I wish the image had come through, but the story is great! Thanks for sharing

What a great read, Mark! Bre'r Rabbit featured large in my childhood reading, as did the Tar Baby. I think the subtler nuances may have been lost on me at four.

In this age of Political Correctness, Uncle Remus stories have fallen from favor and are sometimes looked at as "coonerism" which is unfortunate, since they possess a wit and charm that is distinctly American. People tend to say that there is no such thing as American culture, and yet so much stuff associated with The South is so distinct and so ethnologically precise that it's a pointer to a very real, vibrant, and distinct culture: most of which lives on in those influenced by the South, not just African Americans, but White southerners, or the descendants of them. I think that the whole muddle positive and woefully negative influences is to blame for the perception that American culture doesn't exist or never did. So much of what is "American" in some ways is also very-much linked with racism or at least cultural imperialism. One of my favorite science fiction writers, Gregory Benford, pointed that out: he chalked a lot of it up to Nawthun Cult'ral Imperialism and a refusal to look at the fact that, once upon a time, this country did terrible things and tore itself in half over one of them. We went through something that a lot of countries go through, in one form or another, but we refuse to accept the lessons such a jarring, harrowing thing can teach, and a part of what we lose in not acknowledging and dealing with that is...well...what we have now: a country that prides itself on empty rhetoric, while tearing itself into smaller pieces than the Civil War ever did. Racism is so embedded in the USA that I had to live for 2 years in the Czech Republic before ever being referred to by the color of my hoodie (how ironic!) rather than the color of my skin. It was an odd feeling to actually hear myself referred to as: "That guy over there, in the blue shirt with the hood." I was the ONLY black guy in a bar and when an American tourist asked about me, the barmaid (she later became a friend of mine) described me to the tourist in question, but my skin color didn't figure into that description. The color of my hoodie did, as did the fact that I was wearing black jeans. She described me in the way she would describe any random Czech guy, and the only substantial difference she saw was my clothing--the blue hoodie as opposed to the black one or the red one, or the one with Che Guevara stenciled onto it. All of this is to say that I loved reading your account of dinner with a friend. I also read this, after taking a break from Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved: a novel I hadn't read, up until now. I read others Jazz, Love, and A Mercy but not Beloved. It, like her other works is filled with quite a prodigious number of scathing and seriously arresting observations, none the least of which is a former slave declaring: There's no bad luck in the world but white folks." I don't agree with that sentiment at all, but I can see how life in the USA can inspire such an observation, fictionalized though it may be, and it makes me wonder just how screwed up things are, because of racism: no one will ever doubt how bad it is for an African American, but I do tend to wonder just how many non-racist White people suffer just as much, quite simply because the wrong people are running things. This post provides quite a lot of food for thought, and also highlights quite a number of unspoken demons in the US-American psyche. There are many places in which it's incredibly fun to be alive, places where life is a horror, and then there's the USA, where life is simply, incredibly, incomprehensibly bizarre, out of whack, and strangely inorganic. I think what the end of your written commentary says most clearly is, quite simply: US-American concepts of pride, status, and birthright are...to use a technical phrase, butt-bootie-backwards. Great writing, great observations, and great food for thought.

... and the moral of the story? You can't really trust anyone! well, except maybe the 'Wrascally Wrabbit' ;)) BTW that reminds me of a Russian Fable, my Uncle in Berlin used to tell us, about the Fox who said, that those grapes (over-hanging far too high on his side of the wall) were much too sour anyway ... Great friends and great conversations - loved those stories Mark, BB

It is very nice. 5+!

I remember those tales from my childhood ... they made me vaguely uncomfortable, even as a kid, as did some of the old cartoons they used to show. I hadn't thought of that in years, but now you've provided me with something to ponder today. Thanks!

Wonderful story!

Great story, Mark. I read some of these stories when I was a child (translated into Italian)

Mark this one is for you: a lawyer shared this story with me recently.... a couple were going through a divorce and the man found out his wife was seeing another man even though they had both agreed to move on. He kept asking over and over and over for her to to tell him who it was, he would call everyday, one day she had had enough, he asked her again, in the background in the room the movie Austin Powers was playing, she threw her arms in the air in disgust at her soon to be x husband, and said Mike Myers. Her husband started his own little investigation in the town, and came across one gentleman with the name, he called and made threats the man on the other line listened daily to the treats, almost egging the man on the line on, he finally one day showed up at his door step, when he opened the door and he asked are you Mike Myers the man smiled held out a badge and said yes I am.... Sergeant Mike Myers. :)

that is a great story,nice job my friend

I lived in the South until I was 11. I am familiar with the story of Br'er Rabbit, but I've no idea when I first heard it. I suspect that it was by watching cartoons and I don't really remember my reaction. I like the way you have connected the two stories. In the Brer Rabbit stories he is a trickster, not always good or bad, just clever. The Brer Fox is obviously not clever. This is not really a deep ruse and you have to wonder a little at Brer Fox falling for it. In the second story, the ease at which people sell themselves a bill of goods, no matter how expensive, if it suits their beliefs in the nature of the world around them is rather like the Brer Fox. It reminds us that people can be very stupid indeed if it supports things they want to believe anyway. Not that we need a lot of reminding of that these days. Very nice telling of the stories, with a great dollop of humor! One of my favorite books by Neil Gaiman is the "Anansi Boys." In it, Gaiman takes a character from West African mythology (Anansi, the spider, a popular animal trickster) and tells the story of his sons. I think it is interesting that the stories of both Anansi, and a trickster hare, came to America with the slaves, and became ingredients along with Native American tales, in the stories of Brer Rabbit. Gaiman first has Anansi as a character in his book "American Gods" (another great book).

An excellent posting Mark and the more things change - the more they don't!