Sunday was the 55th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. Because 9 old white guys did the right thing, Linda Brown was able to attend a school close to her home--despite the fact that it was "all white."

That's how the world was, once. The man who made it happen, used to spend Christmas with his family in Conn Valley.

In fact, after the decision, certain people in St. Helena didn't their kids to play with us, for we were a bunch of "Nigrah lovin' commies."

How times have changed. Today, a black man occupies the White House. This was accomplished in just over half a century. We are an amazing people.

A man from the backwaters of Bakersfield, who had scant contact with black people throughout his life--though the story of his Black body guard, Pat Paterson, has yet to be told--wrote the words, "Separate but Equal is inherently unequal."

The late Thurgood Marshall used to love to tell the story about the janitor and the "Chief." The year was 1953. Marshall was the lead attorney in the bid to overturn Plessy vs. Fergusson. Young Marshall first argued the cas e in front of Chief Justice, Frederick Vinson (a Kentuckian), who died of an untimely heart attack in 1953. There were three other Southerners on the court.

Marshall knew nothing of Earl Warren, "The biggest damn fool mistake," President Eisenhower ever made.

Justice Marshall, in that raspy voice of his, would shout, "There I was walking down the hallway in the Supreme Court, and an elderly Negro (his word, not mine) with a mop stops me. 'What are ya' gonna do with this feller?' He asks me."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"'Are you gonna fight him'?" he says.

" Hell, I don't even know him. Should we fight him?" Marshall replied.

"Then this old guy says, 'A while back I was mopping the floor, when this great big white guy comes over to me, reaches out his hand --and says, 'Hi. My name's Warren. What's yours? When a man in his position does that to a laborer, like me, it means something! I just want ya' to know--if you're gonna fight him--I'll kill ya'."

Then Justice Marshall would break out in that raucous laugh he was so famous for.

The story speaks volumes about honor, race, and class--but mostly human dignity.

Handshakes were not taken lightly in Conn Valley. We were brought up to look an adult in the eye, shake hands firmly, and introduce ourselves clearly. We were reprimanded when we blew it.

Papa Warren and his generation knew the importance of a hand shake.

So much is communicated in such a short period of time.

We all know what a fish handshake communicates. What it's like when the shakee won't look the shaker in the eye--or when the grip is limp.

When you reach out and grip my hand, look me in the eye and smile, you20are telling me in micro-seconds, that I count --that you respect my presence and my being.

Sadly, the hand shake lost it's panache in the 60's when hand slaps (high fives) were introduced. How fleeting hand slaps are. How fleeting relationships are now-a-days.

My kids used to roll their eyes when we demanded it. Friends tease me about running for office because I shake hands with each friend when finding a seat in the bleachers.

And of course, to the politically correct crowd, the hand shake is looked upon as a white male thing.

Papa Warren wasn't politicking when he shook that janitor's hand. He was acknowledging that no matter their respective titles, both their jobs were important--both honorable--both deserving of respect. Having come from poverty, he knew the dignity of each job--any job.

He was literally reaching out to say "Hey, we're both in this together. We've each got a job to do. "

Justice Marshall loved the job that laborer did on him. One can't help but wonder at what might have happened to the Civil Rights Movement, had that laborer been sick that day--or maybe just been ignored by an egoist, who thought a handshake didn't matter. Did that one insignificant handshake change the course of American history? Maybe not. On the other hand I wouldn't want to re-run the tape and see America in 2009 had Marshall had a real dislike for that new fella on the bench.

As mistakes go, Ike’s wasn’t a bad one.