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Don Edrington The Senior Computer Tutor
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In 1950 I was stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where I was a Company Clerk in a US Army Corps of Engineers School Battalion. James Wilson was a black sailor who was taking one of the courses. Although Fort Belvoir is an army base, about ten percent of the students were from other branches of the service.
 James and I were introduced by someone who said we probably had a lot in common because we were both interested in classical music. Well, James was more than just interested — he was a talented violinist who had been playing since he was very young. One day, while going through the movie listings in the Washington Post, I spotted an ad for a French movie that was supposed to be about the life of composer Jacques Offenbach. It was playing at a small "art" theater that specialized in foreign films. I wasn't familiar with the theater's location — but James had been born and raised in DC. When I mentioned it to him, and suggested going to see the movie, he said he knew right where it was. He also said he was glad the film was playing in this particular movie house, because it was one of the few theaters in DC that he was allowed into. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. DC Theaters — No Blacks Allowed I could scarcely believe it. Here it was 1950, and the vast majority of movie theaters in our nation's capital refused to admit blacks? I guess I really was naïve. James and I got to be good friends, and I was invited to dinner at his parents' home a number of times. I also became acquainted with the various restaurants and theaters in Washington DC where blacks were welcome. Beyond that, I enjoyed hearing him play the violin, and he got a kick out of my magic tricks. Why Not Hypnotism? Then one day I ran across a book on hypnotism. I'd always been curious about whether hypnotism was for real, or was it just an act of some kind? It was a big book that can't be summarized in a few words — but it said, basically, that hypnotism is indeed quite real and, when used properly, it can be an effective tool in certain types of medical and/or psychiatric treatments. The book also explained that people can't be hypnotized against their will, nor can hypnotized persons be made to do things that are against their moral values. The book also had a lot of precautionary notes as to the potential hazards of just fooling around with hypnotism. Having said all that, however, it pointed out that it is not all that hard for one person to hypnotize another — as long as the other is willing. Then the book explained how to do it. I was curious to try it out. So was James. To grossly oversimplify it — the idea is for the hypnotist to get the other person's full attention — usually by having him concentrate on an object of some kind — and then by telling him authoritatively that he is going to relax — and feel good — and, ultimately, follow the hypnotist's instructions. So one night, when my roommate was gone for the evening, James and I decided to try it. With James laying on his back, I dimmed the lights and asked him to concentrate on an object I would dangle above of him. As he stared at the slowly swinging dog-tag (army ID necklace) I told him he was beginning to relax. I then told him how his feet were getting heavy, and then his legs, etc., and finally how his whole body was so heavy he could scarcely move any part of it. Then I asked him to try to raise his right hand, after having told him it would be too heavy to raise more than a couple of inches. Was He Really Hypnotized? He struggled to raise it, but could just barely get it off the blanket. (Was he really hypnotized, I wondered, or just trying to be cooperative? Next I told him that the heaviness would go away, and that he could sit up on the edge of the bunk. He did — but I still couldn't tell if he was just trying to please me. Then I told him to stand up, put his hands at his sides, and make his body stiff as a board. Again, he did exactly as I told him. But I wasn't convinced that I really had him under my power. I needed a better test. Then I thought of one. I stood behind him and said, "James, I want you to keep your body stiff and let yourself fall backwards." I wanted to see if he would do this — or would he try to break his fall somehow? Well, to my surprise, he began to fall straight backwards — and without making any effort to break the fall. I caught him and pushed him upright again. But here's the scary part — I started to step around in front of him while trying to decide what to do next. I'd barely taken one step when he started to fall backwards again. I had to scramble to get behind him and keep him from landing flat on his back. Then it occurred to me — I hadn't told him to fall on the count of three, or anything like that. I had just told him to fall — and said nothing about when to stop falling. This scared me. So, as I stood behind him with my hands on his shoulders, I said, "James, you're going to wake up when I count to three." Then I counted, and said, "Wake up, James!" His body immediately relaxed. When I felt sure he wasn't going to fall again, I stepped around in front of him and asked, "How do you feel?" "Fine," he said. Then, after a pause, he continued, "So — what are we doing?" I said, "Do you remember what we just did?" He thought for a moment, then said, "You were going to try to hypnotize me. I remember looking at the dog-tag." Then I told him what had happened — and he claimed he could remember none of it. Well, either I had actually hypnotized him — and given myself a good scare in the process — or he was the world's greatest actor. In any case, I decided that was enough hypnotism for me, and James said that if I was satisfied it was okay with him, too. Shortly after that James finished his course and shipped out. He had become my best friend at Fort Belvoir, and I missed him. However, when I got to Korea another black man became my best friend: Willie Canada was quite a character - he wanted to start his own church. |
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