No, you can’t

I suppose it’s human nature.  When someone says, “No, you can’t,” we reply, “Who says?”  When it’s the federal government talking, people listen.  When a right is taken away and enshrined in the Constitution, people rebel.

I have been enjoying the Ken Burns’ documentary on Prohibition .   This great experiment to rid the country of demon rum (and any other form of the devil’s brew) was decidedly a failure.  As the documentary states, Prohibition turned the United States into a nation of “scofflaws.”  Many people found ways to avoid the ban.  “Bootlegging,” the illegal sale of alcohol, became a thriving business, producing notorious gangsters like Al Capone.  The number of prescriptions for “medicinal” alcohol sky-rocketed.  Graft and corruption abounded.  The Courts were tied up with every kind of minor alcohol-related offenses.  This condition went on for 13 years, from 1920 through 1933. 

The period of time has been referred to as the Roaring Twenties.  Things looked great economically, and it seemed that happy days were here for good.  Drinking alcohol became a large part of any celebration.  The people would not be deterred.  Prohibition be damned.

Society rebels at laws they consider ridiculous, yet in our present time some still insist on restricting rights and calling for a Constitutional Amendment to do so.  These topics range from flag-burning to abortion to drugs.  Restrictions against marijuana, for example, have had the same effect on the population as prohibition of alcohol.  We spend a great deal of money fighting a war on drugs.  For the scofflaws, the marijuana business is lucrative.  Crime is rampant.  This current-day prohibition can’t be enforced any better than the other one.  As is so often the case, however, we fail to learn the lessons of history.

anti-Prohibition Songs

In the days leading up to the start of Prohibition, many entertainers and song-writers expressed the attitudes of much of the public toward the new law scheduled to come into effect.  African-American entertainer Bert Williams recorded a song that spoke to hoarding alcohol as people prepared for a dry spell.  “Everybody Wants the Key to My Cellar” was a hit, not just for Williams but for a number of other entertainers as well.

The following video is Bert William’s song.  Some of the illustrations I used are from the Prohibition period.  As was common in his day, Bert Williams dressed as the stereotype demanded of black entertainers.  The mood he expresses, however, crosses all racial lines.

©2011

The Massachusetts Observer