If there’s two things they take seriously in the dirty south its Dairy Queens and racism.
Well, I wanted to see things that I wouldn’t stumble across back in my usual circles. Today I think I did. I had lunch at a Dairy Queen and went to Calhoun Park in North Augusta, SC. (pic related)
Do you see how well maintained it is? Make a note, that is going to be important in a moment. Fountain clean and running. Lawn like a putting green. Somebody has the funding to put in some serious yard work to keep it looking like that.
The whole park is the size of a 7-11, which is to say, not very big as parks go. But it sure is impressive looking.
And, see that obelisk that is kind of the centerpiece? Think it looks like a monument to the KKK? No? Just wait.
It is dedicated to the hero Tom Meriwether. That’s what it says (pic related)
He gave his life preserving the Anglo Saxon way of life that his race had fought so hard to build over the course of many generations. I am not making this up. (pic related)
And, the state commissioned and paid for it.
It is called “The Monument to White Supremecy” I shit you not.
See, what happened was, in 1876 there was a dust up. The federal militia was called in and faced an angry mob of about 100 men.
Now, I wasn’t there. I can’t say what happened. But, everyone seems to agree on certain facts:
- The federal militia was all black.
- The mob was all white.
- 6 militia members were killed.
- One white guy (Tom Meriwether) was killed.
Ok. Ok. Things happen. What are you gonna do? This is why we have a government. Our leaders convene and come up with ideas on how to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. And, so they did.
They disbanded the black militias and made the forming of new ones illegal.
Oh yeah, and they put up a monument to the one white guy, which is still maintained to this day.
I quote Morpheus (the guy, not the kitten…in fact, I will go one further…the BLACK GUY, not the kitten…who is also black. I dunno. Blame Trixie. She named it…anyway, he said):
“I stand here today not because of the path before me, but because of the path behind me.”
It is easy for me to be judgmental in 2015 about cultural conflicts that occurred in the post-bellum reconstructive period. I’m sure tensions were high.
But maybe, and this is just a thought, couldn’t they start cutting the grass, like, every OTHER week or something? Maybe not scrub the fountain’s basin so clean?
But, hey, at least they’re not flying the Stars & Bars. That’s a start. Right?