for cotton fields” and black gids thatrn”taste so good.” Now an appalling grouprncalling itself “They Might Be Giants,”rnpopular with the snidely pious collegerncrowd, whines about “Your RacistrnFriend.”rnAcross the table from me I heard thernculmination of a discussion about AIDS.rnI knew what was coming. I had heard itrnbefore. After some preparatory comminationsrnon the danger of the “Christianrnright” opposing condom distribution inrnschools, there came the inevitable climaxrnabout the evil Reagan-Bush legacy.rnBecause I had grown bored with foolingrnaround, bored with keeping mv thoughtsrnto myself, I did the same thing I hadrndone in Poland a few vears ago: I indulgedrnin loose talk. I should havernknown better. After all, I was no longerrna schoolboy, I was an adult talking withrnmy peers. I should have rememberedrnthat most members of my generationrnwho attended college had been taughtrnnot to argue or discuss and to questionrnonly common sense. So w^icn I suggestedrnthat the Church, in all its doctrinesrnand pronouncements, had neverrnonce encouraged the behavior thatrnspreads AIDS, rather the opposite inrnfact, and that I had never heard eitherrnPresident Reagan or President Bushrnspeak in favor of fisting, sodomy, multiplernpartners, or injecting oneself withrnvarious drugs, I should not have beenrnsurprised when my remark was greetedrnwith a horrified silence.rnThen the interrogation began. Fromrnall sides of the tabic, people who had sornfar been friendly started to get seriouslyrnupset. “Mow can you say that?” “Whatrndo you mean?” “Is he some kind ofrnfascist?” Someone called me a “homophobe.”rnAnother person asked me withrnthe kind of passionate intensity onernsometimes sees on Melrose PlacernTHE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.,rnPLAGIARISM STORYrnEdited by Theodore PappasrnA publii.”uli(>n of The Rocklbrd histiiuie.rn107 pages (piiper). Only !>1() (shippiiiii undrnhimdlinn eharjies included).rnro (JKDF-R F5Y CRKI.M T CVKI). C:.Ai.L:rn1-800-383-0680rnOR .S1′:NI) nii:(K OR MONC.Y ORDIIRrnf.vi.M)!-: I’.AY.ABi.i; r o n i i ; KOCKIORO iN,sTrri;Ti:) ro:rnKins: Honk. 9.U Norih Miiin .SlfLVM. Roeklord. II. f)l 10.^rn(Discoiiiii’H ;iail
January 1975April 21, 2022By The Archive
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