Mr. Write's Page

Just recently, Chris Matthews of MSNBC was discussing whether or not we have an obligation to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves. He said we do, but only residents of the Southern states should have to pay.

According to Matthews, the Northern states opposed slavery in the Civil War, so their descendants have no obligation to pay a damned thing.

I see. People from Northern states are good, people from Southern states are bad. Across the generations. One size fits all.

Chris Matthews is a moron. I used to think that only conservatives wingnuts were morons. I was mistaken.

Painting everyone with the same brush is infantile. What kind of a lame-brain believes that every member of an entire population thinks the same? People are not automatons.

I guess because they practiced slavery, the cultures of the Greeks, the Romans, and the American South, to name a few, are degenerate and irredeemable.

I may be in the minority around here, but I am a white male, Georgia born and raised, and I’ve been a liberal Democrat since age 10. I have never voted for a conservative or a Republican in my life, and I don’t expect I ever will.

I would never defend the slave trade, American or any other, or a slave labor economy, or Jim Crow obstructionism. All of those things were immoral and unjust.

But frankly, I don’t feel responsible for the sins of others. And I don’t feel compelled to assign blame to someone else.

Sorry to disappoint, but the Southern prejudice stereotype doesn’t always apply. In my case, the label won’t stick, and I won’t wear it. I get testy when someone sizes me up and draws the wrong conclusion.

On July 31, 1964, as a brand new second lieutenant, I reported for duty at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.

That first day was devoted to administrative minutiae. I followed a checklist: uniforms at the clothing store, paperwork at Accounting, official photos and identification badge, meet the commander, meet the chaplains.

At some point during the day, I arrived at Base Housing. I knew I would be assigned to a two-bedroom apartment in the Bachelor Officers Quarters and given a roommate.

When I walked into the Housing Office, another new second lieutenant walked in with me.

His name was Clarence Benham, Jr. He was a black man, friendly and easy-going, a recent graduate of Tuskegee Institute, a native of Cartersville, Georgia.

My official Air Force designation, being a Journalism major, was Administrative Officer. Clarence was a Data Processing Officer. That was the 1960s forerunner of information technology. Clarence was an early computer geek.

Clarence had one of the most genuine smiles I’ve ever seen, and he used it a lot. I liked him immediately.

As the process of assigning quarters got underway, the Base Housing Officer, a weasel-faced captain, said, “Lieutenant Smith, let’s get started. Come on into my office.” I followed him and sat down in front of his desk.

“Sometimes,” he said carefully, “I have apartments with only one officer, and new people just fill the vacancies. Right now, though, all of my units already have two officers.

“Normally, I would assign two incoming officers to a unit together. But under the circumstances, I’ll give you separate apartments. I can fill the two vacancies later.”

The weaselly captain was white. By under the circumstances, he meant a white guy from Georgia wouldn’t want to room with an African American. Shouldn’t have to.

If he had kept quiet and simply assigned us to separate apartments, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

But he had to go all smug on me. Had to give me a wink and a nudge and let me know he was looking out for me.

I gave the captain my best smile and said, “Oh, don’t worry about it, sir. Lieutenant Benham seems like a good guy. You can assign us together, no problem.

“I mean — if it’s okay with him, of course.”

The captain looked disconcerted. His plan to rescue me had gone down in flames. Like I always say, redneck is a state of mind, not geography.

To his credit, Clarence didn’t object to having me as his roommate. And I was right, he was a good guy. We roomed together until he got married about a year later.

He was transferred not long after that, and I lost track of him.

Today, I could track down Clarence easily enough. I just haven’t done it. In 1989, his kid brother Robert became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of Georgia.

It was immediately obvious that Robert and Clarence are brothers. The two look just alike, and Robert’s dad is named Clarence. Elementary.

Robert Benham still serves on the Georgia Supreme Court. He was Chief Justice for six years.

Labels seldom stick. We shouldn’t apply them, we shouldn’t wear them.

Reparations expert Matthews. He's from Pennsylvania.