Y’know, the way we teach history, shit happens FAST.
The American Revolution ended overnight, on July 4, 1776, when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and emailed it to the leaders of the thirteen colonies and King George III, who said, “Well, shit. That’s it. Game over. Damn them colonials!”
Slavery in America ended overnight, when Abraham Lincoln, a democratically elected president who’d been against slavery from the beginning, because he was such a wise, benevolent, and all around great guy, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and emailed it to all the Confederate leaders, who said, “Well, shit. That’s it. Might as well head for the Appomattox Courthouse, and sign those surrender papers. Because even if we were to win the war, the slaves all got the email from the White House that they’re free (never should have let them have smartphones!), so there’s really no point in fighting any more.”
Us history buffs know better. The American Revolution didn’t quite end until the 1780s, and I’m amazed that Canada isn’t still pissed at us. The Confederacy ignored the Emancipation Proclamation and kept fighting, and for YEARS after even THEY admitted they’d lost, they fought like BASTARDS to hang onto slavery in some form… some distant regions simply didn’t tell the local brown folks that they were technically free, there were any number of “black codes,” laws that only seemed to affect black people (my favorite were labor contracts that only required you to pay your black employees once a year, after deducting costs of housing, food, clothing, and anything else you felt like charging them for), and so on.
Slavery did NOT disappear overnight. The better schools teach that that was the entire point of Reconstruction: a great many people did not WANT to alter the social order, and came up with some ingenious and legal ways to DO so… and eventually had to be MADE TO DO SO by law and force of arms. And as much as a century later, George Wallace was STILL making political hay by standing in the doorway of a public building and defending segregation.
But now we all agree that slavery was wrong, even if there is justification for it in the Bible, blah blah blah. Yup. Slavery is wrong. We finally got that far. Some of us even go so far as to say that racism is a myth, a relic of the distant past. I won’t go that far, but I’ve heard it said.
Which brings me to the whole gay thing.
History will record that one day, the Supreme Court upheld gay marriage, and that all the gay folks who wanted to get married immediately ran out and got married, and all the bigots and hate freaks and evil poison trolls just threw up their hands and said, “Well, shit. That’s it. We’ve lost. Might as well head for the Appomatox Courthouse and join King Triple George for commisseration and drinks in the dustbin of history.”
As is patently obvious, 'tain’t so, McGee. There are a load of politicians out there making political hay off the issue, though. They threaten to do everything from “we will simply ignore this law,” to “we will find legal workarounds and end runs so we can legally ignore this law.” The upshot is, Lincoln freed the slaves, but they’re still n*****s to US, goddammit!
So, yeah, all you gay folks, I certainly don’t wish you any ill. I personally know one gay couple that’s got their license and getting married, and I very much wish I could fly in to attend their wedding, because they’re neat people. I know others that are still fighting the battle. They’re mad. The law of the land and the march of history is on THEIR side, dammit, and no asshead politician is going to stand in their way!
Me, I think about George Wallace. He was a politician, and a populist and he made political hay out of hate and oppression. And his shining moment in American history is now that time he stood in that doorway, and shouted “SEGREGATION FOREVER!”
And I think about how he bitterly regretted that in his old age, before he died. He wasn’t a monster. He was a politician. He did good things as well as bad. And because he played the people to his own advantage at the exact wrong time in history, he is remembered… well, as a monster. And he was damn sorry for that.
I’m sorry too. He realized his mistake. He realized he was wrong, and he publicly admitted it before he died. And he was a better man than other politicians (coughcoughSTROM THURMONDcoughcough) who went to their graves ramrod straight and as arrogant as Caesars and as unrepentant as fallen angels.
I look at these governors and clerks and public officials who say, “I will not obey this law,” or “I will find a way to legally ignore this law,” and I wonder who among them will look at this moment twenty or thirty years from now… and who will say, “Oh, man, I was so wrong, and I’m sorry,” …
…and those others, who will simply spend that time thinking up further rationalizations for doing the wrong thing… and for refusing to admit it.
Keep fighting, people. I know it sucks, but the arrogant and the evil remain with us.
