maleeper, The Drive-By Truckers are nothing if not topical.
Speaking of health care reform and jobs, did anyone see anything that resonates with more recent history? I was trying to make the implication and I'm not sure I succeeded.
Love those Drive By Truckers - the new musical voice of the South! These images were played out during my own formative years. I was in elementary school, maybe the 4th or 5th grade when we were integrated. We children took in all in stride but the parents went wild. Some kids were sent to private or parochial schools. And some parents taught their children the language of hate which was very sad. I marched for peace and equality.I still believe in those ideals today. The South, like an other part of the country is a diverse mix of people and beliefs. It has had a painful racial history, but with work like this to remind us where we have come from, perhaps it will serve as incentive to keep move forward. We have come a long way; we have a long way to go.
Elementary school? (sigh) I was in High school - class of '63 and passed up on the chance to go and march. Now I wish I had gone.
I remember when Wallace ran for president. We had a farm back then and my dad had someone out there doing some job or other. When he saw a Wallace sticker on the guy's truck, he pushed it into the Galena river.
I don't think this country has changed a damned bit. Maybe the racist pigs aren't actually a majority; maybe they've toned it down, hidden it away, made it seem like something else, but they're here and they are the death of the American dream.
I used to ask whether we could survive, now I ask whether we deserve to.
Oh yes, and another terrific job Matt - this needs some air time.
Reflections on the past. Predictions for the future? God, let's hope not. A heck of a video, rekindling memories of a very ugly time.
Because I flunked first grade I didn't graduate from HS until 1960. Worked for about three years in downtown Nashville when the sit-ins were just getting started. These three boggled the mind.
A great job, Matt (sorry I'm late -- more distracted and preoccupied than usual lately). "The duality of the Southern thing" is certainly educational for me, in more ways than one. As a European transplant, I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around racism and its legacy that persisted in this country for so unthinkably long. Heck, it still does. It's one of those things that literally boggle the mind (mine, at least).
Capt. Fogg:
When he saw a Wallace sticker on the guy's truck, he pushed it into the Galena river.
Captain, your dad sounds like Freedom Hills material. The Western corner of my county was unionist. In fact, the legacy of a north-south split across the Tennessee River lives on today in the predominant HS football colors.
tnlib, Wallace has had an odd effect on modern Alabama politics. Artur Davis is the most useless Democrat in Washington, but he'll be the most progressive governor in state history if he can get elected. And if elected, it will be because he has studied Wallace closely.
Elizabeth, the south has been a global crossroads since about 1500 AD. The real story of this region is incredible diversity on a wild frontier. In fact, to understand the south you need to remember that it was, for a long time, the Wild Wild West.
Example: the first railroad west of the Allegheny mountains was built about a half-mile from where I'm sitting. It transported cotton around the shoals -- a geological feature that kept the Tennessee unnavigable at that point. Tuscumbia was also the departure point for the genocidal forced immigration of Cherokees known as the "Trail of Tears." These days, fully 30% of Alabama residents claim Native American heritage; yet until 1968 it was illegal to BE A NATIVE AMERICAN in this state (a law last enforced in 1938).
Our history is every bit as rich and horrible as England or France in the middle ages. It just didn't last as long.
We welcome civil discourse from all people but express no obligation to allow contributors and readers to be trolled. Any comment that sinks to the level of bigotry, defamation, personal insults, off-topic rants, and profanity will be deleted without notice.
Who says topical music is dead? I viewed and lived through your history as a northern girl, and thoroughly enjoyed southern perspective.
ReplyDeleteNow, in 2010, we need to convince the "evil ones" that everyone benefits in a country where everyone has health care and jobs.
maleeper, The Drive-By Truckers are nothing if not topical.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of health care reform and jobs, did anyone see anything that resonates with more recent history? I was trying to make the implication and I'm not sure I succeeded.
DAYum! Loved it. As maleeper (above) said, I too remember this time in our history. Your finest work to date, and many thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteLove those Drive By Truckers - the new musical voice of the South!
ReplyDeleteThese images were played out during my own formative years.
I was in elementary school, maybe the 4th or 5th grade when we were integrated. We children took in all in stride but the parents went wild. Some kids were sent to private or parochial schools. And some parents taught their children the language of hate which was very sad.
I marched for peace and equality.I still believe in those ideals today.
The South, like an other part of the country is a diverse mix of people and beliefs. It has had a painful racial history, but with work like this to remind us where we have come from, perhaps it will serve as incentive to keep move forward.
We have come a long way; we have a long way to go.
Elementary school? (sigh) I was in High school - class of '63 and passed up on the chance to go and march. Now I wish I had gone.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Wallace ran for president. We had a farm back then and my dad had someone out there doing some job or other. When he saw a Wallace sticker on the guy's truck, he pushed it into the Galena river.
I don't think this country has changed a damned bit. Maybe the racist pigs aren't actually a majority; maybe they've toned it down, hidden it away, made it seem like something else, but they're here and they are the death of the American dream.
I used to ask whether we could survive, now I ask whether we deserve to.
Oh yes, and another terrific job Matt - this needs some air time.
Reflections on the past. Predictions for the future? God, let's hope not. A heck of a video, rekindling memories of a very ugly time.
ReplyDeleteBecause I flunked first grade I didn't graduate from HS until 1960. Worked for about three years in downtown Nashville when the sit-ins were just getting started. These three boggled the mind.
Again, a hell of a video and thanks.
Enjoyed the video, Matt -- well done!
ReplyDeleteA great job, Matt (sorry I'm late -- more distracted and preoccupied than usual lately). "The duality of the Southern thing" is certainly educational for me, in more ways than one. As a European transplant, I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around racism and its legacy that persisted in this country for so unthinkably long. Heck, it still does. It's one of those things that literally boggle the mind (mine, at least).
ReplyDeleteCapt. Fogg:
When he saw a Wallace sticker on the guy's truck, he pushed it into the Galena river.
Wow! (LOL)
(O)CT(O), that's high praise. I'm rather proud of it, but had only so much to do with it. (It can be difficult to be creative for ten minutes...)
ReplyDeleteRocky, your generation made the postracial generation now rising. It's an achievement on par with the "greatest" generation, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteCaptain, your dad sounds like Freedom Hills material. The Western corner of my county was unionist. In fact, the legacy of a north-south split across the Tennessee River lives on today in the predominant HS football colors.
ReplyDeleteSee also the DBT's song "Southern Thing."
tnlib, Wallace has had an odd effect on modern Alabama politics. Artur Davis is the most useless Democrat in Washington, but he'll be the most progressive governor in state history if he can get elected. And if elected, it will be because he has studied Wallace closely.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dino!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, the south has been a global crossroads since about 1500 AD. The real story of this region is incredible diversity on a wild frontier. In fact, to understand the south you need to remember that it was, for a long time, the Wild Wild West.
ReplyDeleteExample: the first railroad west of the Allegheny mountains was built about a half-mile from where I'm sitting. It transported cotton around the shoals -- a geological feature that kept the Tennessee unnavigable at that point. Tuscumbia was also the departure point for the genocidal forced immigration of Cherokees known as the "Trail of Tears." These days, fully 30% of Alabama residents claim Native American heritage; yet until 1968 it was illegal to BE A NATIVE AMERICAN in this state (a law last enforced in 1938).
Our history is every bit as rich and horrible as England or France in the middle ages. It just didn't last as long.