Hello SCR family,
Welcome to our first blog. We’re always glad to have you join in on the fun with On the Front Porch and Coffee with Howie in the Morning every morning on the original Front Porch. We love all our family, no matter what color, race or creed.
Similarly, we’re proud of our culture and national heritage. We’re so proud of it, we made sure to include it in our name Southern Country Radio. Our company’s, and our family’s, values are based on those of the Founding Fathers. Men of consciousness and dreamers who worked for a country free from tyranny.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not write a document about what was, but about what could be - what they hoped would be after a great deal of work by everyone in the Colonies. Colonists made the choice to work together to create a new system and new lives. Yes, there were problems with their new society. Slavery and indentured servitude were prominent across all 13 colonies and would not be abolished for another 87 years.
Today, we find our country in a similar situation. Many look back on their lives and the lives of their ancestors and feel that they are still being held back by the stigma of race. And they may have a point.
People of color are more likely to be infected with COVID-19, be diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, and any number of other diseases. Why is this? True, science has proven there is a genetic tendency for these things. In addition, a higher proportion of people of color (not just Blacks, but American Indians, Mexicans, and many others) than Caucasians live in poverty, have low-paying jobs in the public eye like food service and retail work, and as a result, may have little to no healthcare. Poor diet and limited healthcare have also been proven to decrease a person’s overall health.
It was not only people of color who were in this position. Most indentured servants (mostly whites) lived lives little better than those of actual slaves. If they were ever able to work their way out of the debt to their masters, they rarely had funds to start a new life and choose to stay where they were and under the same conditions. This continued onto the days of factory and mining towns. Employees were paid in company script, forcing them to buy overpriced items from the “Company Store” and then going into debt to the same store when the script ran out. Their earnings were just enough to pay off most of their existing debt, but never enough to get ahead.
Today, the same thing happens. Between predatory lending and limited income, many low-income workers are “wage slaves.” They work paycheck to paycheck, never able to get ahead. It’s still not just people of color who live like this.
There are a large number of Caucasians who live below the property line. Why is this point important to me? Because I was there. I grew up on a small farm in Oregon. We were on Food Stamps. Even with both parents working full time off the farm and the large garden we tended each year, it was a struggle for my parents to provide for us. We lived in a double-wide trailer. My grandmother lived on the farm in the house Grandpa built for her and watched us after school. I don’t know if she was on Food Stamps too, but I do know that she was a regular recipient of food boxes from the local church where she was a Sunday School Teacher.
My entire working life I’ve worked retail and shift work. Even today, while my day job pays enough to cover our bills, it just barely does so. I’ve supported as many as 10 family members on my income and learned the hard way how to budget and cook filling meals with the least expensive ingredients. I have an office job now, and I still pick up generic cup-o-soup because they are cheap (three for $1) and fast, filling meals that I can quickly eat during my 30-minute lunch or cook up quickly when the little one wants something to eat and the cupboard is getting bare. I still have to decide each week which utility bill I can put off another week so I can buy groceries.
In towns like Nashville, the rental prices are more than the recommended ⅓ of a family’s monthly income. When we were looking for a place to rent seven years ago, we gave up and started looking for a house to buy. Rents were 2 to 3 times what they were in Oregon, while monthly mortgage payments were less than what we were paying. We were able to lower our housing payments by $200 per month. We were motivated to get out of a bad situation and start over fresh. Lil’ Bubba was just a gleam in his momma’s eye when we made the decision to move and start over. Once we knew he was coming, we decided to move as soon as possible to ensure he didn’t have the same drawbacks growing up his mom and her cousins did.
This is what all people need to do to improve their lives. We made the best choices we could when our family was young, always working towards making a better life for our family. Early on, we made the decision that I would work and Howie would stay home since I could make more money than he could. This came in handy when he started having health issues, since I was already the breadwinner and he had family nearby to help so I could continue to work.
When our daughter was young, I worked full time and went to school full time to enable myself to get better and better jobs. We moved from an extremely poor neighborhood to a much better one. Then I got a good job in communications that was a 15 minute walk from home so I didn’t have to spend an hour commuting each way. Our daughter grew and thrived, got married and became pregnant.
After moving here, we have continued to make the same kind of decisions. We started this radio station as an investment in our family’s future. I completed my Bachelors in Accounting while working full time and became a member of management at the company I still work at.
Those marching on our cities and creating “Autonomous Zones” need to make these same types of decisions. They need to keep actively working to better the lives of their individual families. Make the changes they want at home first. Change happens from the bottom up.
Keep the fathers in the home to provide examples of proper behavior. If they made poor choices, only let them back in the home if they change their ways. Don’t allow anyone to drag your children into gang life. Stand firm in your decisions, but have an open mind and heart. Parents, show your daughters they are worth more than a quick tumble and a baby machine. That they don’t need to keep pumping out children to keep the welfare and Food Stamps coming in. Women, teach your children the power of saving, budgeting and compound interest. Expect more of your children and they will give you more.
Expect them to work for what they want. Teach them to set good goals and to achieve them one step at a time. Show them by word and deed that setbacks don’t mean a goal can’t be reached, just that they’ll need to take a little longer or go a different route. Explain that having children outside of marriage will cause a setback, but that all children are worthy and to be loved.
Teach your children that color and money don’t matter, actions do. I’d much rather Lil’ Bubba grow up to be a happy, contributing member of society than a rich one. I’m proud of the many times he’s made the right decisions; politely standing up to a bully on the playground; showing a scared black girl that not all white people are bad; loving people where they are. I’m sure he’ll grow into a wonderful husband and father someday - no matter who he decides to be with.
Protesters, please take these actions into consideration when you are demonstrating. Keep making choices that better your life and that of your family’s. Don’t have kids yet? That’s OK, make choices that will better their lives anyway. Damage, destruction and looting is never a good choice. Think about this - would you want to tell your grandkids that you looted and burned white-owned businesses? What if their partner is white? What if your partner is white? For that matter, what if you are white? Is this the kind of example you want to be?
Not me.
Don’t let the mistakes of past centuries prevent you from making good choices today. Educate yourself. Work hard to provide for your family and their future. Make the decision, today and everyday, to make the best choices you can.
Miss Tara