Charles Guptil interview with Warren Kirbo, “Homer Thigpen,” and Randy Walls (part one)

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Please note that this audio contains explicit content. This is the first of a two part recording; this part begins with Warren Kirbo telling a series of explicit jokes about male birth control and Polish immigrants committing sexual assault. Then he shares a version of a Hook Man story in which a man stalks college students. At 2:40 an unidentified woman (possibly Penelope Guptil) tells another version of the Hook Man story. She then relates a story about a serial killer known as the Grey Man who operated in New Haven, Connecticut, one about a girl who gets a spider stuck in her hair, then two about the murder of female college students in Rock Hill, South Carolina. At 6:04 Kirbo tells stories about how police responded to Civil Rights protests in his hometown of Camillia, Georgia. First he remembers when Reverend Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990) and 200 African Americans were arrested and held in the jail. While they were being held, Coretta King (1927-2006) visited to investigate the jail conditions. At 10:05 he tells stories about Sheriff Leroy Johnson who had a reputation for brutality against African Americans. In one story two Black men caused a disturbance at a barbeque, and in response Johnson shot one of the men in the head. In the second story Sheriff Johnson intimidates State troopers trying to arrest his son. At 16:00, the unidentified woman tells a ghost story about the Blue Lady who haunts Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Then at 18:27, Kirbo continues telling stories about police officers in South Georgia, followed by reminiscences about his Grandfather Robert Lee Hall Sr. (1866-1933), and how he amassed his fortune. At 28:00 he switches topics and relates incidents of sexual injuries involving couples at the Lake Lanier Drive-in theater Gainesville, Georgia. At 29:51 the unidentified woman describes when a bear attacked a family in Alberta, Canada. At 31:09 Kirbo continues his interview with stories about World War II draft dodgers being apprehended in Dahlonega, Georgia. He then tells a joke about an alcoholic man and the extreme lengths his doctor goes to stop his drinking. Next, he tells a joke about how a man deferred serving in World War II. At 38:00 Homer Thigpen tells jokes, many of which are explicit, racist, or sexual and rely heavily on negative stereotypes. The jokes are about Polish immigrants, President Nixon (1913-1994), aliens eating Black people, and Governor Lester Maddox (1915-2003). Thigpen then tells a series of racist jokes about Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) being a highway director in Alabama, an African American mans suicide where he was shot forty-five times, and a police officer mistaking a pig for a Black man. At 52:41 the unidentified woman shares a joke about Helen Kellers (1880-1968) disability and then one about a woman who smokes. Then Thigpen tells additional racist jokes involving Polish people. Homer Thigpen (1946-) is a pseudonym. Warren Lee Kirbo (1946-2010) was born in Camilla, Georgia, and in 1965 his family moved to Dahlonega. He graduated from North Georgia College and then earned a Masters of Science in Physics at Georgia State University. Afterward he completed a tour in the United States Army and worked at Telescan of Southwest Georgia. In 1973, he married Penelope Barbara Guptil (1951- ), then in 1984 moved to Nashville Tennessee. He died in Mount Juliet Tennessee. James Randall Walls (1949-2015) was born in Dadeville, Alabama. In 1967, he moved to Auburn, Alabama where he attended Auburn University. Afterward he worked as an United Parcel Service driver, and in 1986 he moved to Conley, Georgia. He died in McDonough, Georgia. \ ' I \ .'', ,, '' \ URBAN FOLKIDRE Subndtted by Charles A. Guptil Folk JOl Juno J, 1974 T/\BLR OF COl-!TLNTS NIXON t S WllrI'gHOUSE LAWN., .. , ., o ., " ...... .. ," ........ ... "., ., ,. ,. .,J THE PENIS THAT GRE,'W." 0 ". " ........... " II II "' 0 0 0 ....... 4 LESTE.'R MADDOX'S AlLHE'NT .......... ,. ............................... ... 4 MARTIN LUTHER KING AS HIGHWAY DlRECTOR, .... , ......... , .... .,., .... , 5 SUICIDE .... ., ....... ., " , , , .. ". o o ,... $., ... " ,." , ,5 OINK. JA.CKSON O II O" t, 0 0 0 0 0 {I O O O O f O e O .. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0" 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <> 0 0 0 0 0 O -~ THR CONTRS1' BETWEJoN THF; BLACK BOY AND 1'HE WIIITE JOY., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,6 WHY POLISH DOGS HAVg FLA.'r FACES o ............... .,.,.,,.., .. ,, ~,o"oo8 '.r\-JQ POLOCKS DRIVIt{G TO ElAMioe,i,o,aG<1o&toooooeo4110000&<1011tooe&ooo,oe8 THE TlVO PO LOCKS AND THE: Cl1J'.EL,, ., ,, <II ,, ... o o o " .. o ,. t ,, " 8 THE TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR ........ o ............. ., o .... 11 ...... , .. o ... ., o . 11 6 .lO I IN'l'RODlJCTION For my i' ,:i.tial attempts to collect folktales, I doci.ded to try Mansfield, a ver,y small town not far from Covington, Georgia, in Newton County. I chose this area mainly because it was the only rural region with which I was familiar, havin& spent, weekends on a farm belonging to a friend down there, My first steps looked very rewarding. I sought out Reverend Drown, pastor of the Firn-t, Methodist Church in Mansfield, rmd asked him if there was anyone i,,. Ljs congregation who was noted in telling old stories, Immediately, he named Wilber Jones and Ulster Smith, his wife drawl.ng out d:lrect:i ons t,o thel.r homes, flt randon, I picked Wilber Jones, first, and drove along dl.rt roads to his :t'a:rm, where I met Wilbers wife, who told me that her husband wns out fi.shing, She gave me d1rections, but as I proceeded through several pasb1res to Wilber' s f'avori te .fishing hole, I met him coming the other way, After mutual introductions, we returned to his house, where he began relating stories about the pre=Ci vil War days. 'l'his was not exactly what 1 had in rnind, and af'ter oonveyto,; t,o him what I needed, he recorded two tall tales. Soon, however, he became inhlbJted by his wife who made several derogatory rnrnarks about his bad habit of telli.ng wild atories. All efforts t,o rnH:ourage him t,o relate more tales were futile, so 1 then departed for Ulster Smith's home, But he flatly stated upon rny arrival that he knew nothing about storytelli.ng, and I returned to Atlanta, l 2' Not yot discouraged, I visited neighborj_ng Walton Count,y the following weektmd, and met oighty-yea.1.,old Mrs, Spinks, who was recommended to me by a real-estate agent wot'ldng ln that vicinUy, After suffering through two hours of lfalton County history and geneology reports, I politel.,y ec:,:i1~,1d myself, and called it another weekend, Time was becondng a facto'r for me, Working in add!Uon to attending school, I just couldn I t afford anymcire fruitless exped:i.tions around the countr,Yside. Finally, it davwr,cl Oil r11e t,o tr,Y nw own bacl,yard, t,he warehouse; of 3ears, Roebuck 18,, Co, whore I work, JoketelUne espf,cially is abundrint there, but many o.f my co-workers were relucta,1t to invite me to 1;hoh homes for a reeordl nr; ne,rnion, l eventually, however, recorded Randy Walls, a United Parcel :Jerv:Lce driver living 1.n l',ableton, Georgia, who ge.ve me some interesting legends concerning his orlglnal, rural hometown :i.n Alabama. Again, 1 t,rrpod \farren Kirbo, residine on Dellwood Drive :i.n Atlanta, who also had son1<1 f'ino stories about hi:, J,n,,,otown, Camilla, Georgia, but Tom Fulton, who,rn sped.ult,ies include d:1rty und ethni.c jokes, held t,he best repertoire by fr,r-, Torn, who insisted on being referred t,o us Homer 'I'h:tgpen on the tapes, w\1,hes t.o rcmaJn rmon,ymous. lie, 1:i.vc,s with his wli'e--no children---on rnspected famil;r, who, in pre-Glvll. War days, owned exterwivo lnndhold- Stetson Universit,y whore h0 )111i;jo.rnd .1 n Pol:1.tl cal. Sclence, and holds a l-',ast.er Is Degree in History from Georg:la State Unl versi.ty. lfe is now employed in a real-estate f:i.rm in llenat,ur, and, in addibion, is pm,rning a hau tor s Degree in Business Adt,rlll'l.stration at Georgin. :,tnte \Jn:i.verslt,y. 'rhrough his business assoolat.r,,, 1n1.marily, Tom has acquired quite a 3J collection of jokes which he never hesit,ates to retell, especially at parties and other various soe:i.al gatheri.ngs, Here are just a few samples. NIXON IS 1'1HITEHOUSE LAWN One o.f my favorite jokes is--ah--our great asshole President,--ah-what 's his name? Oh, yes! 1'Uxass--er--(laught,er, )--Nixon, and--a.h--he looked out--a.h--of the Whitehouse window one day, and--(sniff)--sees all these obsenities on t,he Whitehouse lawn which has just, ps.st through a recent, snowstorm. And all these obsen:ities are written in urine on the snow. So Nbron, being as quick-witted as he is, takes--(laughter )-takes thirty minutes to call the FBI, And he says, 111 want you to find out who--(sniff)--pissed on my Whitehouse lawn out there. Call me baok as soon as possible,--(snl.ff) Well, t,he FBI, as quick as they are, they call back and they say, "Well, Nr. Nixon, we I ve--ah--detnrrnined--ah--( sniff )--who--a.h--pissed on your Whi.tehouse lawn, an<l--ah--we 've got some good news and some bad news for ya. 11 And he says, "Well, I don't see how anything could be good news and bad news. I want t,o know who pissed out on my vJhitehouso lawn." And he says, "Well, it wa.s yo'ir right-hand man, }lr, President, Henry Kisslr1r,er. "' And he says, "Shit! I c,an 1t stand that,\11 And so, "Well, that's t.he good news, Mr. President. We 1ve did a-we did a ha,,dwritlng analysis after we did the urinanaly.sis to d~scover it was Henry Kissinger, and the handwriting analysis turned up to find out that it was your wife, Pat,.11 ' 4 NIXON AND THE MARTIANS Nixon called a press conference--t,hi, another joke about Asshole-and he said he had some good news and some bad news. I guess this will appeal to racial people. But he said, "The bad news :is the fact that tha Martians are going to take over the world because of our weakened condition from the energy crisis, but the good news is they piss gasoline and eat nig1,ers. ,, THE PENIS THAT GREW Oh, you wnnt to hear a medical joke, rlghU A guy went, to the doctor's for his yearly checkup, and--ah--the doctor--ah--examined him, and told him to wait in the waittn1 room. And the guy was waitin1 in the waitin1 room, and the doctor said,--ah--"'I've got some good news and some bad newn f'or ya,11 And the guy says, "Well, what!s the good news, 11 The doctor says, "Well, your penis has grown nine j_nches tl',is year , 11 And the guy says, "My God, that's great!'" An' the doctor says, 11Well1 the bad news is its malignant,11--(snif.'f) LESTER :MADOOX IS AJ Ll1J11'1T Another good variatton on that is--ah--t'iaddox, Lester Maddox, our f.'avorite gov 1oor had t.o go to the hospital, and--(pause)--he had to go to the hospital.--Yes, I was tryin1 : Homer was tryin 1 to remember the jokes/ --And--ah--doctor told him he had sorne good news and some bad nows, And Lester said, "Well, what Is the good news 111 ' And the doctor says, 11You gonna dio in three months," And Lest.er says, 11Heyt That ain't good news!" And the doctor says, "Yes it is. You're gonna die of sickle cell anemia.11--(laughter) Homer: Can I tell some racial ,jo,~~s from way back there? Collector: Year!l Yeat Fine! MARTIN LUTHER KING AS HIGHWAY DIRECTOR You know what--ah--you know Bartin Luther King wan nominated to be the Highway Director of Alaba.ma? He was the only man that could blacktop three miles of roo.d to Selma in three days--twenty m:Ues to Selma in three days, SUICIDE Didya hear about the--hear about the nigger they found on the banks of the Mississippi with about forty.;f:ive bulletholes in 1im, and the sheriff said that wa.s the worst case of S\licide he'd ever seen'I"' OINK JACKSON Ba.ck to my Oink Jackson joke. Oh, yea1 Well, there was those two niggers ridin' down thls toad in this small, southern town, an' they see a pig rurmin' loose 1.n a farmer's frontyard; An I they--ah--an 1--ah--they decided to st_eal the pig, So they hooked the pig, put 'im in the car with it, and they were dappin1 , and ,jivln1 , an' drlvln' do1-m the road, An' they don't know it, but the town Is ba.'ik' s been robbed ahout tmY minutes before, an I they come around the corner, an' t,hc;re's a big roadblock there wUh all these state troopers out there, An I t,he niggero clidn I t know what to do, an I they ftgured that the only course of action where they could posn1bly escHpe 6 about stealin I the pig was to disguisca h:lm. So t,hey put a hat an I coat on the pig and put 'im in tho front seat between 'em, So they pulled up to the roadblock, an' a big, burly state trooper looked in there, an he said, "What yo name, boy?" An 1 t,he first nigger, he says, "My name is Viike Jackson," An he looked at tho othor n:i.gg,-,r, an' he says, "Wh,,t's yo name, boy?11 An 1 he says, 11My name is Robert Jacksoi1~u An 1 he looked at the pig, an' he says, 11What 1s yo name, boy?" Simultaneously, one of the niggc,rs nudged the pie: h, the ribs, ''"' the pig went,, 110i nk 1111 So the patrolman stuck his head back out the window, an I he says, "Well, I know you three bo,vs didn't rob that bank, For mm1ber one, y'all too stupi.d, Y'all Just drive on through here.11 So t,Le nie;gers were just ecst,atic, an I they drove on through jus 1 happy as hell. An' the trooper turned around to his buddy, an I said, 11You know those three niggers didn 1t rob that ba,ik, but that Oink Jackson is tho ugliest black bastard I've ever seen in my life, 11 ' THE CON'rr,:sT flls1'vrnEN THI>; BLACK BOY .Alm TJI!~ wrrrn; BOY Well, l got to tell this joke! Thero was this colored boy and this white boy that ~~ew up -~ogether and they were the best of friends, And they rerna'i.ned Just Hbout li.ko brothers, but it, alwF1.ys seemed like the wh:l.tc lio;y could nlways beat the colored boy nt somet,hi n I l For 1.nstance, like when they were i.n lli.gh school, they were both h the bnck:l'ielcl cm the .f.'ootbnll t~am, but the white boy a.lways score.rJ wore, to,:chdownri then tho n:i.;,r;er, nnd the san:e '/ t,hing on hasketbaJ.l court or tho bns0ball fi old, a,,d tho whites bo,y wou1cl alwnys make A I s and tho eolorod fella I d 1nnko Tl I s. But because they were close friends probably what held thom together w1w the co,,,petHJ.vo spirit, between the black boy nnd tho wh.i.tc bo,,. And the)' won~ to coll.ego together, and thoy wnre roorrirnnt.es a.nd the sarno thine huppc,m.ed 9 An I the white f',UY st:l 11 1 hend of Lhc color eel gu;y. So they were such good f:r:iendH, they met two girls tho", wanted to fllln'r,r ' 1bout the sa(II, tilne, decided to hr-:.ve heat n dol .. blo weckUr:' ~ hn' no, :if thc,c was one thing the nigger could \.I.!.-' \}1}:'. the/\.110~1 Ht 't'nis sc-rPH1 n,1 e it, wh:ieh kinda surprtsed tho n:i.1mer, but he so.id, 111\lr:i.ght,,11 So the white boy an 1 --an I the nigger had to fl.,~ure out how they could compete jn th,i!$ contest, without lott:ln~ their newly .found wives reeJ.ize what, wus goin I on<> So, the onl,v- way they could decide how to do it wao the fact that evor'yt,:ime they--ah--rnacle love to their wives, they would make a mark on the 111irrcr .for each time thry made love. An I then the next mornin 1 , tlioy would just simply have to loc)k nround the oornc;r an' look on the bBdroom mirror, So the white boy went :i.n o.nd made love to his wife and got up and put a mark on the mirror, went baek to bed, He got it up, again, an' made love to her the second time, an' he w2s just about. exhausted. An' ho was finally able to struggle, up to do it a third time, an he jus 1 made one little, sma.11, third, straight mar,, down the mirror ther<i, an' fell back in bed an passed out,--(cough)--So the next rnornin', they were both ecstatic, and met in the hallway outside the hotel room, H.n1 tho nlgger, jus 1 sr,Jlin1 like shit, nn 1 he known he 1d--he 1d won for sure, An 1 he looked at the 1,1hj te VJ.Y", e.n I he says, 11llow ,,wny t,:i.mes did you get :l t, 11 An' the white guy saJs, "Man, be quiet, now, jus' look in t),ere, 11 An I tho nigger saw the three straight 1110.rks an I he says, 11Goddamnl lie bea.t me, again! A hundred eleven to forty-fourl11 --(laughter) \vHY POLISH D)GS HAVE Ji'L/\T J?AG~S Ohl Do you know why Polish dogs have flat faces'? No, Chasing parked cars,--(langhter) TWO POLOCKS DillVING TO }!lAMI Did you hear about the two Polocks who were driving to Miami, and they saw a sign that said, CLE/\l! RESTROOMS AHEAD. So they cleaned 2.',0 restrooms before they ma.de it to Miami. THE TWO POIDCKS Al-JD THE CA!,EL One of my favorite f>olock jokes is about 1,he two Polocks who went to the used CRr lot, 8 An' they went in there, an' the nalesman Has sweat.in' and ngettin', an' he couldn't get 1em to buy anyth'1ng. An the Polocks were all wo:rn out, an' he says, "How much mo11ey you got, 11 after about an hour tryin' to give them everything, An1 they so.id, "Well, we got forty-nine dollo.rs,11 An' the guy says, "Shit, mant You can't buy anything in here for less tho.n H thousand clollo.rs.11 Polocks hung their heads and began to walk out of the used oar lot, The guy says, "Wait H minute! I've got a used camel in the rear lot ho.ck there, an I he I s got, two humps, an' each of ya can ride on a hump, an I he knows o.11 the SJJeed limi t,s nn I the traffic signals. w 9 l'olocks took I im up. Paid the forty-nine dollars, an' they rode out, of th,,re jus 1 happy as shit, Ahout holf an hour lat,1i, the camel came st,rollin I back in the park;tng lot, an I the two Polocks carne r,mnin' in after 1irn. An' the salesman soys, "My God, what, happened\"' An' he said, "You were right about that l'olock (meant camel) knowing all tt10 traffic signals an' lt>eed lini ts, We stopped at a red light, an 1 there was this big reel Catilac convortable, an th1s guy looked up and said, 1 Look at, those two assholos on the camel.' So we, jumped off real quick to look at the two assholes, an the light turned green, a.n the ca111el left us, 11 Although jokes and legends co,,stitute tho bulk of urban folklore, the tall tale still persists in that same area, The bas:lc value of the tall tale, more than just hav1nr, a punchline, allows the teller to test his abllit;y to e:xploit the gullibility of hi!! audience, and, if t,he narrator is successful, gives the listener the delight of be:lng surprised, even duped, or, in colloquial terms, "sucked in", In my experience, I have found that the best stage for the tall tale is the comrr,on bull session, 'rhe potential narrator will wait until the members of his audience, convincing one another of their own lies and exagm'ations, have m:entally condi f,ioned 't,hcrnselves to believe just about anything, Skillfully, he will gain the attention of the gatheririg, and if,, during his monologue, there arr, any' doubts concerniJ'lf( the authrmti~ city of his story, the speaker will rarely openly hrni.st upon tho truth of his narration, Rather, he will show undflrst.nndi.ng toward the difficult.y to beHeve it, and in that way try to ro~establish his audienoos trust in him, Possibly, he may lightly threaten to discontinue tho story, and the listeners, out of curiosity, frequently will expreos t,heir faith in 10 him, or, at least, soften their expletives of doubt, For the next several minutes, imagine yourself' in a men's dormatory late at night, drink1.ng beer and exchanging experiences involving women and seXJrnl conquest. Gre.duoJly, attention is given to Homer Thigpon, who1 in o. low voice with an a\>C)loricrti.n tone, confesses to a shameful act :in h1s dark past,. rm: TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR \ __ l J:;', ' Yes--ah--1 went on vacah6n wher1 I was in college down in Florida, an went to the beach with my fr:lends, and--ah--he had to leave me, unfortunately, So I took a walk on the beach by myself, and--Goddrunn i.t;l Homer mumbles when he ~!ants .t.o rmnnble--and--ah--I was walkin1 down t,he beach, an I there was tM.s bc~aut:tful girl laying undor a blankot there, An --ah-she was just absolntely beaul;iful! But, she had this blanket on her ,m' like :i.t, was ninety dor:,ro0s out there, Well, T thought of some conversation an' went over ari 1 fa:,Jkod to her, an'--ah--asked her how she An.' we chatted alone, She still laying under the blanket which was stre.nee. An 1--ah--asked her after awh:lle if she wanted to go sw:!.P,rrrl ng, an I her face jus' becauie orentfallen, an I she was terri hly hurt,, And I said, 11\fol11 what Is the matter 111 An she lifted the blanket an' hor legs were cut off right above t.he knees, An I I ,just felt really like a big gaper about that,, so the best, t,h1ng I could do--I felt so chagrined--!. decided to ,rnk her out for a date that evening, And I fmn golng to drive her home, bnt hex chn.uffer cru:na to the beach and picked hor up, ni1 1 1.n--j n his arrna nncl enrried her to the wheelchair an' put her i.n u lrig limos:ine an' they drovo off, But ll I had her address and I decided to--ah--t,ake her out, that evening, And so I picked her up at her home and everything, an--ah--met h<r mother at the door, an' her mother was not very courteous 'cuz she didn't really think her daught.m' could go out wl.th anybody that., ya know, that would treat, her daughter with respect since she dl.dn I t have any legs. But I decided to take ~13r out, an' we had a party with some other friends, an' there was alot of dr:i.oldng eo:i.n. 1 on an' everything, Ari: 1--(sigh)--about halfway through the part;y-, I ass holed out, aeain, and asked her fer--if she wanted to dance, And she tried mid it wns jus I terrible, an' I just felt so bad--(sniff)--and her mother was so worried about her and everything, This was gettin' to me, and so I was just decided to take her back e,~rly, and we were drivin' back early. So, she afJked me not to take her back in, We pulled into kind of a local lovers' lane there, an' she was beaut.i . .ful as I put it except for the lack of her lower appendages. And--ah--we start,ed ma.kin' out, soforth. She asked. mo to screw her and. it was pretty hard because her legs were cut off and they were honey and would hurt me. So I asked what, to do, and she said t,o get her outside the car, and--ah--and 1 took her outside the car, and there was a giant oak tree, And she said, "Pick me up, put your mms nround my waist," And I liftod her up, and she grabbed hold of the tree limb, and we made l)Ve that wny. An I so later on that evenl.,1g, I ;jn;:it slnrnrned the -i<Jheelchtd r thI'ougb th,_: front door of' the. mother~' s houso,, ant the root.her, her fE:-;nrs were COlAi'i.rmed. She saJ_d, 11Whe:re 1s my dnugh~~ert 0 And l sn.id, 111 left her hn.11r~.i n I on a tree~" CONCLUSION Different kinds of jokes, and etories1 for that matter, cause a variety of responses from various types of people, What one man may enjoy, another may feel repulsion, depending, of course, on taste, Nost of the jokes recorded by 1'om Fulton were derived from political and ethnic backgrounds, but this does not necessarily reflect Tom's opillw110f thooe leaders and groups, Fulton is a well educated and reasonable man who, like many people, can judge the proper time and place to express different ideas, and the joke is just, one vehicle for that function, For instance, as Tom, himsel1i related, the jokes about negroes arose out of the civil rii:;hts disturbanrms of the 19501s and 60s, Although many white people understood the black' s strugr'.le, the conduct ot' both groups and the negative responses t,o change caused emotional reactions. While one could rationally <li.scuss the issues of those times, one also had to let oi'i' emotional p!'essure. 'J.'he m,gro ethrnll joke provlded this lever i'or whites, In relation to this fuel-, c:c,,11.,dy in general nee<ln a dupe 01' some sort, Political leaders and members of different religious and racial groups 1:~('., are natural targets, 'l'his Hspect of thetcan be found throughout all the subcultures within the United States, and how one handles the joke very often determines its humor or insolence. I subrnit that anyone, depending on his mood and frame of mind, can laugh at anything, as illustrated by Homer 'l'h:i.gpen, himself', who upon hrn:u~:lng his own recol'ding, exclaimed between grimaces and spasms of lnr,ghtor, "What,! Do I really sound 1:Um tha:t,'/, .. Is that me'/ .. ,Why I sound ,iust like a redneckl 11 A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.