In slavery times, the master would beat slaves into submission. Their whippings discouraged slaves from running, rebelling and slothful. In turn, slaves beat their own children so the master would not have to. Whippings and beatings are a learned behavior. One that should have ended with slavery, but someone became the punishment of choice for Africian Americans. When Stacey Patton penned her memoir, of her life as the adoptive child of Myrtle and G. Patton in That Mean Old Yesterday, she compared those turbulent eight years to the life of a slave. Stacey was the slave who endured beatings, displacement and abandonment and who eventually runs away from the abusive massa.

At age five, Stacey’s short life is changed with just a visit from the social worker. She is informed by the only mother she knows that she is a foster child and she is just a temporary visitor in the only home she knows. She is eventually placed in the adoptive home of Myrtle and G. Patton, a couple who by all appearances are loving people who cannot have their own biological child. With so much love to give they chose Stacey. And they were the perfect family until the adoption was complete. Then, the first slap, then beatings with a belt, extension cord, shoe, hands and fist began by this loving adoptive mother. In Myrtle eyes, this was done in love, after all, it would be better for her to beat Stacey than the police and the Bible says “The blueness of a wound cleans away evil” and “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” So for eight years Stacey endured the beatings for simple infractions such as her shoes being crooked in the closet, saying “yep” instead of yes. Until at the age of 13, she could not take it anymore. Rather than sit passively and wait for Myrtle, her massa to beat her to death, Stacey ran.

I sat with my mouth wide open in horror reading Ms Patton’s story. Not because of the abuse she suffered, because as a former Child Protective Services worker I had seen it before, but because Ms Patton was so horribly wronged by those who were supposed to protect her. G and other family members knew what was happening and condoned Myrtle’s behavior. School teachers and administrators saw the bruises and did not report it; doctors and nurses treated her injuries and did not report them, and the police placed the blame on her and sent her back to her abusers. Through all of this, Ms. Patton had an inner strength and a strong will that could not be broken. When she got tired of the abuse, she ran away and steadfastly refused to return to her adoptive parents’ home. Where many would have thought that life ina group home or the system would have been her demise, she excelled in school and sports. She received a full scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, despite the naysayers. She was one of the kids who beat the system. She refused to let the title “Ward of the State of New Jersey” hold her back. She had dreams and she did not let her dreams be deferred.

That Old Mean Yesterday is not an easy read and I would not recommend it to everybody. Those who read the Darkest Child by Delores Phillips, Neecy’s Lullaby by Cris Burke, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Somebody’s Someone by Regina Louise or A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown might be able to relate to this novel. It is hard to believe a child could overcome all the obstacles placed in front of them, but Ms. Patton did and is to be congratulated for her tenacity and accomplishments.

Jeanette
APOOO BookClub

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