Where have I seen the faces of the town hall protesters before?

[rurallib]

It has been bothering me. Someplace in the dark recesses of my mind I have seen these faces before. The faces twisted in anger and hate, mocking and screaming insane chants.
Last night it hit me. I was a boy in front of the TV every night after school watching history unfold in Little Rock. I remember watching unbelieving as kids a bit older than me had to have phalanxes of federal troops cut through the crowds just to go to school.
So I went to youtube this morning to find some videos about the Little Rock Nine. I have watched many this morning looking for the one that captured the ugliness of the faces of the pro-segregation protesters. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for but this video probably captures those days best.
This video has quite a cast of characters - a politician pandering for votes, a president fearful to 'go too far', the incredibly courageous students and a few who stood up.
In no way am I comparing Little Rock to the health care situation, although I do view health care as a civil rights issue. What I wanted to illustrate was the face of hatred let loose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH-eC4LgZT4&feature=rela...

and let me add this MLK quote:
Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.

[Echo In Light]

1. Rec'd

[Avalux]

2. It's the face of ignorance and fear and it's timeless.

Throughout the history of humanity, people have been manipulated into mass hysteria where facts and reason mean nothing. The powerful use ignorance and fear as a tool to keep people fighting each other. Spanish Inquisition, Salem Witch Trials - and in more recent times, your example in Little Rock.

It despairs me that as a race we have not advance beyond this sort of behavior.

[rurallib]

4. growing up in the 60s and 70s I thought we were heading in a direction

that would eventually end this kind of crap.
But the wily politicians who know that fear and ignorance are easily exploited returned with a vengence.

[Avalux]

7. Like Pat Buchanan.

He is one of the worst - blaming the union members showing up to circumvent the crazies for any violence that may occur. Revisit his 1992 speech at the Republican Convention; the wiley politicans have always been there, waiting for an opportunity such as this to spring into action.

[rucky]

3. photos:

great analogy!

[rurallib]

5. thank you.

[Avalux]

6. Wow. Their facial expressions are identical.

Hatred, pure and simple.

[Pacifist Patriot]

12. Proof that hatred is always ugly.

[JohnnyLib2]

8. So sadly accurate.

To say nothing of alarming. Rec.

[rucky]

9. kick

[Kaleko]

10. The tricky part is exposing them without becoming like these monsters yourself.

We struggle on several fronts.

[cally]

11. Does anyone know who that young girl was and the white woman who helped her?

I'm wondering what happened after this to them. Obviously, I know the history but not what happened to individuals involved in this. The white woman and young black girl were extremely brave.

[csziggy]

13. THe girl was Elizabeth Ann Eckford, the white woman was Grace Lorch

Elizabeth Ann Eckford: http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entr...

Grace Lorch and her husband, Lee Lorch, were very active in civil rights and called in front of Congress for "communist connections."
http://campaignforpubliceducation.ca/index.php?option=c...

[cally]

16. thanks

I enjoyed the links. It's pretty interesting that the woman also battled Boston Schools when she was fired for marrying.

[csziggy]

17. The sad thing is that it looks from the links as though Lee and Grace Lorch gave up

And moved to Canada. They are the kind of people this country needs. Maybe I am putting that badly - maybe he was just offered a better position.

[cally]

18. It appeared that they couldn't find jobs here

They were accused of being communists and lost jobs.

[Hannah Bell]

14. elizabeth eckford = black girl. white woman who helped her = grace lorch.

btw, the white girl screaming at her right shoulder = hazel bryan, who later apologized.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Massery

[FatDave]

15. Another lesson to be learned from this:

Conservatives are consistently on the wrong side of history. Conservative/liberal may not have matched up so nicely with republican/democrat back then, but make no mistake, southern Dixiecrats were conservatives.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. It's the same people. The Dixiecrats of the early 60's are the Newt Gingriches and Trent Lotts

of today.

[ColbertWatcher]

20. You are so correct. Thank you. k+r, n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

21. K and R....

Seeing that really makes me physically ill...and knowing that there are people in this country right now...hating the same way, being just as ignorant....scares the hell out of me.

[glowing]

22. The reason they look so similar is because its not about healthcare.

Its about the same people who scremed at those children still screaming because there is a black man in the whitehouse.. a latina on the Supreme Court.. and a nation that says it wants to embrace a forward thinking direction. They cannot wrap their heads around this change; similarly they could not wrap their heads around de-segregation. Same hate. Its not really about healthcare. Its about fear of the unknown. Personally, I think its their OWN guilt rising to the top. These are the people who treat non-whites differently; they feel their guilt and fear reprisal. Eventually, they'll settle down when they realize that Obama is not going to hurt them and that Sonya Sotomayor is just another judge that they normally pay little attention to in the first place.

The problem is that they are getting stirred up. If you listen to hate/ right t.v., radio, and crazy fundie friend who send outrageous e-mails, then you probably would have fear. These are people in their world that they trust to tell them the truth. So, when you have House Republicans, t.v. Fauxies, and Rush-Ho telling you that Obama wants to kill you, you believe them.. and if it wasn't true why wouldn't someone stop them from saying these things.

Its hard to untangle the web of distortion that they've become entangled in. Telling them the actual truth doesn't mean squat. The will actually have to see it to believe it. Listening or placating to these crazies is the wrong way to go. Like in the 60's, we have to progress forward and let time teach them that Obama is NOT going to kill them and that he is actually trying to do more for them than any Bush ever thought of doing.