Whose COUNTRY?
A novel about poor Whites in the South, by Erskine Caldwell, published in 1932, Tobacco Road, is also a famous Jazz and Blues Classic, performed, "Deliciously", by Lou Rawls. The Jazz number is about what its like growing up in a Chicago Slum. A place that has produced Quincy Jones, Oprah, and our first Black President; Chicago also was a major destination for the Great Migration of Blacks from the South, before World War II.
Lou Rawls belts lyrics like: "He left me here, to die or grow"; and, The Lord knows, how I loathe, Tobacacco Road. It speaks of leaving, never to return; until rich enough to "blow it up" and "tear it down", and then rebuild the "dirty and filthy" town.
The repeated refrain, however, is: "But it's home, yeah; the only life I've ever known".
In the United States, no one is restricted by law from leaving their Place of Birth. The whole world knows of the miseries of Urban City life for Blacks in the U.S. Why don't they leave? Why do they stay; only to perpetuate the conditions they hate? Is it hopelessness? Is it fear of the unknown? Are they convinced that everyplace in the U.S. would shove them into similar circumstances? We're told that Ferguson is a a Destination for Blacks fleeing the slums of Saint Louis. Chicago grows more and more explosive as the non-white populations grow and struggle to find ways to exist amidst crappy schools, inferior "education" from institutions controlled by Whites, gun violence on the streets, and cells of Cops who operate "Torture" Rings against them.
Facing a macabre form of "Love it or Leave it"; those who stick in the "muck seem" to have tremendous difficulty forming the type of Community that can bring forth the Change the song speaks of. Coming off a Run-Off Election, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel (the guy who failed to cover "Obama's Back" with Congress) is limping back into Power with most of his prior goals in shambles. He faces a hostile Black and Brown population of marginalized citizens.
Stay Vigilant! I left Missouri 56 years ago, and have NEVER felt a need to return! My life, and the lives of my children have been infinitely better, due to the opportunities we have found and pursued, as a result. I feel sorry for people who Love a People, a Religion, a Place, or an Identity that reflects no Love or Respect for them! Seek, and Go where you can achieve and work in a climate of Trust and Respect!
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