Contending Against Stupidity

AT THE SENIOR CENTER, the southern sympathizer made himself clear: Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt were the "sorriest" presidents the United States ever had. He omitted mention of Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, or Donald Trump, perhaps because he wasn't familiar with them. I chose not to defend my two presidential heroes. Why bother? I was obviously dealing with someone to whom the ancient adage applies: "against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain." The emancipation of the slaves, and government assistance for the poor were apparently the reasons for the bigot's disdain for Lincoln and Roosevelt. What greater indictment could there possible be? A president who usurped stat's rights, and another who gave handouts to lazy people. This eighty year old bigot had the rigid, feigned dignity of an old time Confederate veteran, a proud man who fought for a noble, lost cause. He continued, thinking his audience sympathetic, which, except for me, it was. "June 19th's coming up", he said. "That's nigger day". I rolled my eyes, but shouldn't have. I looked it up, and sure enough, the old bastard had a point: On June 19th, 1865, it is widely believed among the African-american community that the last slaves were emancipated. Whether this is true, my research did not reveal. its a dubious contention at best. The blacks were never truly emancipated, but were instead reduced to decades of sharecropping servitude, excluded from all aspects of society for a hundred years. First, Jim Crow, then the era of discrimination and institutional segregation, which continues unto this very day. Doubtless my bigot buddy is unaware of all this, and considers the black folk ungrateful for everything white society has given them. To him, Martin Luther King must have been, and must forever remain, a trouble making ingrate. Those people should have had the sense to know their place, and to stay there. Tragically, this old coot isn't alone, but at least he won't live much longer, nor will his kind, if we are fortunate. We had the audacity to draft Muhammed Ali, and expect him to fight in Viet Nam. A man who grew up excluded from white drinking fountains, white only restrooms, and white only everything, who became heavyweight champion of the world. His response was; "Them Viet Cong aint my enemy. You are."