A Southern Awakening

Several years ago, my husband and I, Coloradans for more than thirty years, took a trip to the South primarily to visit friends who lived in Greensboro, North Carolina. After we visited and had a good time playing golf together, we drove a little bit further south to Charleston, South Carolina. 

On our first stop in Greensboro, our friends took us on a tour of their city which included visiting a forest where soldiers fought during the Revolutionary War and then to the Woolworth store in the main part of town where African Americans broke the Jim Crow laws and sat at the lunch counter and demanded to be served. 

On our first stop in South Carolina, we visited Fort Sumter where the Civil War began. There we saw the armor and artillery the Confederates used for the first shots of the conflict.

It was in Charleston that we took our most memorable tour, so full of history about our country. Our tour guide was a white man who was sensitive to the conflicts that have occurred since America began to exist. What I remember most was our visit to the cemetery where John C. Calhoun is buried and the discovery of how such a hateful man was able to be a powerful governing factor that divided our nation and still influences the beliefs of many today.

Our guide ended the tour by taking us to the market where slaves were auctioned off and sold. Very powerful.

The tour guide finessed commenting on the state of our country and its attitude toward the history of slavery by pointing out the gains we have made and commenting that we are still a work in progress.

Of course, we saw many remnants in Charleston of the wealthy's elegant lifestyle that existed at the time at the expense of the slaves who attended them.

I think it's time to acknowledge our history and move forward, to accept what happened in the past and pick out what were the good things. We all should know we can do better and we should all work at making this a reality.

We have the possibility of electing an American woman from the South who is proud of her heritage but cognizant of the many horrific foibles that took place. 

Let's move on.

My Current Wrap on the Candidates

 In my very Libra style, here is my brief (but spectacular) assessment of the current major candidates running in the 2024 campaign.

Note: The names are listed in alphabetical order.

JOE BIDEN - Conciliator

Knowledgeable and Experienced in working with Congress and foreign leaders

Endorsements: Democratic Party

RON DESANTIS - Firefighter

Advocates for the status quo and governs accordingly.

Endorsements: Florida

NIKKI HALEY - Fair and Balanced 

Continually trying to achieve the American Dream in government, business and society

Endorsements: Chris Sununu, Charles Koch

DONALD TRUMP - The Not So Nice Boss

Capable of achieving wealth at any cost. Wants to run the government the same way.

Endorsements: The Republican Party, Some unions, the Evangelical Church

It's our choice.

PUNCHING BACK

I'm watching two wars take place right now and feeling helpless as they unfold. In one situation, a country has been invaded and the citizens are defending their rights to remain a country. In the other the citizens of a country ruled by another have risen up using any means to become independent and the ruling country is retaliating.

I'm reminded of an incident that took place when my children were very young. My younger son was part of a play group that we mothers had organized. Every week one of the mothers would host the play group and think of activities to do. The other grateful mothers had a few hours to themselves. The group was comprised of four boys all four years old.

One of the members of the group...let's call him Donny....was the son of a very educated woman. I think her husband was a businessman. She was an architect who had attended an Eastern Ivy school and had had her son when she was a bit older. (In my time that was in her thirties).

Of course, these little guys were learning how to socialize and three of them including my son were sweet and kind and gentle. They were content to build with blocks, pretend they were superheroes, and sometimes even set up a grocery store. Donny, having been hovered over by his helicopter mom, had no rules. 

One time she dropped her little Donny off at my house for a session where I was in charge. Accompanying Donny was a bag full of chains and other hardware. "Donny likes to build," proclaimed his helicopter mother. 

On this occasion, Donny took out some of his chains to hit my darling son who, in response, burst out crying. 

I took him aside and whispered in his ear, "The next time he comes after you, punch him back."

My son did exactly that and Donny screamed and yelled and went on and on for a good period of time.

But Donny never went after my son again. 

The moral of the story is that if someone hits you and you can't with words convince them to not do so, only a punch will convey the message. Of course, you have to assess whether you are strong enough to defeat him/her/them. Often, in my mind, where there's a will, there's a way.

PS: I have to say that after this incident we other mothers asked the helicopter mom to leave Donny's chains at their home when she brought her son to play group.