Social Stratification in the Deep South

This Memorial Day was spent honoring not only those who gave their lives defending their country, but also those who gave their lives earning the right to vote, a right that white men have enjoyed from the first days of the young democracy. I’ve always been disturbed by the reality that when they founders said “all men are created equal,” they meant all white land-owning men, and not women at all. It has also disturbed and surprised me that Memorial Day is taken fairly lightly in the South, more like Columbus Day than the national holiday it is. Shortly after I got to Winston, one of my staff took me aside and explained that Memorial Day was created to honor the Union dead and that was why not much was made of it. So, for instance, today is the first day of summer classes at Wake Forest, which would be unheard of in other parts of the country. And don’t even get me started on Labor Day, but, I digress….

When we finally got there after a few detours in the Alabama countryside, the Lowndes Interpretive Center turned out to be a lovely museum, though in a somewhat desolate setting. The film about the struggle for voting rights, culminating in the Selma to Montgomery march was the best piece I have ever seen. The message to young people and others who do not participate in voting was very strong: do not take this privilege lightly, as those who went before you died so you could have it.

While we were waiting for Ronnie to grill the burgers (thanks, Ronnie) I heard one of the guys say, “You know Ben Wallace? He’s from here. That’s his mother’s house behind there.” I know Ben Wallace to be the NBA star, formerly of my beloved Pistons but now with the Chicago Bulls. So I took this picture from a distance to show everyone back home.