Time and Distance Overcome

There is one essay in this book that still stands out to me which is "Time and Distance Overcome." I love how Eula uses telephone poles as a mark of freedom and an advance in Technology when it first came out but it actually was more of a death sentence for black people. Something as innocent as a telephone pole could be used for such horrific deaths amongst the black people. I for one was totally shocked when I started reading this because I did not think it would be talking about lynching and hangings during the time of the hatred for those whose skin was a different color. I was horrified when I found out the truth and now every time I look at pole I think of that because it was such a big achievement for us for technology but was used in the wrong way. These black men were hung on these telephone poles for every one to see and some were even beaten, burned, and tortured on these poles for looking at a white person the wrong way or talking to a white female. The white folk who did this wanted to make a statement but it was not a statement that needed to be stated. They were proud for what they have done by hanging these black men on these telephone poles and it was meant to have power and control in their eyes. A way of punishing them and hung up for the whole to see to frighten those who weren't hanging. They would leave them to hang like flags according to Eula as if they were proud of what they had done. Still today, I think about the horror and what those people had to go through and it still makes me sick. Eula's entire book full of these essays, has opened my eyes to more of these things that I may not have known but I do now.