Lyle,
You are confusing what is going on today, with history. The forum is about
the Law & Lynching, not what is going on today.
Anita
>From: "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: The Law & Lynching
>Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:41:09 -0400
>
>On Jun 25, 2007, at 1:36 PM, Anne Pemberton wrote:
>
>>Lyle Browning said:
>>
>>"Jumping into the intent of the post, there are those who appear to be
>>blissfully unaware that racism exists in other venues than in the
>>white world."
>>
>>Lyle,
>>
>>Perhaps you are jumping to false conclusion when you attempt to "jump
>>into the intent of the post". I cannot imagine that anyone sophisticated
>>enough to be part of this discussion would not be aware that racism,
>>which is described as the presumption that one race, usually one's own,
>>is superior to other/another race/s, does not exist in people of other
>>races. But what is the point of berating it?
>Because if you read newspapers, look at TV interviews and the like, a
>double standard exists. It is perfectly fair for African-American and
>Native-Americans to decry mistreatment, as they should; but those same
>folks go on to state implicitly or explicitly either specifically or in
>broad-brush that all of the "whites" are culpable. As has been said, if I
>were to make statements of that tenor which were as negative to the AA and
>NA groups as their posts to the majority, I'd be whomped until next month.
>On this list, statements have been made which imply that, perhaps without
>due reflection. There is quite the perception of not wishing to take to
>task negative statements about other's race and that is what is wrong. The
>more it is brought out, the more it is whomped, the less it is uttered and
> the less it is done and finally it just dies out, hopefully.
>>
>>Certainly racism has been a factor in the public and private behaviors of
>>many white persons in Virginia. Does that mean that ALL white persons are
>>racists? Certainly not. No more than to say that all blacks are racist
>>because some join organizations which publically and privately extoll
>>racist level of price in their race.
>Sorry, that's a straw man argument and utterly beside the point. If a
>white person joins the KKK, and a black person joins a group advocating
>the overthrow of white society as in some of the "preaching" of Louis
>Farrakhan, then those two people are peas in the same pod (adding
>whichever other group of same ilk that you please). The point I would make
>is that both viewpoints need whomping to extinction. Those of us who
>dumbly allow that kind of vitriol to go unanswered will eventually end up
>supporting the side that wins out, assuming one did and that there wasn't
>a more accommodating middle ground. Not speaking up can and has ended up
>with the Hitler's, Stalin's, Mao's, Pol Pot's, Saddam Hussein's, Mugabe's,
>(you pick the dictator/head thug of your country of choice) of the world.
>Sometimes more than speaking is required. Apocryphal or not, the story of
>the British embassy person in Berlin who said that he could take out
>Hitler with a .303 Enfield was cashiered out of the service. How arguable
>is it that the world would have been a better place had he done it?
>
>It's really no different than the schoolyard bully issue. Whoever
>confronts the bully and stops it does the world a service. The vast silent
>majority that sits by and does nothing for whatever reason, aids and abets
>the bully. "All politics is local" means it starts where it's heard and
>confronted.
>
>Now there's an entirely different argument about how many people out of a
>hundred would engage the school bully, the local outspoke racist and all
>that versus those who would not become involved for whatever reason
>because it was easier to do nothing.
>>
>>It is not necessary to incessantly point out that there were exceptions
>>to the wide-spread sense of white superiority over people of color. It
>>is, perhaps, necessary to point out the destructive results of that
>>racism. Why? If for no other reason than to keep it from rearing its ugly
>>head again.
>We absolutely agree.
>>
>>In another discussion on immigration, some posters typically point out
>>that the posters who decry immigration when it involves people of color
>>are actually racist in their objections. It is not just a black/white
>>issue. It is a matter of how tolerant each of us is. Who is it you would
>>prefer to deny rights to and why? Is it justified to deny equal rights
>>and opportunities to non-European races only?
>That's another danged red herring. Legal immigration is vastly different
>from illegal immigration. Legal immigration was Ellis Island. Illegal
>immigration is the grappling point.
>>The contention raised a few days ago by a poster who assumed that the zoo
>>in DC would bar attendees who were not of African descent on this one day
>>of the year was an example in point. No reasonable person would believe
>>admission, with money in hand, would be denied. It's just that the day
>>was set aside for those of African descent to come together as they have
>>for a century in an environment pleasing to them. So what?
>So nothing, it's been going on for years and folks knowledgeable of DC
>take it into consideration, or more to the point, ignore it as they wish
>or not. As they should as it is entirely a matter of choice, as it should
>be.
>>
>>Do people need the consent of the "majority" in order to celebrate a
>>holiday of their choosing? No, they do not. It is immaterial the source
>>of that holiday. If people choose to celebrate the day, let them do so in
>>peace and freedom.
>I don't recall disagreeing with that point and in fact, am in total
>agreement with it.
>>
>>Let's stop with trying to be a "control freak". Let freedom ring!
>Absolute freedom is anarchy. Conceptual freedom does not allow yelling
>"fire" in a theater. Nor should freedom allow unanswered threats to the
>wellbeing of any of our society. It's not about control, it's about due
>consideration and non-interference in the lives of others.
>
>Lyle Browning, RPA
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