This is our “White Privilege.” This is our “White Strength.”

From Woodsterman, https://woodstermangotwood.blogspot.com/

July 6, 1936, Route 66, New Mexico. This is Martha Evans, 32. She had been walking for three days. Her husband died of tuberculosis in Oklahoma in May. The farm was foreclosed. She took the six kids and a Radio Flyer wagon and started west for California. The twins in the wagon were 11 months old. The boys walking were 6, 5, 4, and 3. Her dress was torn on barbed wire. Her leg was cut and infected. She wrapped it with a feed sack. She had $1.60 in her pocket. A photographer from the Resettlement Administration saw them and pulled over. He offered her a ride. She said no. She said if she took a ride now, the kids would expect one every time they were tired. She gave him her name and kept walking. The photo ran in newspapers across the country. Donations came to a PO box in Barstow. She got $200 and a bus ticket. She made it to Bakersfield and picked grapes. All six kids lived. Three went to college. Martha died in 1978. The wagon is in the Smithsonian.

4 thoughts on “This is our “White Privilege.” This is our “White Strength.”

  1. THIS is what made America great, even in times of desperation and upheaval. Hard times make strong men, AND women!

  2. Unfortunately, like most things on the Internet this isn’t a true story however it is extremely compelling and a testament to American women

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