Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/12/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Don, et al This sounds like Sociology 101. Bah Humbug! Don Dory wrote: > Sonny and all, > Part of the problem with poverty in the southern U.S is that landholding > was/is concentrated in large tracts owned by a very few individuals. > Yes, > there were some small tracts owned by small landholders such as Sonny's > grandfather and also more concentrated in Tennessee and Arkansas but > in the > old cotton belts there were landholders who owned very large tracts of > land. My great grandfather for example came down with General Pershing > during the Mexican American war and while bivouacked near Greenville, MS > took note that the soil was more than 200 feet of wonderful, fertile, > well > watered, rock free loam. After the war with help from his dad he bought > almost 7000 acres of land in two plantations. > > With wealth concentrated in a very few hands, if you had any snap you > went > somewhere else. For the African-Americans that meant the > slaughterhouses in > Chicago or the auto plants in the upper Midwest. Or, in my families > case as > the daughter in the family a good education and life somewhere else. > So, > if in five to ten generations of your brightest or entrepreneurial > leaving > you end up with a very few truly talented and or truly rich surrounded by > those who don't have much ambition or talent or education in the Boolean > sense. So, to this day, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the > Carolina's > continue to lead the country to the bottom. > > As the northerners continue to move south away from high taxes and cold > winters there is a real demand for better education. less tolerance for > endemic corruption, and a push for mostly good government. For outsiders > nothing has changed but to those of us who grew up in the deep south or > spent a lot of time growing up there everything has changed. The endemic > racism is mostly gone. Government is mostly truly by the people. Abject > povery is mostly gone but a whole lot more needs to happen if > everybody is > going to have a fair shake at an improved life over their parents. > Even a > fair number of ex-pats who moved north are coming back with whole new > skill > sets to add to the community. > > Truly stepping in it, > > Don > don.dory@gmail.com > > > On 12/5/06, SonC@aol.com <SonC@aol.com> wrote: > >> >> >> In a message dated 12/5/2006 3:58:50 P.M. Central Standard Time, >> philippe.orlent@pandora.be writes: >> >> As much as I disagree with what happened then and now, my reaction >> was a pure esthetic one. >> Must be-and to my shame- because it's not part of my heritage, >> eventhough I was aware of it. >> Philippe >> >> >> >> First of all, this was not a photograph taken of slaves, it was from the >> thirties. We have some of the black and white works from the Farm >> Security >> Project in our collection. >> >> I'll probably get flack for this, but it IS part of my heritage, and >> I think >> I can speak to another side. >> >> My Grandfather was a small farmer, and had a large family. My >> mother was >> the oldest girl of seven kids. He plowed the farm with a pair of >> mules and a >> hand plow. >> >> Most of my summers until I was about thirteen, and moved to Germany, >> werre >> spent in part at my Grandfather's farm. A picture like that could have >> been >> taken of my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. We would go out after my >> grandfather and uncle had plowed, and with hoes, cut up the big >> clods, and cut any >> weeds left. >> >> We had no idea we were in what might be considered poverty >> these days. To >> us it was a rich life, lots of work, but they raised most of their >> food, >> including beef and chickens, hunted and fished for other food. Store >> bought >> clothes were only for church, except jeans or khakis. >> >> We went barefoot to save our good shoes. It also helped us to know >> when >> we >> had stepped in something. (Which I probably just did.) >> >> >> Regards, >> Sonny >> http://www.sonc.com >> Natchitoches, Louisiana >> Oldest continuous settlement in La Louisiane >> ?galit?, libert?, crawfish >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >