"Stand Up Miss Jean Louise" - A DU Redux - Barack Obama and "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Some of you 'old timers' who were around here during the 2008 Primary Season might remember the uproar over the first Presidential Debate - the one where McCain refused to make eye contact with Barack Obama. You might remember, also, a thread I started comparing that to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". To this day, it has been my most rec'd post. (300 back then was a good day!)
Yesterday, I heard that our President is going to be introducing "To Kill a Mockingbird" on USA Network this Saturday. So I'm inspired to do a redux. Substitute Jan Brewer or any right-wing hatemonger for McCain, and you have a post just as relevant today as it was then. The hatred and bigotry is coming again, and will be in full force until November.
In honor of my President and the courage he has shown in the face of continued disrespect; in honor of Harper Lee and her work exemplifying courageous honor amidst racial injustice and bigotry; to the memory of Trayvon Martin and all who went before him, with a fervent hope for justice, and an America of civility and equality, I'm re-posting "Stand Up Miss Jean Louise, Your Father's Passin". There are so many parallels we can draw to today's world; so many lessons we can learn, if we'll only take the time to open our hearts and listen.
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(Sept 27, 2008) It takes awhile, they say, for the result of a debate to settle in. A bit of time for the words and images to weave their way into our souls and deposit there a lasting image – the impression we then take away for all time. I guess that is why the pundits get it so terribly wrong so very often. They’ve allowed no time for the settling. And anyway, they see what they want to see, what they’re told to see; and from there, try to influence and mold what we see.
I’ve been mostly sad today. I left the TV off. And I didn’t know why until I watched a re-run of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and was dumbstruck by this line, this scene:
“ Miss Jean Louise, stand up, your father’s passin’.”
The people relegated to the balcony stood in unison as Atticus Finch passed. A silent gesture of respect, of honor, to a man who struggled to do what was right, no matter what the personal cost. A man who fought for principles greater and far beyond himself.
I cried, realizing then that I was thinking about Barack Obama and how hard it must have been for him to stand on that stage and talk to a man who refused to even acknowledge his presence. Who refused, out of a meanness of spirit unfathomable to me, to look him in the eyes, man-to-man; human being to human being, Senator to Senator.
And I realized then why the picture of him hugging Michelle afterward touched me so. She alone would understand how that hurt him. A hurt he would likely never voice to anyone. Yet he stood there, for ninety minutes, without acknowledgement from his opponent. Stood there brave and calm and unflinching, fighting for us and for the principles he believes in.
I turned, as I so often do, to “Dreams from my Father”, to Barack Obama’s own words to try to find some meaning, some salvation; perhaps to assuage my own guilt over the affront I felt was afforded to Barack Obama. And I found, in pages 156-158, words he wrote about people on the South Side – how they felt about accomplishment and the obstacles they had to overcome to be accepted; and how often they were not accepted.
"So, despite the deserved sense of accomplishment these men and women felt, despite the irrefutable evidence of their own progress, our conversations were marked by another, more ominous strain. The boarded-up homes, the decaying storefronts, the aging church rolls, kids from unknown families who swaggered down the streets – loud congregations of teenaged boys, teenage girls feeding potato chips to crying toddlers, the discarded wrappers tumbling down the block – all of it whispered painful truths, told them the progress they’d found was ephemeral, rooted in thin soil; that it might not even last their lifetimes”.
“As it had for the men in Smitty’s barbershop, the election had given these people a new idea of themselves. Or maybe it was an old idea, born of a simpler time. Harold was something they still held in common: Like my idea of organizing, he held out an offer of collective redemption.”
Even after this, when the man who refused eye contact stumbled painfully upon the name of Ahmadinejad, this remarkable American said to him with a soul full of humility and compassion, "It's OK, John, that's a hard one."
That is the mark of greatness. The man who stood there without being acknowledged, unflinching and without a spark of bitterness in his heart, is the next President of the United States.
It’s about Respect. It’s about Hope and the Future of a nation. It’s about the struggle for Human Dignity throughout the ages.
It is, most of all, about Equality.
“Miss Jean Louise, stand up, your father’s passin’.”
originally posted on Democratic Underground September 27, 2008
Published at Daily Kos 4/5/2012
Kay W. Gardner
= new reply since forum marked as read
It hits me at different times, and sometimes out of nowhere.
It has become a part of my world.
Thanks for posting it again.
and it made me cry all over again. You all have become a part of my world over the years, as well..
And I'm rec'ing it again. 
Some of the pic links are broken, but the comments are still there.
No matter how many times I've seen "To Kill a Mockingbird" over the last 50 years (and believe me, it's A LOT), I always get a huge lump in my throat when that scene comes on.
Gregory Peck became a hero to me in that movie. As I grew up I realized the HE HIMSELF was a great man. Since my father had taken a powder in that same year, 1962, and was a deadbeat dad before the term was even coined (at that time they were called "up & coming young business executives" , no small amount of what I learned about being a man came from watching and emulating Gregory Peck.
I lost all possible respect for john mcsame in that debate. After that, for me, electing Obama and beating mcsame became personal. In disrespecting Obama in that way, he was also showing his contempt for my then 8 year old African American son.
Thank you for reposting this wonderful piece.
PEACE! 
stories and memories that people shared - about growing up, about childhood memories and role models.. and your story is certainly one of them. Thank you so much for sharing that.
...for bringing good memories back.
BTW, about a year ago my son Watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the first time. He was also very effected by that scene.
And 
backatcha!
PEACE!
