Larry Anderson at Kudzu Acres notes the post below about the Boll Weevil Monument, and takes a moment to reflect on its greater meaning:

In my little North Alabama neighborhood, farmers continued to plant cotton long after they ceased to have a chance of turning a profit. One man continued to plant into the '90s, but didn't pick his acre. When asked about it, he said that his daddy, granddaddy and great-granddaddy all planted cotton and so would he as long as he farmed.

Trent Lott's recent comments about Strom Thurmond reminded me of the old farmer. It seems that some people are incapable of recognizing when something has outlived any usefulness it may have ever had. There was a time when Jim Crow was useful to the South's politicians in that it allowed them to play the different non-powerful peoples against each other for political gain. Never think that any of it was about anything but power. Lott doesn't seem to have the intelligence to realize that the days are gone when the majority of Southern whites perk up at comments about how good the old days were. Pockets of ignorance remain, but on the whole, Southerners have realized that keeping a portion of the population down harms us all. We do not longingly look back at the days of George Wallace, Strom Thurmond, Bull Connor and others of that ilk. We are happy with the new South and are ready for politicans such as Trent Lott to move on so that the rest of us can build a society where every person can reach for their potential without idiots imposing unnatural barriers.

I can stand up from where I'm sitting right now, look out my window, and see the exact spot where the Dixiecrats held their convention in 1948. I can walk downstairs, go outside, and see the inscription on the time capsule in the foundation of the building listing the city commissioners in 1950, including that of Eugene Conner. And I can turn around, look toward the park across the street and see people walking and talking and acting perfectly...normal. People--people from all walks of life, from all races, and even from across the world--just being people.

If there is hope and peace in this place, never let it be said that there can be no hope or peace elsewhere.
posted by Terry at 2:09:00 PM