Asymmetrical Information

Kind of the antithesis of "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Let me dissent from Dreher: he seems to regard the Lott Affair as primarily destructive: "you can't judge Trent Lott, or any other politician, by a single unwise statement. And you can't judge an entire party based on a single man's unwise statement. But people will, because that's the kind of media environment we're in now. Declining to report Miss Trixie's offhand remark was my acknowledgment of this reality. There will be those who choose to hype Lott's remark out of proportion to the offense for the same reason I chose to obscure Miss Trixie's: It serves their broader agenda. How nice it would be if their agenda were constructive — like bringing blacks and whites together — instead of driving blacks and whites further apart for political gain."

I think it's very constructive: the Republicans who actually believe in equality have now won their first victory over the nudge-nudge-wink-wink crowd since Richard Nixon invited them into the Republican Party in 1968. The Republicans who believe in equality now have a sense of how many they are, how strong they are, and how they don't need to truckle under to the nudge-nudge-wink-wink crowd.

This really is a historic occasion, and a wonderful thing for the Republic.

In 1943 or 44, my 6th grade class had a swim day at a municipal pool in Sacramento, California - good liberal Sacramento. The one colored girl in our class was not allowed into the pool. In 1952, the cannery crew I was working on was laid off. The supervisor took me aside and told me to come back monday and I would be hired back on "because I was white." And of course good liberal Earl Warren sent his kids to school across town so they would not have to go to school with - surprise - Mexicans. And don't even ask about how California treated the Asians.
The only thing wrong with the South now is their cooking.

I'm another Southerner who agrees that racism is dying in the South. I do take exception to: "The only thing wrong with the South now is their cooking." What? It may be unhealthy, but it tastes great.

Try to order a blood rare steak in Dixie.

My grandmother was one of the most kindly and charitable Christian women ever, but she was raised in a world that truly believed that "their niggras" were unknowing, helpless and had to be looked after.

When she was in her 80's and in a nursing home, she was surprised that my mother would help clean up some water a nurse had spilled. I'll never forget her words. "Eleanor, you don't have to help her. She can't help it, she's just a niggra."

That happened in either 1972 or 1973, because I remember keeping up with the undefeated Miami Dolphins that year. My initial thought was that I going to die from sheer humiliation, but my mother and the nurse just looked at each other and snickered. They both knew that was just how it was for my grandmothers generation.

Somewhere along the way, between her generation and mine, things have changed. She didn't mean to be racist, that's just the way things were. My mother recognized the fallacy of racism and worked hard to instill in her children that a man should be judged by the content of their character, and not the color of their skin. Even then I doubt that she would have ever gotten into a pool with a black person. Not that a black person from around here would have ever thought to do so.

I am only 40 years old, but I remember the first time that I was ever in a pool with a black person. I remember sensing an unnerving energy in the water. I remember the secret shame that I had for feeling such a thing.

Now, in 2002, my children swim with other black childen all the time. They think absolutely nothing about it.

And I hope they never do.

P.S. to Walter - I order rare Black Angus filet mignon all the time "in Dixie". It's just that we don't let you people know where the good restaraunts are. Just between you and me, try The Court of the Three Sisters in New Orleans, Wideman's in Meridian, The Bright Star in Bessemer, or Highland Bar and Grill in Birmingham. And those are just the ones close by I-59 as it wends its way up from the Bayou to the Piedmont. If you "ack nice" they might just let you in. Now, if you are the "real highfalutin kind", just stick with The Highland Bar and Grill for the chef's interpretation of French countryside cuisine using only locally grown produce. My goodness, they even have a website if you want to look them up.

I'm sorry, I must've had too many Mint Juleps. When in New Orleans, try the Court of TWO Sisters.

It was a while ago, but in Texas and Nashville when I ordered rare, the cook would come out and ask if the gal had got it right.

I agree with Brad; it will be wonderful for the Republicans to stand up to the nudge-nudge-wink-wink crowd. And, as a partisan Democrat, I don't mind if real Republican reform hurts the Democratic base; a stronger and better GOP is better than a weaker and worse one.

Dreher's comment, "you can't judge Trent Lott, or any other politician, by a single unwise statement," makes me less optimistic, though. Lott was not judged by a single unwise statement, but by an extensive record (for instance, his ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens). It's disappointing that Dreher doesn't get that.

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