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 _________________________________________________________________ Get a preview of Live Earth, the hottest event this summer - only on MSN http://liveearth.msn.com?source=msntaglineliveearthhm