Southern Comfort

It was a National Public Radio program about the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. A 90-year-old Mississippian, who descended from a family of slave owners, explained how good slavery was for the slaves. I cannot bear to repeat what we all used to hear.

The narrator recalled what slavery and segregation meant for all White people. No matter how poor you were, or how tough things were, he explained, you always knew that you were better than any Black person.

And that explains why, if things look scary now, it is possible to know that no matter who you are, or how tough things are, you can know that you are better than that Black man in the White House.

Don't even bother with facts.

It is called the Southern Strategy. Southern Comfort.

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