in memory of Cookie Thornton
Last night the world witnessed a tragedy unfold in our neighbourhood. Six people are dead. And the reasons are as illusive as they are obvious.
An important clue to the violence that racked our community last night was offered by an otherwise innocuous description by the New York Times of Kirkwood as a middle class community with “a main street lined with shops and restaurants and many grand homes.”
The history of race and class in America is vividly portrayed in our St. Louis bedroom communities with shops, restaurants, and “many grand homes”. The elephant in the room is spotlighted and decorated for MLK Day and Black History Month, but is otherwise untended. When the “grand homes” were built in Kirkwood, servants were needed to maintain them. In the era of Jim Crow, the servants were not only black but also disenfranchised. Those who built, cleaned and cooked in these grand homes lived in shacks on the other side of the tracks. Their children were not allowed in the neighbourhood schools or in the municipal pools. The right to vote, even, was not accessible. In the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement and the end of Jim Crow as we knew it, the owners of the grand homes were faced with either redrawing their relationships with the staff or doing without. For the most part, the later was the option of choice. A wave of gentrification in the bedroom communities of St. Louis has exposed entire neighbourhoods of people left behind.
A parallel drama unfolded in my Michigan childhood where literally busloads of southerners (mostly white) were imported to run the factories during World War II. As the war ended and prosperity was proclaimed, those that were able moved out of the most menial of jobs, the foundries. More labour was needed and again the buses headed south. This time they were filled with blacks, eager to escape Jim Crow. And the factories buzzed along at high speed for another decade. In a post-Industrial America, however, with the factories shuttered and the foundries silenced, the last busload of labour is no longer needed. The factory owner may pack up and move away, but the labourer and his children have fewer choices. Many were left behind in the wasteland, scavenging for both food and meaning.
In Kirkwood’s neighbor to the east, Webster Groves, the servants of the grand homes lived north of Kirkham Avenue in an area known as “North Webster”. On the north side, there are different rules. City officials are more lenient with old cars in various states of repair parked along the street. Perhaps in return, the streets are cleaned less frequently on this side of the line. But things are changing up here, gentrification. New homes are going up and the colour is getting paler. Rising property values dictate higher property taxes and new neighbours push the city for better rule enforcement. Those who were left behind are now, literally, being pushed out.
None of this, of course, is a justification for a murderous rampage. The context does, however, help us to understand Cookie Thornton’s mother, Anne Bell Thornton. “No one should kill,” she said. “But people shouldn’t drive people to kill.” (stltoday.com)
In a precious gift of irony, this tragedy unfolds at the dawn of our Lenten season when our rituals invite us to a time of repentance. Perhaps in our quest for truth we can face the elephant and its refuse and begin to find reconciliation.
You should send this to the Webster-Kirkwood Times. The next few weeks are going to be filled with raw emotion and reactions to the claims of “racism” will be strong and sometimes irrational. As one news anchor said last night during coverage of the story, “It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better”. I think she’s right.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:06 amOne of my friends lost her brother on Thursday at City Hall. He never lived in a mansion. He was killed by someone consumed by hate.
Of course, there are macro issues at work here. And in the coming weeks we will read letters to the editor that either 1) suggest this is what you get in a racially divided community, or 2) have no sympathy for people who don’t follow the rules and claim they are victims. And there will be variations on both themes.
The healing process will mean allowing everyone to have their say and respecting their opinions.
February 10th, 2008 at 9:36 pmJeff, I think you’re closing comment gets to the heart of the need for healing - “allowing everyone to have their say and respecting their opinions”.
Tragically when the violence started the rationality ended. Several of those killed were actually working to help rectify the divide in Kirkwood.
I’m hoping that our churches can offer some of the safe space for dialogue that is so important right now.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:24 pmIt is so sad to see this horrific event turning into a racial commentary. Early on, I heard on of Mr. Thornton’s family members say that the shootings were not racially motivated. Why would that become the theme now?
By all accounts Mr Thornton was an active member of the community and had not been discriminated against. I hate to see anyone fanning the flames of racial tension.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:45 pmSeveral members of Cookie Thornton’s family have suggested that he was pushed to the brink. His mother’s comments to that effect were the most compelling.
But, Sue points out, the issue is not race but rather class. And really not about class so much as the feeling of powerlessness.
And powerlessness cuts across lines of race and class.
Maybe if we could talk about what makes us feel powerless? And how we move beyond that paralyzing fear…
Thanks for sharing…
February 11th, 2008 at 9:53 pmI don’t think the point of this story has anything to do with race or power. I believe the ENTIRE focus should be on Mr. Thornton’s choices in life - and how they relate to whether he chose to obey, or disobey, existing laws.
Apparently, Mr. Thornton broke enough laws and received enough tickets to amass $64,000 in debts to the City of Kirkwood - an astronomical figure.
Were these laws ‘unjust’ (racially centered). No - they applied equally to everybody.
Were they laws connected in any way to historic segregation? No.
Were these laws a nuisance or an annoyance? Possibly; but that’s why we take these issues up with our local governments and state our case to get them changed. Ideally, if enough people agree with you, you can allow your proposal voted into law.
I know that if I don’t pay my parking tickets, I have my wages garnished - or go to jail.
The idea that Mr. Thornton was able to avoid any kind of punishment for his refusal to pay ANYTHING, and that - amazingly - the City of Kirkwood was willing to cancel his debts, is stunning to me.
This, sad to say, was an individual who felt the laws seemingly didn’t apply to him - and his ultimate act of lawlessness became his final act in life…
February 14th, 2008 at 3:23 pm