The Butler

Movement begins in the mind of an individual’s vision, creating determination. This determination is contagious until the dream is an undeniable reality. The civil rights movement was a time of transformation, dedication, purpose, suffering, conflict and success. Every individual who envisioned this dream made a difference in this movement. Though many desired this vision of equality not everyone strove for this in the same way. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Cecil Gaines was born into a world where he and all the people who loved him were considered undeserving by nature of human equality. He was raised on a cotton farm with his mother and father. The farm owner raped his mother indiscreetly and is father simply said hey to him and the man responded with a shot to his head. The confusion and disbelief that another human being could unmercifully destroy everything in his life and get away with it, simply because of a racist belief rooted from ignorance and superstition. The estate caretaker Annabeth took him into the house to become a house servant. His mother never talked again and eventually he ran away. He got a job training to be a butler at a pastry shop. His boss recommended him for a job as a butler in a high class Washington D.C. hotel and he took it excitedly, always remembering to keep his two faces, one for whites and one for his friends, to keep him safe.

Cecil had a vision to be successful and to him he had succeeded. Though he could be criticized as being too passive with his goals but understand why, one must remember the first lesson he learned about what happens if a white man wants a black man dead. He married Gloria and had two children, the oldest named Louis and the younger named Charlie. He was asked to begin working at the White House. He had finally done it; he worked in the most respected house in the world. He had a home and a car and a beautiful family that would be able to go to school. He felt as if he had achieved the greatest dream he ever could.

Louis, his son, on the other hand had a different vision of the movement toward freedom. Though both Cecil and Louis desired freedom and equality the same, Louis just had a less passive way of confronting the discriminations. Louis graduated high school and went to a University in Tennessee. He had always read the reformation articles and his resolve on the need for equality only continued to increase. He joined a protest group against segregation. They began by sitting in the white section of a local coffee shop. They were spat on, yelled at, hit with food, burned and beaten ending in all of their arrests. Louis was making a change and refused to accept less than their rights. Cecil did not see it like that. He believed that Louis was ungrateful and finding himself troubles with the radicalized protesters. I don’t think any of that mattered as much as the fact that Louis was in danger of losing his life if he continued protesting and staying out of school. Cecil wanted nothing more than to protect his family from the things he had endured.

Regardless of how his father felt Louis couldn’t stop perusing his vision that now Martin Luther King Jr. was also sharing with America. He became a freedom rider. Cecil knew he was involved in these movements and you could see the worry and frustration in his eyes every time the news came on reporting another protest and another beating and in many cases, killings. Louis’s vision was not just for himself it was for his friends and family, his life was worth losing to gain freedom. Cecil didn’t understand this; he thought Louis was being ungrateful and reckless. After the jail time kept adding up, Cecil stopped talking to Louis all together. He continued working at the White House and continued gaining respect from the presidents and all who worked with him. He begins requesting that the salary of black butlers be equalized to the salary of white butlers. His boss continued to be disrespectful with all of his requests. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. This not only created chaos throughout the streets with violent protests but it was the feeling of loss that devastated all those who were impassioned about the movement. Groups began forming again in the name of what Martin Luther stood for, love. Malcolm X began his speaking and The Black Panthers were formed. Louis joined and helped the volunteer work and donating for education purposes as well as protests needed to address inequality. Louis missed home and came to visit with his girlfriend. That would be the first time he had been home for years. Cecil dismissed his anger in the hopes of reconciliation. Louis began talking about the Black Panther organization to his family at the dinner table and insulted a successful black actor. Cecil was angry but kept his cool until Louis said that the only barriers most black men in show business are breaking are a due to acting white, just like butlers do. It was a deep insult to Cecil considering he worked his entire life to give Louis everything and now he blatantly showed his ungratefulness. Cecil had had enough.

Louis faced a hard decision within The Black Panthers. He believed in the cause but their radicalization haltered him. The Panthers began saying they would kill two white men for every black man stricken down. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” (Martin Luther King Jr.) Louis walked away from the group. He had marched with Martin Luther King and he knew why he had begun to march. It was for peace, equality and justice. Killing to beget killing is none of those. He allowed his dream to guide him just as he knew it should. He went back to college but that didn’t mean his father was anymore happy with him.

Charlie, the youngest son, had a different way of approaching his vision. He joined the Vietnam War. Louis swore not to go to his funeral because he believed the war was wrong and an unequal man at home should not fight for it. Charlie responded by saying that he didn’t want to fight against his country like him, he wanted to fight for it. Everyone was fighting for something during the civil rights movement and even those with the same destination searched for it in their own way. Louis kept his promise of not going to his funeral. This only added more fuel to the fire between him and Cecil. Even when Louis graduated from college and came to see him, Cecil was only dismissive to him.

Though many can quickly judge Cecil for being less understanding, one has to understand that it was only his desire to protect him. Cecil felt that he gave his son every opportunity to be freed from discrimination with education opportunities and protection from all the things he had to endure during his life. It was his pride that kept this anger from seeing why his son had done all the things he did. Even when Louis was running for congress, Cecil wouldn’t call. He watched as the presidents came and went, observing the movement of the presidents during these civil rights years. He watched as more and more freedom and less discrimination was enforced throughout the country. He approached his boss once again, requesting equal pay opportunities for black butlers as there are for white butlers. Again he was dismissed but this time Cecil didn’t just leave. He had talked to the president and now replied to his boss that he had to take it up with the president. Finally, he had received his on equality and made another step forward in the movement.

After his accomplishment in equalization Cecil and Gloria were invited to the White house to dine. Though he wanted to enjoy it, he couldn’t because he finally saw the reality of the two faces every successful butler had to learn, as to avoid being anything the white man didn’t want them to be. He had a realization, not just about himself but about his son. He saw the truth in what it meant for him to have two faces; he didn’t even enjoy working anymore. He understood why his son had done the things he had done. He saw that his son wasn’t just being ungrateful, he was a hero; doing things others couldn’t or wouldn’t do, for the betterment of an entire community. Cecil couldn’t be content anymore and he couldn’t sit and watch. He went to a protest where his son was speaking and they were finally able to see that they had always wanted the same dream. That Cecil’s accomplishments had been a huge reason in Louis’s realization of the inequality within the world.

Everyone has their own vision; it is what creates great movements. Every single person who found the courage to fight for their vision of equality was an individual worth remembering and worth admiring. The individual creates the movements we look back on and feel relieved there was enough bravery to cleanse even an ounce of evil in the world.