Going to Meet the Man

James Baldwin really has open my eyes to racism of the South during his writting days. No doubt I have lived in Mississippi my whole life, however, I have never heard of the racism that he potrays in "Going to Meet the Man". His writtings and the use of racist words were very offensive to me. However, it was then that I realized this man was writting in common day when the things he talked about, the things he spoke of was socially accepted.

My first assignment, after becoming a State Trooper, was in the Mississippi Delta. Home to some of the most violent acts of racism in Mississippi's dark history. I met a few men that probably particitpated in some of the hate crimes. I met a few men, who still to this day believes a black man is so much less than a white man. I have met men that used racial slurrs as everyday language and I met men that protested the civil rights of blacks. However after meeting all those men, none seem to have the hatred that Baldwin describes in his work.

As mentioned before, I am also a State Troooer. Baldwin seems to describe the law in those days as doing whatever they wanted to blacks, including the black women. If his writtings were this popular, it makes you wander if "everyone wasn't doing it?" Was there a problem in our society. Whites often referred to the blacks as uneducated, "monkeys" as he writes. Does it not seem the whites, during the day, was just as uneducated and also acted like animals? As far as I know, only an animal will treat a mate with such disrespect to their life.

What is really a sicken idea is the main character is actually turned on by hate and by being a racist! The little boy that was taken to a modern day "murder" of a black man was brainwashed from the get go. It makes you wander just how far a society would be willing to go if we all lived in such a closed-minded society! The Nazis were the best at brainwashing. They had a whole country believeing a man, their men, were superior to the human race!

I honestly believe a man will act on or half way adhere to the things that he is brought up in as "normal". For example, a man that drinks a beer around his family is telling them it is okay to drink. You take a child that is from a non-drinking home and they are very un-comfortable around someone drinking beer. This, of course, is when they are a child. So with saying that, a man could really be led to believe that what they are doing is right if they had been taught that their whole life.

It seems we are evolving faster than ever with race relations. However, it is up to each and everyone to teach our children we are equal. For each parent that fails to do so, fails to move our state forward.

rrh

The Fish

After reading the assign lessons, it seemed to me the one poem that caught my attention the most, the one poem that I could relate too was "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop.

Bishop's description of the old "wise" fish, went a lot deeper than just describing an old fish that had fought for many years, fought off his death, fought off a man's trophy, and was finally won by Bishop.

You could nearly compare her writings with those of our elderly family. It seems almost impossible for a man to go a lifetime and never feel defeat. Sure there are those that may go longer distance than others, but one day a stronger man, a faster man, a smarter man will climb into life's ring and knock them off.

Bishop description of this fish is one that has broken lines several times before. In its prime, no fishing line would be able to capture it. Now the fish is has grown old, its mind still very active, yet its muscles not as strong and it finds itself landed for the first time.

Bishop was merciful in releasing the fish. She painted the picture to me of one that is admiring the wisdom of the fish. She respects the wisdom and therefore releases the fish.

Could Bishop be teaching us a lesson in life? How do we treat our elders? Those that once were un-beaten in talent, at the top of their game. Now all they have is memories that are rarely visited by the next generation. We should remember those, respect those that have paved the pathway in sports, fought and died for freedom, built the education system, and governed our country through the years with great wisdom. We need to honor those, spare them, and let them rest in peace instead of putting them in the frying pan.