On the History of the Negro in Knox Part 5

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
What is the “ethic of reciprocity”?

The ethic of reciprocity or "The Golden Rule" is a fundamental moral principle found in virtually all major religions and cultures, which simply means "treat others as you would like to be treated." It is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...............

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I have heard it said many times that Knox is a Christian town. Well it is true that there are a lot of people go to church. Well it is true that they say their prayers before each school board meeting. Well it is true that there is a crèche on the courthouse lawn in December. If that adds up, then OK, we are a Christian town. But there is that pesky little “Golden Rule”. Without the “Golden Rule” we are not a Christian town.

Matthew 22.36-40 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

Knox is white; that is the situation today.
Knox is white because of our racist history and because of continuing racism.

African Americans do not live or work in Knox. The few exceptions prove the rule. We have an African American Postmaster. There are African American foster children and adopted children in the schools. There are no African American teachers, fire fighters, policemen, or librarians. There are no African Americans working in Walgreens, CVS, or 5 Star. Basically, when locals do the hiring, the hiring is white. If the Federal government does the hiring, then an African American has a fair chance.

I don’t believe that an African American family would be shown any cooperation by the realtors in Knox. I don’t believe that the school board would consider hiring an African American administrator or approve the hiring of an African American teacher. The local Realtors don’t display the Equal Housing Emblem do they? The school doesn’t celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. day, do they? These are messages that say, “stay out” to African Americans.

Recently a local governmental board decided not to interview a very well qualified applicant for an administrative position because the applicant “seemed” to be African American from their employment history. Their so-called reasoning was that it was a waste of the applicant’s time to interview. An African American professional would not want to work or live in Knox. This seemed like an odd statement in light of the fact that that person had bothered to apply for the job!

Note on the usage of the words Negro. The word Negro is often considered offensive. I use it here to reference historic and scholarly documents and in order to capture the archaic flavor of life in Knox.