Taking The Road Less Traveled

February 28, 2019

As a little girl, my parents would load our family into a station wagon and take us on road trips from Pittsburgh, PA to Valdosta, GA, my mother’s home town. We always had full meals of fried chicken, biscuits and potato salad packed in a picnic basket and never stopped at hotels or restaurants along the way. As a child, this approximately 14-hour trip seemed like a lifetime. And, I vowed to myself at the young age of six that I would save money so that I would never have to drive this far again.

The movie “Green Book” won this year’s Oscar for best picture. The movie, set in the 1960s, was about a black musician, Dr. Donald Shirley, and his white bodyguard/driver on a road trip through the Jim Crow South.  As I watched the movie, it reminded me of my childhood trips to the South. I realize now that my parents were protecting us by making minimal stops, rotating drivers after two to three hours, and eating on the side of the road or sometimes in the car. I don’t remember them having the Green Book, the annual negro motorist guide, which identified establishments that welcomed African Americans in the South, but I’m sure they were aware that it was best to quickly gas up and keep moving when they were below the Mason Dixie line. At the time, I knew very little about racism. I did, however, notice that once we arrived at my Auntie’s house, I never saw white people. 

There was much controversy about the movie winning the Oscar because it was told from the perspective of the white chauffeur’s son. Dr. Shirley’s family protested that they had no input into the film. There was also the comparison to other movies such as “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Help” that were told from the “White rescue” perspective.  However, for me, “Green Book” was more about the determination of Dr. Shirley in making the journey to the South and the racial history versus the relationship he had with the driver. The fact that as an accomplished musician, he was welcomed to play at these posh establishments, but could not use the bathroom or stay in their hotels was most disturbing. There was one scene in the movie where he had to go to the bathroom and was pointed to an outhouse in the backyard. He refused to use it and ended up having to drive back to his hotel 20 minutes away. During the movie, one of his band members said, he could have stayed in the North and made lots of money, but Dr. Shirley chose the road less traveled. The mere fact that he decided to play classical music and not conform to the music that African Americans were “expected to play” was monumental and opened doors for others. He knew his choice would be difficult, but he didn’t give up. 

Many of the experiences Dr. Shirley had are summarized in M. Scott Peck’s book, “The Road Less Traveled.” Below are just a few:

• Life can be difficult—mainly because the process of confronting and solving problems is painful. Dr. Shirley knew his journey was going to be challenging but was willing to go anyway based on principle.
• Accept responsibility both for your problems and for solving them. Problems are the edge between failure and success.
• Discipline means delaying gratification, accepting responsibility, being honest and truthful, and, finally, balancing. Dr. Shirley was an accomplished musician who achieved fame because of focus, discipline and determination. While he was an expert, he unfortunately lacked life balance, was lonely, and became an alcoholic.
• Truth is reality—the more clearly we see the world, the better equipped we are to deal with it. The world is forever changing, and we must continually revise our views. While Dr. Shirley revised his driver’s view of African Americans, he knew it would take years to change the country’s view.

Clearly there were liberties taken in telling the story and we will never know what really happened between the two men. However, what I will remember is what road Dr. Shirley tried to take to prove he mattered.

• “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made the difference.”

Robert Frost