American History

It’s Time For Them To Go

Posted on June 8, 2018 by CharlieClaywell

I spoke with a young black man this week who is from New Orleans. Since I was in New Orleans a couple of years ago, our conversation drifted to the various statues and monuments in the region.

He said he walked past the statue of Jefferson Davis on his way to school. This is in the 21st century.

When a young black child has to walk past the statue of man who ‘if he had his druthers’ would have prevented the young man from being educated or having any opportunities in this country, it is an atrocity. That statue was there to remind the young black man that he hasn’t earned his place in American society. That he’s not quite good enough to be an American.

As someone who has studied a lot of American history, including my family genealogy, I appreciate history, but I do not worship it. History should be a teacher — not a tool for oppression.

White people, especially those who claim to be Christian, have a moral obligation to educate themselves on the impact that these statues have on the psyche of a young black child.

The statues need to go.

Categories: American History, My America

‘Wild Wild Country’ Documentary Pits Small Town America Against Religious Guru

Posted on June 5, 2018 by CharlieClaywell

If you enjoy American history, and a well-narrated story, tune into Wild Wild Country on Netflix. It’s binge worthy.

This six-part Netflix original weaves together hours of newsreel beginning in the early 1980s and commencing near the end of the decade. It tells the story of the Rajneesh community located just outside of Antelope, Oregon. Antelope was a town of less than 100 citizens when the Rajneesh community, followers of Osho an Indian mystic guru with a penchant for Roll Royce vehicles, decided to build a city inside the same county as Antelope.

What unfolds over the course of the 6-hour show is a takeover of the small town via the election of Rajneesh members to the local council and, eventually an attempt to win the majority of seats on the Board of County Commissioners.

To review the series, would in many ways, reveal too much of the story, so I won’t. However, I will say I was impressed with the style of storytelling, and found the story intriguing. It is yet another window to peer through to uncover what it means to be an American. The series exposes some of our traits, both good and bad, and demonstrates, in my opinion, how beliefs and motivators often have nothing to do with one’s nationality — they are just universal human tendencies.

Rating: 4.5/5

Categories: American History, movies, Religion

‘Cornbread Mafia’ Describes The Rise, And Fall, Of Marijuana Production In Kentucky

Posted on February 25, 2018 by CharlieClaywell

As I examine my county’s long-term relationship with marijuana, besides researching our past, I’ve turned to books that highlight the history of marijuana production in the United States.

Ohio, which recently approved medical marijuana, began its love affair with the drug in the early-to-mid 1970s. Preble County saw an increase in production, and consumption, that mostly correlates with the return of Vietnam vets. According to articles from the late 1970s, one Preble County farmer — and Vietnam vet — was caught up in a drug smuggling deal that left two dead and several imprisoned. By the late 1970s, this farmer was receiving weekly shipments of 25-50 pounds of pot.

Each week’s delivery would supply 100-200 users with enough pot for a year.

Cornbread Mafia

The Cornbread Mafia by James Higdon takes place about three hours south of Preble County in central Kentucky. It is a story of a code of silence, murder, crooked cops, and ‘good ole boy’ farmers perfecting their product through careful breeding until the weed grown in Kentucky can command top dollar.

Even though the author begins the book with some earlier history to help frame the belief system of Marion County, Kentucky, their pot production also begins in the mid-to-late 1970s. Much of the production was hidden in plain site due to the players involved. Higdon writes,

For the first decade of the marijuana era in Marion County, all processing from a number of top growers was centralized in one location, a place no one would suspect of housing a multimillion-dollar illicit factory — on a farm owned by a prominent doctor, whose brother had once been mayor of Lebanon. No one would have guessed that the stately proportioned barns and outbuildings concealed several tons of high-grade sinsemilla in any given October between 1972-1980.

Native Tells Story

Higdon, a Lebanon native and journalism major, wrote the book shortly after college, and since he has an understanding of the mindset of the region, it gives him an edge in telling the story. The characters come across as authentic, and not caricatures. It is a region, that for the most part, view the book’s main character, Johnny Boone, as a local Robin Hood type hero. By the end of the book Boone, who served two prison terms, is a fugitive.

The story is fairly complicated with its cast of 5-10 characters who are heavily involved in the central Kentucky’s marijuana business. As the feds start cracking down on the group, they are eventually forced to grow their crops in other Midwest states — but they always bring it back to Marion County for processing, which also ensures they get top dollar when they distribute it.

Eventually, 70 Kentuckians are arrested, and true to their values, they refuse to ‘rat out’ each other or accept plea bargains that will harm their partners. This is phenomenal since the sentences they receive range from six months in jail to 20 years in prison.

Quicken The Pace

My main critiques of the book is it starts off a little slow as the author explains the mores of the region, which is essential to the story, but it could have been trimmed. Also, the stories of minor characters could be condensed.

For the most part, it is a story of impoverished, yet entrepreneurial, Kentucky farmers doing what they do best — perfecting a crop and marketing it. If not for the handful of murders in the story line, the book would have a ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ feel to it.

Published in 2012, the book is a little dated because the story of Johnny Boone has evolved (I won’t link to it in case you want to read the book first), and at least one member of the Cornbread Mafia has written a memoir, which, of course, adds to the story. At some point, I’ll have to read that one as well.

Rating 4/5. If you are looking for a crime story — or are interested in marijuana production in the 1970s and 1980s — this is a very enjoyable read with very interesting characters.