Mike Hayes has put together a documentary on The Controversy in these here parts, a documentary entitled Our Town. Due to be shown publicly next week, he extended the courtesy of letting me review it (the same as he did for the others who were interviewed for the project). Not a partisan in the fracas, he did wonderful work in presenting a genuinely even-handed approach to the whole affair. After watching his “draft” of the documentary, I called him up to compliment him on a job well done. Of course I did not want to make him nervous by doing this — “Uh oh. Wilson likes it. What did I do wrong?” — but at the same time, I really thought he needed to be commended for that even-handedness.
I had wondered about this because I read an article from the newspaper that said some of the food fight folks on the other side of our little cafeteria really liked the documentary also, and were planning on using it at a fund-raiser next week. So how even-handed could it be? But having now watched it, I realized that they thought it was so great for the same reason that a bunch of moms watching footage of the cute baby contest would come away with conclusions that differ.
I was happy because Hayes allowed us to speak for ourselves. He let us make the qualifications and corrections we felt we needed to make. He chose representative comments that we ourselves would have chosen. In terms of content, and the juxtaposition of the various positions, I have to say that I was just simply delighted with his work.
At the same time, watching the footage reminded me yet again what a crazy controversy this has been, and how astoundingly petty the concerns of our opponents have been through it all. For the most recent installment, have I mentioned recently that some tolerant Mrs. Grundy is attempting to ban our children from the Lord’s Supper?
The worldview blinders on these poor folks is amazing. I have lived here since 1975. All of my kids were born here, educated here, brought up here. All my grandkids were born here. This is my home; these are my people. In that setting it is astounding to watch footage of people marching to the sound of “Hey Hey Ho Ho, Racist Wilson has got to go.” What do you mean, go? Go where? Do I have time to pack?
But the thing that is amazing here is not that I have enemies, or that they want me out of town. That kind of thing is as old as dirt. People have been trying to run people they don’t like out of towns for forever. The weird thing is that these people trying to run me out of town are doing so in the name of tolerance, and numerous comments throughout this documentary showed that their tolerance was fully established in their own minds. “Mutual acceptance!” they cry, while pelting me with rocks. “Diversity forever!” is their mantra, while ladling opprobrium over my head. Despite this activity, which might cause a thoughtful person to reflect, they know themselves to be tolerant, deep down in their hearts. It is an article of faith with them. That’s just the kind of people they are. But their tolerance is about as elastic as a tire iron from Western Auto.