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<DIV>Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV>Please read and share with others.</DIV>
<DIV>contact info is provided for additional writings.</DIV>
<DIV>Joe </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">We
care. We
share. We grow. We make a difference<BR>Joe Ruffalo, President <BR>National
Federation of the Blind of New Jersey <BR>973 743
0075<BR>nfbnj1@verizon.net<BR><A
href="http://www.nfbnj.org">www.nfbnj.org</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Raising
Expectations To Live The Life You Want!</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Your
old
car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.<BR>Donate your unwanted
vehicle
to us by clicking <BR>www.carshelpingtheblind.org <BR>or call 855 659
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=theblindhistorylady@gmail.com
href="mailto:theblindhistorylady@gmail.com">The Blind History Lady</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 01, 2019 8:30 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=nfbnj1@verizon.net
href="mailto:nfbnj1@verizon.net">nfbnj1@verizon.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Black and Blind History Month</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Jim Ivy-Black/Blind Man on Campus . Dear Blind History Lady
Fans; February is Black History month, time to honor the
accomplishments of the too-often overlooked black Americans, especially the
black and blind. The discrimination a black/blind man faced 100 years ago
brings
up many questions to ponder. How much was a black man valued in white
society?
Was a black man privileged or more respected because he was blind? Was he
less
of a threat? Was he more of a pet? Today I have a story of
a
black, blind man, an example of a life that highlighted the paradoxical
stereotypes that conflicted the racism and blatant discrimination in our
country
against the black and the disabled, especially in the
South.
Our subject left no papers, letters or autobiography to shed light on his
thoughts. Those who wrote about him during his life and indeed after, give
us a
prickly look at the mindset of the times they were written in. Those who
have
looked back at his life, try to understand and define the discrimination vs
privileges he was given. I find that his life is one of contrasting
extremes. I hope after you read this, you will go onto the
super highway and read more about him. Talk about him with your friends and
contemporaries. Jim Ivy aka “Blind Jim” was born in 1872, the
son of
a former slave. They moved to Oxford Mississippi when he was a child. Jim
grew
up with little education. He worked hard from his early teens. When about 20
years old, he was blinded when coal tar paint got into his eyes while
helping to build the Tallahatchie River Bridge. Jim had a
strong,
booming voice. After he went blind, he went to work singing in the streets
and
selling peanuts. White passers-by would often harass the blind beggar as
they
passed him. It was not until he came onto campus of Ole Miss in 1896 during
a
baseball game against the University of Texas State when he began cheering
on
the Ole Miss team with his loud booming voice. According to those at that
game
and as the legend proclaims, it was the loud and happy cheers of the blind
peanut vendor for the home team that spurred them on from far behind to win.
Blind Jim was hailed as the good luck charm for the team. He sold all of his
peanuts that day and the next. From then on, his primary
sales
territory was the campus. Jim proclaimed himself the Dean of Freshmen and
each
year, he spoke to the incoming class to, as he said, keep them out of
trouble. Jim soon became the “mascot” for the school. He
let
pep rallies before games. He said he attended every football game from 1896
until he retired in the 1950’s and never saw them lose. When he stepped up
onto
the platform of the dignitaries at home games, he sat in the middle of the
stage
amongst the white people. He sat in the stands with the white students
during
games. The only black man to do so. Yet, when he traveled with the school to
attend games, he had to stay in the hotel for the colored and eat at
establishments for the colored. There were no black students on
campus during Blind Jim’s lifetime. There were only black staff working as
janitors or kitchen help. On a normal day at the school, Jim ate with the
colored staff, not the white staff or students. A
tradition
began in 1923 by a salesman from the Schwartz Tailoring Company. Jim’s
clothes were tattered. The tailor who came on campus to fit the classmen for
their new suit thought it was a disgrace the condition of the peanut vendor’s
clothes when the students were dressed in style. The salesman gave up
his
commission and collected additional funds from the students to make Jim a
brown
suit. After that year, the Freshmen class took up a collection for a new
suit
for their “Dean”. Students were appointed from the
freshman
class to lead “Blind Jim” around campus each year. By 1950, he had been led
by
three generations of families. On more than one occasion
when
the school contracted with food service vendors that would exclude Blind Jim
from selling his peanuts on campus, students made such a ruckus that the
contracts were amended to allow Jim to sell on campus. Eventually, he even
got
an inside stand to sell his candy and nuts. A column in
the
Ole Miss newsletter “As Blind Jim Sees It” appeared frequently. Family
members
believe that Jim did have input into the column. Blind Jim also liked a good
joke. He helped freshmen play tricks on each other. He actively partook in
jokes
that challenged racial lines. There are photographs of Blind Jim, sitting at
a
desk in a faculty member’s office with his feet on top the desk. Many
thought
such photo’s were funny at that time. Had a black janitor had such a picture
taken, the consequences might have been severe. All of Jim’s
lifetime, he heard of the lynching of many black men who “did not know their
place”. Some were public spectacles with crowds of 500 or more where the
press
showed up to cover and photograph the drawn out torture and murder of young
black men. One such man was L. Q. Ivy who may have been a relative of
Jim’s. No one was ever arrested even though photos appeared in local
papers clearly showing faces of those actively participating and those in
the
crowd. How did these events effect Jim’s relationship with those on
campus? During the depression, Blind Jim was endanger of
losing his shanty that he had built. A local newspaper shamed the Ole Miss
students and staff into helping Jim pay off the loan for his little home.
The
money was raised in time, but most of the funds came from one alumnus who
lived
out of state and read it in the newspaper from home. When
Jim
died in 1955, his body was brought back to Oxford for two funerals at the
Second
Baptist Church. One was for the white people from the community and Ole Miss
who
knew the peanut vendor. This funeral lasted just over a half hour. Then the
funeral for the black. Many of Jim’s extended family, church members and
others
from the black community attended to celebrate his
life. For us as blind people, does
fears of blindness trump racial discrimination? Did Blind Jim bring about
racial
understanding? Was he viewed as a “Good Darkie” by the whites? Did he change
the
views of those on campus about the blind or the black? We can debate this
all
month. Indeed, those who have written about Blind Jim debate and come to
diverse
conclusions. If we could talk to Jim Ivy today, would he tell us he was just
trying to get by the only way he could? Let me know what you
think
of the life of Blind Jim. You can read more in my Book at <A
href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/831366">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/831366</A>
www.theblindhistorylady.com . The Blind History Lady</DIV>
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