|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Diversity celebrations look to the future
Boisterous voices singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic showed signs of a congregation respecting their colorful past while marching in time toward a hopeful future during a service Feb. 17 in Berryville.Black history month isn't just about remembering the past. It's about looking toward the future.
African American churches around the county celebrated their heritage and the growing diversity during services this month.
At Mt. Airy Baptist Church, Michael Carter wanted the older members to remember where they came from and where they have to go.
"The parents and community elders are responsible for teaching the younger people to take care of what they've got and what they're given," he said.
Growing up in Clarke County, Carter lived in a segregated community.
“I couldn't go in the Tastee-Freez,” he said, “I had to order from the outside counter.”
While Carter acknowledged advancements in civil rights, he wants to encourage black community members to take more authoritative roles in the school system and town council.
"Blacks should want to feel equal to everyone in the county," including those in the political arena, he said. "It is only a matter of getting ourselves in a position to see what we can do."
Questions such as, "Are you going to vote this year?” and “Do you value the things you have now?" were topics Carter hoped to address at the event.
"You can see the change that’s going on,” he told the congregation. “A black man and another minority, a woman, are running for the presidency," he called out as cheers rose from the crowd.
Miriam Porter, of Fauquier County, also spoke at the service, focusing on the importance of education.
Porter is the product of a segregated school where seven grades of students were taught in a one-room schoolhouse, with no running water or hot meals.
"I want young people to know their history and appreciate all the things that are accessible to them," Porter said. “We got a good education because we had role models. The janitors and the kitchen aides were all on us to do our best.”
Today, Porter said, black students don’t have as much encouragement because predominantly white women are teaching them.
She discouraged the congregation from procrastinating because tomorrow is not promised.
“Use tools and talents today, not when you get around to it,” she said.
Across town, Christopher Morgan spoke of the importance of diversity at St. Mary’s Church.
Morgan is a Clarke County native now working in Washington, D.C., for Fidelity Insurance.
“Ethnicities should work together for the good of mankind,” he said.
A willingness to conform with others is sometimes based on the places where people live and how many people they are exposed to, he said.
He credits his open-mindedness to his parents who raised him to respect and embrace different cultures.
Being a businessman in the District, Morgan said that he has learned about being more receptive to other cultures.
"There should be a willingness to understand differences," he said. "Just because people don't do things like you doesn't mean that it's right or wrong."
Morgan hoped that he could shine some light on the importance of "implementing other ways of life and making them your own" as a step toward tolerance.
You must be logged in to post a comment.