“Custom governs the world; it is the tyrant of our feelings and our manners and rules the world with the hand of a despot.”
— J. Bartlett.
“Just be wrong. Just stand there in your wrongness and be wrong, and get used to it.”
— Josiah Bartlett
Josiah Bartlett (December 2, 1729 – May 19, 1795) was an American Founding Father, physician, statesman, a delegate to the Continental Congress for New Hampshire, and a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. He served as the first governor of New Hampshire and chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature.
It was on full display yesterday, the Tennessee, the white southerners decorum,
This “decorum” is well entrenched, and an ultimate worth is placed upon it,
The storybook version of a fantasy grasped with all the might of the white hands of men and women, who would describe it in glowing terms of culturism,
They see it under threat now, this is cognitive dissonance of shrieking decibels,
There is so much false pride at stake, so much fear of loss of face, fear of acknowledging a wrong, being seen standing in their faults,
The actual gift of humanity in acceptance and cooperation is met by them only with disdain, belligerent calls of warning,
Although only fear based, the degree of fear involved overpowers reason, overpowers true goodness,
The decorum of neat and delicately bowed goodness has sufficed for generations, this pretty package is their true idol,
This “messing with” can not stand in their culture ruled by despotism, in this they are comfortable, they feel safe,
Multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial democracies are rare we are told, and when rules of decorum must be healthy we all know why,
The specter of racism, of white supremacy resides hidden except when it is not,
The monster which it is, is not fully understood by too many,
The energy required to keep such an ego vibrant, at the expense of progress, and of goodness, this is surely never considered,
There is a desperation perhaps most when we can see the monsters, they loom, they gnash their teeth,
Will the decorum finally be altered, will the despotism of a oppressive culture of our forefathers finally be ejected,
Only time will tell, perhaps our youth can finally break free from the destructive cycle,
There is hope expressed in many today, only time will tell perhaps,
We can only try to increase the degree of enlightenment we may contain in the struggle,
And not accept their form of decorum anymore.
35th posting, April 7, 2023.