This may seem like a weird post for Memorial Day here in America, but I assure you it is not. I do not wish to memorialize my grandfather in a positive way, but expose him for who he was. A wee mind of a man who could not comprehend how insignificant he was to the world.
You see, I am not the only one who has had to come to grips with the fact that you can not control who your ancestors were. I do not apologize on his behalf as I am not responsible for who he was and his small mind. While the only positive thing I can say about him was that despite being a separatist, for which he was proud of, he did not wish harm to come to anyone regardless of their skin color or race, just that he did not want to ever have to live next people different from who he was. He fought in WWII to prove that point, but to only come home even more embittered as the civil rights movement was about to kick in full gear.
Many in my family want his story to be a skeleton in the closet that no one talks about. But I know abuse can only exist if it is kept a secret in the dark, to never be exposed to the light of day. He was a horrible racist person. I was, and still am, embarrassed by how he spoke to people and how he treated his neighbors.
My grandfather was pulled from high school at age 16 to work in the steel mills. Severely uneducated, he was always fearful that someone, no matter what their race, was after his job. Unfortunately, that lack of education spilled over to his social views as well.
Unbeknownst to him. His eldest daughter was to marry a quiet, loving man who lived a life based upon the belief that all men were created equal. My dad and his father had more sway and influence over me than the bigot who was my maternal grandfather. Even as a small kid I knew inside that there was something not right about my mother’s dad.
My point in all of this is as I have said, you have no control over who were relatives were, but you do have control over the future you wish to be known for. I worked hard to instill into my children that there is only one race, the human race.
Today, I celebrate having a daughter-in-law-law from Latin America, a daughter who is in a committed relationship with someone from Asia, and another son who married into a family that emigrated here from Eastern Europe. All of which I am proud to say I considered to be some of the best people here in the United States, though they were not born here. I also pastor a bi-racial church.
My life has been so blessed and enriched, being touched by cultures that derive from all around the world. My grandfather today would be rolling over in his grave at my life and family. And what better way to memorialize my bigoted grandfather than by reminding the world of just how wrong he was.
Your family legacy is in your hands.
Unspoken Theology 