The Edmund Pettus Bridge today.
In 1965 it was the sight of Bloody Sunday.
Off topic, I know. But standing there today I could not
help but think about growing up in the sixties and listening to
Walter Cronkite talk about places such as Selma,
Birmingham, Montgomery and Memphis.
steve
5 comments:
You brought back memories for me as well. In the summer of '64 our Boy Scout troop drove over the bridge and through town while returning to NC. We had been to Philmont, a camp in New Mexico, and groups of protestors lined the sidewalks. Being an average Southern white boy I didn't really understand it at the time. I soon learned a lot. Thank you for keeping the image alive.
We once had a dream, which we've abandoned. Look what's happened to us now.
Will you be visiting the Lower Ninth?
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." thanks for a poignant reminder
We now have a strange combination of was and is. On the one hand, my kids could not possible of conceive of what it was like then - the deep rooted institutional level of it. The laws, the cops, the politicians, the social movements, the riots. But a tension still clearly persists today. Greatly diminished, but it's unquestionably there. But now it's further confused though, diluted and fractured. When we grew up it was only black and white. Now there are cross tensions with Latino and Asians, etc.. In a way, it helps that there are so many "others." Eventually there will be so many it will just be "us" and we can move on to other things.
Nice post Steve. Anyone with an interest in showing someone younger what those times were like (or learning more of the details themselves) should consider visiting the Civil Rights Museum in the former Lorraine Hotel in Memphis. It's an incredibly moving experience. Nice post, Steve.
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