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Show Pia1 so feb ADI G NVI]NOU se PUNLOPN matter one way or the other.” THE CANYON COUNTRY Finally, in November 2008, Americans proved convinc' ingly, for most of us, that race “didn’t matter, one way or the other,” and fulfilling RFK’s prophesy. For me, the racial component of Barack Obama’s election comes more ZEPHYR of a shock, after the fact. It was more than the idea PO BOX 327. MOAB, UTAH 84532 JIM STILES, PUBLISHER ccezephyr@gmail.com moabzephyr@yahoo.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS | _ Ken Sleight Martin Murie Ned Mudd Doug Meyer that Obama’s race was irrelevant during the campaign; I simply - kept forgetting to remember what his race was. I think millions more were just like me. And I think that sentiment, “more than a desire to overcome past prejudices, is what decided the election. Only now do I find myself in awe of the outcome. Too bad Bobby Kennedy wasn’t here for the celebration. THE ROAD AHEAD TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT Istill recall Obama’s first interview on “Meet the Press.” By Jim Stiles THE ROAD FROM CHATTANOOGA. When I was about five years old, my family took our first real away-from-home vacation. We traveled from Louis- With intelligence and grace and good humor he endured the grueling hour long interview with the late Tim Russert (who I still grieve for, all these months later... wouldn't Russert have loved to watch this campaign). I was impressed, more than anything, with Obama’s candor. Russert ultimately asked the obligatory question about future presidential aspirations, and instead of a dissembling spew of ville, Kentucky to Clearwater Beach, on the Gulf coast of THE ARTIST John Depuy HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS Herb Ringer (1913-1998) ZEPHYR PILOT & AERIAL RECONAISSANCE Paul Swanstrom ZEPHYR TRANSPORTATION FLEET SPECIALISTS Gene Schafer Tom Wesson WEBMASTER Gary Henderson spankme2times@excite.com Florida. The interstate freeway system was just beginning to take shape across America and most cities were in varying states of chaotic construction. Chattanooga, Tennessee was no different. As my dad did his best to follow the detour signs and snake his way past flagmen and road graders, I stood happily on the floor of the back seat (in those glorious pre-seat belt days), with one hand on my dad’s shoulder and one on my mom’s, watching the new world pass in front of me. Ahead of us, through the dust, I saw a dim figure walking through the weeds, just off the road surface. Suddenly, the car directly in front swerved hard to the right, as if it were aiming at the man, then it veered left. The doublemotion caused the car’s rear end to fishtail dangerously, but the driver held on and with a toot of his horn and a gesture I didn’t understand, he accelerated away from us in a brown cloud. My dad slowed down and we saw an old black man, in tattered clothes, rise from the weeds and beer cans and construction debris to dust himself off. My dad looked at him sympathetically and the old man nodded wearily. We drove on. “Why did the car try to hit that colored man?” I asked. Soa SUBSCRIPTIONS & TRANSCRIPTIONS Linda Vaughan CIRCULATION Lance Lawrence Jose Churampi silly ambiguities, Obama made it clear he hoped to pursue the office. Russert, looking almost shocked by the directness of the Illinois senator’s reply, asked cautiously, “You don’t mean in 2008, do you?” : Obama replied, “Yes, I’m thinking about it.” Two years later, as Barack Obama faces the greatest chal- lenges as president since Franklin Roosevelt, I hope the realities of the world don’t affect his candor. Or his vision. I worry that Obama’s greatness, in the 21st Century, will be sorely put to the test by a world far different than the one FDR faced 75 years ago. The last honest president, Jim- THE ZEPHYR, copyright 2009 The Zephyr is published six times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times, of its publisher. mie Carter, was reviled within his own party for his honesty. Had we heeded his warnings, the world would be a very different place. In 2008, the very future of this lovely green globe hangs in the balance. Obama may be our last Selma, Alabama in 1965. My father did his best to explain racism and bigotry and evil, in general, to a small child and J still recall being touched by that incident in a profound way. I must have, or I wouldn’t be recounting it all these decades later. As I grew older I saw it happen again and again. I lived through the 60s, and I remember watching Martin Luther King’s “Dream” speech as a boy, and hearing news Invest in the Millennium. Plant sequoias. of his assassination, five years later, as a young man. I saw the inner cities of America disintegrate into chaos and fire during countless race riots. But I also noted the changes that were happening to the country. Just months before his death in 1968, Robert Kennedy, himself a Quixotic candidate for president, believed amidst the turmoil that an African-American could some- day be elected president. “There is no question about it,” the senator said, “In the Wendell Berry hope. : The last honest president, Jimmie Carter, was reviled within his own party for his honesty. In 2008, the very future of this lovely green globe hangs in the balance. Obama may be our last hope. He must have the courage to demand a sacrifice from all of us. He must be willing to remind us what it truly means to be Americans and to help us connect to the things in life that really matter. If you will indulge me one last time, let me repeat President Carter’s words from an address to next 40 years a Negro could hold the same office that my the nation in 1979. It was a speech about America’s energy brother attained....Progress has been made and will concrisis but it was so much more than that. It was about the tinue. We will not accept the staus quo.” And_ 30 years ago. Driving through Selma, Alabama in quality of our lives and how we chose to define it: the mid-70s, I noted an African-American funeral proces- In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, closesion on a hot August afternoon. I wrote in my journal: knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is “Tt was interesting to watch traffic yield for the black no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But funeral. White people who, a decade ago, would have no we've discovered that owning things and-consuming things does doubt refused to yield the road to Blacks, even in death, not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling pulled off the pavement to let the hearse and procession up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have pass by, even here in Selma. The white people don’t look no confidence or purpose. es pleased about it, just resigned. Maybe someday, it won't Often you see paralysis and stagnation and drift. You don’t |
