University of Georgia

Terry College of Business
 

If ever there has been a mark or some sort of antediluvian curse that has plagued my life repetitively, it has been simply because of where I’m from.

During my travels in Europe around ‘92, I happened to be in Paris, and after a day’s absorbing of sights and sounds, I stayed in a youth hostel. In the morning, I made my way down to the common room to have breakfast, which is usually included in the fee. As I was eating rolls with jelly and butter, I noticed an American girl talking to another girl at the table adjacent to mine. We started polite conversation, and I asked her where she was from. She said "Washington, D.C."

Upon being asked where I was from, I replied "Georgia." Her next words, disdainfully downcast and quite deliberate as she tossed her blond head, were: "Well, you don’t have an accent."

I didn’t say anything but thought, am I supposed to ? Like I’m also supposed to be a bigot, or a redneck hick from the backwoods? Judging from her dress and imperious demeanor, I suspected her to be some rich politician’s daughter. If so, no wonder she made such a presumption.

Elsewhere in my travels in Europe, other Americans I encountered often remarked after learning I’m from Georgia, commenting on my lack of the expected twang.

Another instance closer to home occurred at a New Year’s Eve party at a lodge retreat near Helen. My cousin, who lived in Atlanta and was a member of a church in Buckhead, invited me to come along with his attending congregation. Many of the people at this church were transplanted Northerners. As I was part of a large group preparing to engage in charades, we all introduced ourselves. Many of them knew I was a local, so when it came my turn I said "Hi, my name’s Lee," and someone said "Robert E."

Again, I turned the other check but I really should have said, "Thank you, I’ll take that as a complement." I would rather be associated with Robert e. Lee than many northern Civil War generals. Ulysses Grant went on to administer one of the most corrupt presidencies in our nation’s history; all of that bloodshed and then business as usual.

The only notoriety Sherman received was to have a tank named after him for his infamous march in the sea. Nor would I want to stand beside Phillip Sheridan or George Custer. It was famed Indian fighter General Sheridan who, after the Civil War, coined the phrase: "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." At least Custer reaped what he sowed, courtesy of the Sioux nation.

Robert e. Lee was a man of principle and didn’t participate in government-sanctioned genocide. In fact, as many know, he freed the slaves he inherited form his father because he saw the evils in the perpetration of slavery. Although Lincoln offered him the position as the chief of command of Union forces, he could not bring himself to fight against his fellow Virginians.

The point I’m leading up to with this is that simply because my origins are in a former slave state, that does not mean I live up to the prejudices of my ancestors. I’m not even a total Southerner: My mother heralds from Erie Penn., and my father’s Southern ancestors never owned a slave. They were poor dirt farmers who were lucky to put food on the family table.

This modern Southern white male has better things to do than live up to Hollywood stereotypes and play out being anybody’s evil oppressor.

I’ve never been part of "the establishment," nor have I ever laid claim to be in league with "the system." I could never add to the burdens and struggles of others when I am entirely too busy with my own.

We cannot erase the atrocities of the past; all that is left to us is the future. I cannot ignore that there is still much work to be done toward better ethnic relations. (I don’t like using race.) It is vital to learn from the past, so as not to repeat mistakes, but looking back too much simply reinforces the old, musty hates.

We must move forward together: Northerner, Southerner, African American, Native American. To do any less is not to learn from the past, but is an overemphasis of our regional and ethnic pride.

Instead, we unwittingly become willing slaves to our histories. When that happens then the human race ends doing something essential to survival: evolve.
 
 

-Lee Johnson is a junior in management information systems.

The [UGA] Red & Black, March 5, 1997