I am black and I am frustrated!

[Tim4319]

Hello,

I am extremely frustrated at this time for a number of reasons.

It appears to me that America wants to sweep the all of the injustices this country has done to black people under the rug. America wants everyone to forget about Emmett Till! America wants everyone to forget about the four black girls killed on a Sunday Morning while in the basement of a church. America wants everyone to forget about how Bull Connor sicked dogs and sprayed water on women and children. America wants everyone to forget about forcing blacks to sit on the back of buses, drink from separate water fountains, eating out the back of resturants, the list can go on and on.

Even in the current America, wants everyone to forget about Sean Bell, the unarmed black man who was gunned down by police offices on the morning of his wedding. America wants everyone to forget about hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. America wants everyone to forget about the Jena Six.

America does not want to look in the mirror! America is quick to condemn Saddam and Hitler, but does not want the evils of it's own past to brought to light. Why is that? How come it is wrong for Rev. Wright to address these issues? Martin Luther King spoke of injustices from his pulpit, and he too was labeled a trouble maker.

Thank you for allowing me to vent!

[usregimechange]

1. Not this American! Thank you for your thoughtful comments...

[usregimechange]

2. K&R!

[goclark]

3. Thanks for sharing this with us ~

[phrigndumass]

4. Thank you for allowing me to read!

K+R

:thumbsup:

"This is where perfection begins"

[babylonsister]

5. Not this American either! I want 'my' America to

have an honest discussion. I thank Senator Obama for bringing it up, and thank you for your post.

[easy_b94]

6. Yeah.. It seems to me the more dumb you are the more racist u become

[slinkerwink]

7. I hear you!

[BumRushDaShow]

8. It's too painful. However note this...

The healing is gradually occurring. I say this in terms of several states (initially Virginia and most recently New Jersey) have had their legislatures present resolutions that apologized for slavery.

This is a first step to an eventual national apology. It may take some time to get there but I think for those of us who are descendants, doing this does have meaning. :)

[jasmine621]

42. I believe the first step was already taken by Bill Clinton who apologized for slavery

during his administration. Something no other President had done.

[BumRushDaShow]

46. Not quite...

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=3902

He essentially discussed his regrets about it while on a trip to Africa but for this nation to heal, this needs to be done right here in the U.S. to the descendants. And that time will come one day.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

Not this American... I really liked what Wright had to say

and honestly, spoke to others who agreed they really didn't see much (if anything) wrong with what Wright said.

[FrenchieCat]

9. I'm Black and I am thoroughly pissed!

[psychmommy]

84. i love that swamp rat

"john c hagee doesn't care about black people'. swamp you are definitely one talented dude. frenchie i liked your post too.

[matcom]

10. I have never walked in your shoes...

but this I know. The RW (and perhaps others) put Obama in a corner and now they are pissed he came out swinging. It is backfiring.

I love his speech for one reason. People are now FINALLY talking about race. Sure the RW is showing themselves for the haters they always have been but brother, people are talking. THAT is a start (sad to say in 2008).

Keep the faith. Problems get solved STARTING with dialogue. I feel for you.

I am reminding all of the RW'ers I encounter about this about Jerry Falwell blaming the Liberals and the Gays for 9/11. They shut up pretty quick when you do that.

We are a racist nation my friend. We aren't the only one but we SHOULD be above that. Sad to say, we aren't and admitting that may in fact be the first step.

Know that there are many of us are 1000000% hoping that what you wish for comes true and it is exactly what WE wish for.

I don't think we can heal this nation in the next few years but I DO think we can perhaps START the process if we stick together.

Be angry. And channel it wisely.

Peace.

[Leopolds Ghost]

39. "Falwell is dead, so that doesn't count." --Quisling black pastor and commentator in LA

There have been several of these folk on MSNBC lately,
demanding (literally) that Obama "renounce any religious belief
that is un-American."

[Cha]

11. Not this American, either!

Thanks for getting this out here, Tim.. There's a reason Obama came along at this time in our history to rock the boat.

[CitizenLeft]

12. I think that people make it easy on themselves not to really...

LOOK.

They say, I KNOW there was injustice and discrimination and violence. I KNOW. I don't need to be beaten over the head with it to know, so I don't want to hear it. ...and then they're ambivalent about historical systematic racism, and want to push it away, or not talk about it, or dismiss it, or, worst of all, silently think it, or say it right out loud, get over it.

Know what I say to that? http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/main.html">I say LOOK. I DARE you. The ugly, raw, in-your-face REALITY of racism in America. Maybe if people saw these "postcards," they'd hesitate to throw the word "lynching" around so flippantly.

[psychmommy]

87. wow

it never ceases to amaze me what can become normal in groupthink. this reminds of the abu graib(not sure of spelling) pics. the big difference being the # of people that found it acceptable. people were there with their kids. it breaks my heart to see the violence and pain. damn. went to the blacks in wax in baltimore-it was sad but this was real people. i saved it and will discuss it with my child. thank you citizen left.

[CitizenLeft]

91. you are most welcome.

While these are horrific photos, I believe that people who can't understand the simmering anger in the black community, after all these years, would see things differently if they could put a mental image to the words "hate" and "racism." I believe most people are reasonable and rational, and are capable of seeing things differently if they only give THEMSELVES a chance. I really think it would go a long long way towards making amends.

:hi:

[Tim4319]

92. That is so true!

That is the main reason the government did not want to release any footage of the war in Iraq. This is why America do not want to discuss this, because eventually, someone is going to have to look at footage, or pictures and see for themselves why many black people are angry.

[CitizenLeft]

93. right - no photos of flag-covered coffins allowed.

And the intent is NOT to instill guilt... but EMPATHY. Empathy. That's all. Whites who cover their eyes have no idea how much empathy would diffuse the anger. Such a simple gesture.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. I hear you.

John Lewis was considered a hot commodity when he was a delegate for Hillary, but someone like Wright, who basically said things that were tame compared to what John Lewis said in his hey day, is demonized by the press. I just don't get it.

[Leopolds Ghost]

44. Then get the word out about what Lewis said. And MLK.

I'm not kidding!

[Emit]

14. Not me! Not This Time. n/t

[SeattleGirl]

15. This American does NOT want to sweep racism under the rug.

But I agree, many Americans still do.

Keep speaking out, Tim. I know I will keep doing so.

[Lint Head]

16. I am sooooooo on your side.

Please read my reply to a recent post. The media, white politicians and pundits are hypocritical. White people that listen to inflammatory rhetoric get a pass while a black person has to explain themselves to the white powers that be.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5164916#5165154
:dem:

[RBInMaine]

17. I am WHITE and of course I want us to remember all of this. And,

I (and MOST) want EVERYONE to remember the genocide against the American Indians. I want us to remember the systematic discrimination against the Irish Americans and Italian Americans (my ancestors), and the other immigrants. I want everyone to remember the millions of mostly WHITE Americans in the Depression who traveled from the dustbowl to California hoping for a new start only to be turned away or stuck in deplorable migrant camps and exploited to the point of starvation by the agribusiness thugs. (Read Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH sometime, if you haven't already). I want us to remember the millions of Jews killed in the Nazi concentration camps. I want US ALL to think NOW about Americans of ALL races and ethnicities who TODAY are struggling to get by, working paycheck to paycheck, getting screwed over by corporate America.

Social injustice has no racial or ethnic boundaries. We need to do what Barack has asked of us. To know and understand the stories of injustice, but to find a way to come to grips with it, to end the blame games, understand one another's rightful frustrations, and realize that we must then move forward because we can't heal divided. We must heal TOGETHER and work to repair the nation TOGETHER. There is no choice.

[FrenchieCat]

25. Yep......you are absolutely correct.......

America the Beautiful needs a make-over!

[Guava Jelly]

18. Thank you for venting

You are spot on...:applause:

[MadMaddie]

19. Hey Tim...frustrated along with you...

As seen in all of the posts there are many people at DU that get it. They understand and see the truth.....

That's why I am here just like you....

The Republicans and other racists are scared and they are fearful of their shadows.....and they are going to claw and scratch until the end to retain their power.

The simple fact that the number of voters across the nation has quadrupled scares the shit out of them...because then the truth comes out..they are a mere 30% of the population and they are getting ready to get shut down.

Keep the faith...we are among brothers and sisters here who are willing to fight the good fight for all Americans.
:grouphug:

[frogcycle]

20. I am not black and I am frustrated

I remember everything you list, and much more.

My daughters - in their 30's - would tell you they feel they remember it too. I have made sure of that. The young man I carpool with is now much more acutely aware of that sorry aspect of Americana.

I remember stopping at a gas station in N. Carolina in 1966, going around back to use the restroom, and seeing three restrooms. The one marked "colored" was no longer in use; I guess if any blacks dared stop there in 1966 they were allowed to use one of the other two. I remember seeing drinking fountains in a department store in Knoxville, wondering why there were two side by side. Somebody explained to me the signs had been removed, and now they were "equal opportunity" drinking fountains. I remember talking to a young Black man who was a draftsman at the company I worked at in Washington, D.C. in the 70's. I said something about a show then playing at one of the classic old movie theaters, said something about I bet that is a spectacular place. He looked at me and said, "you know, I couldn't go there when I was growing up." I was stunned. In D.C.!

Yes, the South had apartheid, but it was bad everywhere. Cicero, Illinois in suburban Chicago is noted for being as hostile to Blacks as ever was Lester Maddux or George Wallace. Lester Maddux! There's a name you don't hear now! How many people even know what a "Pickrick Axe Handle" was?

I watched a special on ESPN the other night - it was about the black experience w/respect to college and professional basketball. We hear about Jackie Robinson and Ernie Banks in baseball, but many of the players who first played in the NBA in the early 50's are not household names.

A LOT of people, though, are familiar with the long-time coach of the Temple Owls, John Chaney. What I didn't know until I watched that special is Chaney never played in the NBA. He played in the all-black Eastern Professional Basketball League. He just retired in 2006; was interviewed on the show.

Obama hit the nail on the head. PLENTY of people remember PLENTY of this. They generally keep quiet about it. Plenty of white people remember it too, and plenty would prefer it not be mentioned. Whether it is shame, embarrassment, or, worse, a fear of "inflaming the coloreds," an awful lot of people want to just move on.

Well, dammit, that's why Jews fought for a Holocaust Memorial. We NEED to remember. It was not some long-gone evil people who did those things. Many of them are still alive, and, more importantly, the willingness to treat other people like that is still there. We passed laws and made the three restrooms and two water fountains illegal, but that didn't change the deep-seated racism. Those people in Cicero didn't come from the American South. They came from Poland. And those white slaveowners in the American South came from Scotland, and Ireland, and England, and Germany...

This shit will come back if we just sweep it under the rug and try to ignore it. Young people will grow up just as racist as their grandparents were.

Barack Obama spoke well yesterday.

[Tim4319]

51. I watched that same program on ESPN

One that sticks out in mind, that I never heard before was the killing of the three students at South Carolina State University, and how the government tried to cover it up.

[NJObamaWoman]

21. As a black woman I'm tired of hearing on DU about women vs blacks

This topic on du makes me so damn angry because people(i hate to assume that they are white but this is how I feel) don't get that some of us are both black and a woman. I feel that some women are distorting the pain that many of us black people go through. I also hate being grouped in as a woman with white women and there struggle because for some its not the same. My family comes from slaves. I don't know where my family is from in Africa. As a child I couldn't trace my heritage to a country in Africa so I had to pick one. If people hear think that white women and black women are treated the same than you don't know much about America. That's why I don't want to be labelled with other women because I'm BLACK first. There was a recent study about black and white women in terms of jobs. White males felt that they would hire white women because they are like their moms, sisters, daughters etc. America has a history of treating black women like scum only fit to wipe floors and take care of white children. Again I haven't been discrimated due to gender but because of race. White women have more advantages and are praised in our world as beautiful but black women are considered evil omorosa's. I am still offended by some of the Clinton supporters who called michelle that. They were just playing into the stereotype. I bet there are more white women in power in America than blacks. Power such as politics, actresses on tv & movies, oscar winners, models, lawyers, doctors etc

Sorry for my rant but I feel that some people are belittling racism in America as if we are in a better place. I think its crazy for people to act as if women especially white women have been treated the west in the world over blacks. I believe both have been treated bad but there have been more atvantages for white women and women in general than blacks. After all not that many men from other races are marrying us.

Also I co sign on this post and want to point out the black woman last year who was savagely attacked by a white woman and man. Also in the early 90's when that black man was dragged in back of a truck in Texas. I remember that as a child and always fearing ever going down to Texas to live.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

26. Good post

Racial issues are far more detrimental than gender issues. You should start a new thread with your post, it is a good one!

[NJObamaWoman]

30. thanks but no I'm tired of arguing this point

I've been angry about this issue for a long time especially when some here keep harping on how women won't vote for obama because they have been opressed. I'm a woman and black so stop trying to make everyone believe this. If white Asian and Latino women don't want to vote for him than I don't care and I relish being a strong black woman because those women haven't done a damn thing for me. People saying this only pushes people like me to the opposite way even more.

Again I feel that this is the history of the American woman movement. Black women must support this movement no matter what even those some of these same people won't support blacks when we need it. That's why I honestly don't want to vote for hrc especially when the whole Latinos wont vote for blacks during Nevada caucus. I don't want to support anyone who doesn't stand up against this notion and I don't want to be a dems if that's truly accepted from this party.

[EffieBlack]

48. I hear you

One of my pet peeves these days is the way the pundits keep referring to the "women's" vote - when they really mean the "white women's" vote.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

53. I understand being tired of fighting the issue

I also believe there are many here who are just being disruptive because they have other motives. I won't even blame HRC for that like some have - I believe the republicans are trying their best to keep Obama from picking up more supporters as they realize he can beat McCain hands down.

I believe or at least would think most people would stand up to racism and prejudice before they would stand up for gender issues. I would think most people would realize it is a larger problem. I would also think that there are many who should realize electing HRC is not going to solve gender issues. If she were to obtain election, the media will say it is because of Bill, not her. Had she ran for President before Bill, I could see why electing her could be a vote for equality among gender, but she didn't. She is the wrong time, wrong place candidate.

We need to stand together and elect Barack Obama for numerous reasons and if I had to vote on either race or gender, I would choose Obama because I dream of an America where race is no longer an issue. To me, the Iraq War, Iran, and the economy are of more importance than anything BUT race could be equally important as it is minorities who generally are on the front lines in either the War or the line to pick up the lay off slips when their job has been outsourced.

[Two Americas]

85. standing together

Standing together should not depend upon supporting a particular candidate. I fear that for many whites, their support of Obama is an example of tokenism. The elevation of one individual is taking the place of looking at systematic and institutional racism, and is based on a hope that a simple vote will erase the past and prove that they as individuals are not racists. This trivialization and personification of the issue is not a blow against racism, and does not necessarily lead to better understanding. It can be a smoke screen for the opposite. Otherwise, why are there 100 times more people here claiming that support or not for Obama is a litmus test for who is and who is not a racist then there ever are who are willing to seriously look at and discuss racism? Obviously, thee is an element of tokenism in this. There are those for whom support for Obama erases in their minds the past and any and all responsibility or obligation they have for looking at racism. Pull the lever for Obama — and magically racism is disappeared from their thinking, they would have us believe. At the same time many of these supporters do not have the man’s back, and were more than happy to savagely attack Wright, and do not have any appreciation for the extra burden that a Black candidate or applicant still carries when seeking positions of power.

Reducing the fight against racism to merely a matter of pulling a particular lever in a particular election - "we need to stand together and elect Barack Obama" - is to trivialize an enormous challenge and harness it to and define it by a relatively small and transient cause. The elevation of a handful of individuals to positions of status does not automatically mean we are fighting against racism. It could be, as is the case with Clarence Thomas, that one Black individual is being used to advance a political agenda that actually promotes and reinforces racism.

[Tatiana]

27. I was born in Texas. Thank God, not Jasper.

And as an black woman, I just want to co-sign on your post.

I have never in my life been discriminated against due to being a female. It's always been because of my color. Always.

[marimour]

29. another black woman here. I completely agree.

People who say sexism is worse than racism have obviously never experienced true racism.

[Tatiana]

32. I hope to God they never have to watch an empty taxi pass them by.

Or get turned away at a restaurant where they thought they had a reservation.

Or find that a prospective house that they had arrived to view has been suddenly taken off the market.

BTW, welcome to DU! :hi:

:hug: But just like our ancestors, we will make it.

[NJObamaWoman]

38. ITA in NYC its bad in terms of cabs. They will stop for a white woman than a

black person all the time. What black women go through seems to get lost all the time our struggles are even harder than others

[NJObamaWoman]

35. That's why I think its non black women who say this stuff.

no one is trying to belittle sexism but as both a woman and black my race is more of an issue than my gender.

[EffieBlack]

49. The Urban League just released the 2008 State of Black America: In the Black Woman's Voice

that takes a look at a lot of these issues.


http://www.nul.org/thestateofblackamerica.html

[NJObamaWoman]

33. thanks I just hate posting here because I'm tired of the contest and the fact that

that many here want to glance over the fact that white women are worshipped in this country. I think its crazy to label all women together because we are not treated the same in this country. I'm just tired of this crap.

[Tatiana]

36. Oh I agree completely. But just try telling that to Aunt Thomasina.

I try my hardest to be level-headed and fair-minded, but some of the $hit posted by other black women sounds just like house negro "massa been good to us" rhetoric. And if that's good enough for them, so be it. But don't force me to accept or settle for scaps when I know I have worked my ass off and deserve better.

[NJObamaWoman]

40. ~applauds~ I agree completely

[kwassa]

47. The black woman I am married to feels differently

She is a Hillary supporter, and has maxed out her contribution to the campaign. She works at a high professional level where she is always the only person of color, and often the only female in the room. She feels far more discriminated against in her life because of her gender than because of her race.

This is her perspective.

[Pringles]

63. Are you a white woman in this country?

No?

Then why not talk about your own experience and let me talk about mine.

I have never been worshiped. I have been unjustly and horribly discriminated against and injured because I am a woman.

[Catherina]

61. I'm Black, frustrated and sad

Like Tatiana, I'd like to sign on to your post. There were posts made here that had me weeping from pain and angry with a feeling of "HOW DARE YOU?" to a movement that refused to embrace Black women until it was socially acceptable. Ida B Wells couldn't even march in parades with White suffragettes and when she showed up with other Black feminists, she was told to march in the rear of the parade.

It's especially insulting to see White women, whose color allows them automatic entrance into the dominant class, complaining about the victimization of a privileged White woman in a country of White privilege when millions of victims of American institutionalized sexism - young women and girls slaving away in far-away factories - are totally ignored. They don't even enter the equation! I take umbrage to the unfortunate cheapening of 'sexism' for political manipulation.

I think older women are sad they might not see a woman President in their lifetimes but as a younger woman I'm sure I will and I see no glory in electing the wrong woman. I'd like my daughter to be proud of the first woman to break through, not because of her sex but because of her brain and heart.

This notion that racism is unacceptable in our current culture is a painful lie when you look at the prison system, projects, broken down schools and drowning Black people in Louisiana and Mississippi. One of my friends put it very well

The offensive accusation that Obama is playing the race card ignores the fact that everyone has a race, including White people.

If anyone says Obama is where he is because of his race, don't dare fucking forget that all those White people ruling politics are on top because of their race.

It's 2008, the 21st century. The pecking order of White men, White women, Black man, Black women is so last century. It's time to move on to a world where the content of your character and your record are the only things that matter. I think that one of the things people admire the most about Obama is that most normal people don't see his race because he's not running as a Black man or tailoring his message to appeal to any particular category for support. This is why the media is going out of its way to link him to the angry Black male syndrome which is backfiring big-time and making the Democratic party realize it may lose the Black vote permanently. I don't think the party is that stupid but they're closer to losing it than they think so I hope they end this ridiculous show soon. We've finally found a candidate whose judgement, youth and racial transcendence are bringing in voters faster than they can count them. I hope we don't blow it.

Sexism is still a serious problem and we need to fight it but I'm saving my fight for something a little more convincing than someone calling an imperial Washington warhawk veteran a monster or a bitch, something a little more important like those young girls in China fattening Wal-Mart portfolios or the young Iraqi girls prostituting themselves in Syria because we destroyed their country.

When I log onto DU and read some comments, I get so sad that sometimes all I can do is post one-liners or K&R but real life cheers me up because around the water cooler at work, in the cafeteria, at the gas station or supermarket, people are excited about pivoting at the intersection in front of us and trying to take America in a new direction. Real life redeems my faith that most flesh-and-blood voters in the Democratic party already shed the personal issues we see online.

This election is a critical test for the Democratic Party. I hope it passes.

[roseBudd]

76. Thank you I am a white woman for Obama & I have been frustrated by

some Clinton supporters suggestions that the Salem Witchcraft Trials, Spanish Inquisition or Irish Potato Famine prove white woman suffering.

And to lump domestic violence into sexism to suggest that the true carnage happens because of sexism..

Black America, our cities, the well being of our economy all require that this travesty be dealt with.

How dare anyone who calls themselves a Democrat deny this.

Remember how Katrina made you feel.

[Tatiana]

77. This is an outstanding response. So true.

Thank you for writing this :hug:

[Kajsa]

22. Thank YOU, Tim.

I haven't forgotten any of these things.

After 56 years on planet Earth, most of them here in the
US, I've seen the injustices and discrimination against people
of color many times.

Segregation was the law in some states when I was born in 1951!

I was targeted by racists for having black and Latino friends in school.

No, I haven't forgotten one thing regarding racial injustices here in the US.

It's something I will never forget.

Thank you for posting this.

:applause:

[Cant trust em]

23. i wish I had something to add.

Oh, I'm white, but whole heartedly agree. There's what I have to add.

[annie1]

24. i find it very frustrating that it's not ok to talk about racism in this country...

that's why i thought it was great that obama got a chance to address it. I wasn't very happy that he seemed to take a swipe at hil/ferraro *during* that time. but that aside i feel your frustration. it's really sad. i guess it's white man's guilt, they can't stand to hear it. (not all, everyone simmer).

[keep_it_real]

28. There are a lot of white brothers and sisters who understand your frustration

As exemplified by those white posters in this thread. Black people need a giant hug by the current generation of whites in a lot of ways to heal the hurt and anger and black people are willing to accept that hug if more white people would extend it.

[Bensthename]

31. Whitey here and frustrated as hell with you.

I long for the day we will all be viewed as equal. No longer will be voting for the "black" or "white" candidate. Just the candidate with the best ideals to move this country in the right direction.

I long for the day when racism will be taught as history and it will actually be history. I never really new how bad it was until these last few weeks. All of these old white GOP guys are really showing their racist colors lately distorting Obama's words and views and it's driving me crazy.
You can see the hate in their eyes and it is scary..

Our only hope is for Obama to be elected to show what kind of a man he really is. If Obama some how goes down because of this it will deffinately be a defeat of a great man and victory for the side of racism.
And if the black community lashes out because of it, this whitey will be right there with them.

[Leopolds Ghost]

34. "America is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." --MLK

[Forkboy]

37. Thank you FOR venting.

[taught_me_patience]

41. I'm asian and I'm pissed!

I'm pissed about watching less qualified white candidates get upper management positions while I sit and wait. I'm pissed when I'm thought of as bright and talented, but, somehow to "quiet" or "passive" (I'm NOT) to lead others. I'm pissed when white people tell me that I'm "lucky" to be asian. Racism is alive and well in America.

[psychmommy]

89. wow

i didn't know asian folks were pissed off too. hell america is pissed off. we all need to vent. somehow we all seem to look through the prism of our own experience, not really considering the experiences outside of our ethnic group. thanks for sharing and opening up my mind.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

43. An excellent post, and many excellent threads in response.

Many cannot fathom their racism, and many cannot deal with the shame they are afraid will engulf them when confronted with their bigotry, or the bigotry of their forefathers. Thank you for providing this perspective. It is the heritage of America, and it it needs to be addressed in the daylight of open discussion.

[toys4kitty]

45. Vent on

:kick:

[TML]

50. Latino and pissed off

Tim, I hear you loud and clear. You're welcome to vent anytime. There's a lot of shit that needs to be dealt with, not swept under the rug.

For example, I'm pissed that some jackasses showed up at Jena during the protests with a pickup truck whose bed was "decorated" with nooses.

[AnnieBW]

52. I'm white and I stand with you!

Injustice done to one is injustice done to all!

[slinkerwink]

54. Hispanic woman here....

I'm pissed off as well!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

55. Thank you for posting this

[polichick]

56. You're not alone in your feelings...

There's something about owning up to injustices that many Americans seem unable to cope with ~ as if by admitting them, their secure view of themselves will be lost and they will somehow be in peril. Still, as frustrating ~ as heartbreaking really ~ as it is, Barack is right that the country is not static, that things are better than they were when he and I were kids. His candidacy is indeed proof of that ~ and the coalition he has built is even more proof.

Thanks for your post ~ this white woman is with you all the way!

[elixir]

57. America has and will continue to respect the discussion of race and respect for all. I hope you wil

continue in this ongoing dialogue. I'm not frustrated, I'm energized.

[Frank Booth]

58. I agree. It has really made me lose faith in the decency of this country, and people in general.

It's disgusting how much joy people seem to get out of brutalizing a person for no reason. And I know that Obama's a politician, so he's supposed to be able to take it, but he's still a decent person.

This whole episode is a perfect example of how little we've progressed as a country and as human beings in the past 40 years.

[Tim4319]

59. You know!

I knew if and when he wins the Democratic nomination, the Republicans were going to attack him. I knew the stuff that the Clinton machine would attack Obama with would pale in comparison to what the Republicans would do. Hannity said it himself a few weeks ago. They really want Hillary to win the nomination because they already have ammunition against her.

[Frank Booth]

60. It's true that the Republicans plan on brutally attacking him.

But that doesn't provide justification for "Democrats" to sink to their level. Especially when the attacks are based on nothing more than out and out racism, something we are SUPPOSED to oppose.

[Breeze54]

62. Not me...

I still have nightmares about the AA man in in Jasper, Tex. dragged behind a truck to his death.

:hug:

---------------------

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EED8113DF937A15751C0A96F958260">Man Guilty of Murder in Texas Dragging Death

By RICK LYMAN
Published: February 24, 1999

With exceptional swiftness, a jury today declared John William King, a white man,
guiltyof capital murder for dragging a black man to his death behind a pickup truck.
More....

----------

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E6D7113AF934A25751C0A96F958260">Dragging Death Is Called Signal For Racist Plan

By RICK LYMAN - February 17, 1999

Trial of John William King, first of three suspects accused in dragging death of James Byrd Jr, 49-year-old black man, after chaining him to back of pickup truck, begins in Jasper, Tex; prosecutors tell jury King dreamed of forming own chapter of white supremacist group and felt he needed some dramatic event to catapult him into limelight and attract members; co-defendants are Lawrence Brewer and Shawn Berry.... more....

[DLnyc]

64. Thank you for your rant.

Almost seems like that 'conversation about race' that was talked about some years ago has begun to take shape a little better.

[better tomorrow]

65. I hope someday your frustration will turn to consolation and

those who persecuted your brothers and sisters will turn from condemnation to toleration. Venting allowed....

[live love laugh]

66. Great post. As you can see, not all of America wants to forget. nt

[Coexist]

67. I am hoping that Obama's speech will open a better dialogue on this

the Jena 6 and Katrina were not that far into the past, there are a lot of contemporary events to use as context for an intelligent discussion on race.

[K Gardner]

68. I stand outraged and frustrated with you. You are NOT alone, not by a long shot..

its just that our voices are drowned out by the corporate white media and the RW and, unfortunately, some voices from our own democratic side.

It will all turn around for good, I believe that.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

69. I'm with you all the way.

[surfermaw]

70. This is not the time for this discussion, we need to elect a candidate

I think you may not be and Obama supporter, if you were this shouldn't be in print at this time. I know how you feel, I saw some of what you only read about, however you do know the print in this post would send some old bigots that have decided to run for Obama for cover, I am in a section to know some of the bigots are going to vote bama...be carefull what is put in print here and other places. Make people fell happy with out seletion, I am going to vote bama or Hillary which ever get the nomination, and hope we can get a few more of our candidates in the Administration,

[LWolf]

71. From a larger perspective,

it's clear now, and IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CRYSTAL CLEAR, that "America," being those that hold power, wants to sweep all injustices that might threaten their hold on power, their power over those with less, under the rug. It's the rule that allows them to retain the rule.

Racial issues are just one facet of this rule. Social class and religion also play a large role.

Social and economic justice for all? While we've fought hard and made a few gains, we've never come anywhere close to that ideal. I'm not giving up on it.

Reverend Wright is correct about many of the social issues he brings up.

He is wrong to campaign for a candidate, or against a candidate, from the pulpit. Someone who wants to achieve that ideal of social and economic justice for all supports and defends the separation of church and state.

[redqueen]

79. Not just America... many countries do this... maybe all of them.

Cromwell is still a hero in N. Ireland and England.

Turkey still won't own up to the massacre of Armenians.

We could do this all day long. It's not right, wherever it happens. But we are by no means alone in this shameful effort to whitewash history.

[LWolf]

90. You nailed that one. n/t

[glowing]

72. Hey, its about working together.. not as seperates..

We all have human value. We all have hearts, minds, souls, and a common ground to share. No one person is better or worse. Its the top percent that enslaves the world.. and they use race, gender, sex or whatever to divide people. Stop being angry at each other, and focus that anger and energy towards the people/ money/ powered that need to be toppled.

[noiretextatique]

73. the most important denial is the timeline

as someone mentioned in another thread, 1963 was 45 years ago...as if that's ancient history. i pointed out that the period from 1776-1963 was a lot longer and far more horrific. from inception to the 1960's-70's and today...that's the proper timeline on america's race problem.

[grantcart]

74. When more people are better informed about Kristallnacht than the 'Tulsa Race Riots'

or better informed about Brittany Spears than Rowanda you have to have some bitterness, I do and I am white. That is what makes Obama's unlikely candidacy so impressive. That he has performed so will in such ignorance is a reflection on his skill.

[Rhiannon12866]

75. K&R. Great post! The most appalling thing, to me, is that this kind of thing is STILL an issue,

this many years after the Civil War!;(

I understand your frustration and share it, but I can never truly understand because I wasn't born black...

When I was growing up, there were lots of black kids in school with me and I never gave it a second thought. It just seemed normal and, to me, they were just other kids. It never dawned on me that they were any "different," since my parents never mentioned anything about any differences, nor did my teachers. I liked the nice kids and didn't like the mean ones, black or white, as kids do, which proves to me that prejudice is something that is taught, not innate.:-(

When "Eyes on the Prize" was first broadcast, I was glued to it, and appalled, since this kind of segregation and bigotry actually took place in my lifetime, but, as a kid, I was completely unaware of it. It shocked the hell out of me.

I agree that this is an issue that still desperately needs to be addressed in this country. We should not and cannot ever forget.

It's my hope that a leader like Barak Obama, as he proved with his amazing speech this week, has the insight and the eloquence and the courage to tackle it and people will listen. It's long past time...;(

[redqueen]

78. Thank you for venting!

:applause:

[KoKo]

80. OBAMA, Himself said: "We Need to Move On!" ....so he wants to move us forward out of

that old MLK, Jesse Jackson and the rest phase of "Old America."

Obama wants to be the "Moses" who TOOK US OVER...CROSSING US INTO THE PROMISED LAND. That's what he's always been about. That he was "dragged back to those old Farts of the "20th Century" makes him very frustrated. He's about "Hope and Change." He's not about that "60's Stuff" because he was just a kid and living in Indonesia. Why should he care about that shit? Those "Dust Ups" here in the US when he was with his Mom trying to sort out "who he was as a little kid."

He want's to MOVE ON!...but he missed that AMERICA isn't QUITE READY...to do that ........:-(

[redqueen]

81. Are you joking?

He flat out said he knows it can't be done in one lifetime, and certainly not by one person, or one campaign.

:wtf:

[Two Americas]

82. hear hear

I agree. Thanks.

K and R

[sudopod]

83. Kick!

I went to bed one morning and woke up in Mississippi circa 1959.

[npincus]

86. You've got that right! America can't be BOTHERED trying to understand what Obama was saying

but perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised, and the dumb RW pundits filling the airwaves with garbage don't represent the majority view. After all, Obama's speech is getting a zillion hits and has gone viral.

I listened and Obama moved me to tears. I'm white, and Obama touched my heart.

[mikekohr]

88. I'm White and I'm Frustrated Too

but to quote Eli Tail (Lakota), a spiritual leader on the Pine Ridge Reservation in SD, "What has happened, has happened, and can not be changed. We must find a way to move forward, together."

Barack speaks to this. That's why I am listening and supporting him.

mike kohr
International Brotherhood Days
http://www.brotherhooddays.com