Julius, I had been in Charlotte for several years, nearly ten or so leading up to the day that I met him. I was young enough to call him sir, old enough to know that I had landed in rarified air. We met to discuss a small parcel of land that he had an interest in and I wanted to build on. The rest of the day is one that you couldn’t ask for nor expect, but one that you knew that you should change your schedule for, A meeting that you would not want to end. We had built a couple of projects in the former urban renewal district known as Fourth Ward. It turns out that Mr. Chambers had more in the rear view mirror than I could for see in my entire future. It turned out that Mr. Chambers was from Charlotte but lived in DC. He was of Charlotte but more so, of this state, of this country. He asked me to go look at his favorite place, a lake house in the unpretentious community of Tega Cay, SC. We crawled into a rather beat up Volkswagen, as I recall, and my adventure began; a history lesson in a conversation with a friend unfolded. If you listen long enough, you will find a common ground with anyone. I listened a lot that day, found the similarities that two people inevitably have and “my heart grew three sizes that day”. It turned out that his daughter attended Solebury School in Bucks County, PA, where I grew up. Ironically, I had trimmed weeds on that campus to get money for school. Ironic in that it was a pretty white school in a well to do county. I probably forgot to mention that Mr. Chambers was a black man. There are people that define an era and those who simply pass through. Mr. Chambers did not pass through anything easily, and he never told me much about that. He told me about how he loved to get away from things and escape. There are people that define your life and they refuse to acknowledge that they did. Actually, they don’t intend to define your life at all. Their intent is to allow us, and others, to define our own lives. Some need more help than others and Mr. Chambers probably needed help when Jim Crow “laws” denied people their civil rights. Mr. Chambers took eight cases to the Supreme Court and he won eight times. His house, car and office were bombed during that period in the sixties and early seventies as he fought for desegregation and civil rights. He deserved his respite at the lake. Mr. Chambers, looking back, was in his fifties when we met, I must have been not yet thirty. I knew to listen and he was known to use few words. He was so stately that I felt like a 12 year old. I told him of my interest in politics; that I grew up with a friend whose dad was in congress. Our neighbor, Harvey Gant,(the first black mayor of Charlotte), had waged a brutal race for senate against Jesse Helms, which he barely lost. Jesse was not afraid to play the race card in the same way that Klansman weren’t afraid of bleach. I am not sure if Mr. Chambers was afraid of much. As we took the off ramp back into uptown, I had to ask his opinion of the election and of Jesse Helms. He merely intoned that it was a shame that our state was represented by a racist, It was just a simple fact, repeated by a man with far too much class than to say it any other way. You lose more arguments by talking too much than by saying too little. You learn more by hearing the other person, not just listening. You don’t seek to be before the Supreme Court so much as to be heard by the court. Mr. Chambers, your tour is done, your respite begins now and while I’m not sure that you remember that day, you left quite an impression on a young man. I am far from the only one. I feel now that you are retired, I can address you more casually. Julius, the lake is at full pond, and you will always be looking out over one of our favorite places. I’m not sure what you were thinking as you gazed upon the water on that day long ago, but I know it was peaceful. My niece and her family just bought a new boat and we’ll be down soon. I will share this story about a great day with a good friend. They will listen.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:28:33 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015