A Native American served as vice president 92 years ago.
Charles Curtis was inaugurated as America's first (and only) Native American vice president. Curtis was a member of the Kaw (also called Kanza) Nation.
Curtis was born in 1860 in what was then the Kansas Territory to a White father and an Indian mother. His mother died when he was just three, and he was left in the care of his Indian grandmother.
"He lived with the Kaw people on the reservation," said Pauline Sharp, a member of the Kaw Nation. "He learned how to ride horses, he could speak the language."
But he was sent to live with his white grandmother and that changed his life.
I have become aware that our history lessons in school were chosen by white men who wanted us to learn only what they felt was important and necessary.
In recent years, we have learned about many women who were notable and should have been in the history books. Books have been written and movies made about the lives of females who were important to our world.
I don't remember hearing of any black people who were worthy of notice when I was growing up and attending all-white schools.
I am learning now that some of the most important inventions for farming were made by slaves, but they were not allowed to claim the invention. The law at that time stated that because the slave belonged to his master, his invention belonged to his master also.
Recently Charlayne Hunter, the first black woman to enter the University of Georgia where my sister, Gay, and I were in school, discussed that day in January when she and Hamilton Holmes integrated the college.
I have always felt grateful that I lived and was so close to history in the making. It was an experience that helped to make me the person I am now. I became interested in civil rights and realized for the first time that privileged white people were often haters of people they did not know and hated them only because of their race. They also hated people who supported the rights of minorities.
I didn't grow up in a hateful family. My mother was the most loving and caring person I have ever met. My father championed the underdog and was a supporter of human rights even though he never used that term.
Gay and I hung out with a diverse group of girls in college. My Indonesian roommate, Rulia, was intelligent, kind, and generous. She had the dusky skin of the Islands and long, jet black hair. A delightful Chinese-American girl, who is still our close friend, was dear to all of us. Also in that group was a girl from Dalton, Georgia. We laughed and enjoyed it when we gathered to cook and eat in the kitchen of the dorm. Rulia cooked food similar to what we find in Asian restaurants today. She also danced native dances holding lighted candles in her hands. So beautiful and graceful.
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| Rulia, my roommate in college |
This is how a sheltered girl from South Georgia learned to care for people who looked different from her and found them interesting and loving. I seem to gravitate to others who can teach me something about their way of life.
We have far more things in common than we have differences. I wish we could embrace the differences in people and live together in peace in this land where immigrants from all over the world come to follow the American dream.
I hope you are safe and healthy and that you can get your virus vaccine soon. I appreciate your visiting me here and I love to hear from you.
