Exposure to two distinct cultures has impacted my life. First, as a young blonde lad from the Pacific Northwest, I was catapulted into the Hispanic culture of the Rio Grande Valley in 1961. “On the border, by the sea” was the Chamber of Commerce slogan, but the change in venue was more dramatic than simply moving from a land of mountains and Douglas fir to beaches, bougainvilla, grapefruit and beaches. It was the warmth and closeness of the Mexican families, the new sounds and flavors and , yes, the Salon del Reino that intrigued and humbled this know-it-all young pioneer. But that is another thread.
This thread is about my ten years in the black congregation. There must have been a number of these relics of JWdom, the essentially all-black congregation, made up of brothers and sisters worshipping Jehovah in a Kingdom Hall composed exclusively of people of their own race. One of these congregations continued until c.1969 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The congregation so etched in my memory continued essentially segregated for two decades more, although I left in 1983.
Midsummer 1972, I took a day off work to meet for service during the circuit overseer’s visit. Instead of going into the field, the CO asked if I would mind driving him and the accompanying DO to inspect a Kingdom Hall in the capital of this southern state. I agreed. Reaching the hall, located in the inner-city, we saw a dilapidated cement block building. There were some obvious code violations and plumbing problems. Many of the 9 inch floor tiles were missing in whole or in part. About 300 metal chairs were folded up against the wall exposing a freshly waxed floor. Outside the building, the air-conditioning condenser had been ripped open and stripped of its copper.
On the drive home the CO mentioned the “need” for brothers in the “East Unit”, since he knew I was unhappy in my current “assignment”. Later that year I moved my family to a relatively affluent neighboring
congregation, but the seed had been planted.
In the spring of 1973 I got a call from the Presiding Overseer of the East Unit, Brother P. He had been assigned a drama for that summer’s district convention. He knew that I had worked on the drama the year before and wondered if I could meet him for a root beer and exchange ideas.
After a frosty mug, Brother P. asked if I would consider working as sort of a “director” of the drama, helping him with casting , rehearsals, lines, gestures, etc. I respectfully declined, stating that the experience the year before had been way too time-consuming, that I had promised my wife that I wouldn’t commit to anything like that again that kept us separated so many evenings. He said he understood, but that he didn’t expect to rehearse so frequently.
Later that evening Brother P. called again. He had a need for a young man about my son’s age to be a holder of the “pressed dried figs” the script referred to. He thought it also appropriate that the holder of figs be accompanied by his mother. Would I consider my entire family being involved in the drama? I agreed.
Brother P: I’ve heard JT and others speak about JR Brown. It would surprise me greatly if JR had the all-around skills of Brother P. Sent from New York City(not Bethel) in the early 60’s as a Congregation Servant/Special Pioneer in the East Unit of the inner-city of the capital of a southern state. Extremely articulate, personable, down to earth, with a hearty laugh. Although he had many privileges in the integrated circuit, he was NEVER regarded as a token black. The white brothers knew that were he in THEIR congregation, he would be the numero uno. He had the intellect to be sort of a black icon in the JW community, but would not tolerate it. He burst flattery’s bubble with self-deprecating humor and gently chided pompous ones into taking their braggadocio elsewhere. He had a Jordanesque bearing in field ministry. The American basketball player reminds me of him.
It was during our work together on the drama that Brother P. mentioned that his congregation had started remodeling work on their hall. Part of the work involved redoing the rotten roof and extending it. Since the building would be without much of its roof for a period, did he think the elders in my congregation would object to the “East” brothers using their hall temporarily until this roof work was complete? He estimated the roof work would take two weeks. My thinking was that his request was a mere formality and would be graciously approved.
The elder body of my congregation agreed to hear the request at their next elder meeting and Brother P. dispatched the other two East elders to represent the matter. The two brothers made a very straightforward request. Any questions or comments? The old white farmer/elder who had donated the land for the Kingdom Hall expressed his concern for the septic system to accommodate the additional flow. His son-in-law, who owned a small insurance agency, wanted to know what kind of brothers would be using the hall. Some clarification later, he emphasized that he was referring to their caliber, not race. The two black elders excused themselves. We notified the East Unit by letter that their request had been approved. Days later our congregation received a short letter withdrawing the request to use our hall temporarily.
I began to think seriously about transferring to the East Unit, speaking to my wife first and then the body. I was given some subtle warnings.(“Don’t think all those Brothers are like Brother P.”). We made the move in the summer of ’73, becoming the only white family in the East Congregation.
East Congregation Meetings: The meetings were typically attended by 275+. The low ceilings and intense visiting after meetings made it difficult to hear yourself think. (Sometimes, the elders would go outside to discuss important matters in the parking lot. BTW, the Kingdom Hall actually had no parking of its own, but relied on the teacher parking lot of the grade school across the street. On the occasional PTA night, the brothers had to move all their cars and surrounded the residential block completely.
One of the first elder decisions was to split the meetings. We had dual Public Meeting, WT and TMS and Service Meetings. Visiting and local speakers were asked to give two talks which sandwiched the first Watchtower Study. For the first dual public talk, Brother P. suggested using these as drama rehearsals, giving the congregation a drama preview and the brothers real life practice. Both dramas were SRO.
Visiting Speakers: One of my initial observations was that visiting speakers, both black and white, gave a different talk in the East Congregation than they would elsewhere. More liberties were taken in an effort to sort of “get down”. One young white elder gave Brother P. a “black power” handshake after the talk. He was dressed down and not invited back. One black brother went into sort of a comedy routine highlighting racial differences between black and white “friends”. A Gilead graduate/Assembly Overseer started his talk most inappropriately: “Don’t all you young sisters think you’re pretty?” (Whatever that meant) Before the Society absolutely outlawed non-outline talks, one black icon gave his tailor-made racial apology entitled: “Why We Are the Way We Are”.
As the remodel work continued slowly, the front and back extensions of the building were walled but roofless for the Memorial in 1974. Just before the Lord’s Evening Meal, a torrential downpour filled the new rooms with 6 inches of water. Concrete blocks were laid on their sides and the brothers walked across the water on 2” X 12”’s laid on those blocks.
TMS
p.s. I apologize for this being hard to read. All my italics and bold were lost, chopping things up a bit.