December 17, 2005
THAR HE
When I think back on the murder of Emmitt Till, the young black boy who was killed for supposedly whistling at a white woman in 1954 Mississippi, a couple of things come to mind. Number one: that was the real catalyst for the civil rights movement, not Rosa Parks plopping her butt on a bus seat.
Two: the sheriff was a compleat neckbone. When the district attorney told him, man, you have to behave, the whole world is watching: journalists from Ebony and Jet are here. Behave! The sheriff walked in every morning, doffed his hat at the table of black journalists, and said "Mornin', Niggers!" And he thought he was being polite.
But third: when the uncle was forced to point to the man who had showed up at his doorstep, and demanded Emmitt, he had to point a shaky finger in the courtroom, at the perp, and say "Thar He." A huge, huge step of courage.
Sometimes I wonder why I don't do better in my corporate environment, then I remember that boardroom meeting, when I had to identify the speaker of a particular line, and I point, and say "Thar He."
I couldn't help it. That line is a fucking classic. Tell me I can't use it? You may as well bay at the moon.
Unfortunately, if a reference is more obscure than what was on prime time and rehashed to death the previous evening, you get the slack jawed blank stare from the gathered.
Posted by: Cythen at December 18, 2005 1:22 AMSo is, go and sit down Tar Baby.
Posted by: Catfish at December 18, 2005 1:38 AMYou is having a veritabobble Post-Gasm today, Hoss. Saving it up, were we?
Posted by: Elisson at December 18, 2005 8:23 AMRosa Parks was a mere political operative. She was an official and funcionary of the NAACP. What she did took no courage, but was a calculated act. Had the NAACP set a man up to do it, he would have had the shit beaten out of him. Ergo, a woman.
Rosa Parks' modern equivalent might be Betty Curry, Clinton's lying civil servant of a secretary, who was a Democratic operative for years.
I happen to think what Rosa Parks did took a lot of courage, whether she was a political operative or not. She is certainly one of the most successful political operatives in American history.
Alas, I am also more likely to be the Tar Baby than the Till Uncle in those corporate showdowns. I think I'm going to start visualizing B'rer Rabbit the next time the evil Corp. drone begins.
Posted by: rankin' rob at December 18, 2005 9:38 AMThe corporate world can be tricky for a relative newcomer. I'm finding non-traditional resources serve me far better than any management class or department mentor. I use "the Letters of Lazlo Toth" as a reference for business letters and I think I might have to add this to my bag of tricks as a preface for delivering news that will make a major impact. What else ya got?
Posted by: Suzette at December 18, 2005 6:35 PMIn-fucking-credible.
Did anyone in the boardroom catch the allusion?
Whoo hoo. Wouldn't a topic of classic professional fuck ups be interesting? Mine personally was a pre-company Christmas party cocktail hour my boss was throwing. The new division General Manager was invited. When I was introduced to his wife "Bunny" I snorted my lastest sip of martini right out of my nose. My days were immediately numbered. Stupid preppy name though.
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Posted by: eman at August 18, 2006 5:38 AM