What's Wrong with the South?

It’s depressing to live in the South. Sure, there are pockets of economic and societal vibrancy, such as parts of Tulsa, such as Ft. Worth or Houston or Atlanta. But for the most part the South is a quagmire of stagnant depression. The only outlet for this depression is occasional anger, which they recently exhibited by pushing Donald Trump into the White House. He preached a Gospel of Anger, and the south whooped and hollered and passed around the beer. The only other time I have seen southerners inspired to excitement was when they drive around with huge Confederate flags flying from the beds of expensive trucks, before parking them beside their shacks.

For many of them, driving around in big trucks even without flags is a source of excitement, especially if the truck payments are more expensive than their rent. The trucks give them a feeling of power many of them have in no other way.

The South used to have a sense of purpose. The Confederacy was inspired mainly by one idea:

the right of states to have slavery. When Southerners lost the Civil War, they never got anything to replace their passion for slavery.

It is not just poverty, although much of the poverty comes from the inability of southerners to care about working reliably. It is depression.

I saw examples of depression as I walked across town yesterday.

First, I saw garbage piled up in their yards. Not everybody’s, but approximately every third or fourth house in Durant, Oklahoma, where I live. There is nothing about being poor that requires all this garbage. The garbage is a message to the rest of the public that they hate other people almost as much as they hate themselves.

(Image from City of Durant website)

Second, they let their dogs run loose and attack other people. One man sat on his porch and watched his dogs run an entire block to attack me. Fortunately, the dog repellant spray worked. There is nothing about being poor that requires people to let their dogs run loose and attack people. It is just a message to the rest of us that they hate us almost as much as they hate themselves.

Third, what do they do with the little bit of money that they get, either from poorly-paid and irregular work, or from public assistance? A woman sat out on her front porch and talked loudly into her cell phone, not caring who would hear. She said they would have lots of money saved up if her husband didn’t go out to bars all the time. He could just get drunk at home and save some money. So not only do white trash men hate themselves, they foist this hatred on their wives too. (Maybe if I’d listened longer I would have heard her talking about their lousy sex life. But I figured I’d better keep walking.)

They have nothing to live for but God and the Confederacy. But to them God is not the source of love but the idol around which they rally, a war god they believe will vanquish all the white liberals and descendants of ex-slaves whom they do not like.

How can this ever change? The inertia is too great.

This is the Bible belt where most people are creationists. I saw an advertisement for a movie, “The Truth about Dinosaurs,” in Bristow as I drove through on Sunday. It is, I can only assume, a darkumentary about how evolutionary scientists are all liars and are damning our souls by making us believe dinosaurs lived more than 4000 years ago. Whom are they trying to convince? Most people in the South already believe the Earth is only 6000 years old, and dinosaur fossils resulted from a flood 4000 years ago. The creationists already rule everything in Oklahoma. What are they trying to accomplish? They just want to proclaim that they are God’s truly chosen people who are the only ones who know the truth. They want to hate the non-creationists, most of whom live outside of the South.

Dogs that bite other people, trucks that run over other people: this is the only glimmer of enjoyment that many southerners have.

Oh, and having lots of kids. Not taking care of them, spending time with them to show them how to care about their neighbors. The mothers may do this, but the fathers are too busy driving their trucks around. One man parked his truck in my yard, so I had it towed away. He threatened me with violence, and said he needed his truck because he had five kids. His kids were not an expression of love but an excuse for aggression.

Bogged down in depression, acutely aware that slavery will never come back, and told by their preachers that they are God’s chosen people, Southerners will never change. Red state confederates sit around and live off of welfare provided by blue state tax dollars. And they are just fine with it.

Respecting our Heritage

After those emails from Hell, anything I write as a straight essay has got to be a let-down. But get used to it! It’s time to get back to having a reg’lar blog.

I respect my heritage. My great-great grandfather fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War. I respect him. But that doesn’t mean I have to celebrate that particular aspect of his life. I don’t know much else about him, except that he was one of six husbands of Minerva Pettit, who cheated on him. He was a farmer in Indian Territory. I don’t think he owned slaves. I think I can respect his memory for other reasons. Even as recently as the generation just before mine, nearly all the members of my family on both sides were racists, sometimes to an alarming extent (although their abuse of blacks was only verbal, as far as I know). I can hate this part of my heritage, even while respecting the many good aspects of their characters.

But in Oklahoma, where I live—especially in the town of Tushka, a few miles north of where I work, a town that has two Confederate flag roadside stands, and where they proudly declare themselves to be Confederates rather than Americans—hundreds of thousands of people (a significant minority of our population of three million) worship the Confederate flag.

What are other people around the world to make of this? They can be excused for thinking that a significant number of Americans still yearn for the days of slavery.

Of course the Confederates were not as evil as the Nazis. But today in Germany you seldom if ever see a swastika or Nazi flag. As a matter of fact, such insignia virtually disappeared right after the War. The Third Reich is part of German history, and they preserve its memory, but they do not celebrate it. They have, collectively as a nation, repented of their evil past. What would you think if, all over rural Germany, you saw Nazi flags waving?

If anything, the Imperial Japanese were worse than the Nazis. But today you almost never see—perhaps never; I don’t know—the Imperial Japanese flag with red rays coming out of the red sun. The Empire of the Sun, the mythic land of Hakkō Ichiyū, is part of the historical heritage of Japan, but they do not celebrate it. They have, collectively as a nation, repented of their evil past. Just recently the prime minister of Japan apologized to South Korea for some events during what they called the Greater East Asian Conflict, which began with the Japanese annexation of Korea. What would you think if, all over rural Japan, you saw Imperial flags waving?

I stopped at a Confederate museum north of Tushka. It had old stuff in it like most museums. But it did not celebrate the Confederacy. It simply preserved its memory. Unlike my stressful visit with a Confederate flag salesman (described in an earlier entry), to whom the Confederacy was an important part of the present, this museum considered the Confederacy to be part of the past. I enjoyed this museum. I have to agree with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (see, I sometimes agree with Southern Republicans) that the Confederate flag belongs in a museum.

Germany and Japan have repented. The Confederate States of America has not. The former Confederacy is defiant. That is our shame in the eyes of the world.

Emails from Hell, part eleven

Yet more amazing adventures awaited our correspondent in Hell!

{beginning of email}

            “PSST!” I heard from somewhere off in the mists, which is what Hell has instead of clouds.

            We were all surprised. I was no longer the only one who seemed clueless about what was going on. We all looked around to try to locate the source of the sound.

            “Over here,” came a loud whisper.

            Philomena had returned from her conversation with Pope Francis. She had very acute hearing and located the person who had made the sound.

            “Why, look what the cat dragged in!” she said, as she pulled a spirit person out of the mists and into our circle of camaraderie. It was a man whose clothing had been made from a Confederate flag. “You must have done something really bad, to be a Confederate who ended up in Hell,” she said.

            The man introduced himself. “I am Stonewall Beauregard,” he said. “And, I will let you know right away, please keep me hidden. I have been condemned to Heaven, and I’m not supposed to be down here. But, I just needed to talk to someone who actually thinks about things. Say, Ma’am. What’s your name?”

            “They called me Philomena, and I was of African descent back on Earth.”

            Stonewall smiled broadly. “I am so glad to meet you.” He knelt down. “Please forgive me for siding with the Confederates. And all of the rest of you: Please forgive me.”

            “I forgive-a you,” said Pope Francis.

            “Me too,” said Philomena. “My ancestors were still in Africa during the Confederacy, so my forgiveness doesn’t mean much. I was born in Benin. I suffered a lot of prejudice when I moved to America, but not from Confederates.”

            “Ah, there’s where you err,” said Stonewall. “I did not live during the Confederacy of 1861-1865. I lived in Oklahoma in the twenty-first century. I was one of those Confederate sympathizers. I drove a big truck around with Confederate flags flapping from it. Then I had a little too much to drink and ran my truck into a ditch. Soon as I woke up, there was a welcoming committee for me in Heaven. The Confederate sympathizers who had gone before me were playing in a big band. Dixie, of course, but also The Bonnie Blue Flag. I should have been happy but, you see, I felt guilty when the welcoming committee greeted me. I did not feel forgiven for the way I had lived, until this very moment. What joy you bring me, Philomena, and—who did you say you were, sir?”

            “Call him His Holiness,” said Karl.

            “Don’t-a call me that-a,” said the Pope.

            “I’m so ashamed of the way I behaved on Earth,” continued Stonewall. “And I’m even more ashamed of the way the other guys behave up in Heaven. You know what they do all day?”

            “Yes,” I said. I have described the daily ritual in Heaven in an earlier dispatch.

            “I’m going to have to get back before they miss me. Back on Earth, I used to slip into the bushes to read inspirational books by Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King. I told everyone I needed to go see a man about a dog. But up here, we don’t have bowels so I can’t make that excuse any more. But I am so glad I found all-y’-all.”

            “Please feel free to come by for a visit when you can,” said Andrew.

            “Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for a whole pot of crawdads,” said Stonewall. “And especially meeting you, Miss, or Ms., or whatever…I forgot your name…”

            “Philomena,” she smiled.

            Stonewall pronounced her name like it was a delicious piece of chocolate spread all over his spiritual teeth. He and Philomena held hands a little longer than was necessary before he shot back up to Heaven.

{end of email}

Can Any of Us Really Be Safe?

In the previous entry, I wrote about the reservoir of rage in rural Oklahoma against anyone who stands for the teaching of evolution, teaching about global warming or any other environmental issue, or racial equality. And I correctly indicated that this rage is found in only a small percentage of the people.

But a small percentage can ignite a mass wave of hysteria. The examples I cited last time, especially the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, are famous. And even if they do not ignite hysteria, a small number of people can wreak havoc if they have and use guns, which, as I mentioned, the Confederacy of rural Oklahoma certainly does, though they have so far chosen not to use them. And, as any of the numerous recent shootings indicate, all it takes is one person.

Yes, all it takes is one person. My example is the man, Steve Raucci, who carried out 62 acts of vandalism, including terrorist acts (setting explosives on people’s cars and trying to burn down their houses), in Schenectady, NY. Ira Glass tells his story on the “Petty Tyrant” episode of This American Life.  Even  though the police and most of the people who were repeatedly victimized knew who was carrying out these terrorist acts, the police could not even get a warrant, not even to search the man’s office at a public middle school (an office that belonged to the taxpayers), until someone secretly recorded a nearly complete confession from the terrorist. Until that complete confession was placed in evidence, the people who worked at Mt. Pleasant Middle School were helpless, unless they had their own guns, which were not permitted at work. Raucci even had a bomb in his office, ready to use. His gripes were personal, not political or religious; imagine what he would have done if he thought himself an agent of God!

This is why I do not want to openly pursue, other than this blog and on Facebook, the story of the rural Oklahoma armed Confederacy. I will not campaign against it where I live. If any Confederates should decide to take violent action against me, there is virtually nothing I could do to stop them. They could spray-paint my house, or try to burn it down, they could put bombs on my car, and law enforcement would be unable to stop them. (And perhaps, based on my observations, some law enforcement agencies would not try.) Steve Raucci did all of these things to his victims, without law enforcement being able to even investigate him other than to record anecdotal observations. I strongly believe Campus Security officers where I work are doing and will do whatever they can to investigate some instances of crimes already committed against faculty on our campus, but their powers are limited.

So, I have chosen to tell you all about the rural Oklahoma Confederacy and the potential dangers it poses, but I am not going to start any actions against it, even speaking out in public, except in these blog and Facebook outlets. I feel like a Syrian unable to say anything bad about Assad, or a Russian unable to say anything bad about Putin. I merely point out that the same situation exists in America, though it is not enforced by the government as it is in Syria and Russia.

Of course, the NRA would say that I could get lots of guns and have them ready to hand at any time and wherever I am. This is in fact what one NRA spokesman said regarding the Charleston church shootings: if the people in church all had guns, they could have stopped the shooter. He was seriously suggesting that people take their guns to church. I cannot have guns at my workplace, a university. I am certain that our enrollments, already low, would drop disastrously if the Oklahoma state government instituted (as has been proposed) a policy for professors to have firearms in class. Students would, rightly, fear for their safety in such an environment. And as for my home or on my person at other times? I’m not saying whether I am armed or not. But I am certain that such a defense is, or would be, imperfect.

As I wrote before, rural Oklahoma crawls with people who are angry and delusional enough that they could, if they chose, use guns against people who disagree with them about evolution, global warming, environmental issues in general, or racial equality. So far, they have chosen to not do so. And we cannot really protect ourselves against them. The story of Steve Raucci proves this.

I also published this essay on my evolution blog.

The Missionary

I am, at the present time, a science missionary. I teach biology at the college level in rural Oklahoma, which is the hotbed of nearly every anti-science and anti-humane belief you can think of. For example:

• Evolution. All of my colleagues teach about evolution, but I teach the evolution course at our university. Some of my students believe that if you accept evolutionary science, or even if the Earth is old, there is no point in you even believing in God. Therefore, I am considered, by some, to be an agent of Satan.
• Global warming. Senator Jim Inhofe cites the Bible as proving that global warming cannot be occurring. Therefore, to teach about global warming—as I do extensively—is to put oneself on the side of Satan, according to some.
• Environment. I teach about the importance of environmental stewardship, not only to protect nature but to protect the living systems that keep billions of people on Earth alive. This runs slap counter to the fundamentalist Christian belief that Jesus is going to come back and destroy the Earth soon and therefore we should deplete it as quickly as possible.
• Racial equality. In general biology, and in evolution, I teach about the scientific evidence for the equality of human races. Racial inequality is theoretically conceivable, but is not true. But, I now report from personal experience, there are still violent people in rural Oklahoma who believe passionately in the inferiority of non-white races, and these people have guns.

I could teach these things in some part of the world where people already believe them; I could give them evidence that they could use to see that their beliefs in evolution, global warming, environmental issues, and racial equality are fact-based, not just “politically correct.” For example, were I able to speak French, I could teach such things in France, where nearly everyone, except for the (very minority) nationalist party and (the rare) notorious Islamist extremists, everyone would agree with me. But I have chosen to be a missionary, teaching these things in an environment of hostility and, sometimes, violent hatred. We white Americans have subdued Native Americans (all 500 nations of them), demeaned blacks, and now see the trees as just obstructions to the wrecking ball of progress. And in rural Oklahoma, many people passionately believe that these were, and are still, the right things to do.

I experienced this in a direct way on Friday, August 21, 2015. I stopped at a roadside stand in Tushka, Oklahoma, that was selling Confederate flags. Despite the fact that the stars-and-bars has become an almost toxic symbol in most of the United States, it is in fact the flag of rural Oklahoma. I felt I had to tell the vendor that this symbol was offensive to even most Oklahomans. This is when he started yelling at me and telling me that Tushka, Oklahoma, was not part of the United States but was part of the Confederacy “and damn proud of it.” He bragged that his grandfather fought on the Confederate side of the civil war; I said my great-great-grandfather did also, on the Confederate side, and that I respect him but I do not need to celebrate this particular aspect of his legacy. The man further claimed that the Confederate flag was just offensive to Yankees. I informed him that my family’s roots go back six generations in Oklahoma. The very moment I began talking with him, his friend (whom he identified as a prominent citizen of Tushka) called the sheriff. The sheriff’s deputy immediately showed up and started to get out of the car and let me see his gun. He did not point it at me because by then I was already leaving—if he had pointed his gun, it would have been at my back—and I got away. Apparently he did not consider me worth pursuing, although I am sure my license plate number was recorded and, for anything I yet know to the contrary, there may still be a warrant out for me. (By law I am supposed to carry a regular license plate in addition to my specialty plate, which is about wildflowers. I just exchanged the plates, putting my regular plate on, just to minimize the chances that I will be recognized.) I was unarmed and merely stopped to tell the vendor that he was offending many Oklahomans. First Amendment. I was not trying to arouse any violence (as if there was anyone present who might have joined in with me to start a riot had I done so).

I feel, though I cannot prove, that had I been black, law enforcement in that particular place would have tackled me and beat my face into the pavement. This has happened in several places, even places with much less of a Confederate presence than rural Oklahoma.

I also cannot help but wonder if this man paid taxes on the financial transactions so visible in this photo. Of course, if he does not recognize the legitimacy of the United States and Oklahoma governments, why would he?

There are parts, perhaps many parts, of rural Oklahoma that are racist and where racism is supported by law enforcement. These people are a relatively small fraction of the population, but they have guns and they have religious zeal. We all know what even otherwise peaceful people can do when they are high on religion. The Crusaders raped and murdered Constantinople, even though it was (an Orthodox) Christian city; Catholics raped and killed Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre; Protestant Pilgrims burned Pequots alive; Orthodox Serbs tortured and killed Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina; Islamists have tortured and murdered whole Muslim villages. I don’t think we are anywhere near that point yet—I don’t expect any threats in the near future to my personal safety—in rural Oklahoma, but all the elements are there, just waiting for the spark to start the flame. I am a missionary science educator in rural Oklahoma and am aware of the risks that this entails.

I can tell you that this Confederate champion was wildly angry at someone disagreeing with him in public, someone merely saying he was wrong. He was reacting the same way that North Korea, the same week, reacted to anti-communist messages being broadcast by South Korea. In that case, shots were fired across the no-man’s-land border, and, as of this writing, war between North and South Korea has been narrowly averted. Both North Korean and modern Confederate leaders are equally violently opposed to any public criticism, and weapons are ready to hand in both cases. My position as a scientific missionary in Oklahoma is not as dangerous as would be the position of a Christian missionary in North Korea (one of them was actually arrested), but in both cases the hostility against missionaries is the same.

It is not just uneducated people who hold these beliefs. A student wrote a paper for a class taught by one of my colleagues in which the student openly stated that blacks are inferior to whites and ought to be enslaved. People who believe these things generally do not like to think for themselves, and it turns out this paper was plagiarized from a white supremacist website.

Rural Oklahoma crawls with people who are angry and delusional enough that they could, if they chose, use guns against people who disagree with them about evolution, global warming, environmental issues in general, or racial equality. So far, they have chosen to not do so. But this is their choice. I’m not sure I can trust them to keep making the same choice indefinitely into the future.

I also published this essay on my evolution blog.