Starting College or Going Back

[MRD]

Earl Long was Huey's brother and served 3 terms as Gov as Louisiana after Huey. Both Longs were crooked, but colorful characters. Good catch Gabriel, Smathers was a good friend of Kennedy and was in Kennedy's wedding. He was also a segregationist.

What stands out for me about Smathers was a supposed speech he gave (he didn't, but it ended up being printed and attributed to him.) He was running against Claude Pepper in Florida for Peppers Senate seat. This has been called the "redneck" speech as supposedly Smathers used it on the rural population of Florida.

It's really kind of funny when you read and think of what the rural 1950 Florida was like.

A reporter made up a hoax that Smathers gave a speech to a rural audience using fancy words to create the implication that Pepper was sinister. Smathers reportedly had said, "Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper before his marriage habitually practiced celibacy,"

[ElizabethG]

We still have a can of Billy Beer at my mom's house. Not sure why.

Don't open it! No, it isn't worth anything but I've heard it smells absolutely rotten after being in a can for so many years.

[ElizabethG]

I still cannot believe that NO ONE knew who Earl Long was or George Wallace's famous Segregation now speech. Even the old timers.

When I was a little girl, my Dad used to try and imitate some of the more colorful politicians. I can still hear him mimicking George Wallace: "segregation now, segregation to-morrah, segregation for-evah." Hard to believe we have come so far from THOSE days! (Thank goodness!)

I think Governor Wallace's second wife just recently passed away in Florida.

[MRD]

Maybe I'm different than my classmates as we talked politics a LOT in my house growing up. I thought everyone did. I have a fairly good, general understanding of most politics and politicians in the South. Especially the more "colorful" ones like Wallace, The Longs, The Talmedges, Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, etc. Not that we liked them, but they made headlines and they were people that got talked about. It is hard to believe that the segregation speech was considered normal.

I saw the first episode of Eyes on the Prize on Sun. Wow, very powerful. Started off about Emmett Till. They showed the post mortum photo and it turned my stomach, what they did to that 14 year old boy. Went from Till to Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus strike and the beginnings of King's rise to be leader of the Civil Rights movement. He was only 26 when he organized the Montgomery strike and he was a powerful speaker even then. There are 5 or 6 more and I plan to try to see them all.
But they didn't edit any of the hate speech either. So you hear exactly how people talked and felt in places like Mississippi and Alabama in the 50's when this took place.
I have to say that I never heard my own parents use that kind of language or have those sentiments. I know they did support segregation, but they never spoke nasty about other races and religions in front of me at least. I doubt they did alone either. And they changed considerably as the times changed and left behind those outdated ideas.

But I also think that they were products of their time and place and that as they got older and more educated, they realized that those ideas were wrong. Too bad others didn't. But it's a much different world today thank goodness. One of the things that came out in this documentary was that segregaion was thriving outside the South as well, but that the laws didn't exist on the books outside the South. But that segregated buses, lunch counters, hotels and even job discrimmination was taking place in other parts of the country just like it was in the South.

[ElizabethG]

I have to say that I never heard my own parents use that kind of language or have those sentiments. I know they did support segregation, but they never spoke nasty about other races and religions in front of me at least. I doubt they did alone either. And they changed considerably as the times changed and left behind those outdated ideas.

But I also think that they were products of their time and place and that as they got older and more educated, they realized that those ideas were wrong. Too bad others didn't. But it's a much different world today thank goodness. One of the things that came out in this documentary was that segregaion was thriving outside the South as well, but that the laws didn't exist on the books outside the South. But that segregated buses, lunch counters, hotels and even job discrimmination was taking place in other parts of the country just like it was in the South.

Your parents sound very similar to mine - my father was very, um, "opinionated" regarding African Americans (only that's not the word he used ) My mother was a schoolteacher and loved everybody, no matter race, religion, etc. BUT she still seemed to have no problem with some of the restrictions that persons of color faced, and as you said, it was probably because of the way she was raised - and HER father was actually very much like Wallace or Talmadge or Thurmond. I have an uncle on my father's side that actually slapped me across the face because I dared to bring home a black friend to play tennis on the shared tennis court. I always invited friends home to play tennis, it never, never occurred to me that it would be any kind of "problem" to bring home this girl. At least he waited until she left!!

My parents are in their 70's now and their views have mellowed a great deal, but I don't think they will ever completely let go of their antiquated views. I love them dearly anyway!

[doxie]

I think Governor Wallace's second wife just recently passed away in Florida.

That would be Cornelia - yes she did recently pass away. I met George Wallace when I was in the 4th grade. I was 10 or so and didn't realize anything other than I was supposed to shake hands with a semi-comatose, drooling old man in a wheelchair.... Needless to say I did NOT want to do this and my mother (who was chaperoning this field trip) was almost as horrified as I was. I think there is a picture of this somewhere.

I am naming my next dachshund Huey Long. I think that goes well with the Henry Longfellow that I already have

[MRD]

Ok, so the first week of class, the professors go on and on about "I have office hours, if you have ANY problems, come see me. I'm here to help. You don't have to worry, we're all in this together. Kum by yah and all that".

So I have now emailed my German teacher twice. He says he never got the first one and he accidentally deleted the 2nd one. I got about 1 min. to talk to him after class and expressed my concerns and doubts I'm having about the class. His response: "but you made a "B" on the quiz". I'm still lost. I'm VERY lost IN class and I'm not the only one. There are kids in that class that this teacher taught in HS and so they've had 2 or 3 years of German. Instead of teaching Beginning German to those of us that have had NO German at all, he's more or less continued teaching his HS students. I feel very intimidated in that class. I'm struggling with the spoken German (the written is coming to me well which is why I made a B on the quiz) and I wanted to talk to him about it. I asked for an appointment and was blown off. So forget the "come see me, we're here to help" stuff. Doesn't happen.

I'm also needing help in Statistics. Was told by the Prof: "The math lab is great. The people in there are great. They can help you, go to the math lab". So I spent over an hour in the math lab with someone who didn't get statistics much better than I get it.

I am feeling very down right now and feel like if I'm going to make it in these two classes that it's going to be pretty much up to me as the help promised when classes start doesn't actually materialize when it's needed.

The good news is the other 2 classes are going GREAT!!!!

ETA: Doxie, I like the name Huey Long for your next Dachshund.
Hey, I did find out today that the German word for dog is "hund", so whatever Dach means, the last part means dog.

[Ellen]

"Dachs" is the German word for "badger." So, Dachshund = "badger dog." They were originally bred and used for hunting badgers, with long, thin bodies that could easily get into the burrows and scare badgers (and other such animals) out.

[queenb]

I am feeling very down right now and feel like if I'm going to make it in these two classes that it's going to be pretty much up to me as the help promised when classes start doesn't actually materialize when it's needed.

Back in the Stone Age when I went, it was the same story--some things never change! It probably will be totally up to you to figure it out, unless you pay a tutor (I know, I never could afford one either). Good luck--I don't know why they even go through that feel good stuff the first day of cclass.

[ElizabethG]

Back in the Stone Age when I went, it was the same story--some things never change! It probably will be totally up to you to figure it out, unless you pay a tutor (I know, I never could afford one either). Good luck--I don't know why they even go through that feel good stuff the first day of cclass.

Because deep down they don't really expect anyone to take them up on it.
"The door is always open (except when it's not and even if by some miracle it is don't you DARE come in, can't you see I'm surfing the web/on the phone/reading/writing my memoirs/flirting with the cute Spanish teacher/eating a Big Mac)" That's what they REALLY mean.