Peckerwood, Please or (The "P" Word)
by
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IN A WORLD WHERE THE ROLES OF THE BLACK AND WHITE RACES ARE REVERSED, YOUNG THOMAS EDWARDS JR. CHALLENGES THE MINDSET THAT SAYS BEING BLACK IS A POSITIVE WHILE BEING WHITE IS A NEGATIVE. THOMAS, AN INTELLIGENT AND OUTSPOKEN WHITE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, REALIZES THAT HE, HIS FAMILY AND WHITES IN GENERAL CAN NEVER ACHIEVE TRUE SELF-ACTUALIZATION WHEN A BASIC PREMISE BEHIND THEIR BELIEFS AND VALUES IS SELF-CONTEMPT.
ALTHOUGH WHITES WERE FREED FROM PHYSICAL SLAVERY IN 1865, IN 1965 THEY FIND THEMSELVES AS SOCIAL SECOND CLASS CITIZENS IN THE UNITED STATES OF NEW AFRICA. TECHNICALLY, THEY ARE FREE MEN AND WOMEN WITH THE SAME CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AS BLACKS. HOWEVER, DE FACTO SEGREGATION, POVERTY, WHITE ON WHITE CRIME AND SOCIAL TRADITIONS THAT FAVOR BEING BLACK, CONSPIRE TO "KEEP WHITES IN THEIR PLACE."
THOMAS CHALLENGES THE SUBTLE SYMBOLS OF BLACK SUPREMACY FROM HAIR STYLES TO HISTORICAL EDUCATION. QUANTUM THEORY WHICH IS THE INTELLECTUAL BASIS OF THIS CHALLENGE OF THE STATUS QUO, ENABLES THOMAS TO SEE THE SUBJECTIVE NATURE OF THE BLACK PARADIGM. IT ALSO FORCES HIM TO SEE THE SUBJECTIVE AND SUBSEQUENTLY MISLEADING NATURE OF THE CONCEPT OF RACE ITSELF. THIS IS THE APEX OF HIS OWN SELF- ACTUALIZATION.
THE IRONY IS THAT IN TRANSCENDING RACE, THOMAS UNDERSTANDS THAT HIS "JUST CAUSE" OF WHITE FREEDOM FROM SELF-CONTEMPT AND THE ATTAINMENT OF WHITE PRIDE IS ITSELF ONLY A TRANSITORY PHASE TOWARD THE FINAL REALIZATION. HE FINALLY REALIZES THAT HUMANITY (LIKE THE QUANTUM) IS ULTIMATELY BOTH A SINGULARITY AND A "WAVE OF POSSIBILITIES."
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About the Book
PREFACE
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE JOHN HOWARD GRIFFIN. AS THE WHITE AUTHOR OF THE 1960’S BEST SELLER, "BLACK LIKE ME," HE UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF RACIAL PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION. HIS WAS NOT THE UNDERSTANDING THAT COMES FROM THE INTELLECTUAL DETACHMENT OF OBJECTIVE AND SAFE OBSERVATION. HIS UNDERSTANDING WAS BASED ON THE DIRECT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE RESULTING FROM AN ACTUAL CHANGE IN SKIN COLOR.
IT WAS THIS DIRECT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT GAVE HIM THE UNIQUE STATUS OF BEING AN INDIVIDUAL WHO PERSONALLY UNDERSTOOD RACIAL INJUSTICE FROM BOTH THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DOMINATE GROUP AND THE SUBORDINATE GROUP. PHRASES LIKE "WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES" AND "DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU," BECOME MORE THAN MERE VERBAL IDEALISM WHEN USED TO DESCRIBE THE RACIAL CROSSOVER THAT GRIFFIN REALIZED. ONLY THE MOST CALLOUS OF INDIVIDUALS WOULD REMAIN STEADFAST IN SUPPORT OF BIGOTRY WHEN THE "TABLES ARE TURNED" AND THEY BECOME THE VICTIMS.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK IS TO "TURN THE TABLES," PUT ONE IN "ANOTHER’S SHOES," AND TO ENCOURAGE SERIOUS INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT ABOUT RACE RELATIONS AND THE ROLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN SOCIETY. IF THAT IS ACHIEVED, THEN MAYBE SOCIETAL PROBLEMS OF RACE CAN BE MINIMIZED BY THE ACTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO COME TO UNDERSTAND THE PHRASE "DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU" FOR WHAT IT TRULY IS – THE GOLDEN RULE,
IN THE CULTURE OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES (THE "OLD SOUTH") PRIOR TO THE LAST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY, THE WORD "PECKERWOOD" WAS A DEROGATORY TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THE POOR CLASS OF SOUTHERN WHITE FARMERS. IT IS A REVERSAL OF THE NAME FOR A BIRD (THE RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER). A NOTED CHARACTERISTIC OF THE BIRD WAS A PATCH OF RED ON THE BACK OF IT’S HEAD AND NECK. POOR SOUTHERN WHITE FARMERS WERE OFTEN
SUNBURNED ON THE NECK. HENCE, THE TERMS "PECKERWOOD" AND "REDNECK" ORIGINATED AS REFLECTIONS OF THAT EXPOSURE TO TOO MUCH SUN.
THE NOVELIST STEPHEN LONGSTREET IS QUOTED AS SAYING "ANY WHITE MAN FROM THE SOUTH IS A PECKERWOOD." THIS BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORD IS BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THE NEW DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN SLANG, BY ROBERT L. CHAPMAN PH.D (HARPER AND ROW, N.Y., 1986).
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE USE OF RACIALLY DEROGATORY TERMS WITH THE INTENTION OF BEING DEROGATORY AND THEIR USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH A LITERARY WORK. THIS DISTINCTION BECOMES CLEAR WHEN THE PURPOSE OF THAT LITERARY WORK IS TO MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVE ATTITUDES THAT RESULT IN THE USE OF SUCH TERMS FOR THE EXPRESSED PURPOSE OF BEING DEROGATORY. THIS IS THE SPIRIT IN WHICH I USE THE WORD "PECKERWOOD" THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK.
About the Author
I am a middle school teacher who has taught for 31 years. During those 31 years I have encountered hundreds of teenage personalities from all racial backgrounds. As a new teacher in 1971, I was intrigued by the attitudes about race that I discovered among my students. Having gone to high school and college during the Civil Rights and Black Pride movements of the 1960’s. I expected to see black and white students with much more rational attitudes about race. I was disappointed in 1971. I am disappointed in 2002, but more optimistic.