Chapter 33 Even Riverside Changes
Grandmother Taylor thoughts went back to how things had continued to change in both Riverside and America over the past twenty or so years and things had also changed for her family.
Grandmother Taylor looked around the room at each of her family members present in the room. She looked at Tom Jr. who had grown to be a leader in the community. Tom Sr would have been very proud of him. Tom Jr had followed in his grandfather and father’s footsteps and become a very successful attorney in Riverside. No longer was he the colored lawyer but he now was a successful lawyer who happened to be Black. In fact many believed that he had the largest client base in the county. Tom serviced both White and Black clients who needed his service for both civil and criminal matters. Tom was also the Chairmen of the Deacon Board at the Church and past Potente for the Shriners. Tom also had been elected as Mayor of Riverside due largely to the behind the scenes work of his mother. Even though many things had changed, the one constant was that Grandmother Taylor continued to be the one Black person in Riverside that had been able to bride the gap between the Whites and Blacks in Riverside.
Her gaze fell on her grands. Tom had married his high school sweetheart shortly after returning from Howard. Not too long later they had their first child Pearl and followed by another girl and then Tommy. Grandmother Taylor loved all of her grandchildren but she had a special place in her heart for Tommy. While the others had the skin complexion and features of Tom, Tommy looked just like his grandfather. He had the same dark complexion with the handsome high cheek bones and pearly white teeth. She had already decided that he would join his father in the law firm once he graduated from college even though that would be another 15 years since Tommy was only 10 years of age. But then again Grandmother Taylor had been successful in directing her family.
There had been other changes in Riverside. She had finally sold the restaurant and store. They had been the victims of urban renewal plans for the downtown area. She used the money to purchase a new office complex for Tom’s law office. The complex housed the law office along with a group of medical offices and a real estate company. Maybe the biggest change in Riverside was the closing of the Black high school. The schools had become completely integrated and there was no need for the Black high school. The county still maintained the building as office space but it was the last outward sign of segregation in Riverside.