“That Conversation about Race” category archive
Limitations of Statues 0
It’s been a long time since I visited Richmond, Va.
When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, though, the whole family would sometimes accompany my father when he had to go there on business, where we would stay at a hotel that is no longer a hotel. I have fond memories of agonizing over which two 35-cent Pocketbooks to buy with the dollar my mother had given me at a department stores which no longer exists and of lunching at a Hot Shoppes cafeteria, along with recollections of the imposing statues of Confederate leaders along Monument Avenue.
Those statues were part and promotion of the myth of the “Lost Cause,” that attempt to paint those persons and the movement they led as something other than what it was, that is, a treasonous rebellion to preserve chattel slavery. (As I have mentioned before, it may have been one of the most effective propaganda campaigns in history.)
Those statues are now gone, all removed within the past two years.
At SLANTblog, F. T. Rea, a native Richmonder, reflects on their removal and the suddenness thereof.
His article is worth the few minutes it will take to read.
The Unnecessary Question 0
Michael Paul Williams has some thoughts about the motives for the muting:
“It’s not just anti-Blackness. It is an explicit act of legislating white ignorance … because they are being robbed of their history as well,” she said of white students.
She recalled the 2020 movement for Black lives after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer . . .
“There were too many white young people out there marching with Black people hand in hand,” Guy said. “That is the biggest concern that they have … white people being educated.”
Image via Job’s Anger.
Same Message, Prettier Packaging 0
It occurs to me that Florida governor DiSantis is sort of like George Wallace after a finishing school do-over.
The Lies of the Land, Florida Man Dept. 0
Fabiola Santiago tells of her attempt to get Florida officials to define “woke” on the record. This snippet is the closest thing she could find to an “official” definition (follow the link for the full story of her quest).
Based on that, it seems to me that “woke” means “realistic.”
Ipso facto, “anti-woke” means “delusional.”
And AL.com’s J. D. Crowe got it right.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun asks (and answers), “What’s in a name?”
(Methinks his answer is spot on, and my ancestors wore the grey.)
American History, Republican Style 0
If you don’t teach it, it never happened.
“We Want Everybody’s Money Back!” 0
A century and a half later, the “peculiar institution” gives rise to some peculiar pretzel logic.
Twits on Twitter 0
A twit who is hoist on his own petard.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
As read and listen to and hear pious words honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on this day dedicated to his memory, I find myself remembering that many powerful figures are working diligently to undo everything that he worked for and toward; and that, empowered by the permission granted them by Donald Trump, they are more brazen about it than they have dared be for decades.
America’s original sin of chattel slaver continues to haunt.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
At the Charlotte Observer, Issac Bailey notes that we are seeing a trend of would-be oppressors claiming to be victims: Persons who wish to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, etc., are claiming that they are the real victims of discrimination because they are not allowed to discriminate. It’s a marvelous mental mobius strip of malicious mendacity.
Bailey also notes that such claims have a long history in the United States. Here’s a bit of his article:
Now, a growing number of white conservatives and others have been making the case that being called racist or the removal or rethinking of traditional standards that had long favored them is the real discrimination.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
I could not determine whether the victim is, in fact, an immigrant. She was not identified other than as an 18-year-old student in the news reports as of this writing. I suspect there she’s likely no more an immigrant than I am.
But whether she was born here or abroad is irrelevant. What’s relevant is so many feel free to unleash their bigotry and hatred on others, sadly, with encouragement from far too many public figures.
We are devolving into an uncivil society.
Normalizing Nastiness 0
Methinks Steven M. has a valid question.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Methinks Steve M. has a point when he says:
(His complete article is at the link.)
Afterthought:
We look forward to two years of a House of Representatives ruled by persons (at least profess to) believe that Fox News speaks truth.
I am not sanguine.
“What’s in a Name” 0
The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini suggests an answer to that question:
Follow the link to review his evidence.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
At the Idaho State Journal, Michael Corrigan remembers Donald Trump’s (and yes, it was his, as he instigated it) January 6th insurrection.
The image that haunts me is the insurgent walking around the Capitol carrying a Confederate flag.
Follow the link for more memories.
Aside:
Many years ago, in the early years of my career at Amtrak, I lived in an apartment building named Fort Ward Towers (I think it since went condo) in Alexandria, Va., and, I must say, I had a fun three years there. Right across the street was Fort Ward Park, which preserved a bit of Fort Ward, one the 27 I think it was Civil War forts that ringed Washington during that conflict. It was quiet, pleasurable place, and my roommates and I would visit it from time to time.
Fort Ward is a museum piece.
But the South is still rising again and the war is not over.
All the History that Fits 0
The whole story of the Southern “Lost Cause” was a myth (and, I would argue, Gone with the Wind, both the book and the movie, was one of the most successful pieces of political propaganda in history, but that’s another story).
And the New Secesh are still making stuff up.
Nazis for Neighbors 0
A little girl leaves her house to go to school and finds Nazi swastikas strewn over her front yard.
We are a broken society.