STEPH - members of my family in California also track our family's history, especially those members in Texas. Several years ago, I was contacted by one of the Texas 'kin' and we talked for some time about the history of my maternal grandfather's parents, grandparents and ever further back in history. It was interesting for me and resulted in my being asked to write some notes about the stories I'd heard as a child. I did, forwarded them to the Texas fellow, spoke to him one more time and that was the last time I heard from him. My California cousin jokingly commented "you probably led him to believe you knew too much about those folks."
What I've learned just from some family stories, which I've shared with some unrelated friends and neighbors since relocating to the South in 2004, is that "seemingly" the Texas folks were more likely to release their former slaves from indenture - arranging some type of paid employment or giving them small parcels of land and equipment to farm, thus creating opportunities for self-reliance (although continued hard work, but on their OWN property).
As a child, I recall that my maternal grandfather spoke very lovingly of the African Americans whom he knew in his childhood, youth and adult life. And when he married my French Grandmother and moved to Washington State (where he owned a logging company) and then to California, he encouraged one of the married couples to accompany he and his new bride.
Although the name "Nana" seems to refer to a Grandmother here in the South, the woman whom I called Nana during my childhood (and who helped to raise me in the household with my grandparents and my mother while my father was overseas) was the African American woman who (with her husband) relocated with my grandfather and grandmother when they married.
Thus, I have had multiracial friends all of my life, as well as worked with men and women of many Nations (including Africa). It is intriguing, isn't it, to learn about one's family history and share it with younger generations. My son (now 45 and serving as an Army Chaplain) jokes that "My Mom is a United Nations in one body."
BABI - on the topic of differences between the Deep South and Texas, I should mention that I have never lived in Texas, but have known many Texans professionally and as friends. Overall, among the folks with whom I've talked and worked, those from Texas seem less harsh about the issue of racism than do the Southerners whom I've met. That is just something I've noticed in the past 4 years. And there have been some very explicit instances that I recall: when we first relocated here, I hired an African American gardener to help prepare my son's yard, tidy it up, do some planting of shrubs and flowers, mow the grass weekly, etc. And I always insisted that he rest, drink fluids in the hot summers and sit down to a light lunch in our kitchen when he was "on my clock." I usually sat at the table with him, drank something cold and chatted for a few minutes. One day, a neighbor came to visit, walked into the kitchen, stopped abruptly, looked at the gardener eating his lunch and turned bright red in the face.
Her comment: "Well, my goodness gracious, what on earth are you doing inside Miss Mahlia's home?!!!!!!!" I replied (for the gardener), "just taking a break from the heat, having a bite of lunch. Would you like to join us?" She rushed out the door and has not spoken to me in the past 4 years.
A few weeks later, the gardener's son was visiting from California. He happens to be a senior executive at IBM. He stopped by and as he told me "I just wanted to shake your hand and let you know you have one of the best gardeners in the area. And I'm still laughing at the story my Dad told about your interaction with your neighbor."
