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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 16. 2009
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Teaching
history of slavery
is important
During Ms trip to Africa recently. President
Obama said that “Slavery’s past should be taught
in the U.S.” Finally, our president has made a state
ment with wMch I can agree. I think the Mstory of
slavery should be taught in our schools, as long as
the complete story is told.
The President made Ms comment after visaing
a fort on the African coast from wMch captured
Africans were loaded onboard sMps to be trans
ported across the Atlantic into a life of slavery. He
failed to mention that those Africans were cap
tured and sold Mto slavery by other Africans.
The vast majority of those slaves were sold in
south and central America and the Caribbean.
OMy a small percentage were delivered to North
America. History seldom reveals tMs fact.
History talks about the “middle passage’’ as the
part of a slave sMps voyage M wMch slaves were
transported across the Atlantic. They never discuss
the cargo carried in the outward passage from the
sMp’s home port to Africa or that transported back
to the home port during the Mward passage. And
you almost never see anytMng about the home
port of these slave sMps. (Here is a Mnt: not one
Southern-owned slave sMp has ever been identi
fied.)
Then there is the identity of the labor force that
constructed the U.S. Capital with its grand dome.
Work on that building proceeded throughout most
of the War For Southern Mdependence, and the
UMon government leased slave laborers to do the
work. The District of Columbia Emancipation
Act was not approved until after the building was
completed.
OMy recently did northern Mstorians admit that
Brown UMversity M Providence, Rhode Island,
was founded with funds donated by slave trad
ers. And it was M recent years that archaeologists
discovered a slave cemetery in the heart of New
York City.
Another fact that is left out of the Mstory of
slavery involves the number of free blacks living
in the South in 1860. Of the four million blacks
livrng M Dixie at that time 250,000 of them had
gaMed their freedom and established their own
commuMties, businesses and churches. That is
far more than those who escaped slavery flirough
the “underground railroad.” Most of them were
allowed by their masters to offer their skills to the
public until they earned enough money to pur
chase their freedom and that of their families.
History also neglects the fact that many of these
free blacks joined in the defense of their homes
against Northern aggressors. Nor do they report
the stories of slaves who accompany their young
masters to war, then undergo extensive dangers
to return Ms body home when he is killed. Also
missing are stories about slaves who gather up the
family treasures and livestock and Mde in the deep
forest or swamps until UMon scavengers leave.
TeacMng the Mstory of slavery in our schools is
important, but oMy if the whole story is told.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal, His e-mail address is frankgil-
lispie671 @msn.com. His website can be accessed
at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com/
The passing of Robert Strange McNamara
The death of a strange pop star over
shadowed the death of Robert Strange
McNamara, but the July 6 passrng of
the Vietnam-era secretary of defense
was certamly greater cause for reflec
tion, not for celebrity’s sake, but for
national direction.
The Cold War may be a stale Mstory
class lesson for many youth today,
but the decades-long showdown with
the Soviet UMon shaped so much
of our national Mstory and collective
conscience that its importance can’t
be overstated.
And McNamara, the arcMtect of the
Vietnam War, was a pivotal American
Cold War figure.
Of course, had the Harvard gradu
ate never taken public office, he still
would have made a mark. The World
War II lieutenant colonel left the mili
tary and became the first president
of Ford Motor Company outside of
the Ford family. He was known as a
“Whiz Kid” with a great analytical
nfind. He opposed the ill-fated Edsel
and pushed the popular Ford Falcon
and LrncoM Continental, while plac-
Mg an emphasis on improved veMcle
safety standards, such as the dished
steering wheel that reduced the chanc
es of a driver being impaled by the
steering column.
John F. Kennedy was impressed
with the bookish-looking man and
asked McNamara to serve as Ms
Secretary of Treasury. He refused,
but took the position of Secretary of
Defense.
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
The nuclear question loomed. With
two powers stockpihng arms, educa
tors ordered children under school
desks, a sadly futile preparation for
the possibility of mutually assured
destruction.
M deafing with the Soviets, the
Kennedy AdmiMstration rejected the
more hawkish approach pushed by
some military leaders, such as Curtis
LeMay, who favored direct attack.
And during the Cuban Missile Crisis,
McNamara soberly recognized that
“once you’ve started a shooting war,
there’s little you can do to stop it.”
He could have gone the other way
M that moment and perhaps pushed
sometMng that would have altered the
world for good.
“The military are mad,” said
Kennedy after the Cuban crisis. “They
wanted to do tMs [Mvade] .It’s lucky for
us that we have McNamara over there
[M the Department of Defense].”
McNamara may have helped the
world avert WW HI, but he still led
the U.S. Mto war, firmly believMg M
“the domMo theory,” the idea that if
you give the Soviets an Mch, they’ll
take the world. Though direct war
could kill us all, a proxy war could
help us avoid defeat at the hands of
the Soviets.
The VieMam War was thus bom.
While the Gulf of Tonldn Mcident
M 1964 proved a flawed pretext for
war, McNamara pushed it forward
anyway, a move echoed M 2003 as
ColM Powell presented flawed intel-
ligence as rationale for the Iraq War.
If McNamara could have removed
1964-68 from Ms 93-year life, he may
have been remembered as a great
American figure. He was a lieutenant
colonel. He led Ford Motor Company.
He was later president of the World
Bank.
But the systems analyst gradually
recognized that war is terribly com
plex. Flow charts and data analysis
may have helped him succeed M the
car Mdustry, but war can be as hard to
quantify as love — also beMg a matter
of heart.
There’s no way to calculate on
paper what it means when armed
foreigners are on your land. ImagMe
the ChMese corrang here. Would they
face a fierce resistance? Absolutely.
But it seems war planners repeatedly
minimize the fundamental fuel M “get
off my property.”
Years after the war, McNamara is
still the source of bitter, bitter feel-
Mgs. Many see the 58,195 American
names on the VieMam Memorial Wall
and think of McNamara’s orders, Ms
failures, Ms responsibility for the
sheddMg of blood.
A true example of Me tragic “best
and Me brightest,” Me once certaM
McNamara came to question Ms own
actions, Ms own reasonMg M goMg
to war.
“We of Me Kennedy and Johnson
admMistrations acted accordMg to
what we Mought were Me principles
and traditions of our country,” said
McNamara. “But we were wrong. We
were terribly wrong.”
As Me nation entered Mto anoMer
foreign conflict M 2003 that would
drag on for years. Me former secre
tary of defense recalled Ms legacy
M Me documentary “Fog of War.”
His anguish was hard to stomach for
some Vietnam proponents, but it came
as welcome soul searchMg for Mose
opposed to Me Mvasion of Iraq.
Was McNamara truly tortured by
Ms role M so many deaMs? Does
Donald Rumsfeld, who orchestrated
Me early days of our current war, stay
awake at Mght wiM Me same reflec
tions on war?
Ultimately, how should we view
McNamara, who helped guide
America M Me darkest days of Me
Cold War, leadMg us away from
nuclear horror but into a bloody
decade?
It makes for some good debate.
Shoot, it’s too bad he didn’t write
“Beat it.”
Zcich Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Remembering a first vacation
It’s interesting to talk with peo
ple about their vacations - I like
finding out where folks go and
what they do and see - as well
as all the things, planned and
unplanned, that happen while
they’re on those trips.
Charles and I have always tried
to take a least a short vacation
once a year, particularly when
the kids were little. We wanted to
give them some good memories
and a chance to learn a little of
the world they were growing up
in. I hope we succeeded in both
those areas.
When I was little, my family
didn’t go on vacations. For one
thing we couldn’t afford to, and
for another, my daddy was in
poor health and he wanted to be
home at night. We would take
day trips to the mountains, Stone
Mountain Park or to visit rela
tives in Atlanta, always making
the trek back home before bed
time. So, it wasn’t until his death
following my tenth birthday that
I took my first real “vacation.”
My mother informed me we’d
be going to visit relatives and
friends for nearly a week that
summer. I was astounded. Away
from home not one, not two, but
five nights. I couldn’t fathom it.
By Margie Richards
I packed a suitcase an aunt had
given me and my mama and I
hit the road. I had a small yel
low stuffed dog name Frenchy,
that Daddy had given me for my
birthday that I took everywhere
except school, and Mama sewed
a couple of little collars and out
fits for him to wear on the trip. So
we packed our station wagon and
with Frenchy suitably dressed
between us, we took off on our
first real adventure together.
Looking back on it, Mama
must have been as excited as I
was. She’d cared for Daddy for
years as his health declined, and
her own health was somewhat
precarious. It must have been a
relief (and a little scary) for her
to take her young daughter and
just leave it all behind for a few
days.
We began our trip by visit
ing Aunt Irene’s boarding house
in downtown Atlanta. My Aunt
Irene had one of those large,
antebellum homes with wide
verandas and big creaky stair
ways, claw foot tubs and old
clanky plumbing.
People lived in the basement
and on all three floors of that old
house. Through my 10-year-old
eyes the place was practically
bursting with people.
We stayed with Irene in her
three-room apartment that
included a big country kitchen
where many of the boarders filed
through for breakfast and supper.
It was all utterly fascinating and
a different world for a little girl
bom and reared on a dirt road in
Madison County.
After that, we traveled to Uncle
Gene’s house in the suburbs. The
main thing I remember about
our visit with him and his wife
was that it was hard to sleep in
his house, which sat near the
road because cars roared by at a
steady pace all night long. I was
used to sleeping to the sound of
crickets and frogs on the lake.
Our final stop took us to within
a couple of miles or so of the
newly-opened Six Flags amuse
ment park. We visited friends
my parents had known for years,
who lived in a quiet subdivision
- well, quiet except for the sound
of Six Flags, which you could
hear in the distance. They didn’t
have any children, but invited
a couple of nieces near my age
over for a trip to the park. I
thought my heart would burst
with excitement - after all, I’d
never seen anything bigger than
the Athens Fair before.
Of course. I’ve been on quite
a few vacations since the first
one that summer, but that first
“real vacation” is one I’ve never
forgotten. It must have taken a
lot for my mother, emotionally,
financially and physically, to
plan and carry out such a trip.
I know she did it more for me
than for herself, but I hope that
she enjoyed it as much as I did.
I know it brought us closer and I
know it made me begin to think,
just a little, that maybe I could
live and grow up, after all in a
world that no longer contained
my daddy. I hope it helped her
with that as well.
Margie Richards is a report
er and office manager for The
Madison County Journal.
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
P.O. Box 658
Hwy. 29 South
Danielsville, Georgia 30633
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
State of Georgia $38.85/year
Out-of-state $44.50/year
Military personnel with APO address $42.50/year
Senior rate $2 off all above rates
College student discount rate $2 off all above
rates
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Early numbers show trends in governor’s race
The candidates for governor
(well, most of them) released
their first campaign disclosure
reports last week and the num
bers may tell us something about
the direction of the 2010 race.
Among the Republicans, U.S.
Rep. Nathan Deal is in the stron
gest financial position at this
point, although Me $1.2 million
he raised does include a $250,000
loan.
Deal’s opponents can criticize
him for taking so much money
from corporate and industry
PACs, but Mat probably won’t
hurt him among primary voters.
Corporate support may be con
sidered a bad thing in Democratic
circles, but it’s a badge of honor
among Republicans who wor
ship the free market and think
businesses should be allowed to
do whatever they want to do.
The early reports from the GOP
candidates also indicate Mat
Secretary of State Karen Handel
may have been oversold by
the so-called political experts.
By Tom Crawford
A monM ago, Me conventional
wisdom was Mat Handel could be
one of the persons in a Republican
primary runoff because she was
an attractive candidate who had
the backing of Gov. Sonny Perdue
(some of Perdue’s operatives are
working in Handel’s campaign).
Her disclosure report shows Mat
Handel is running a weak fourth
in the money race, however. It
seems as if some of Perdue’s sup
porters, who you think would get
behind Handel, are giving Meir
money to other candidates instead.
One Ming is very clear: the
recession has dried up the
pool of money Mat can be
raised by political candidates.
Just compare Me campaign dis
closure reports that were filed in
July 2005 at a similar point of Me
last governor’s race.
The top two Democratic con
tenders at that point, Cathy Cox
and Mark Taylor, raised a com
bined total of nearly $3.6 mil
lion. That’s about three times
Me amount reported by all the
Democratic candidates this time
around. (Roy Barnes, who hasn’t
officially startedraisingmoney yet,
did not report any contributions.)
Perdue reported a total of
$3.9 million on the first report
in 2005 - which is about the
amount of money raised by
the top three GOP candi
dates combined (Nathan Deal,
John Oxendine, Eric Johnson).
The total dollars reported by
Cox, Taylor, and Perdue in 2005
is roughly twice Me amount
raised by all Me gubernato
rial candidates in this election
cycle. If that ratio holds up, it
means candidates will be able to
spend only half as much money
as they would normally spend.
What are the consequenc
es of Mis decrease in dollars?
Candidates will not be able to
spend huge amounts of money
running TV commercials. WiM
fewer dollars available, candidates
will need to develop a less expen
sive “ground game” of volunteers
who will work to get out Me
vote when Me balloting begins.
This could hurt a candidate like
Barnes, Me Democratic front
runner, whose strategy in past
elections was to throw millions
of dollars into commercial air
time and outspend his opponent.
I remember asking Barnes’ cam
paign operatives in 2002 what
sort of program they were putting
together to get out Me vote. I was
curtly told, “All you need is Me
three M’s - money, media and
message. And if you have the first
two, Me last one doesn’t count.”
— See “Crawford” on 5A