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The True Citizen, Wednesday, March 31,2021 — Page 5
Michael N. Searles
IS THIS HOW IT ENDS?
Diana Royal
SOUTHERN MOTHERS
All good things must come
to an end is a proverb accred
ited to Chaucer that dates back
to 1374. The United States
adopted it in the late 17th
Century and encapsulated the
notion that everything comes
to an end. However, we feel
that some things have no end.
It is estimated that the sun is
4.5 billion years old but will
last for another 10 billion
years. Few people worry that
the sun soon will lose its bril
liance and become a red star.
Many of us feel that America’s
200 plus years as a democratic
republic is evidence that it will
last for at least a millennium.
We have a tendency to believe
that today will be like yester
day and tomorrow will be like
today. While we rest in these
notions, we know that this is
not the case. We get older each
day and we know that not all
tomorrows are like today.
There is a growing concern
that change is coming to Amer
ica but not necessarily a good
one. Throughout the nation, it
is getting harder for citizens to
cast a ballot. According to the
Brennan Center, state lawmak
ers have carried over, pre-hled,
or introduced 253 bills with
provisions that restrict voting
access in 43 states. There
are 704 bills with provisions
that expand voting access in
a different set of 43 states. It
further is noted that a single
bill can have provisions with
both restrictive and expansive
effects. There seems to be a
war over the foundation stone
of American democracy. Why
would 43 states seek to restrict
access to the ballot?
In Georgia, we can easily
point to the number of blacks
voting for the first time. In
Iowa, voter restriction cannot
be explained in racial terms.
Iowa has a total population of
3.6 million people with Af
rican Americans constituting
4 percent or roughly 90,000.
This means in Iowa voter
restrictions cannot be laid at
the feet of black people. Of
Iowa’s 76 counties, 61 have
less than 5,000 black inhabit
ants and 21 counties with less
than 1 percent and 3 counties
have no black residents at all.
Iowa Republicans control the
governorship and both houses
of the legislature, but appar
ently, their successful efforts
in 2020 were insufficient. Iowa
has made it harder to vote in
the state by sharply curtailing
early and absentee voting as
well as closing polls earlier on
Election Day. Iowa is another
example of a war on democ
racy. The fear is not of African
Americans taking over; it is the
fear that Democrats might win.
Iowa, like many other states,
have decided the way to win
elections is to keep the other
party from voting. This is bad
for democracy. Georgia Sena
tor Raphael Warnock recently
gave his maiden speech as a
United States Senator in which
he shared the long and tortuous
history of voting in Georgia.
However, his speech was more
than a recitation of state his
tory. He framed his remarks in
the context of American history
and the American promise.
Senator Warnock spoke about
“Possibility born of democ
racy—The vote as a kind of
prayer that grows stronger
when prayed together—The
job of each citizen to stand
up for the voting rights of
every citizen—and The job of
Congress to stand
for the viability of SEE
our democracy.” SEARLES,
Those words reso- 8
(Reprinted from May 2019.)
This was too good not to
share. My friend Logan and I
talk frequently about Southern
mamas: the things they do, say
and wear; whether we have
made our mark and earned the
rights of the title. There is noth
ing quite like a classic, refined
Southern lady, and if she is in
fact a mother, then she is even
somehow more pristine. The
editors of “Garden & Guns”
(doesn’t that just sound like a
magazine right up a Southern
mother’s ally?!) compiled this
list “You Know Your Mama
is Really Southern If...” and
I found myself laughing and
nodding my head yes, even
recognizing myself in a few.
Do you have some to add?
Please send them to me. I love
lists and I love mamas.
• She goes ahead and marks
the SEC Championship on the
calendar ... just in case.
• Everything you owned
before age five was smocked.
• She calls you every day ...
and actually called the police
that one time you didn’t pick
up.
“Mama” with her first name:
Mama Helen, Mama Martha ...
• Your first words were
Mama, Daddy, and Yes,
ma’am, in that order.
• When she calls you “girly
girl,” you know you’re in
trouble.
• You could quote Steel Mag
nolias before you could read.
• One of her favorite side
dishes is half a canned pear
topped with a dollop of mayo.
• She’s not mad, she’s disap
pointed.
• She asks you, “Wouldn’t
you feel better with a little
lipstick on?”
• You know better than to
leave the house without wear
ing clean underwear—and it’s
monogrammed.
• She tries to defeat the
humidity with Aqua Net hair-
spray.
• She’s the first person listed
on the church prayer chain.
v She knows three places on
her person to stash a flask.
• Her church clothes are laid
out on Saturday night.
• You’ve got home training
and know what it means.
• She sends you newspaper
clippings of jobs in your home
town-subtle.
• She leaves notes in your
luggage whenever you travel,
and maybe a small surcee.
• You’ve known not to use
the “guest towels” in the pow
der room since you were a
child.
• She’s as good a shot as any
of the men in your family—
maybe better, but she’d never
be tacky enough to say so.
• She uses “tacky” as the
ultimate insult.
• She ends debates by telling
y ou, “ S omeday when YOU ’ RE
the mama ...” You know the
rest without her saying it: “...
you can do what you want. But
today is not that day.”
• She starts prepping the tail
gate spread on Monday.
• You know better than to
say you’re bored unless you
want to spend your afternoon
tackling a long list of chores.
• From ages two to ten, you
had hair bows as big as your
head in every shade for any
event. It’s Field Day. What
color is your team? There’s a
bow for that.
• She reminds you not to
“embarrass her name” before
walking out the door.
• She tells you that she loves
the band at your cousin’s wed
ding and y’all should book
them ... if they’re still alive
when you get married.
• She drinks her bourbon
neat.
• She puts salt on her water
melon.
• She finally gets a grand-
kid and you might as well be
pushed off onto an ice floe.
Your friends call her
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