was an admirer of the movie On the Water Front, w
hich depicts a man fighting on the docks for rights.
If you asked this young man named Gene, he would describe himself as someone, who had a local gang and wanted, of course to change the world. He didn't play tennis, it was for "Sissy's."
Catholic University, was within easy walking distance as it was also, in Northeast DC. the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which is an incredibly beautiful monument to Roman Catholicism, wasn't yet built.
In 1959, Washington, DC, was just well more of a Southern-type area-there are those who'd still say well, it was below the MASON/DIXON line, so what would you expect. Well, it may have been but to many still abiding only in the southern Confederacy, it was not only NOT there real Capitol, but an "Evil town" from which the order's to destroy them came, along with "Crook's"/CARPETBAGGERS, that meant politician's from DC-giving order's to them in the South.
You could go into DC, in the 1950s and buy fire cracker's, I don't mean fire works like just sparkler's but, I mean things like cherry Bomb's, FIRE CRACKERS!
The girl, Leeann, was young and learning about the various area's, meeting all kind's. If there was ONE, place in the world you could meet all kind's it, was in my opinion, Washington, DC, and nearby area's at the time. Leeann's next-door, neighbor was a diplomat from Venezuela. His family had a son who was about age 15 and an excellent tennis player, among other things.
Leeann, was born there in the city of DC, in a hospital, named after a President. So many things were named after a president anyway's there.
Up the street from where Leanne lived right outside of DC, within walking distance, there was a small black "rural" place where about 20 black families lived. One place in particular there was a lady with a large old house, with a big porch, dirt roads lead to her place and theirs. She was full of old sayings and old ways and only like Southerners. She claimed to be a southern.
The elderly black lady claimed she was a Southerner and told stories, that were hard to believe about Abe LINCOLN, she claimed that during the Civil War her mother worked for a Southern wealthy man of Virginia and that she was about age three and still, her mother was what is called a slave. The young girl Leeann, found this hard to believe, not only would it make her well almost a 100, but it just seemed hard to believe. The old black lady also, claimed she preferred the South.
Even in the 1950s segregated Maryland, DC area no one, I guess should or would make such a claim-it was like heresy. The elderly black woman explained unlike what was taught in most schools, public, even then was that all blacks or slaves really were absolutely grateful to Ole' Abe LINCOLN, for the liberating army.
This elderly lady with the scars of chains on her ankles but they were healed and looked very old, claimed these scars were not from that fact that her mother lived-in-part and had been a slave-but they were later from a conquering army the Union. Right near an old Fort Steven's, in Takoma Park, Maryland she lived. That community has long since become part of the developer's parcels of land and now I guess a high rise or something similar.
(In 1860 Takoma Park was a woodlot owned by the Carroll Plantation, adjacent to the 7th Street Turnpike (modern day Georgia Avenue, one of the main north-south streets in DC) which was defended against the confederate troops of Gen. Jubal Early at the nearby battle of Fort Stevens in DC.
Early's troops occupied the home of Montgomery Blair, postmaster for Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist, along the turnpike near the DC line.
Blair's plantation, Silver Spring, became the major unincorporated city of Silver Spring (pop. 50,000) and the Carroll Plantation became Takoma Park, MD. Both towns are situated on the DC line adjacent to one another.
Georgia Avenue, to the west, is the main N-S gateway into Silver Spring from Washington, DC.
In the 1930's, nearby Silver Spring was one of the first automobile-oriented "suburban shopping centers" in the country.
At the time, it was a pit stop on the railroad on the periphery of Takoma Park, a town of 17-21,000 (not including adjacent Takoma DC).
Today Silver Spring is much larger and more heavily developed, and the suburban areas of Silver Spring envelop Takoma Park to the north and east, while Takoma Park has remained relatively unchanged outside of the immediate Metro station area. )
Continued
The elderly black woman told stories that were anything but for the so-called liberating Army, Union." She said that when the Union armies came through they destroyed everything in their path, that her mother had been a slave to a Virginian family of wealth and that her mother was harmed immensely by the "invading army" of the North, because she just didn't join in with the Union, (Or probably didn't have chance or know how). The invading Northerner's came into Virginia after the defeat of the Confederacy, and all the slaves were let go, those who disobeyed the occupiers were shot, moved or just plain harmed in a cruel/and diabolical of ways.
She was still calling where she lived Virginia as were the other families who lived there. They were moved there after or during the later years of the civil war and it was a small area that was made into something like a village.
When visiting the elderly lady as a young girl, because someone the young girl knew also, lived there and began going to the same school, you'd notice a big mirror right away, and lacy table cloths over some tables old fashioned Tiffany looking lamps and just generally all old fashioned stuff and a few flies, flying around on the porch near the old porch rocker there.
What was so fascinating, was the stories that were mostly dismissed by the young girl, because of the time span and also, that in schools of that day there they were taught that the Union Army were all great and the confederates were all evil? Also, that only the confederate's were evil and wrong. There were no exceptions taught, they did not admit to any atrocities upon Southern civilians as such, nor did they ever admit at that time to horrible mistreatment and lies that the Union side did to any slaves.
By about 1961 the little village OR enclave of togetherness, that this group lived with their memories and their distrained beliefs were moved and moved to a fairly nice apartment behind a theater now gone. The theater was called the Allen theater, and the Maryland State board of censors, was still judging all movies in Maryland at the time.
It would make one remember, if not question or dislike something that seemed so wrong and disingenuous about the teachings of the day about the losing confederates.
Sadly this woman and her tales of truth's or lies, will probably be forgotten and dismissed as only part of war. It's better that way, all them there I am sure trade their families facts as if they are and dismiss, the lies as they know they are.