Hey Hugh! Whats going on w/ Maurices suace ? I used to like that til I STAERTED MAKIN MY OWN.
No one in their right mind would carry it anymore. The major grocery stores and Wal Mart were getting picketed weekly for a while before they gave in and dumped him from the shelves. If I remember correctly, Piggly Wiggly was the last holdout but they eventually had to do the right thing too. He had just introduced a line of frozen BBQ dinners too and they were pretty good. What a shame.
When I was younger I didn't know all about him. I just knew that he had the best dang BBQ I have ever eaten in my life! Sauce too. Several years ago, when we were embroiled in the controversy over the flag, I got an eyeful and an earful of him. Enough to last me the rest of my life. For that was when he took to the airwaves and print media to spread his hatred and ignorance. That is when his empire began to crumble. He alone has set South Carolina race relations back 50 years. If it weren't for Maurice Bessinger, the whole Confederate flag controversy would have probably been over by now. It's not.
The man refused to allow black people to sit in his dining room at Piggy Park until the late 60s. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court with him losing of course. Around the same time, he led a personal campaign to prevent Stevie Wonder from playing at USC. he called him horrible names and said he played "jungle music" that would endanger the white children of SC. His comments and personal politics are beyond repulsive. I don't care how good the terribly overpriced food is, I just cant make myself give this man a single penny to use in his personal race war.
He claims that 95% of slaves were perfectly happy with their situation. He uses the Bible to justify his horrible views. He calls the Confederate Naval Jack a symbol of Christianity! He calls Abraham Lincoln a war criminal and the worst dictator this country has ever had. He is still a secessionist, well over 200 years past that particular event. He was even head of an organization called, are you ready, the National Association for the Preservation of White People. He ran for governor in 1974 on a segregationist platform! He would ride around the streets of Columbia on a white horse dressed up like Harlean Sanders. In his book he states that Jewish people are the worst customers because they are so stingy and don't tip.
I don't know, I hate he's from SC is all I can tell you. I can't swallow my pride and ignore my conscience enough to do business with him. Nowadays, the more I hear his mouth, I wouldn't eat it if he paid me.
I realize this is probably a little bit political for this forum. Sorry, just relating the backstory of where Maurice's sauce went.
*edit* Bessiger himself now admits that his actions for the past several years have led to his $5 million dollar a year business profits dwindling by 98% since the start of this decade.
