Tommy:
I have to give credit, where credit is due. I, myself, am not a
native of this town or this county, for that matter. Nothing beats
fact or your own personal memory. I have heard and read exactly
what you have posted here. I never thought I'd see it in print,
especially in this sometime volatile, group. I tell you, I too, was
raised in an Italo/German/Creole(Black)/Armenian/English,
neighborhood. There were very few "all white", areas in New
Orleans. No one area of the City was exclusively "white", per se,
except, Lakeshore Drive, which was relatively new and the suburb of
Metarie. There were places, I never ventured into, as an adult,
because you kept to your own kind, if you get my drift. In my quasi-
"not quite white, but considered Black world", I was
considered, "some other", where you knew something was amiss, even
though there was an N or a C on your birth certificate. To read
mine, is like reading a book. Even though my Father was in Italy,
during WWII, my BC had what he did prior to the war, my Mother's
maiden name, her color and a bunch of insignificant stuff, too
stupid to mention and that I was the second "live" birth. Even the
word "Creole" has a meaning, in that it means I was born of some
European extract and inside the City proper. The Cajuns, on the
other hand are those French/Indians, in the bayous, country-side and
swamp dwellers, usually considered, low-class, by those born in the
City. Thus my dissassociation with anything Cajun. In my case, it
was the French. If a Black person, had a Spanish surname, it meant
they descended from the Spaniards, that settled the Floridas,
Carolinas and the Gulf Coast, that never spoke a word of Spanish.
The dominant language was a French patois, unlike the Haitians of
Saint Domingue. I still speak some French and cannot understand
what the Haitians are saying. Your narration of what Asbury Park
was, its' purpose and the origins of the founder, are telling. As
in all regions of this country espousing democracy, there was racial
hatred everywhere, not just the South. Your history was very well
stated and I appreciated the professionalism, with which you told
it. Thanks!
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "justifiedright"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I'll give just one example out of many from last night. I could
> write a short book about the things he was wrong about.
>
> Let me tell you up front what to watch out for with Werner - even
> when he has facts right, it's his analysis of those facts and
> conclusions he draws from them that are wild. Understand the
> importance of that. Anyone can memorize Asbury Park facts. It
> isn'that hard. That doesn't make you "Historian." Analyzing the
> effect those facts had on the community is what separates a
> Historian from someone who simply aggregates data.
>
> Werner insisted last night that founder James A. Bradley wasn't
> responsible for the east/west segregation of Asbury. Even the host
> sounded a bit surprised and pressed him on it.
>
> Here is how wrong he is:
>
> *Bradly purchased Asbury up to where RailRoad Avenue was.
>
> *Across from there was a section known as "West Park."
>
> *The people in West Park were Blacks, Italians, Jews...basiaclly
the
> ethnic minorities that were not yet seen as "White people"
>
> *The people in West Park lived in little huts (remember Mayor
> Sanders line in the last election about going from huts to homes?
> He was right about that, even though people out of the know
blasted
> him for it).
>
>
> So how did Bradley treat those workers?
>
> He passed a law saying Black people were not allowed on the
> Boardwalk.
>
> He tried to pass a law saying that poor whites from the West
weren't
> allowed on the Boardwalk, but said that unlike Blacks they have no
> distinguishing marks to tell them apart.
>
> He fired a band because the had an Italian Tuba player.
>
> The development of Asbury Park was PLANNED so that the East and
West
> would be different, the West being the poorer community to supply
> workers to the East.
>
> He refused to continue the sewerage to the West Side.
>
> Notice the Catholic Churches were relegated away from Grand
Avenue,
> which he kept as his favored houses of worship.
>
> I can show you newspaper reports as far back as the late 1800's
> about racial unrest in Asbury Park because of the way Black people
> felt they were mistreated by Bradley, who at that time ran
> everything here.
>
> So, here is the "historian" who knows all that I said above, and
> CONCLUDES that Bradley is NOT responsible for the Asbury Park's
> East/West segregation.
>
> Even when the host pressed him, he just said "Well he was a
product
> of his times."
>
> THAT is the faulty analysis right there. "Product of his times"
is
> an explaination of WHY he did it; it does mean he didn't do it,
> which is what Werner was trying to sell.
>
> The only logical conclusion is that the guy that set all that up
is
> the guy responsible for it, regardless of his motives.
>
> What would lead Werner to say Bradly isn't responsible for his own
> racism and socio-economic segregation?
>
> Here is where I've warned he loses credibility as a historian: If
> people lose respect for Bradly the man, then when Werner yells,
> which he often does, that things we do today are contrary to what
> Bradley may have wanted, no one will care.
>
> You see, Werner has hung his hat on being the guy who defends
> Bradley's legacy. If Bradley becomes irrelevant, so does he.
>
> He has an agenda. He is willing to disort history (by saying
Bradly
> was not responsible for segregation when he clearly was) just so
his
> agenda does not get derailed.
>
> That is why I caution against his being "Historian" because he
will
> distort history to further his agenda.
>
> That's the opposite of historian.
>
>
Most histories are distorted; not just the history of this town.
Most are white-washed to paint a more pleasant atmosphere, where
selling tourism is concerned.
>
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