Have love in your heart

In the early 1930s, when I was a young child in the sparsely populated Dishman Hills, our closest neighbor was a black family who lived about three-fourths of a mile away. Their name was Brown and they owned a nightclub called the Pirate’s Den. They later renamed it Club Harlem. It was on a bluff overlooking old Sprague Avenue.

My family and the Browns had a mutual respect and neighborly regard for each other. One night, I saw a fire down the road. I saw that it was a big cross in flames. Scared, I asked my mom what was happening. She said some men called Klansmen were trying to scare the Brown family. The Browns were so nice, I naturally asked why. Mom said some people have hate in their hearts and hate the Browns because their skin is dark.

Like any child, I was shocked and sad to learn that the Browns were hated just because their skin was dark. My mom said “Make sure you always have love in your heart, never hate.” I’ll always thank her for those wise words and wish that all mothers would instill that simple message in their children’s minds and hearts.

Sally Jackson

Spokane