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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