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bigtree

(85,919 posts)
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 03:46 PM Jun 2015

Martin O'Malley speaks out about stronger gun laws, Confederate flag removal, and 'White Racism'

Martin O'Malley ?@GovernorOMalley 2h2 hours ago
A single life in America is worth more than all the guns in the United States.



from Baltimore Sun:

Martin O'Malley, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, told the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors that the massacre at a black church in South Carolina last week demanded action from Washington.

"I heard some elected officials say this week, 'laws can't change this,'" O'Malley told the group in San Francisco.

"Actually, they can," he said. "How many senseless acts of violence do we have to endure as a people before we stand up to the congressional lobbyists of the NRA?"

The former Baltimore mayor also joined the chorus of elected officials who have called on officials in South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state house in Columbia. The battle flag flew above the capitol from 1962, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, until 2000, when it was removed to its current spot on the adjacent grounds.

If the families of Charleston can forgive, can let go of their anger, is it really too much to ask the state government officials of South Carolina to retire the Confederate flag to a museum?" he said.


read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/martin-omalley/bs-md-omalley-speech-20150621-story.html


"We come together in a sad week in the life of our country, don't we," said O'Malley, a candidate for President. "Another senseless gun massacre in America. "Newtown, Aurora, Washington Naval Yard, and now Charleston. The entire world must think us mad, sending trillions to Afghanistan and Iraq while the casualties pile up here in our own cities and towns".

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of Emmanuel AME Church who have lost so much, to the people of Charleston, and to their Mayor, and our friend and brother, Joe Riley," O'Malley told the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

""The most poisonous force in American politics today is not bad people who do bad things, it is good people who do nothing," said O'Malley. "The shrug of the shoulders, the resignation that somehow this is the best we can do".

"One of the sad triumphs of white racism is the degree to which it has succeeded in subconsciously convincing so many of us, black and white, that somehow black lives don't matter," said O'Malley.


"What a terribly jarring and callous sight then, in the wake of this racist massacre, to see the American flag at half-staff, while above it at full staff over the state Capitol of South Carolina flew a Confederate flag."

read more: http://www.wbal.com/article/115684/2/omalley-speaks-out-about-gun-control-the-confederate-flag-and-white-racism


watch: (advance video to 2:23:19 to see Martin O'Malley's speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors)




17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Martin O'Malley speaks out about stronger gun laws, Confederate flag removal, and 'White Racism' (Original Post) bigtree Jun 2015 OP
Excellent. Both Democrats are strongly speaking out on this. leftofcool Jun 2015 #1
we have an excellent Democratic field bigtree Jun 2015 #7
K & R. Thanks for posting, Bigtree. n/t FSogol Jun 2015 #2
it's with great pride in my former governor for these remarks, and gratitude bigtree Jun 2015 #3
And our priviledge to read it. Koinos Jun 2015 #5
Thanks, bigtree! Koinos Jun 2015 #4
it actually affects me emotionally bigtree Jun 2015 #6
I am really starting to like O'Malley. hifiguy Jun 2015 #8
he strikes a good balance in this statement bigtree Jun 2015 #9
Dems...a strong field on the right side of the national constituency Sheepshank Jun 2015 #10
I agree bigtree Jun 2015 #11
right, just a handful of support for this man and his courage to speak out bigtree Jun 2015 #12
I cross-posted this to the GCRA Group, as well. 3 Recs and counting there. Electric Monk Jun 2015 #13
fantastic. Thank you, Electric Monk bigtree Jun 2015 #14
K&R! Omaha Steve Jun 2015 #15
» bigtree Jun 2015 #16
kick bigtree Jun 2015 #17

bigtree

(85,919 posts)
7. we have an excellent Democratic field
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 04:25 PM
Jun 2015

...Bernie, as well

Sanders: Charleston Shooting Reminder Of 'Ugly Stain Of Racism' In US

Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Thursday condemned the shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. as a "tragic reminder of the ugly stain of racism" tainting America.

"This senseless violence fills me with outrage, disgust and a deep, deep sadness," Sanders tweeted.

In a longer statement, the Democratic presidential contender said the killings, which were blamed on a white suspect whose victims included state Sen. Clementa Pinckney (D), showed that the U.S. had a long way to go in escaping its history of racial violence.

"The hateful killing of nine people praying inside a church is a horrific reminder that, while we have made significant progress in advancing civil rights in this country, we are far from eradicating racism," he said.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/charleston-shooting-bernie-sanders-racism

http://t.co/3R4zKLqq2q


Hillary Clinton decries 'institutional racism' after Charleston shooting

Issuing an emotional plea following the South Carolina church shooting, Hillary Rodham Clinton called for "common-sense" gun reforms and a national reckoning with the persistent problem of "institutional racism."

Clinton's remarks also marked a forceful entry into the heated topic of race relations, an issue that's become a major theme of her campaign. Clinton called race a "deep fault line" in America, noting that "millions of people of color still experience racism in their everyday lives."

The problem of racism was not limited to "kooks and klansman," she said, but included the off-hand, off-color joke; whites scared of young black men and not speaking up against poverty and discrimination.

"We can't hide from any of these hard truths about race and justice in America," she said. "We have to name them and then own them and then change them."

read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/clinton-we-cant-hide-from-any-of-these-hard-truths-about-race-and-justice-in-america-2015-6

bigtree

(85,919 posts)
3. it's with great pride in my former governor for these remarks, and gratitude
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 03:57 PM
Jun 2015

...that's my privilege to post this.

Koinos

(2,792 posts)
4. Thanks, bigtree!
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 03:59 PM
Jun 2015

The statement you "bolded" needs to be repeated again and again:

"One of the sad triumphs of white racism is the degree to which it has succeeded in subconsciously convincing so many of us, black and white, that somehow black lives don't matter," said O'Malley.


Perfectly stated and psychologically quite profound.

bigtree

(85,919 posts)
6. it actually affects me emotionally
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 04:02 PM
Jun 2015

...to hear that said on such an elevated level - all the more grateful that this is the man I've chosen as my candidate in this race.

There's very little now that will break this bond of support between us.

bigtree

(85,919 posts)
9. he strikes a good balance in this statement
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 04:54 PM
Jun 2015

...while remaining forceful and direct on the issue of race.

 

Sheepshank

(12,504 posts)
10. Dems...a strong field on the right side of the national constituency
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 04:59 PM
Jun 2015

we should be proud of either O'Malley, Sanders or Clinton making it to the White House.

bigtree

(85,919 posts)
14. fantastic. Thank you, Electric Monk
Mon Jun 22, 2015, 09:02 PM
Jun 2015

...we should give all of our candidates visibility here for their statements of support.

Hillary Clinton: America’s struggle with racism is ‘far from finished’
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026873860

Bernie Sanders: "It is time to end the politics of division in this country"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026873801

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