I think it's pretty damned sad that hate groups have been able to take the symbol of the confederacy and make it a sign of hate.

Not letting them get away with it is important.

The Civil War was not primarily about slavery. It was about states rights and those whole sought to expand federal powers.

I am old enough to remember segregation, Dr. King and the riots of 1968. I have strong feelings on the subject but I am not black. I cannot know the experience and I freely admit it. Still, I think it is important know and claim our pasts. And to not let others co-opt our history.

Some addition random stuff.

I heard an interesting interview on NPR some time ago ( I looked for his name but I couldn't locate it) of a black man living in Florida. His father served in the confederate army and this man had an extensive collection of confederate artifacts including the flag that he proudly displayed. His father had left him with an oral history of his service. He and his father saw the war as one of northern and federalist aggression.

see that story wont work because it makes sense and is positive and doesnt contain hatred.

exactly and the emancipation proclamation was not made until well into the war

some take their assumptions as fact

to bad

And since we're discussing racism, let's not forget that there were plenty of black people who owned slaves.

I've never been sure what to make of that. Just saying

JMO!!!!!!!! The ONLY people I've EVER thought had a sincere right to b*tch moan, complain and ask for anything is the native american. What did our founding fathers do to them? The rest of us got here in whatever manner and compared to where we all might have been left to live, we might all be in worse shape. I don't care what anyone does, you can't change history.

It, to me, is the ones who will not let it die, but go on and on and on and that causes it to forever rear it's ugly head.

When you get right down to it...life isn't always fair, I don't give a crap what color anyone is or where their ancestors came from. With the exception of the native american, we all got here by some other means...

I really wish I had time to contribute to this conversation.

kinda what i said on page 1 and two (except for the native american part)

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances..."


this includes ALL speech...even the hateful stuff some people are offended by...you cant have it both ways..if you start censoring some forms of expression you will have to censor them all because someone somewhere will be offended by something someone else said, did or showed.....

One can choose to perceive any object, word or act in any manner. If one perceives something to be racist, then to that person, it's racist. That does not, however, mean everyone perceives it as such. I wish someone would explain to me why some people want to FORCE every one to see and feel the same! Gawd, what a boring place this world would be. See what you want to see, think what you want to think, feel what you to want to feel, don't try to force it on to anyone else.

I have a stupid little idea about hate groups and other random gatherings of idiots.

I say put them on tv where they can be questioned, show their faces on tv and in the papers when they march (don't go look at them and feed their hate) just let them publicly make asses of themselves.

When we limit the speech of these sorts of groups it feeds their hate. They can say to their hateful, small minded, ignorant followers, "Look they are afraid of us. They are scared by our truths." etc. and it breeds more of that crap.

Ignorance, bigotry and violence breed in darkness and secrecy.

Expose that thinking and confront it with enlightenment, openness and civil behavior and it cannot stand.

that has actually happened in the past does skokie ring a bell

here we go again. lets seem,,,, with this train of thought, anyone who has a malcom x shirt is a militant black, ummm,, anyone who is muslim must be evil and want to kill americans, anyone who thinks anything other than what everyone says they must think must be an ignorant retard who couldnt figure their way out of a wet paper bag. gee,, what a wonderful education you have. someone really didnt pay any attention at all about american history

aight heres a small rundown of a few injustices that have plauged america.
NATIVE AMERICANS!!!!!!!!!!!!! had it worse than any other group period. they had their lands stolen out from under them, food supply almost eradicated, and then sickness that they never knew before european settlers set foot on this soil.

salem mass,, witch trials.

black people,

latino people..

lets not forget the chinese that were slaves in the west building railroads and anything else they wanted them to do, or be mine slaves,,

yes even white people were slaves, but i bet you would call me a liar for that one.

slavery still exists today, but people look past it to condemn the people who might actually have pride in their family history. oh yeah im a racist bastard cause i support the right to think for myself and study what i want to study.

it is so funny how people want to compare suffering. My ancestors suffering is somehow less valid than that of the Native Americans. Shall we add up the years of suffering then would mine be more than your and how funny that the same people that do this are European by blood. They feel that if they keep lumping everyone suffering together that somehow it will be forgotten. History repeats itself y'all or haven't you noticed. If we can't blame the nigg888 lets blame the Latinos and so it goes.

Yes, I know about the Nazi march in IL.

Don't get me wrong here. I am in no way supporting those bastards who cultivate hate.

I had the great privilege to meet Coretta Scott King several times when I was a young woman. Her kindness and intelligence encouraged me to educate myself and look beyond the simple angry reactions and answers to these sorts of issues.

Racism is an issue close to my heart. Yeah I know silly isn't it for an old white woman to care right?

I beleive in the message of Dr. King and I beleive in exposing our dirty secrets so we can move forward.

Oh and thumper95, some of my relatives were Irish, slaves too but that's another can of worms.

I have read every post in this thread, and I looked again, no where did I find anything that was as insulting to your ancestors as your very own post with that statement, no matter how you tried to disquise it.

oh please...get over yourself, slavery was abolished 150 years ago..the suffering of your ancestors is no more or less than mine, or hers or his....live now, in peace.