Figuring Out the Pic

IN A WEIRD SORT OF WAY, the actual photo is rather impressive, especially for a bunch of immature med school kids in the nineteen eighties. The one in black face is impressive in that the blackface appears to be thoroughly and evenly applied, as if done carefully, with artistic intent. The Klan costume by all appearances is' authentic', both gown and hood. Of course, one might expect future physicians to be assiduously devoted to detail. It brings to mind a story about when harry Truman was a Senator from Missouri, an early supporter of civil rights, and received a death threat from the Klan. While he and his Jewish friend were driving to the Klan Konvention to directly confront his antagonist, which he indeed did, Truman's friend remarked: "whoever sold the sheets to these idiots must have been a Jew, because they paid sixteen dollars apiece for one dollar bed sheets." Truman barged into the meeting, shamed the grand high dragon into ripping off his hood by accusing him of hiding behind it, and offered to fight every damned last one of them, one at a time. when one is a United States Senator, one is imbued with an aura which allows one to be very courageous, verbally, it must be noted. There is a haunting, lingering question which nobody seems to be asking, in our national rush to judgment and gubernatorial eviction: what, exactly, is the message? What, or who, exactly, is being denigrated? The black man, or the Knansman? Both? Or are we merely witnessing a portrayal of the original American sin, with the only intent being to highlight our national history of racial strife? That hardly seems likely. it was, by all accounts, a keg party. The most likely story is what everyone seems to be assuming: that the picture is pure racism, and that the man in blackface is being confronted by the proximity of the white robed racist, reminding him that he live in a white man's country, and that therefore his status and opportunities are strictly limited. But, again, with the two of them just standing there, doing nothing, the scene could be interpreted in a number of ways, including as a condemnation of the Klan figure for imposing hatred upon innocent people, or of society at large, for having permitted, and continuing to permit, this sordid state of affairs to remain extant. it is even possible, though only remotely, that one or more of the proffered excuses might have a grain of truth; but its too late to worry about that now; the cow has left the barn, so to speak. Considering the governor's convoluted, ever changing explanations, he might as well try throwing some of these ideas against the wall. As we like to say, sometimes the crap sticks to the wall, or whatever. We all agree that the governor should resign, and five'll get you ten that he will, before it reaches the point where everybody pretends he isn't in the room, and he becomes an invisible ghost, surrounded by the silent treatment. If nothing else, the sheer volume of the national outcry against him is more than sufficient to drive any sane, sensible public servant from office, having exhausted all moral capital. Even if the actual intent was the depiction of American history in factual, non judgmental terms, for the governor to so assert at this late politically correct date would carry no weight, and the only weight the soon to be ex gov will ever carry is the baggage bought at a discount, at a silly college keg party, long, long ago.