Life in Buford: A Father of Twelve on Past, Present, and Progress

Every aspect of society has its pros and cons. To John McGriff, a hard- working father of twelve, a small community named Buford has its fair share of both.“We still have a lot of rednecks out here. We still got a lot of the old people that still wanna go with the old ways. Like what y’all do now, that wouldn’t be approved of. When I was growing up, they couldn’t have that.”

On the surface, McGriff is many things; a well- known mechanic, car collector, and father of his 5 sons and 7 daughters. Though, he once was the average teenager in little Buford, SC. 

“I went to Buford all the way up to my senior year and I left the second semester of my senior year and graduated from Monroe.” “I played baseball, basketball, all of them. I did all sports.” “My mama’s from Chesterfield and Pageland, my daddy’s from here. My grandparents were from here, and their parents from Georgia. They migrated a long way”

McGriff began talking about his children attending too, speaking of the advantages of having such a small student to staff ratio. “I’m glad they did go to Buford, it’s about the best school in this county. With a small population you get to learn better.”

McGriff started talking about the weighted disadvantages of attending Buford High not only then, but now for his children.“We still have a lot of rednecks out here. We still got a lot of the old people that still wanna go with the old ways. Like what yall do now, that wouldn’t be approved of. When I was growing up, they couldn’t have that.” He went into depth.“Dating blacks. Whites dating blacks, you couldn’t do that when I was in school.If a white girl was with a black guy, she was looked down upon, the girl was, by her race. It didn’t matter to the black race, we didn’t have anything to say about it, we never cared, Black people don’t care about mixing with the white, it’s just that the white did.”

After speaking about his general opinion, McGriff began to express his hopes for buford today, speaking about his wishes for his children’s experiences, as well as his personal ties to the topic.“I hope the racial part of it has changed. I really do hope that. I’m glad that the, or rather some of the teachers are not there so they don’t have to go through that racial experience with them. Now the black kids actually get a chance of the better part of education, now they’re actually sending them somewhere.”

As we started to move to the matter of his family, McGriff shared that he is married to a woman of another race; a white woman. He spoke of his family’s reactions to his partner.“Black people never had a racial difference when we mixed; it’s never been an issue; my mama and family love my wife. Even a lot of them were half white anyways.”

His family didn’t care about his wife, Miranda’s race. As he elaborated, Miranda shared what her family thought.“My family was very open- minded. They didn’t care, they wouldn’t have cared whether he was black, white, purple, or green, as long as he took care of me and loved me. My mom is married to a black man, I have a black step brother, I have mixed children, mixed nieces, and a nephew. We don’t see color, we see character.”

McGriff and his wife both agreed that when it came to their children, the race of their significant other simply didn’t matter.“I wouldn’t care what color, what race they end up with, as long as they’re happy, and are treated good.”

To John and Miranda McGriff, physical differences don’t matter. It’s not about culture, it’s not about race, it’s about connection. “It’s normal, it’s like a normal life now. It’s good. I’m glad it’s like that today, we don’t see different races, we see one- human.”