21 thoughts on “March 31, 2021: Last Chance”

  2. I work for a prominent cultural institution in the Big Easy, and sometimes I have to confront the very ugly past of the south as part of my job. Over the last couple of days I spent a great deal of time in 5 plantation homes in a "quaint" river town north of us by a couple hours. I was there to collect antebellum furniture and other decorative arts for an exhibition slated to open next month. All of the "homes" i entered were either in the care of the Federal Government or still lived in by the descendants of the original occupants. My mood soured pretty considerably when I entered a plantation home with photos from the 2000s of grand children posing in confederate officer garb were proudly displayed on the wall of portraits of great / grand / parents. I know that there are large swaths of the south for which the war never actually ended and that celebrating heritage not hate is a tissue thin excuse to hold onto white supremacy, but I've never actually encountered any one who holds these beliefs and had to be a professional about it. This coupled with George Floyd's murder trial happening sent me in a pretty dark direction. I don't know why I'm sharing this to be honest, but, I guess, it's something that I'm wrestling with.

    2. Thanks for sharing. I haven't been able to put together words to add more than that, but thanks nonetheless.

        1. I hit enter by accident and the edit thing isn't working. I just mean I have some serious feels about this as a CUPS customer and living a few blocks away.

            1. I lived a couple of miles from there and would go to the bbq joint from time to time. I always wonder what if anything I would have done if I had happened upon that scene.

    4. Being professional with someone who has repugnant beliefs is more than they deserve, and yet, you may have very little choice if you want to keep your job. I’m guessing those folks know that and rely on their social standing as Prominent Old Families descendants of slaveholding traitors to coerce people into leaving those beliefs unchallenged.

      Struggling with that is better than teaching yourself to ignore it, but nonetheless, leaves you feeling rotten. Sharing it is a reminder to all of us that we all may be forced to make similar compromises, and that talking about it is a buttress against social pressure to ignore it.

      1. So, to this point as I was explaining my discomfort with the situation and the exhibition with the curator of the show she dropped this nugget on me ---> apparently Boart paid a visit to one of these plantation houses and tried to elicit a conversation about the racist, slave owing past of the family that owned the house only to be met with an upfront and honest discussion of the past sins of their family. The subsequent dinner conversation revolved around the embracing of the LGBTQ community in this conservative corner of Mississippi and how the current state of racial affairs is a result of a racist past. Turns out that didn't make the cut for the final film. Now, is this a case of folks being smarter than Mr. Cohen in not taking the bait or a sign of more progressive thinking than I have given them credit for? Hard to tell. Also still feeling ugly about the whole experience.

    5. My nephew got his first haircut today. He was bright too the same barber in New Orleans who gave Honest Abe his first haircut and who has been cutting their grandfather's hair for many decades. Here's the text I got from my brother-in-law (codefox to all the werewolf players):

      Did you know that you and [Honest Abe] are featured on the wall at the barber next to a nice confederate memorial. Couple generals. A flag. A photo of Armstrong on the moon with a confederate flag

      So, yup. A phone call will be made to change that.

    1. Where are you scoring such deals, and where is the truck they’re falling off of located?

      1. I was at Goodwill the other day looking for some garage cleaning/yard work pants and snagged a nice set of bluetooth Motorola headphones for five bucks. In the original packaging, I don't know if they were ever used since the charging cord was still in its little sealed plastic bag.

  5. ESPN is predicting the Twins to win the division by 7 games and have them ranked No. 6 in MLB and second in the AL, well behind No. 2 overall Yankees. Their BOLD prediction is the Twins go to the World Series.

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