The New South
Harry Cooper's goodbye is today. In my office goodbyes tend to happen a lot. There is a lot of mobility, especially among those that want to climb the ladder of promotion. The ritual is usually the same, an obligatory awkward lunch where the office gathers and the boss says some sugar coated litany of words. A plaque is given and the person moves on. They clean out their desk and disappear. You can always tell the guys that have been around, their work area is covered with the most mementos of distant offices and past goodbyes.
Honestly I am going to miss Harry a lot. Harry is one of those people in my office that will come by and say hi. He will sit and talk for awhile and then move on. He doesn't want anything, he doesn't have an agenda. He is just a nice guy and a working friend. Harry is also black and even though he doesn't know it, has taught me a lot about race and what it is like to be a black man in the south. You see Harry accepted me.
In the south segregation ended in the 60s but in reality it is alive and well today. It is no longer enshrined in law, instead it happens on a personal basis. Blacks go to their own churches and whites go to theirs. Blacks live in black neighborhoods and whites live in theirs. Even in the tiny confines of an office people of the same skin color group together. The black agents and task force officers mingle and have lunch together, the whites do the same. Somewhere lost in the mix was Harry and Patrick, talking and hanging out together. In some imperceptible way the attitude seemed to spread. Two black female task force officers became frequent visitors of mine. A black investigator stopped by often to talk about politics and sports. I still get calls from a black agent that left long ago. It was as if there was some kind of unspoken reality where I was deemed to be, "okay."
This past week I was at Harry's desk and he mentioned to me that a couple people were planning an after hours goodbye for him Friday night. I found out where it was and showed up. I don't often like to attend after hours events but this was Harry and he was my friend. So I showed up at the bar and was the only one there. Gradually Harry and others arrived and we all took a seat around a table to say goodbye to our friend. The funny thing was, when you looked at all the faces, I was the only white guy. I couldn't help but laugh and think I was the token white! In truth, it was just a group of friends and I was one of them but the experience made me think. This moment was really the exception, not the rule. Black people working in offices tend to spend their lives as the minority. They are always the odd one out. Just because of a stupid difference in skin color. You see, everyone was the same. If Harry and his friends had been white it would have been the same conversation, the same banter. The same flirts and goodbyes.
Coop is my friend and I will miss him. It always seems like the good ones leave and the annoying ones stay. With his departure I feel that a dose of sincerity has left my world. I say goodbye to a friend that didn't want a thing from me aside from just stopping by to say hello.
Honestly I am going to miss Harry a lot. Harry is one of those people in my office that will come by and say hi. He will sit and talk for awhile and then move on. He doesn't want anything, he doesn't have an agenda. He is just a nice guy and a working friend. Harry is also black and even though he doesn't know it, has taught me a lot about race and what it is like to be a black man in the south. You see Harry accepted me.
In the south segregation ended in the 60s but in reality it is alive and well today. It is no longer enshrined in law, instead it happens on a personal basis. Blacks go to their own churches and whites go to theirs. Blacks live in black neighborhoods and whites live in theirs. Even in the tiny confines of an office people of the same skin color group together. The black agents and task force officers mingle and have lunch together, the whites do the same. Somewhere lost in the mix was Harry and Patrick, talking and hanging out together. In some imperceptible way the attitude seemed to spread. Two black female task force officers became frequent visitors of mine. A black investigator stopped by often to talk about politics and sports. I still get calls from a black agent that left long ago. It was as if there was some kind of unspoken reality where I was deemed to be, "okay."
This past week I was at Harry's desk and he mentioned to me that a couple people were planning an after hours goodbye for him Friday night. I found out where it was and showed up. I don't often like to attend after hours events but this was Harry and he was my friend. So I showed up at the bar and was the only one there. Gradually Harry and others arrived and we all took a seat around a table to say goodbye to our friend. The funny thing was, when you looked at all the faces, I was the only white guy. I couldn't help but laugh and think I was the token white! In truth, it was just a group of friends and I was one of them but the experience made me think. This moment was really the exception, not the rule. Black people working in offices tend to spend their lives as the minority. They are always the odd one out. Just because of a stupid difference in skin color. You see, everyone was the same. If Harry and his friends had been white it would have been the same conversation, the same banter. The same flirts and goodbyes.
Coop is my friend and I will miss him. It always seems like the good ones leave and the annoying ones stay. With his departure I feel that a dose of sincerity has left my world. I say goodbye to a friend that didn't want a thing from me aside from just stopping by to say hello.
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