Legacy by Scott Smith Teaches the History of Proto-Fascism in America’s Greatest Little City

Review by Ellen Eldridge

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) stated, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it,” and this phrase echoes in my mind as I engage in the not-so-simple dialogue engendered by Scott Smith’s recently published Legacy. Smith’s foreward lays the concrete foundation of honorable intentions; his wishes are neither to distort nor slander, but to bring light to the dangers of corporate powers like the Callaway Mills textile company through the history of his hometown, LaGrange.
Now, I did not grow up in Georgia nor did I grow up in the South. My education of the Civil War centered on the injustice of slavery, and not on economics as I later learned those in the South were taught. My jaw didn’t drop from the material I learned in Legacy; in fact, it didn’t really drop too much overall because I find uncovering the beginnings of fascism in small town America is probably more common than anyone would want to admit. What I did keep reiterating in my mind was how I was reading something that was truly important.
Legacy delves into one man’s hometown history, and it peels away the painted-over walls of thought and perspective. The recent release of Ani DiFranco’s What Side Are You On raises a similar sentiment in establishing lessons from our history — especially those specifically concerned with unions. We must read and educate ourselves to know how to shape and re-shape our perspectives.
The workers of Callaway Mills could not be considered slaves in the traditional sense, but the forced conditions explain the lyrics to the song “16 Tons” where the workers “owed their soul to the company man” because they were paid in coins that could only be exchanged in the company store.
I have little trouble admitting my personal ignorance, but I always concede that I should learn more. I avoid politics and I turn off the news because I get so upset, but I do read. I choose carefully the sides I will oblige, and I make up my mind while keeping it open.
I recommend to anyone who ever wondered where the money generated by the Boy or Girl Scouts of America goes ask the same questions when they receive a grant for college. As Americans, we are afforded the right to education even if that education must come from our freedom of the press; our freedom of speech that is only confined by our ability to listen. When we take the time to closely examine each side of every story we do ourselves a favor. We grow wiser and learn to not just accept what we are told by a “teacher” or from a “politician.”
In this election year, and for every year in which we each have the capability, take the time to do your homework and look into your personal history and perspective. Read books like Legacy that will shine a light down a hole you may not have realized existed! The beginnings of fascism in America were seen in small towns that warned unions would kill workers, and Legacy author Scott Smith does his research to give readers something solid to chew on.
For those interested in learning more about Legacy even before reading it, come out this Sunday February 19, 2012, and hear Smith speak at the February meeting of The Humanists of Georgia. The meeting begins at 12:30PM and will be located at Atlanta Freethought Hall, 4775 N. Church Lane SE, at the corner of Collins Springs Rd., Smyrna, GA, 30080.

To purchase Legacy visit: www.legacylagrange.com