In a message dated 1/19/2007 5:40:56 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Anne P said:  I have been following this thread, and finally can hold my 
> silence no 
> longer.
> . . .  I have  heard modern Virginians brag about the wealth their families 
> once owned in flesh and blood who were aghast that I was not suitably 
> impressed. 
. . . I have > seen modern Virginians who cheered when an African-American 
> family was wipedout in an auto accident because the father, who was not killed, 
> was a 
> successful business man in Richmond whose success was an affront to the 
> white community. I've heard more white southerners use the "n" word among 
> themselves, 
. . . and denounce me as a "d*mn yankee" for objecting to it! 

EK says:  It sounds like she's been hanging around with a bad crowd.  I've 
lived here 56 years and haven't amassed such a trove of vile quotes from my 
peers.

Anne P said: . . . > Was it not the Virginia Legislature that refused to 
> follow the lead of the Northern states who emancipated the African-Americans? 
> [snipped listing of past wrong doings of State of VA]
> 
> EK says:  I haven't read anywhere that anyone is denying that slavery 
> existed in Virginia, or that laws were not enacted to support that institution.
> 
Anne P said:  . . . > Looking at Hargrave on TV, I suspect he is old enough 
> to have benefitted from the laws that oppressed African-Americans before the 
> Supreme Court struck them down. [snipped list of other suppositions regarding 
> Hargrove]
> 
> EK says:  That's a lot of speculation about the man.  Have you asked him?  
> Got any evidence? What other suppositions are you working with?
> 
> Anne P said: . . . I wonder if he felt like a woman I spoke with this summer 
> who felt the federal government still OWED the descendants of slaveholders 
> the value of the emancipated  slaves?
> 
EK says:  Again, sounds like she needs to upgrade her circle of friends and 
associates.

Hargrove has a perfect right to his opinion. He has a Constitutional right to 
express it.  Though clumsily said, and a bit rough, it wasn't racist.  
Frankly, I'm more concerned that citizens, both public and private, are being 
pilloried for exercising free speech, whether it is offensive or not.  There 
wouldn't be much point in have a legislature if all the members thought exactly 
alike. We should hold our righteous anger for those who have really committed an 
offense - not for those who have expressed a differing opinion.

Anybody remember the Big Shot in Washington a few years ago who tendered his 
resignation because the black community was up in arms when he used the word 
"niggardly"?  I believe the resignation was not accepted, as the stupidity of 
the entire episode was, at last, apparent.

I think we have more than enough verifiable cases of racism, from both sides 
of the argument to keep us busy.  It isn't necessary to manufacture them from 
inartfully constructed comments made by our representatives, celebrities, 
common citizens, etc.

Elizabeth Cann Kambourian
City of Richmond

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