The world is one great battlefield,
With forces all arrayed;
If in my heart I do not yield,
I'll overcome some day.
First Stanza from "I'll Overcome Some Day" Gospel Song by the Reverend Charles Albert Tindley of Philadelphia.
Inspiration for "We Shall Overcome"
Yes I have not posted in a while, it has been a busy few weeks. I warn you some pent up thoughts are pulsing from my finger to the keyboard. Hopefully food for thought no matter your perspective.
Most of my readers were aware that my Faithful and Obedient Companion and I made a trip to Memphis on our journey back to Colorado from Vermont. We had visited Memphis 4 years earlier and found the music history there to be incredible. On that trip we not only took in Beale Street, an incredible 4 block section of Bars and Blues Clubs that celebrated to music revolution that centered in Memphis, as well as several "Historic Spots" including Sun Records and Graceland.
Aside from some disappointments with our stay at the Peabody (I will not bore you with the details), this trip was even more rewarding, particularly since we looked deeply at that piece of American History known as as The Civil Rights Era. Indeed it was in Memphis that so much uniquely rich American music evolved during these turbulent times. Two museum visits were particularly filled with insight on this history.
The first was the National Civil Rights Museum, built on the site where Martin Luther King was Assassinated.
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| Motel Balcony where MLK was Assassinated |
The Museum was rich with details on the saga of Black Americans from the first years of Slavery through the sad era of Jim Crow era. It deeply covered the battles over integration in the in the late 40's and 50's culminating in the Freedom Rides of the sixties and King's assassination. It included observations about the ongoing controversies of Race and Gender in our society up to present It was impossible not to be moved by the stories it told.
As much as the National Civil Rights Museum was a in depth look at the belated blending of our heritage, I found the Stax Museum even more fascinating. It documented the blending of Mississippi Delta Blues with White Country and Hillbilly music along .with a good dose of both Black and White Gospel music. The geographic center of all this was Memphis. During the 50's and 60'3 Stax was essentially a "race neutral" place in the still segregated south. Black and white musicians simply got together to make music. Think of "Booker T and the MG's" as one vivid example. What moved me most were video interviews with several artists that talked about this collaboration. It saddened me to listen to their general feeling (both by black and white performers) that after the King assassination such collaboration became harder to do. Stax which had been built as a "unique" "white and black" managed and integrated employee organization when the rest of the south, including Memphis was segregated fell apart by 1972.
Today's Memphis is as "integrated" as anywhere I have ever visited (Shelby County TN is 52% Black). It is certainly a far cry from Vermont. The music scene there is vibrant and both black and white aficionado's of Blues and Rock happily mix it up all along Beale Street. Both my Faithful and Obedient Companion and I will undoubtedly revisit Memphis again in the future.
We left Memphis to visit "Batesville" Arkansas the county seat of Independence County Arkansas. It is also the home of Marshall's Dry Goods a HUGE fabric wholesaler which for a Quilter like my Faithful and Obedient Companion is like a magnet. It was the sole reason for this unusual detour. You will likely not be surprised to hear she purchased enough fabric to qualify as a "wholesaler".
Demographically Batesville and the county in which it resides is more like Vermont. The "white population ois 94%, and historically it is much more like "White Appalachia" (it is in the Ozark's) then the deep south. One big difference from Vermont is that Independence county is "dry" and is obviously (just from our drive through) populated by a huge number of Pentecostal and Baptist churches. In reflecting on Memphis it is a place where Gospel and Country music have been an integral part of life for generations. I felt as comfortable and as at home walking, dining and staying in Batesville as I did Beale Street in Memphis.
Which is bringing me to my Observations of the day. As we drove home I speculated about how different these two "southern places" were. So as I thought of what direction to take my impulses led me to my "statistics fetish"and cultural things.
For the heck of it I decided to look at how residents Shelby County TN and Independence county AR have voted "historically" over the last Presidential elections, and then a few other key demographics.
Shelby TN voting and demographics (underlined are voting similarities):
Lyndon Johnson in 1964 (before MLK was assassinated), A small plurality for George Wallace in 1968. Nixon in 72, Carter in 76, Carter in 80, Reagan in 84, Bush in 88, Clinton in 92 and 96 and Democrats ever since.
Now if one thinks of the Climate of the south through the late 60's no surprise that before black voter registration drives Wallace won with 35% of the vote. However, this was and remains strong Democratic territory with notable exceptions for Reagan in 84, and Bush in 88. In essence the large African American population (now enfranchised) and "Hip" Urban Center have made Shelby County as solidly Democrat as it had been, since long before the end of Jim Crow. It is a culture I enjoy and appreciate immensely
Household Demographics
Married Living together-42.8%
Female No Husband -20.1%
Households Individuals-27.7%
Independence AR:
Lyndon Johnson in 1964 (before MLK was assassinated),Nixon in 68, Nixon in 72, Carter in 76 ,Carter in 80, Reagan in 84, Bush in 88, Clinton in 92, Clinton in 96, firmly Republican since. I am not surprised that they voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
Now my impression is that historically this slice of America has voted on primarily religious grounds and "traditional values". In many ways I find much appealing about their perspectives particularly with a the focus on family religious values. However, I did appreciate the Alcohol laws in Memphis much more than Batesville! I did not see any evidence that this northwest corner of Arkansas is a place of racial hatred. Just a strong and deeply embedded "country" culture. My own sense is the social changes over the last 40-50 years have had a big effect on voting patterns and why they "left" the democratic party.
Household Demographics
Married Living together-59%
Female No Husband -9.2%%
Households Individuals-25.5%
Now some things I have since pondered:
Our country has generally had a "live and let live" view of what a society should be like. it is embedded in our federalist structure. It also sadly contributed to the establishment of Jim Crow. All of this is laid out in that Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. But how did our country "allow that to happen" after strong gains in civil rights from 1865 until about 1876? What about today's divisiveness?
First on Jim Crow. What happened that allowed a "counter revolution" and disenfranchisement of African Americans after a bloody conflict to free them? I have read a few theories that a "war weary" North was tired of occupying the deep south. There was great political pressure for De-Militarizing our country that forced Northern politicians to end support of continued Southern Occupation. I found in that an interesting perspective. Sometimes force is needed to overcome injustice and oppression. Love of Peace does not always have a positive result given human behavior. Thus for millions freedom was delayed.
Second (and this may seem counterintuitive to my readers after reading the prior paragraph, but 100% in line with my predisposed "Haidt" conservative worldview):
I understand that some group "values" can violate one's sense of fairness and decency. But I also find great importance in our deeply rooted and traditional social values (Like those I sense in Independence AR). These values are that it is a nuclear families primary responsibility to raise and nurture our children, not the states. Regardless of your perspective it is true that in many ways, we have relieved families of this responsibility. We increasingly have asked or allowed the state to teach them basic values, and have made the nuclear family passe (even if inadvertently and with all the best intentions). How? By offering and promoting state sponsored early and primary childcare (where our most basic values are taught), and through income support which ultimately discounts the need for two parent homes. Our news, media and politicians glorify single parent families. In many cases there is increasing state enforcement of parenting practices. We have radically altered our most basic social structure in ways that will be difficult to "undue". I think for many these changes are now delivering results that are discouraging.
As I go back and look at my various prior posts and statistics. Some questions I was left to consider:
When does resistance to these trends become imperative to those who believe this has serious long term consequences to all of us and especially our descendants? When does it become bigger than just "live and let live"?
On the opposite side to those who feel these changes have been best for society, when does counter-resistance to those fighting these trends become imperative?
Finally given these "battlefields" and natural human resistance to "yielding" how do we as a society arrive at an acceptable compromise of "live and let live"?
No "uplifting" or "pat" answers come to my mind, but this all seem like a Ken Follett novel I recently read about the religious wars of the 14th and 15th centuries. I cannot help but see the parallels to those times playing out in our country right now.
For certain the words written by Reverend Tindley back in 1901 are as poignant today as they were back then.
With That I bid you adieu
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