White children learn early on the policeman is your friend. He keeps us safe.
It is their truth. But the truth is often skewed, as simplistic as these vintage school book illustrations.
The truth is as simple as black and white – the criminal justice system is guilty of treating young black men different from young white men.
If racial identity shapes the way we are treated by police it also shapes the way we are likely to view them.
Disconnects
The all American all white schoolbooks of my own 1960’s childhood served as nothing less than a primer on white privilege.
Without exception, mid-century schoolbooks always presented a heroic picture of police – police officers are the folks who help us when we are lost, keep us safe, protect our homes or who treat us to a thrilling ride in a patrol car in order to show us how exciting it is to be a policeman.
Lessons learned – the policeman is our friend…for some. Even NYC Mayor Bill de Balsio instructed his biracial son to be cautious around police officers. (L) Vintage school book illustration “Stories About Sally” 1956 (R) Photo by photo journalist Danny Lyon 1960s High School student protester
Books with sunny titles like “Working Together” whose stated purpose was to “Help elementary school children develop a healthy perspective of the job of local law enforcement and enable them to function in their expanding environment.”
Police Keep Us Safe
In “our environment police keep us safe. Friendly police help get our beloved family cat down from the tree, or drive us home to our split level when we are lost.
Is it any wonder we experience police most often as helpful protectors of our lives and property.
But whites don’t see the way blacks often experience law enforcement.
In order to stay safe, black children grow up learning rules for surviving encounters with law enforcement learning how to dress walk and respond to police. Fundamental trust and security of policemen is often just one more thing excluded from a black childhood.
Stories We Tell Our Selves
Sweet Home Alabama. Of course there was never racial disparities in lily white Maplewood, or any of the fictitious towns we visited.
Nothing drove home the gap between what we learned in our schoolbooks more than the civil rights movement which by 1963 dominated the news.
The helpful policemen pictured in our primers who served in these make-believe towns were as interchangeable as the conflict-free towns themselves; friendly, welcoming middle class communities with wholesome names like Maplewood, Greenfield and Brookside.
Red, White and Blue
These wholesome pictures and words stood in sharp contrast to TV nightly news which began showing very different pictures of the world around us.
Mid-century School books like “Our World Around Us” were designed “to help guide children through pictures and stories to appreciate and understand their American heritage,” where truth, justice and fairness as exemplified by law enforcement, were the American way.
But our American heritage was being viewed in a different light
These wholesome pictures and words stood in sharp contrast to TV nightly news which began showing very different pictures of the world around us.
On the same familiar RCA TV that brought us pleasant fictional towns like Beaver Cleaver’s Mayfield (that bore a striking resemblance to our school books), we began seeing real towns like Selma and Birmingham where real American teenagers were clubbed by police for sitting at a Birmingham Woolworths, and police attacked helpless schoolchildren with fire hoses and German shepherds.
Our Friend Policeman Bill…no Bull
The widening disjunction between what we saw on the news and our own school book continued to grow wider. Bull Connor the commissioner of Public Safety for his city of Birmingham Alabam and enforcer of racial segregation who bore no resemblance to Friendly Policeman Bill.
In “Greenfield USA” a book geared to second graders, readers are introduced to “Our Friend Policeman Bill” who keeps the fictitious town safe and sound in 1963. “Policeman Bill,” we are told “is very strong. Helping to keep Greenfield safe is hard work.”
That same year we were also were introduced to infamous Birmingham police commissioner Bull Connor who bore no resemblance to Friendly Policeman Bill.
Burly “Bull” didn’t need to be strong to enforce segregation and keep people safe- he used ferocious dogs and fire hoses.
Two images from 1963 (R) Vintage illustration children’s school book, whose purpose the book explained was “to help children develop a healthy perspective of the job of the local law enforcement. (L) Iconic photo taken in Birmingham in May 1963 when police turned their dogs on demonstrators was taken by Bill Hudson an AP Photographer who covered Civil Rights. The NY Times published the photos across 3 columns above the fold the next day.
Of course there was never racial disparities in Lily white Maplewood, Brookside, Greenfield or any fictitious towns we visited.
The gap between our experience of current events and a world populated by friendly white folks would continue to fracture as the decades wore on.
Our Friend The Policeman-Then and Now
We continue to choke on the artifices and discrepancies. Fifty years later, Our Friend the Policeman seems a distant memory and The Ghosts of Bull Connor seems to have come back to haunts us.
The gap between then and now has only grown wider.
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
Policeman Bill keeps Greenfield safe . His uniform and badge tell people he is a policeman
Policeman Bill Helps Our Children To Be Safe
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
What do you see in the picture that tells you the policeman is a kind and helpful person? Do you think he likes children?
Tamir Rice the 12 year old fatally shot by a Cleveland cop for wielding a toy gun.In order to stay safe Black children learn rues for surviving encounters with the law enforcement Even NYC Mayor Bill de Balsio instructed his biracial son to be cautious around police officers. Black Children are not afforded to same presumption of innocence as white children.
Policemen Protect Our Community
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
Policemen Bill keep our streets safe for all Greenfield
In white America there is an uncritical trust that police are always honest combating criminals lurking in the darkness, roaming our streets risking their lives against thugs. Black parents are always fearful that the next time their child walks out the door may be the last, not because they are lost but because someone or a police officer sees them as dangerous, as disrespectful, as reaching for a gun.
Policemen Keep Our Streets Safe
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
Policeman Bill had to learn how to enforce laws and traffic rules and they learn the best ways to make our streets safe.
Michael Brown the un armed teenager killed by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson was confronted by Wilson because he was walking in the street “blocking traffic” Brown had his hands up at the time of the fatal shot. Police are more likely to threaten or use force against Blacks at a traffic stop or elsewhere. Blacks are more likely to have their vehicle searched during traffic stops.
Policeman Bill Helps When Things Go Wrong
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
People like Policeman Bill. They think he does a good job.
Protests flared following a Staten Island grand jury decision not to indict NYC policeman whose choke hold and rough arrest killed Eric Garner. The man who recorded the incident, Ramsey Orta was arrested on weapons charge shortly after the video went viral.
Police Training
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
Policemen go to school to learn the best possible methods of protecting life and property
Along with Rampant Racial Profiling stop and frisk the militarization of the police and the demonization of back men have robbed countless non violent offenders their lives and freedom
Police Are Our friendly Helpers
Vintage illustration Children’s school book “Greenfield USA” 1963 Heath Social Studies Series Illustration Tom Hill
The policeman is a good friend and helper in the time of trouble .
If people are hurt Policeman Bill helps them.
#Blacklivesmatter
© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Reblogged this on Human Interest.
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An excellent review of the problem.
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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I’d love to know what kind of neighborhood you and weggieboy live in. Talk about your typical liberal BS. So lets focus on the 1950’s text books and talk about it.
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So incredibly sad, isn’t it? I also grew up in the 1960’s…and even as a child knew the treatment of the black citizens was wrong! Never looked at it this way, amazing brainwashing of young white kids…thank you for this post…
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It is heartbreaking, but important to be brought to the light and discussion
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Most of the (aged) illustrations were in textbooks on the West coast in the 1950’s. As a native, growing-up there in an integrated society, most of us Black kids were unaware of the real biases (mostly subtle) that existed. That was until we ventured-out into the “real world,” where you begin your ‘societal education’ which included the various and differing forms of racism.
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Yes, the real world could be very sobering.
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The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 that killed four girls was the last day of my childhood. I couldn’t imagine such hate that anyone would kill, let alone kill little girls… Three were around my age, which made it all the more shocking and unimaginable.
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The cracks in many of our innocent childhoods started to appear that year, culminating of course in November
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This is all very true. Many Whites I’ve encountered do not believe that there is systemic cause for distrust of law enforcement amongst Blacks. They rather believe we use this as an excuse or that the vast majority of us are thugs deserving of police brutality and even death.
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Sadly there is justifiable reason to be distrustful, and perhaps with recent events the truth can be seen more clearly under the glaring light of tragedy
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I shared on Facebook because I believe all white people should read this.
I so remember those books. I also remember being caught in 2nd grade (circa 1969), under the teacher’s desk during recess, with a black boy. At the time, I could not figure out why she was so very upset, since we were simply hiding there. She was so torn up she was crying. It made absolutely no sense to me then, but now I think I understand her problem. She probably thought my “white” family would cause her problems for not watching us “lily white girls” closely enough.
It was the one of the first years of integration, we lived in rural GA, and even though my mother went to school with black children, it was receiving national attention because in cities it hadn’t been happening previously. The thing that struck me most, back then, was he was paddled and I wasn’t. Afterwards, I felt an overwhelming guilt, because it was my idea to hide under the teacher’s desk. I do not know what happened with him, afterwards. I remember telling him I was sorry on the playground and he avoided me like the plague.
That teacher created within me the urge to right injustices. She created within me guilt for the wrongs that white people perpetrate upon black people, especially men. She created within me a longing4equality.
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Thank you for sharing your story. Sadly its one of too, too many that deserve to be told and heard. I am glad however that it has spurred you on for longing for social justice.
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Sally this is awesome. I am a black man with son’s and I fear for them. Thank you!!!
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I am glad this was meaningful to you Chris, and my heart breaks that your son must live in fear.
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teach them to respect the law and your boys will be fine.
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First, I appreciate the effort of Sally to keep this blog updated on a routine basis. It’s an entertaining, informative and often times poignant view of American life across all walks of life. I don’t agree with all the editorial tone, but I respect it. This article is very sensational, however.
I agree with the notion that the militarization of police departments in the United States is a massive problem. We have the Homeland Security funding following 9/11 as the root cause of this problem. Police officers are civil servants that should be calling the civilian “sir” and “mam”, not walking around with an intimidating scowl ready to taze anyone that smirks at them wrong. I’m by no means an apologist for law enforcement, I realized they’re not all good guys at a young age. Frank Serpico’s story was another enlightening experience.
That said, I’m open minded enough to realize that there’s good and bad in every profession. This article is very emotionally driven and slanted, which is fine due to it being a personal blog, but it’s a simplified view of a very complex problem that doesn’t stop at race.
If we’re going to cherry-pick images and stories that support our political slant, allow me to bring forth a few contrasting stories that play devils advocate, using liberal mainstream news sites as sources so there’s no accusation of picking conservative news sources.
See this story about a white San Diego police officer sharing a moment of kindness with a black youth moments before he died: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Officer-Henwoods-Final-Act-of-Kindness-127886453.html
For every Ferguson incident, I believe there’s a story like the one above. Of course, we don’t hear too much about this because I believe the media is a propaganda machine that thrives off human conflict of the violent and racial variety. I believe this is why we only hear about incidents where a black teen is “unjustly” killed.
If the African-American community of St. Louis wishes to claim Brown as their cause, then where’s their accountability for the teens that killed Zemir Begic, a Bosnian limo driver who was killed by a group of minority teens with hammers? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/zemir-begic-gave-life-for-wife_n_6249302.html
Anybody remember the story of a white Australian baseball player/college student that was senselessly shot and murdered by young black men simply because they were “bored”? http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/justice/australia-student-killed-oklahoma/
As history plays out, it’s becoming apparent that policies set in motion by Lyndon Johnson in the 60s (“Great Society”) has failed African-American families. The anti-poverty policies of that administration encouraged many black fathers to leave their families, leaving single mothers more financial aid than a married couple in a family unit. No disciplinarian and productive male model has led young men astray.
There’s a radical decline in young men leading productive lives in America–across all race boundaries. Particularly in the Millenial generation.
I don’t know, it’s just a theory. A good idea can come from anywhere, so I try not to make these issues political–they’re human.
As for the militaristic presence of American police officers: this can be blamed on unchecked government spending in the wake of a national tragedy (9/11) as a knee-jerk solution to imagined threat. We nodded our head and OK’d it as a society over a decade ago, and now we have to reap what we sew. Funny how all those gadgets and armory were given to police to protect us from supposed foreign threats, and how quickly those same guns and gadgets will be aimed at us as this perma-Depression continues to deepen.
As the old Latin phrase goes: “I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.”
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Thank you for sharing and I welcome different points of view. Of course you are correct this is a complicated issue and there are good and bad in any profession. I certainly applaud and am grateful to those who have chosen to serve in law enforcement and risk their own lives for our safety. I was giving voice to those not often heard and acknowledge the discrepancies that exist. I hope you will continue to enjoy reading my blog and appreciate your readership.
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Kyle, whatever your age, you’re still too young or else you just don’t know enough history. I’m an older (74) white woman and the history presented by these pictures and the stories by sallyedelstein is far more accurate than your naive views. And re. the Latin phrase “I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude” ….sounds like you’ve bought the store house of rationalizations for the 1 percenters (and their mindless Republican/teapartier followers) hiding behind the skirt of liberty in order to sell this garbage.
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It’s curious to me that you chose to single out my use of the Latin phrase as being representative of my alleged lack of historical understanding of this serious issue. The reason I referred to it was to express my agreement with Sally’s in that I, too, feel police in the United States have become too militarized. I was against it when it happened and I’m still against it, but these episodes of police brutality are a symptoms of a society in decline. That’s my opinion.
This is a complicated topic. At the age of 74, I’d hope your life experience has provided you with the wisdom to realize that these issues are far more complicated at the core than mainstream media make them out to be. I’ll contend, and I welcome you to disprove, that events like these are symptoms of a deeper problem that no one alive or dead knows how to remedy.
All I know is what the news has discussed. Good luck with that, right? Each channel has its own agenda and it’s impossible to get a straight answer as to what fully happened. Conflicting witness accounts and video footage. Maybe you were there in Ferguson the day the shooting occurred and know better than the rest of us?
As convenient as it would be to use cute cartoon pamphlets from fifty years ago (that people of the time probably didn’t even take seriously) to articulate the reasons behind a messy social issue, I know it’s more convoluted than we seem to be giving it credit for here at Envisioning the American Dream. I addressed that respectfully before. To each their own.
As far as my knowledge of history, I never claimed to be a Rhodes Scholar but I do know that history is replete with totalitarian governments that overstepped their legal responsibilities to the people in which they served. Is Ferguson an example of this? Possibly. If we’re going to infer that we as a society are facing a ramped up, militarized police state, we should re-analyze the draconian legislation passed under the Bush administration and continued by the Obama administration that has made this acceptable.
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Glad I discovered this blog – excellent work especially in the juxtaposition of illustrations and reality. Here’s my story: I was in second grade in 1970 at an all white Catholic school. Our teacher, a sister of Notre Dame (all the teachers were then), took us to the library (where the only TV in the school was at the time) to watch this new educational show The Electric Company. Well. After about five minutes Sister told one of the boys to turn it off. To this day I remember her saying “you will not bring that STREET language into this school.” I was 7 years old but I got what she was getting act.
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Well demonstrated.
Thank you Sally for exposing some of the truths in our society. Sadly as viewpoints are concerned, many concerning the outtake on police are true because of history. While there are bad eggs on both sides of the fence, the current and existing problem is how minorities have been and are still being treated.
While there are many who use black on black crime or black on white crime as an excuse, those who also claim such activities as an excuse to demoralize others also forget white on white crime as well as crimes done in general to society, crimes of humanity against humanity. The problem with this psychological attitude of racism that has generated the effects of fear and paranoia it’s created from years of arrogance, enslavement, and tyrant behavior upon others. It is very much evil as I believe the many years of others participating and watching humans die in excruciating pain has actually numbed the mind of any morality and because others who have also participated in the same hateful behaviors it was viewed as “Acceptable”. Conquer, Kill, Destroy much as Conan the Barbarian. Because there are many of us it is “okay” to do so because “we” find it “Acceptable” because it does not “Affect” us and it is “beneficial” to us. It is beneficial to hurt and kill those who are not “like us”. Oh how wrong the stupidity of racism really is, no matter how much one views themselves as an ‘intellect’.
Essentially, blacks, as of any race are human beings. The problem is that the culture has taught that anyone who is not white is either essentially a monster,a disposable rag or object to be dealt with a bullet or death. Blacks haven’t created this type of tyrant-behavior in America nor other races who came to live here. It started first and foremost with the mindset of slavery and treating humans as objects, a very similar psychological mindset of terrorist or tyrants. However as I am finding is that in history, most often blacks are the only ones who are focused on the most as enslavement besides those of Jewish descendant. There also has been enslavement of whites as well too but this is a fact that is often left out of the history-books. Perhaps for the purpose of deeming one race as invaluable to the next while constantly praising a specific one as more intellectual and the other one “so unintelligent it became enslaved”.
From a standpoint there is a lot of psychological methods behind it. Lack of morals and human greed has also created the problems that we see now in society. It’s one big rat-race that eats itself alive in hatred and moves onto the next victims and carriers, passing the same type of mentalities down through generations that accept it while antagonizing and victimizing the next.
Our problem in society is that there are corrupt people in our system who, as long as it doesn’t touch their gold or agendas, could care less. I am sadden to have to grow up in a society where killing innocent children or a man, or even a female is deemed “acceptable” because the victim is non-white. Their crime is their own existence and that is horribly wrong on many levels to have innocents die because of it.
If the roles were reversed, just even for a month or 3 to see how life really is for African Americans then maybe people would become humble and passionate again. Not everyone will no, but America has grown callous and hard and in those terms, is no different than terrorist who oppress others in other societies around the world. When we treat our citizens like disposable garbage based on their skin-tone we are no better than the terrorist who kill women and children. We are no longer heroes, but cowards. Race-hating cowards.
Where and when did slavery really began in the history of mankind?
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As this bitter debate about how American police forces treat non white citizens, it hopefully offers an opportunity for clarity and introspection and for voices not often heard to be listened to.
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Clarity and introspection are good, especially if they go both ways. Should we also consider that while black kids were “taught how to respond to police”, that a large part of police response to black kids today is in direct proportion to how they are mistreated and disrespected on a regular basis? Fifty years ago, the police didn’t have to listen to stereos playing “F*** the Police” and being surrounded by hostile mobs for doing their jobs. If you check the Second City Blog (Chicago cops), you might get a totally different perspective on this issue. BTW: Your image of Trayvon Martin here discredits the rest of the article, as you should well know.
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There is no question there are challenges and frustrations on both sides of the issue
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Agreed. There are frustrations and challenges on both sides. But if the police are being relentlessly attacked as the cause of the problems, some of which predate them by several generations, shouldn’t we give equal weight to the lack of respect and outright hostility that law enforcement is met with on a daily basis? Or is it fair to merely ask: how many of those who have been “abused” first made a personal choice that brought about the consequences in the first place?
BTW: Where are you located? Your time stamps appear to be far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
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I grew up in the 60’s and I do recall an officer coming to our grade school class. The picture books I remember are a sad contrast to the reality we know today. I wonder what kind of picture books black and Latinos were shown as children. We had a fair amount of Hispanic children in our LA school but that’s Los Angeles not Louisiana.
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In reading your blog and some of the comments I was especially concerned about the commenter who posted links about police officers and citizens who were killed or brutalized by African-Americans. What seems to be overlooked by these commenters is the fact that the people responsible were prosecuted to the full extent of the law! They did not have a grand jury or DA that refused to indite them for their crimes. Many times the community helped apprehend those responsible, something the police are always harping about except when it is time for them to step up and discipline their own; then they hide behind the blue wall instead of living up to their image of nobility.
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There is always going to be someone who brings up The Story about… the black guy/thug/gang who killed the white/black cop/guy/woman. Always. Because that seems to prove a point. The point that *one* white life is worth tens(?)/hundreds(?) of black lives. We whites can never, ever understand what it’s like to be black in America. Unless we have a biracial child, or are married to/in a relationship with a black person. But what I think is that these people, white people, who have to point out these – comparatively rare in comparison with the incidents of police killing blacks – incidents, do so because deep down inside, they feel some modicum of guilt. Maybe not enough, but just enough so they feel a need to rationalize.
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to Isaam you hit the nail on the head..!! I too was upset about those comments about the blacks who killed or hurt whites….. those people just DO NOT GET IT….(I’m white and so tired and ashamed of those kind of ignorant people )…. it’s like….do they even SEE? clearly, they don’t care enough
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It is interesting, some of th comments made here bring back memories of being in school, in California and the racism that was prevalent, when we were told that it wasn’t. The one story in particular about the 2nd grader under the desk brings to mind one of mine. This was California in the early to mid 60’s, and was supposed to be ‘free’ of that racial bias, but it wasn’t.
It started one day, when we used to line up to get a drink of water, the water fountain was a four seater, so four kids could drink at a time. We had a new black kid, Andie, and he was in line with us. He took his drink and went off to play, and the other kids in line would only use three of the four fountains. One person was standing in front of me, not moving (and I was powerful thirsty) while the one fountain was left unused. I finally asked him if he was going to get a drink and he said he wouldn’t dare use the fountain that ‘one of them’ used, it was contaminated. Being in 4th grade, I was confused because I had no clue “what one of them” meant. I asked them “Did he have cold or something”? The other kid just made a disparaging “no!” as if I was the stupidest person around.
So, like any bright 4th grader I made a decision and walked over to get a drink. I heard the others saying that it couldn’t be done, I would turn color, and other things. I Shook my head, and took a nice long drink. Andie had been around and he asked me if I was afraid of him drinking out of the fountain. I told him “unless you spit in it, No!” We became friends for a while, and would play together, since none of the other white kids wanted to join us. Then eventually over the course of month or so, another kid Marvin, came to play with us. That is when the teachers decided that it was time to break us up. One of the older playground monitors (we had adults for that) came to me and told me that I “wasn’t allowed to play with them”. I asked her why, did he do something wrong? No, she just felt that it was not right and that I, as a white kid should not be playing with those “colored kids”.
I then told her politely that her concern was not only foolish but hateful, and I could see no reason why I should not play with him. She insisted, and then she went and got another teacher, who was male. I told them both that I wasn’t going to stop playing with someone just because they didn’t like them. Both of them got very upset and threatened to ‘Tell my parents”. I told them “Go ahead”.
Eventually Andy decided that he didn’t want to be in the middle of this, and left. I recall telling him he could stay, but he said that he knew if he did, they would just keep harassing him later. This would have been around 1964-65.
Little has changed since, though I am sure that few kids will refuse to drink from the same water fountain like they did in my time, but other than that, not much else has really changed. I still meet people today for whom the “KKK” mentality still runs their lives, and too many of whom are in charge.
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What a heartbreaking story, and so interesting that this wasn’t in the deep south but in California, which only goes to show how deep the racism runs. And sadly still does.
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As I read this post it really struck an “emotional chord” within me. The fact that this analysis is coming from a “perspective” one would not have initially assumed is moving. Thank you for this post!
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I am glad it was able to move you; that is very meaningful to me.
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Reblogged this on sandradonkor.
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Thanks for the reblog
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Excellent way of presenting the problems built into our system.
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Thanks Gerry, I’m glad you found this of interest
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You are very welcome, and I am happy to welcome you to my site and glad you stumbled upon it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings…if I have helped to educate and stir up old familiar feelings that sadly resonate today still, then I am grateful to have accomplished what I set out to do. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and hope you enjoy exploring others.
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Thanks so much for sharing this. I just found this site. It brings tears to my eyes as long remembered stories from childhood and adulthood resurface. I can remember when we held up signs in front of stores and down city streets protesting the abuse of black boys and girls, moms and dads, and grandparents. Very little has changed though. I could go on but I want to share my heartfelt thanks for this site. Sure I will continue to visit. Thank you for your time and efforts.
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What I can’t seem to get over is the fact that there are people who don’t know this and literally have to be shown this in order to understand. It’s down right scary how blind to the realities of the world people really are!……. Heartbreaking…..
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It is heartbreaking!
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Reblogged this on freeandclear1.
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Thanks for the reblogg
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