The Ragin' Cajun: Beauregard Bergeron's Tale

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Beau Bergeron's desk dominated the entire room. It was a gift from Governor Edwin Edwards and was made from cypress wood. It had a nice light brown color and smooth finish. Edwards and Bergeron had been close political allies back in the 1980s, and the desk had been given as a gift to the freshman congressman. Beau had always appreciated the gift, and made sure that it was the first thing he pointed out to any visitors to his Senate Office. After all, it wasn't often that you saw a genuine cypress desk up in Yankee Washington!

The rest of the Senator's office contained the standard faire that most of his colleagues collected. There were the college and graduate school degrees hung on the walls alongside pictures of prominent Americans next to the Senator. Of course there was plenty of purple and gold, the colors of Beau's alma mater, LSU. Beau had been recruited out of high school to play safety. He was undersized, coming in at just 5'10 as a freshman in college. But he was "a hard nosed SOB" according to Coach McClendon. He played for Sam Houston High School and had made all-state honors while helping take his team to the state semi-finals his senior year. While he didn't start his freshman year for the Tigers, he was a key reserve and special teams ace. The highlight of his first season was returning a blocked punt for a touchdown against rival Ole Miss. As a sophomore he stepped his game up even further, starting at free safety and leading the team in interceptions. But in a late season game against Arkansas, Beau would take a crack-back block to the knee, tearing his ACL. The surgery was rough, and the rehab did not go well. It was clear that Beau would not be going pro.

While Beau's football career came to an untimely close, a second career seemed to open up. Despite no longer being a part of the team, the stocky Cajun was given the opportunity to stay on at school if he could help pay for his education. Working back-to-back shifts as a dish washer and janitor, Beau developed a respect for the working class. He became close friends with several black dish washers and got a first hand look at racism in the Deep South. Back at school, Beau majored in pre-law, and payed his way through law school. He became committed to the theory that "America's all about everyone. We can't forget about any group of people." After passing the bar on his first attempt, Beau went to work for the Lake Charles District Attorney's Office. A new chapter in this young Cajun's life had opened up.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

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Beauregard Bergeron's parents were hard working people. Simon Bergeron was born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1910. He grew up in a house with no electricity, no running water, and an alcoholic father. He left home as soon as possible and went to work on an oil rig off the coast. He was a silent man, and very few of his coworkers really got to know him. Despite the somewhat dull demeanor, Simon was an incredibly smart man. Each night he read the classics: Shakespeare and Aeschylus, Homer and Machiavelli. When he turned twenty five he quit his job on the rig and managed to get into the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He studied political science, and it was there that he met Marie Michaud. She was only eighteen at the time, but they got married just a few months into their relationship. Beau was the couples third child, born in 1939.

Simon and Marie moved their family from Lafayette to Lake Charles and opened a family store. Marie was a city person, and enjoyed the interaction with the customers. She had been born in Baton Rouge, and as a child lived with her Mother in New Orleans. However Simon was far less interested in being a people person. When the war started, he signed up for the Marines. He was killed in action on Tarawa Atoll in 1943. Marie was heartbroken, and Beau was left fatherless. However the family store remained open, due in large part to help from the local alderman. He took a particular liking to Beau and taught him how to play football. This was the first politician that he ever knew, and it was this early compassion that showed him what being a politician meant.

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Life as a man of the law was far different from life as a football player. First of all, physical contact was generally frowned upon. There weren't any zone defenses or blitz packages, no screen passes or running back draws. But there were two things that Beau could relate to: his coach and fellow players. The District Attorney, Mac Laroche, had the same mentality as a football coach. He refused to except defeat, and he game-planned weeks in advance before a big showdown in court. Beau and his fellow lawyers were the players, it was their job to execute the daily routine and make sure that those who needed to go to jail did. It wasn't always the most exciting or the most interesting work, but for Beau it was exactly what he needed. At LSU he had been going full speed all the time. There was little in his life outside of football, and he needed something to calm him down. Law did that.

But the career of law was a short-lived one for Beau. After several years of working at the DA's office, Beau quit. It wasn't for a lack of interest of productivity. No, Beau Bergeron left the Lake Charles District Attorney's Office due to racism. His boss and several of his coworkers had been telling jokes one day, when the topic of black police officers came up. Mac Laroche found the idea preposterous and made a point of saying that "there's no way that a n***** could ever be a good cop. Half the time he would be shooting up, the other time hanging out with the dealers and rapists. The hell if I ever let one of them get near me or my wife, cop or not." Beau was furious, but he didn't let anybody see it. At LSU he had grown not only to respect African-Americans, but to view them as equal to whites in every way. In fact, in his estimation they had to work a lot harder to get to the same point. He couldn't deal with that level of open racism at his job.

The end of Beau's law career didn't mean the end of his career in public service. He married his long-time girlfriend, Jeanne, the daughter of the local sheriff. She convinced him to run for the state legislature, and he did in 1972. In a predominantly African-American district, Beau ran as a "Civil Rights Cajun" against an aging conservative white. Capitalizing on high black turnout, Beau was victorious by a narrow margin in the primary, but won by an even larger margin in the general election. Beau loved being on the campaign trail, and his life had found new meaning.