Concerning just sitting back and waiting for things to change, Dr. King’s take on being told to “turn the other cheek”:
https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf
I bet if you spoke with those in the know in the military, they would tell you it is more of a problem now than in the 90s.
Look at @ucbalumnus’s posts about white fright and tell me this isn’t an environment ripe for the picking.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement/
I’m curious why so many posters want to pretend this isn’t a growing issue. I’ve posted my thoughts and links. Can anyone post references to white supremacy actually being in decline?
“White silence is violence” – Protest chant in Denver yesterday
I do not protest. Not because I don’t believe in various causes, it’s just something I choose not to do. I firmly believe in the right to PEACEFULLY protest.
I take offense to this particular protest chant. My silence does not in any way equate to violence. I believe there are many others just like me and it doesn’t mean we disagree with the cause or that it is violence. These kind of fringe statements do nothing to further the cause and only cause to deepen the divide.
My D attended protests and rallies last year. I expect there will be more this year around the country. From what I have seen, mostly these are peaceful despite what you see in the media. There are weekly protests of one sort or another in my city and generally it goes off as planned with no violence. I did offer her advice though. Don’t hang around after the protest/march is over. If the ‘anarchists’ (or I guess they are now called ‘antifa’) show up, get out of the area. They are there for a gang fight not a peaceful protest. I mean generally speaking, if anyone around you is armed, you don’t want to be there. Counter-protests that seek to directly confront right-wing groups that are armed are going to get violent. I doubt my D would be inclined to get involved in the latter, thankfully.
@bhs1978 There are many, many ways to be not silent on the issue besides protesting. That is what I think of with that chant. Many are silent in a way that is harmful - by not speaking out against racism and bigotry in our midst, for starters. Why is that statement “fringe”?
I think you are taking offense at the wrong things and I think that plays into validity of the chant, IMO.
Quoting from King’s letter I linked above:
And it was already a serious problem in the late '80s as shown by domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh who was an active White Supremacist while in service and used training received in the US Army to plan and carry out the Oklahoma City Bombing.
amen
I begin to wonder if some of the difference in reaction, here on this thread, is due to difference in ages. I already lived through a 1960s southern childhood dominated by these racist groups. Activists were murdered. Speaking up is a moral obligation in my opinion.
Not to mention that chant is very similar to some life lessons some WWII vets who fought against the Nazis tried to impart to us kids back in the '80s summed up in one statement:
“Don’t follow Neville Chamberlain’s example.”
I was a small child then. I think it has more to do with personal stances/views than age.
@TranquilMind Re: Ben Carson. You might want to read this.
As much as I’m a pacifist, there have been no major changes in our history that weren’t drenched in blood. Let’s not sanitize the past.
Be careful.
Not all antifa or even most historically are necessarily anarchists.
Especially considering their history originated in Europe in order to oppose the rise of Fascist regimes/movements which were in the ascent in the 1920s and 30’s and later on, unreconstructed Fascist/Nazi diehards and their followers/sympathizers.
Incidentally, many Americans of the '30s were strong supporters of antifa as shown by large numbers of Americans volunteering* to fight for the democratically elected government in Spain against General Franco’s military coup…and he was heavily backed up by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as shown through the participation of the Luftwaffe in the deliberate bombing of civilians in cities one of which was captured in a famous painting(Gurnica).
- There was enough to form the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
@garland - thanks for linking to Dr. King’s letter. I haven’t read it in long time.
I always think about that Woody Allen dialogue in the movie Manhattan:
Isaac: “Has anybody read that nazis are going to march in New Jersey, you know? I read this in the newspaper, we should go down there, get some guys together, you know, get some bricks and baseball bats and really explain things to them.”
Man: “There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the op-ed
page of the Times. It is devastating.”
Isaac: “Well, well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but
bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the
point.”
Pearce Tefft, the father of an identified White Supremicist marcher has publicly denounced his son’s racist beliefs and declared him persona-non-grata at family gatherings:
http://www.businessinsider.com/charlottesville-virginia-white-nationalist-pete-tefft-pearce-2017-8
Here’s one person who’s willing to take a clear moral stand and not equivocate as many others have unfortunately done.
"Interesting when posters show their concern for and spend their energy posting about SPLC criticisms, Ferguson, BerkEley, instead of Charlottesville and white supremacists… "
The SPLC was mentioned more than once, hence the response about whether this should be taken as gospel, especially since it put Dr. Ben Carson on its infamous list. I’m all about Free speech. I don’t really care what people say, so long as they aren’t violent, don’t block roads, and don’t damage property. Otherwise, have at it. This is the cost of living in a democracy with a Constitution. There are worst places to live where what someone protesting the removal of an historical statue would seem like child’s play compared to their problems.
How heart-breaking when your child drifts so far from the way he/she was raised.
I think people are just skeptical given the current state of politics, and the insane amount of media bias out there.
Here is an interesting perspective on the issue from the conservative news outlet, National Review:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/450443/charlottesville-white-supremacists-trump-should-condemn
No one objects to peaceful protesting. Protest away.
The objectionable part is the violence and blocking of roads and human and property cost.