In this blog and the next, I will present my case for what is behind the urban-rural divide that I see as the basis of most of our current political divisions.
To make my case, I am going to remind you, or inform you (if you are young enough not to remember) of some of the things that have changed in Georgia, just in my lifetime (almost 80 years). Many that were “sacred” when I was a boy are gone or are disappearing fast; some that were unheard of or rarely mentioned then are an established part of our national life today. I will finish my list in the next blog. Taken together, they are the sources of the fears and anxieties of so many white/rural/Conservative Christian Americans today. Until we have fully defined them, we will not have a chance of figuring out how to deal with our dilemma, how to resolve our political divisions that are based on them. That is what I hope to do, and if I leave anything out, I hope you will tell me.
First is the matter of race. As much as many Republicans here in Georgia don’t want us to talk about it, at least in our schools, it is probably the most important source of the anxieties and fears of those whom I have collectively called ‘rural’ and ‘small town’ Americans, including those who attacked our nation’s Capital on Trump’s behalf January 6, 2021. Race has been the major source of distress since the founding of our nation, and it was the primary cause that led the South to secede in 1860. So, I will begin with it.
The first African American I ever met was named “Agnes.” She had a surname, but I never knew it. I called White adults by their last names and said ‘m’am’ and ‘sir’ to them- still do- but I did not to Agnes. My family was not wealthy, but we did have a maid to come clean the house one day a week. Lots of not too-well-off-white people did in those days.
When I first came to Rome, Black people waited out-of-line at the back of the bank for all the white customers to be helped before they approached the teller. Blacks rode in the back of the bus and drank from separate water fountains. They even swore on separate Bibles in court. The idea of an interracial couple, like Justice Thomas and his wife, was totally unthinkable, but so was a Black justice.
My wife recalls going to the public library in Rome when she was young. The only Blacks who came in were bringing books back for their white employers. They could not check them out.
This is a major part of our dilemma, not just because of the KKK, White Nationalists, and other white reactionary groups who played such a big part in Trump’s January 6 rebellion. No, the real problem is ordinary white people who didn’t go to Washington and would not attack the Capitol. They are people who are afraid because the White majority-status they have always enjoyed is rapidly disappearing, not only because of Blacks, but also because of Hispanics, Asians, and other groups who have higher birth rates than Whites. We Whites will soon be another minority in the land of e pluribus unum, only some of us are not so sure about the “one” anymore. While Whites have always feared the peril of the non-White ‘other,’ the descent into minority status for many is hard and the prospect frightens many White people. You need look no further to understand the success of Donald Trump than to acknowledge this fear.
I could go on, but I expect you get the point. As much as White Nationalists, like the ones who came to Rome a few years ago, want to reverse our history to “save the White race from extinction”, they are not going to succeed. Too much has changed. They will continue trying, and some politicians will continue trying to use their votes to stay in power. Race continues to be a major problem that divides us.
Second, when I was a boy in Smyrna, Ga, my father used to ‘go down to the river’ because he was thirsty, and Cobb County was dry. It was not the water of course, it was booze, his nemesis. In the seventies, if my wife and I wanted a bottle of wine for supper, we had to make a journey either over to Centre, Alabama, or down to Cobb County “to the river”, or up to Chattanooga and then bootleg it back into Rome. Wine and liquor could not be purchased here, or anywhere around here. Fast forward to the present and you can buy anything, anywhere, just about all the time, including Sunday (afternoon). Evangelical Christians have thrown in the towel on this one. It is a big change in our way of life, one that many object to and are still concerned about.
Third, I recall a story told by one of my wife’s elderly male relatives, who watched a certain soap opera every day because one commercial break featured a woman in her bath, judiciously covered with soap bubbles. He said he never gave up hope that one day one of those bubbles would pop, and he planned to be there when it did. They never did. Now there are no longer any bubbles! Sex and adultery are as regular a part of our entertainment as G-rated family sitcoms used to be.
Equally important is the change in attitude toward marriage and divorce. Indeed, marriage is no longer chosen by many couples, even those who do choose to have children. And the fact that they can choose to have children, (legalized contraception) is itself a major part of the change. Sexual relations in our country have been undergoing significant transformations most of my life, not without distress for all involved. It is another source of great concern, especially to the more traditional and mostly rural people I am focusing on. Justice Thomas, in his remarks following the Dobbs v Jackson Health case that overturned Roe v Wade, suggested that now the court should revisit the decision that made contraception legal. He is not alone in that belief.
Fourth, closely related to my last point, is the end of sodomy laws and the legalization of gay marriage. The first time I ever heard of homosexuality was during my teens when my father had a rather unpleasant encounter with a man who solicited him at his work. I was at that stage when I did not trust what my father said, so I did not believe him. I could not imagine it. My next encounter was with a college friend who was gay. When I was at Emory, a professor whom I really admired left mid-term because he had been arrested in a gay-sting operation in downtown Atlanta. He was married with children. I was very confused. But most important for me personally, my son was gay, and I came to realize it when he was a teenager. Being gay did not make it any easier for him to grow up.
Obviously, this falls under the topic of “things never before discussed but now a part of life”. Gays are free to marry just like straights. My church has instituted a marriage service for them that will become the standard service, I was told by my priest. One of my grandchildren recently graduated from a high school in a metropolitan area that included a gay-support club amongst its student organizations.
The latest Pew Research Center survey suggests that more than half the American population accepts gay marriage as a right. What particularly struck me was a Pew survey a few years ago of various religious groups. Catholics and Evangelicals were the most staunchly opposed to gay marriage and relations. No news there. But what caught my eye was the report that within these groups, the precent of young Evangelicals concerned about that issue was dropping, and their degree of concern was lessening. The change in attitudes nationally on this issue is one of the most striking I have observed in my life.
Justice Thomas, also in his remarks on the abortion decision, suggested that since Dobbs v Jackson, the court should reexamine their earlier sodomy and same-sex marriage decisions, as well. There is a significant minority of Americans who agree. This issue will continue to divide us in the future. In my next blog, I will finish my list.