JakeD
02-08-06, 06:47AM
"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. (standing ovation) But Coretta knew, and we know, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more, but no more for the poor." -Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery
So Reverend Joseph Lowery made a few political comments at the Coretta Scott King funeral, and some people took that and ran with it. They’re making statements such as “They need to learn how to act at funerals”, and generally lambasting the idea that someone (who is a known activist) dared to make a political statement at…get this…the funeral of a woman who was known to be a shameless activist, and also the wife of one of the most influential men who ever walked this earth. Who, you know, was also a SHAMELESS ACTIVIST.
My question to those who are all up in arms over Dr. Lowery’s remarks: What did you expect? Did you want to lord over them, tell them that this was an inopportune occasion for political remarks and tell them to “understand their place”? Because if you expected them to keep quiet about the political situation that is currently screwing blacks (and everyone else) nationwide, you were wrong. Hurricane Katrina was the breaking point for an already frustrated black population. The tens of thousands of displaced citizens and their friends and families are the ones who paid the toll. Our government left American citizens standing with neither a pot to piss in nor a place to dump it, and it’s time for them to face facts.
Dr. King and Coretta Scott King both worked endlessly to remedy the sorts of situations that America has found itself in lately. If people want to delude themselves with the idea that everything is okay, that’s fine. But no amount of sugarcoating and whitewashing can change the fact that America still remains divided years after Dr. King’s iconic speech. Sure, segregation ended. Yeah, blacks can sit wherever they want on the bus. But those two things do not signify the destruction of the racial divide in America. The divide just shifted a bit, crumbled a little, and moved to separate another group.
Instead of treating blacks, Hispanics, or Asians as second-class citizens, many people have changed gears and resorted to treating Middle Easterners as terrorists until proven otherwise. Gays and lesbians (who Coretta Scott King spoke in favor of on countless occasions) are openly mocked and marginalized, and many straight men and women still manage to work themselves into a disturbing frenzy over the idea of gay men and women being able to breathe the same air and do the same things that everyone else does, like getting married and going shopping.
People who are so quick to call Lowery an opportunist need to realize that seizing the moment was the only opportunity that blacks have had in the United States for a very long time, from the first moment that an enslaved farmer grabbed a white man’s wrist to keep from being beaten anymore. From the first moment that Frederick Douglass put a quill to paper and wrote what would be his first oration on the abolition of slavery. Right when Rosa Parks refused to move from that bus chair, it was all about making a stand for humanity. Not for immediate equality, but actions born of the right to be treated like an actual human being.
The point is, Lowery will NOT be lambasted for this. If people don’t want to hear such things being pointed out, they need to work towards change and not contribute to a social and political environment where speaking out about injustice and lingering inequalities is a necessity. Instead of claiming that people who point out such issues are a problem, they need to look within themselves and find the true problem: their own biases and insecurities.
Rest in peace, Coretta, and be assured that as long as rational minds, strong wills, and brave hearts exist, the very ideals that yourself and your husband both stood for shall never be ignored.
http://www.ragingtexan.com/misc/jakeban2.jpg (http://www.ragingtexan.com/)
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So Reverend Joseph Lowery made a few political comments at the Coretta Scott King funeral, and some people took that and ran with it. They’re making statements such as “They need to learn how to act at funerals”, and generally lambasting the idea that someone (who is a known activist) dared to make a political statement at…get this…the funeral of a woman who was known to be a shameless activist, and also the wife of one of the most influential men who ever walked this earth. Who, you know, was also a SHAMELESS ACTIVIST.
My question to those who are all up in arms over Dr. Lowery’s remarks: What did you expect? Did you want to lord over them, tell them that this was an inopportune occasion for political remarks and tell them to “understand their place”? Because if you expected them to keep quiet about the political situation that is currently screwing blacks (and everyone else) nationwide, you were wrong. Hurricane Katrina was the breaking point for an already frustrated black population. The tens of thousands of displaced citizens and their friends and families are the ones who paid the toll. Our government left American citizens standing with neither a pot to piss in nor a place to dump it, and it’s time for them to face facts.
Dr. King and Coretta Scott King both worked endlessly to remedy the sorts of situations that America has found itself in lately. If people want to delude themselves with the idea that everything is okay, that’s fine. But no amount of sugarcoating and whitewashing can change the fact that America still remains divided years after Dr. King’s iconic speech. Sure, segregation ended. Yeah, blacks can sit wherever they want on the bus. But those two things do not signify the destruction of the racial divide in America. The divide just shifted a bit, crumbled a little, and moved to separate another group.
Instead of treating blacks, Hispanics, or Asians as second-class citizens, many people have changed gears and resorted to treating Middle Easterners as terrorists until proven otherwise. Gays and lesbians (who Coretta Scott King spoke in favor of on countless occasions) are openly mocked and marginalized, and many straight men and women still manage to work themselves into a disturbing frenzy over the idea of gay men and women being able to breathe the same air and do the same things that everyone else does, like getting married and going shopping.
People who are so quick to call Lowery an opportunist need to realize that seizing the moment was the only opportunity that blacks have had in the United States for a very long time, from the first moment that an enslaved farmer grabbed a white man’s wrist to keep from being beaten anymore. From the first moment that Frederick Douglass put a quill to paper and wrote what would be his first oration on the abolition of slavery. Right when Rosa Parks refused to move from that bus chair, it was all about making a stand for humanity. Not for immediate equality, but actions born of the right to be treated like an actual human being.
The point is, Lowery will NOT be lambasted for this. If people don’t want to hear such things being pointed out, they need to work towards change and not contribute to a social and political environment where speaking out about injustice and lingering inequalities is a necessity. Instead of claiming that people who point out such issues are a problem, they need to look within themselves and find the true problem: their own biases and insecurities.
Rest in peace, Coretta, and be assured that as long as rational minds, strong wills, and brave hearts exist, the very ideals that yourself and your husband both stood for shall never be ignored.
http://www.ragingtexan.com/misc/jakeban2.jpg (http://www.ragingtexan.com/)
NCT Search Word of the Day
is porn wrong christan without lust [1]
News n Stuff
º 12 injured in Tokyo after slipping on snow (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060207p2a00m0na015000c.html). Swift move
º Woman shoots husband, fabricates home invasion story (http://www.local6.com/news/6816868/detail.html). Someone's angry
º Ice skater saves herself with her teeth (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1714427.html). Ice Castles 2
º 'Four Robbers' assignment angers mom (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/education/6807097/detail.html). Morons
º Deputy fired for using police camera to tape women (http://www.local6.com/news/6806750/detail.html). Idiot
º Coconut tree worth millions for sale (http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=qw1139340781200B216). *blink*
º Judge grants restraining order against Hilton (http://www.nbc4.tv/entertainment/6817879/detail.html). HA HA
º Wife charged after rat poison found in husband's pills (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/6811872/detail.html). Oops
º Weiner dog alerts owner to fire (http://www.local10.com/family/6810667/detail.html). Good dog!
º Brazilian government distributing condoms for holiday (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18067879-13762,00.html). Yay!
º Husband forces wife into sex contract (http://www.nbc4.tv/family/6812175/detail.html). *forces*?
º Service offers llamas for Valentine's Day (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-02-07T095420Z_01_L07677612_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-LLAMA.XML). As dates?
º Four facing arrest over arson attack on phone dating club (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060207p2a00m0na020000c.html). Bad date?
º Teenager critical after car surfing accident (http://www.local6.com/news/6806230/detail.html). Dipshit
Levity
º Incredible undersea photographs (http://www.abelic.net/)
º Worm Snax (http://www.hotlix.com/insect_candy/larvets.html)
º Love Chess (thanks Pos!) (http://www.lovechess.nl/)
º Britney Spears photos: NOT being a good mom (http://gumbabes.blogspot.com/2006_02_07_gumbabes_archive.html)
º Morbid facts (http://asylumeclectica.com/morbid/)
º Airborne cat photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/junku/sets/303691)