Unspoken Rules

Unspoken Rules

By: Justin Marlowe

January 1, 1900; 2:22 a.m. Annabelle Louise Douglas was born at the Mt. Ararat Citizens Baptist Medical Center in Talladega, Alabama, which was the newly formed hospital to treat the colored residents of the town. She was the first, and only child born to Thomas and Helen Douglas. Labor pains were coupled with the clamorous yelping of drunken white townspeople on horseback ringing in the new year. The majority of the black citizens celebrated in a more clandestine manner. Such a miraculous event was occurring inside the hospital while hysteria was kicking up a fuss outside. Helen gazed into her husband’s eyes while embracing their newborn. Even given the crippling strife of early 20th century existence for southern African Americans, the two parents felt as though time could have been halted in that moment. Helen even whispered to Thomas, “I wish we could stay here forever.” The outside world didn’t have much to offer in terms of prosperity, but within the medical center, love, adoration, and significant attachments were burgeoning. 

It wasn’t just a new year, but a new century. Rifles and handguns were going off in simultaneous fashion to denote a general feeling of joyousness. Satisfaction, confidence, and optimism permeated the air during this misty winter morning. Surely not everyone in the town felt the same. What one views as charming can be what another finds menacing. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. But for Helen, despite all of her favorable emotions, daybreak couldn’t come soon enough to ease some of her post labor throes.

The city of Talladega had been incorporated in 1835 and lay about 50 miles east of one of Alabama’s largest locales, Birmingham. It possessed a charming landscape filled with rugged mountains in all of their native fierceness. The valleys seemed to stretch endlessly, with farms and larger estates appearing to be well placed blips on their radar. Even God looked down on Talladega and found it to be aesthetically pleasing. The townscape was still recovering from incidents that occurred both during and after the Civil War. In July of 1864, Talladega had been invaded by Union forces under the command of General Lovell H. Rousseau, who undertook the task in Alabama to destroy the Montgomery and West Point Railroad which was carrying supplies to Confederate troops in Atlanta. His regiment burned the railroad depot in Talladega and inflicted considerable damage on Rebel supported stores within the area. Talladega was hit again two weeks after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, when General John T. Croxton led the last of Wilson’s Raiders into Talladega, burning buildings and pillaging businesses. 

The turn of the century was ripe with recovery efforts. A rapidly developing railroad system was helping, but for many, progress wasn’t moving quickly enough. The end of Reconstruction saw a large majority of the townspeople struggling to have their civil rights upheld. Political agendas were shifting. Ominous times were present, but still, hints of optimism were stitched into the fabric of everyday life.

Annabelle’s parents always described their daughter as being the “perfect baby.” Light brown skinned with a silky hair texture. Hazel colored eyes that were absolutely piercing. The doctors that delivered her had a rating system to denote the overall health of each infant, and they joyfully informed them that their baby was going to be given the score of a “9.” The two of them were elated, and after about a day, they took their baby home. This was at around 7:00 p.m. They couldn’t waste too much time, as Thomas had to be up at the crack of dawn in order to tend to the fields.

Thomas and Helen were both sharecroppers on the Maymont Plantation. Helen would be given a small grace period in terms of her getting back to work, as she had just borne a child, but the same leeway would not be granted to Thomas. All of the land was owned by Michael Maymont, whose property was a slightly major production and harvesting center for cotton. Michael was married to a woman named Sarah, who was the lady of the house. Both were very respected within the community and revered as minor aristocracy. One might say the two of them carried themselves in an uppity small town manner. They knew their place and didn’t attempt to compete with the exuberantly wealthy. Not quite up in the stratosphere with the elite planter class but not even close to being lowly farmers either. 

Thomas Douglas had been born in 1870 to Jack and Samantha Douglas, both of whom were house slaves for the Maymonts. Five years after the war, when overall southern spirits were at an all time low. Beaten down, dejected, and looking for anything favorable to cling to. Thomas’s parents stuck around and continued to work in the home, as they didn’t have the fortitude to attempt a move north or west. They were also under the impression that they had a suitable life, compared to other former slaves, and staying on the plantation would be best for raising a child. Neither of them were risk takers, to say the least. Although they had every right to depart, they stayed put. A substantial amount of fear had been placed into so many negroes, as night riding members of the Ku Klux Klan attempted to intimidate a vast numbers of blacks into remaining within their submissive roles. Even worse than the Klan were the actions of a group which referred to themselves as the “Red Shirts.” This organization was more efficiently organized than the KKK and even more blatant with their tactics. They opted not to hide their faces whenever committing atrocious acts. A “red shirt” literally served as their garment of choice, as it symbolized a source of pride with respect to their resistance to Republican political rule in the south. It even became “in vogue” for female supporters to wear red ribbons in their hair or above their waists. Their involvement in Alabama politics paled in comparison to efforts in The Carolinas and Mississippi, but small factions still made their voices heard. Although neither Jack or Samantha had experienced any violence first hand, they had been victimized by fear and internal complacency. The tales they were privy to kept them locked within a mental prison. These traits bled into Thomas’ overall makeup while he developed as a young man.  

He didn’t grow to become particularly tall, as he tapped out at about 5’7”, but he was strong as an ox. Very muscular, with chestnut colored skin and coarse black hair. But all of the muscle in the world wasn’t going to save him from his mentality. His particular state was aloof from an adherence to substantial educational development. Thomas was acutely aware of the importance of education, but was also well versed in the ways and the overall culture of the era. He felt as though basic educational needs were integral, but using them to gain upward mobility in order to supersede most whites was off the table for him. It was common knowledge that if a black person stepped out of line or expressed any inclination of utilizing their newly obtained legal rights, they could be met with an unfathomable result. It was because of this reality which provoked Thomas to live with his head kept down. His awareness of the necessities of education were prevalent. He knew being an eloquent speaker could do wonders for the individual on a micro level, and over time, for the race on a macro level. He was mildly sensitive to the supreme importance of advancement in the disciplines of math, science, and reading. But as Thomas got older, he developed a bottom line; leave all of that to the talented tenth. A term made famous by W.E.B. Dubois, which referenced the top ten percent of black men who would lead the race by becoming college educated, literary masters, technological savants, and captains on the forefront of progressive social change.  

Thomas worked tremendously hard and rarely shared his opinions on controversial matters. He was usually too timid to do so, but if intensely provoked, he would say his piece. Having parents as slaves and growing up during Reconstruction had completely damaged his psyche. He wanted to live, by any means necessary, even if it meant living on his knees.

Jack and Samantha were both devout Baptists and raised their son to be one as well. Biblical narratives had long been twisted to keep slaves loyal and subservient to their masters, which rubbed off on Thomas. Although slavery had ended as a result of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Thomas felt compelled to remain devoted to his Maymont elders. He had been educated enough to possess awareness of the progressive viewpoints of individuals like Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington, but felt too far removed from their specific worldview to behave as they did. A strapping man on the outside, but mentally feeble.

Helen and Thomas shared many traits, but their internal makeup was contradictory. Helen was born in 1868 to Georgia and Raymond Carter. Her parents had also been house slaves on the Maymont Plantation. It was encouraged for the slaves on the property to court one another and bear offspring, as it would keep the labor, “in house,” and result in less of a need to engage in the human flesh trade throughout the southern states. The thought was also that being granted such a “luxury” would keep the negroes content and less likely to leave. Both Georgia and Raymond emphasized the fundamental benefits of education, but more important to them was the temperament they instilled within Helen. 

Education could be learned, but a fighting spirit needed to be aligned with her soul. An ethos of internal rebellion cloaked within a humble facade. They made a conscious effort to convey stories of violence and repression to their daughter. Real life tales of the time period. Georgia made it overtly known how often plantation rapes occurred as well as emphasizing the white male power structure that readily took advantage of all parts of the black female body. They were candid about domestic terrorist groups, their barbarity, and the twisted reasoning behind their acts. There were open ended discussions regarding politics and the leading African American figures of the time. A sense of pride was budding within, even if traditional books smarts weren’t a top priority. Helen was a real fighter at heart. She was well aware that human nature wouldn’t allow all white people to be evil, but at times it sure appeared that way. She put on a friendly face for the onlookers, but a fire burned inside. Helen and Thomas shared a staunch adherence to the Baptist faith, which had been indoctrinated into the two of them by their parents. In their case, practicing within this denomination of Christianity helped quell some of their inner angst. Consistent prayer became a virtuous act which she and Thomas shared, and one they would pass on to Annabelle.

Georgia and Raymond would occasionally be given books from the house which they would provide to Helen as they taught her to read. Literature served as a source of inspiration, especially when reading the work of black authors. A safe place that was riddled with more hope than the outside world provided. Additionally, Helen’s parents informed her about how Talladega College had just been constructed a year prior to her birth, and how one of their primary buildings, Swayne Hall, had been partly built by slaves and was now being used to educate negroes. In the midst of so much disparity, symbols of black ingenuity did exist, and Raymond and Georgia were not shy about giving it a voice. Although Helen’s parents continued to work in the house after emancipation, she would be instructed to work in the fields where she would become close with Thomas, who did the same.  

As she developed, Helen grew into becoming a lovely woman, albeit very thin. Some would say that she appeared unhealthily skinny, but that was just her natural bodily disposition. She was dark skinned, much like Thomas. Her eye sockets were a bit sunken in, and her cheek bones were high; facial features that slightly embodied that of a Choctaw native. So much beauty on the outside, but her inner cynical nature was brewing. She and Thomas grew up on the plantation together as close friends, and their mildly contradictory personalities served as each other’s proverbial backbone. They really understood one another and filled their partner's "gaps." With the legally unneeded blessing of Michael, the two of them were married during the summer of 1890 in the fields where the former slave quarters once existed. An effervescent moment in time when the world could have stood still for the two of them; just long enough for an amorous exchange of “I do’s.” Such traumatic exterior turmoil, but internal endearment garnered precedence. They could have stayed within that moment forever. But reality would set in soon afterward, and time would commence as usual…