Alexander Payne Morgan
The Eugene Talmadge Memorial Hospital
This man … would talk about African Americans in very negative ways.
— Bernetta Lanier, Black Savannah Alderwomen, speaking about Eugene Talmadge on TV station WSAV, 2017
This canny politician pooh-poohed modern meds
for Georgia’s rural folk, even with WPA cash.
Speaking in 1940 of his farmer fans:
“Those people don’t believe in germs.”
This ironic jibe cost him no votes,
nor did his public praise for Herr Hitler,
who copied Georgia’s race laws for the Jews.
Strongmen love final solvers everywhere.
This Georgia Fuhrer charmed segregationists
with cunning humor. “You have three friends: Jesus Christ, Sears Roebuck,
and Gene Talmadge, but you can only vote for one.”
His signature close: “You have three enemies,”
followed by the N-word thrice.
He got elected governor
four times. They loved him in the country,
and Georgia’s “county unit system”
meant the city slickers might just as well go squat.
Funny hate talk
still gets votes today,
and despite Bernetta’s delicate dissent,
this hospital‘s name ain’t never goin’ away.