At this point we all know what happened in Montgomery, Alabama, last summer. A personal watercraft was parked at a riverfront dock space that is designated for a riverboat used by tourists. One of the employees of the riverboat asked the people to move their personal watercraft.
They refused, instead attacking this dock worker (who is Black), first with racial slurs and next with their hands. The dock worker now found himself outnumbered and under assault from the white passengers on the personal watercraft.
What ensued was something nothing short of hilarious—but also the most palatable proof of the South’s ability to come together in times of strife.
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People nearby (who did not know the Black dock worker) rushed to join the fight. As more white passengers from the personal boat jumped on the dock to fight, so did more locals who jumped in to stand with the dock worker.
A 16-year-old child, who was on the opposite bank of the river, jumped into the water and swam, fully clothed with basketball shoes on. (If you have never worn a pair of basketball shoes, I assure you it is the same as wearing leg weights once they are waterlogged.)
Over the next few months, arrests were made of some of the participants on both sides of the fracas—including a man who showed up late to the fight and decided to hit one of the white attackers over the head with a folding chair. (The blow was so clean, Vince McMahon and the WWE should have offered the man a wrestling contract.)
The Montgomery Police Department spent the next few months combing through social media videos and hilarious memes to piece together who did what and arrest the appropriate parties. Most of the sentences have been handed out, ranging in everything from continuances to anger management classes to a few of the white assailants being sentenced to a few months in jail and community service. And even still, they only have to go to jail on the weekends.
Which by the way I totally forgot is still a thing.
I don’t think an incident of this nature could have happened anywhere else but the South. I have lived in New York City for eight years. I cannot say for certain that if a man outnumbered in a two-on-one fight would be able to look up and see an entire city—and a 16-year-old in a river—coming to his assistance.
The South has its issues, but make no mistakes about it, on the day-to-day the South is full of people prepared to serve you a smile, serve you a home-cooked meal, or serve you an ass-whooping. Be careful how you treat people.
Hats off to the citizens of Montgomery, Alabama—who saw someone in need and did not hesitate for a second to help, even if it meant ruining a perfectly good pair of basketball shoes.
You can view the complete Heroes 2023 series here.
