TBT: I WANT MY DIMES BACK

TBT this week is the promised second story shared on Monday evening by Nate Coleman Jr.,  La Crosse's 2018 recipient of the Martin Luther King Leadership Award. 

It's about a conversation after Barack Obama was elected when Nate Coleman, Jr. asked his father what he thought about having a Black man in the White House.  His Dad replied: "I want my dimes back." Nate Jr. thought he didn't hear correctly and repeated the question and his Dad's response was the same, "I want my dimes back."  The senior Coleman was in his 80's and his son thought maybe his Dad had a little dementia so perhaps he needed some money for food.  "Dad, can I pick you up something to eat?"  "No," he retorted, "I just want my dimes back," and then his father went on to explain.

You see the senior Mr. Coleman was referring to a time ( I would assume the 60's) when there were still segregated city busses which cost a dime to ride.  If you were Black, you would get on the bus, drop your dime in the money box, and then have to get back off the bus to go to the rear door to get on. Many a time the driver would not wait for him to get back on and drive off, regardless of the weather.  

You could have heard a pin drop in the auditorium as this was a reality most of us had never experienced/witnessed.  Nate Coleman Jr. explained that his Dad wanting his dimes back was his way of saying he wanted to be validated. 

Let us think about validation and understand better why the Black Lives Matter movement is so important...