Mr. Brothers:  Which American Indian community do you belong to?  The reason that I am asking is that I am just comming in on this discussion because I have been quite busy working with my niece who just entered kindergarden two weeks ago.  Plus I also assist my mom in babysitting her.  Thanks.  Jane Steele.

-----Original Message-----
>From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Sep 4, 2007 2:20 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Gov. Kaine Pardons Prosser's Gabriel
>
>Anita
>
>It is too bad that you see it as an "attack on you". It was meant  
>more as a cautionary comment. You frequently don't see where people  
>are going, or coming from, with their posts because you don't read  
>them you react to them.
>
>Mr. Browning was responding to your "flaming" him, because you did  
>not read what he posted. And contrary to what you claim you did  
>"attack" Mr. Browning. And it is not the first time you have jumped  
>on another poster. You have a tendency to go off half cocked, over  
>react, and relate almost everything to slavery. There is and was more  
>to Virginia history. My point was that while you are legitimately  
>proud of your African heritage, you wear it on your sleeve. That is a  
>potential problem because you let it influence your posts and it  
>detracts from what you are posting.
>
>While we are all interested in our ancestors. One's race should not  
>be an issue in an historical discussion. It shouldn't matter that Mr.  
>Browning knows that you are African-American (everyone does as you  
>make such an issue of it) and you don't know his race. Just because  
>you are of African ancestry, does not make statements you make about  
>slavery or life in the South any more valid than Mr. Browning's or  
>anyone else on the list. It does, as you had slave ancestors, give  
>you a personal connection. But that is all. Are only descendants of  
>people who owned slaves allowed to comment on their history? Can only  
>people of Indian ancestry, like me, legitimately comment on Indians?  
>Much of what we know about the life the American Indian or Africans  
>is due to the work of lily white Europeans or Americans. Does their  
>"race" invalidate their work? Your posts often leave the impression  
>that you think so.
>
>Mr. Browning may be White. So what? He knows at least as much about  
>Virginia history as you, perhaps more. As he has spent his life  
>studying it. He certainly knows more about some aspects, as you do  
>about others. We cannot know everything because we are compelled to  
>specialize. Lists exist so we can exchange information.
>
>If you go back far enough the present theory is that we are all  
>African. Race is an artificial and somewhat arbitrary way to separate  
>people. This is particularly true if you take it to the extreme of  
>skin colour. While most (about 75%) of the people from India are as  
>Caucasian as a Norwegian, many also have skin as dark as Africans. We  
>should judge people by the contents of their minds, their  
>utterances,  and especially their deeds, not by the colour of their  
>skin.
>
>James Brothers, RPA
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>On Sep 4, 2007, at 12:42, Anita Wills wrote:
>
>> I don't know where you are going with this post. I responded to a  
>> post in which the person said, their ancestors fought in the Civil  
>> War to free, "My" people. I stated that the poster knew I was  
>> African American, and I did not know what his race was. Now you are  
>> sending a post saying that the I am focusing on the color of  
>> someones skin. In the first place my immediate family contains  
>> almost every race in this nation. My lines have changed races  
>> several times since it's inception. I also pointed out that I have  
>> direct ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812,  
>> and in the Civil War. This was again, in response to the posters  
>> message, which was directed at me.
>>
>> So I am puzzled as to your attack on me (UMMM).
>>
>> Anita


Lillian Jane Steele