Does anyone remember the scene where two State Troopers belittle Hoke (Morgan Freeman) and Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy)? It shows how bigotry persists even in the face of dignity. In Georgia, and elsewhere, it seems not much has changed.
Author’s note: I realize that there is controversy in some circles about films such as Driving Miss Daisy, Green Book and others which present racially sensitive issues with themes that can be considered focused on “white saviors”. This article is not about the merits of the film, but merely pointing to a specific scene to show how things CAN temporarily change for the better, while always being on the precipice of falling backwards.
Watching Jon Ossoff, a young Jewish son of Georgia, and Raphael Warnock, a middle aged African-American preacher, take the oath of office in the Senate on January 20, 2021 was pure joy for my wife and me. We lived in Atlanta two decades before that and had our fill of the dichotomy of a progressive, diverse Atlanta area surrounded by a countryside of white bigotry. We watched in horror during the 2002 mid-terms as Senator Max Cleland, a decent, patriotic man (a Vietnam veteran and multiple amputee) was cast out of office in a red wave of post 9/11 anger. So Ossoff’s and Warnock’s election victories were a sweet measure of retribution.
At the time, we hoped those victories would have broad and profound implications for the causes of religious tolerance and racial justice in Georgia and throughout the South. But the joy was short lived. Those thrill of those triumphs was soon followed by a severe throttling of voting rights in Georgia, by the rise of Marjorie Taylor Green (she of the ‘Jewish Space Lasers’) and by the widespread Republican endorsement of Herschel Walker as Warnock’s 2022 opponent. (Walker is remembered in Georgia for his gridiron feats, but he really is nothing but a financial dead-beat, a woman beater and an Uncle Tom personified.)
The tenuous nature of gains in the “long arc of history” (as Barack Obama called it) is exemplified by the irony of a long-forgotten scene from Driving Miss Daisy.
In the scene, the wealthy Jewish widow (Jessica Tandy as ‘Miss Daisy’) and her well-dressed chauffer are questioned by Alabama state troopers at the side of the highway.
From Schmoop:
- Before they can leave, two white cops ask Hoke about the car.
- Daisy says it's her car and provides the registration. They ask about her strange last name.
- She says it's of German derivation.
- The cops seem disgusted that everything is in legal order. Hoke is only guilty of driving while black.
- Shaken by the encounter, Hoke drives away. Out of earshot, the police call them a "n*****" and an "old Jew." Welcome to Alabama.
Welcome to the South in 1957. Welcome to the South in 2022.
Evidently not much has changed in 65 years.