In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

66 haTe Arthur Ravenel, Republican Senator from South Carolina, called the NAACP the “National Association for Retarded People” at a Confederate flag support rally. He later said, “I made a mistake and I feel very badly about it because I said retarded people and I have a retarded son.” He also added, “That does not mean I’m apologizing to the NAACP.” —jet, january 31, 2000 How does a father with a son struggling to be seen whole in the eyes of the world forget the son long enough for a slip of the tongue to be recorded forever for posterity’s sake? How does a father not think that a son will ever know what he said that day at the rally when he slipped and he, the father, revealed his true feelings about him, the son, the same feelings he feels about other different people? How does a father slip off one tongue while he is rallying his Confederate troops and slip on another later 67 after the rally when he is home with his son, gentle inheritor of his name? He does not. The slippery tongue is one and the same. What could make you forget your son? A fight over an old flag? The heat from a simmering hundred-year-old war? Hate stops at nothing. Not even the sacred door of a son’s private room. ...

Share