ROBERT BARR                  0881-ARK/#071                                   048
         I AM A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. I HAVE BEEN PREACHING FOR THE LAST THIRT
 YEARS. I AM BATCHING HERE. A MAN DOES BETTER TO LIVE BY HIMSELF. YOUNG PEOPLE G
OT THE DEVIL IN THEM NOW A DAYS. YOUR OWN CHILDREN DON'T WANT YOU AROUND.
         I GOT ONE GRAND-DAUGHTER THAT AIN'T NEVER STOOD ON THE FLOO.8HER8HUSBA
ND KICKED HER AND HIT HER AND SHE AIN'T NEVER BEEN ABLE TO STAND UP SINCE. I GOT
 ANO,HER DAUGHTER THAT AIN'T THINKING ABOUT MARRYING. SHE JUST GOES  ROM ONE MAN
 TO THE OTHER.
         THE GOVERNMENT GIVES ME A PENSION. THE WHITE FOLKS HELP ME ALL ALO !. B
EFORE I PREACHED, I FIDDLED, DANCED, SHOT CRAPS, DID ANYTHING.
         *Y MO,H        R6WAS BORN IN CHICKASA>, MISSISSP  . \HE6WAS RN A SLAV(
.OLD
 MAN BARR WAS HER MASTER. SHE WAS A LUCY APPELIN AND SHE MARRIED A BARR. I DON'T
 KNOW >HE,HER SHE STOOD ON THE FLOOR AND MARRIED THEN AS TH(Y DO NOW OR NO,. ,HE
EY TELL ME THAT THEY JUST GAVE THEM TO THEM IN THOSE DAYS. MY MOTHER SAID THEY D
IDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MARRIAGE THEN. THEY HAD SOME SORT OF A WAY OF DOING. O
L' MASSA WOULD CALL THEM UP AND SAY, "YOU TAKE THAT MAN, AND GO AHEAD. YOU ARE M
AN AND WIFE." I DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU LIKED IT OR DIDN'T. YOU HAD TO GO AHEAD.
I HEARD EM SAY:  "NIGGER AIN'T NO MORE'N A HORSE OR COW." BUT THEY GOT OUT FROM
UNDER THAT NOW. THE WORLD IS GROWING MORE AND MORE CIVILIZED. BUT WHEN A NIGGER
THINKS HE IS SOMETHING, HE AIN'T NOTHIN'. WHITE FOLKS GOT ALL THE LAWS AND REGUL
ATIONS IN THEIR HANDS AND THEY CAN DO AS THEY PLEASE. YOU SURRENDER UNDER EM AND
GO ALONG AND YOU ARE ALL RIGHT. IF THEY TOLD A WOMAN TO GO TO A MAN AND SHE DIDN
'T, THEY WOULD WHIP HER. YOU DIDN'T HAVE YOUR OWN  WAY. THEY WOULD MAKE YOU DO W
HAT THEY WANTED. THEY'D GIVE YOU A GOOD BEATING TOO.
         MY FATHER WAS BORN IN MISSISSIPPI. HIS NAME WAS SIMON BARR. MY MOTHER A
ND FATHER BOTH LIVED ON THE SAME PLANTATION. IN ALL GROUPS OF PEOPLE THEY WENT B
Y THEIR MASTER'S NAME. BEFORE SHE MARRIED, MY MOTHER'S MASTER ANDMISTRESS WERE A
PPELINS. WHEN SHE GOT MARRIED - GOT READY TO MARRY - THE WHITE FOLKS AGREED TO L
ET THEM GO TOGETHER. OLD MAN BARR MUST HAVE PAID SOMETHING FOR HER. ACCORDING TO
MY MOTHER AND FATHER, THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS. SHE HAD TO LEAVE HER MASTER AND GO
WITH HER HUSBAND'S MASTER.
         ACCORDING TO MY OLD FATHER AND MOTHER, THE PATTEROLES WENT AND GOT THE
NIGGERS WHEN THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG. THEY LIVED DURING SLAVE TIME. THEY HAD A
RULE AND GOVERNMENT OVER THE COLORED AND THERE YOU ARE. WHE N THEY CAUGHT NIGGER
S OUT, THEY WOULD BEAT THEM. IF YOU'D RUN AWAY, THEY'D GO AND GET YOU AND BEAT Y
OU AND PUT YOU BACK. WHEN THEY'D GET ON A NIGGER AND BEAT HIM, THE COLORED FOLKS
WOULD HOLLER, "I PRAY, MASSA." THEY HAD TO HAVE A GREAT WAR OVER IT, BEFORE THEY
 FREED THE NIGGER. THE BIBLE SAYS THERE IS A TIME FOR ALL THINGS.
         MY MOTHER AND FATHER SAID THEY GOT A CERTAIN AMOUNT WHEN THEY WAS FREED
. I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT WAS. IT WAS ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT. AFTER A SHORT TIME I
T BROKE UP AND THEY DIDN'T GET ANY MORE. I GET TEN DOLLARS PENSION NOW AND THAT
IS MORE THAN THEY GOT THEN.
         I HEARD OLD BROTHER PAGE IN MISSISSIPPI SAY THAT THE SLAVES HAD HEARD E
M SAY THEY WERE GOING TO BE FREE. HIS YOUNG MISTRESS HEARD EM SAY HE WAS GOING T
O BE FREE AND SHE WALKED UP AND HOOKED AND SPIT IN HIS FACE. WHEN FREEDOM CAME,
OLD MASSA CAME OUT AND TOLD THEM.
         I HAVE HEARD FOLKS TALK OF BURIED TREASURE. I'LL BET THERE'S MORE MONEY
 UNDER THE GROUND THAN THERE IS ON IT. THEY DIDN'T HAVE BANKS THEN, AND THEY PUT
THEIR MONEY UNDER THE GROUND. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN MONEY PUT UN
DER THE GROUND.
         I HEARD MY MOTHER TALK ABOUT THEIR DANCES AND FROLICS THEN. I NEVER HEA
RD HER SPEAK OF ANYTHING ELSE. THEY DIDN'T HAVE MUCH FREEDOM. THEY COULDN'T GO A
ND COME AS THEY PLEASED. YOU HAD TO HAVE A SCRIPT TO GO AND COME. NIGGERS AIN'T
FREE NOW. YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING; YOU GOT NOTHIN'. THIS WHOLE TOWN BELONGS TO WHI
TE FOLKS, AND YOU CAN'T DO NOTHIN'. IF NIGGER GET TO HAVE ANYTHING, WHITE FOLKS
WILL TAKE IT.
         WE RAISED OUR OWN FOOD. WE MADE OUR OWN FLOUR. WE WOVE OUR OWN CLOTH. W
E MADE OUR CLOTHES. WE MADE OUR MEAL. WE MADE OUR SORGHUM CANE MOLASSES. SOME OF
 THEM MADE THEIR SHOES, MADE THEIR OWN MEDICINE, AND WENT AROUND AND DOCTORED ON
ONE ANOTHER. THEY WERE MORE HEALTHY THEN THAN THEY ARE NOW. THIS GENERATION DON'
T LIVE HARDLY TO GET FORTY YEARS OLD THEY DON'T LIVE LONG NOW.
         I CAME TO ARKANSAS ABOUT THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. I GOT RIGHT INTO DITCHE
S. THE FIRST THING I DID WAS FARM. I FARMED ABOUT TEN YEARS. I MADE ABOUT TEN CR
OPS. MISSISSIPPI GAVE YOU MORE FOR YOUR CROPS THAN ARKANSAS.
  X   XXX
STP