Spending Some Down Time on Martha's Vineyard

I have spent a few days each year for the past couple of years enjoying the sun, beaches, golf and scenic vistas on Martha's Vineyard, the vacation hot spot that the Obama family is enjoying this week.

It commonly is called the playground for the rich and the elite, and maybe that's the case. But for me, it really is a quaint collection of towns that reminds me of the slow days hanging out in the country in my beloved Texas.

Harvard professor Charles Ogletree has invited me to be a participant on panels of his Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. They are daylong affairs that bring together many of the top minds in media, finance, academia and entertainment for thought-provoking discussions. These events have been my entree into the Martha's Vineyard experience.

The event is held at the local high school, and it has been standing room only. It seems that the annual event has become a major attraction for the variety of folks from across the country who come to what they like to call "The Vineyard."

But what has been really interesting is that going to the place is like going to a family reunion every year. I've gotten kicks out of just standing back and watching men and women talk about how their families have been coming to the Massachusetts island for years, listening to a Fannie Mae executive with whom I played golf talk about shipping a lot of barbecue from Houston to The Vineyard for his friends to enjoy, and seeing Ogletree spend a lot of time fishing and dropping out striped bass to all his friends on The Vineyard.

As a native of Texas, I never knew about Martha's Vineyard, especially its role in African-American history. I first heard about it when watching Matty Rich's film "The Inkwell," the story of a young man from the inner city who comes of age during a visit to Martha's Vineyard.

"The Inkwell" was named after the portion of the beach in Oak Bluffs that long ago was the only place African-Americans could enjoy without trouble.

Later, I read about the rehabilitating nature of The Vineyard in Jill Nelson's book "Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience," in which she wrote about recovering from a nervous breakdown. Nelson later wrote the book "Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island."

Being on The Vineyard really does, as one man has described, lower your blood pressure about 10 points. I get a kick out of driving down the tree-lined streets, watching the boats fill the bay, or having homemade ice cream at one of the eateries. Folks aren't necessarily rushing to go from here to there; it is a place where people come to relax.

And boy, do they relax.

Several individuals I talked to said they spend two to six weeks on The Vineyard. Some rent homes. Others own homes. Any number stay in the quaint hotels. And some just visit friends from home to home.

It's easy to make the place all about the well-to-do, but let's be honest; it's not as if Martha's Vineyard is the only place where people frequently vacation. If we travel to various towns in Florida, Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, even resort towns in Idaho and Utah, we hear about Americans who own summer homes and spend time away from all the madness.

So as the Obamas enjoy their vacation, maybe we all ought to just cut the nonsense about Martha's Vineyard's being the playground for the rich and elite. This is America. This is where we love our capitalism. Isn't spending a summer in a house on Martha's Vineyard just the realization of the American dream?

Roland S. Martin is an award-winning CNN analyst and the author of the forthcoming book "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin." Please visit his Web site at www.RolandSMartin.com. To find out more about Roland S. Martin and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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