Castle Doctrine wrote:This is so interesting. We have a bunch of racists, making blatantly racist comments, but sufficiently ashamed of their beliefs that they deny their racism. Man up, boys, admit how you really feel about THOSE people. I have and it helps. I promise.
The disturbing thing to me is that I find myself in agreement with you on this. I would prefer one of you make a cogent argument but, since that isn't likely to happen, I suppose I should. I came to feel the flag issue was valid over time. The bottom line was the flag was being misused for me. I always argued that it meant many things to many people and absolutely nothing that the viewer didn't imbue it with personally...clothe and dye, that is all it is without someone's attribution. Perhaps it is a symbol of something bad to some. To be, it was just a symptom of the larger problem and treating the symptom and ignoring the disease is bad practice. In this case, it completely obscured the illness and has lead some to believe they have "won" something or other...still just in their head.
Now, a flag is just a piece of clothe. You can take it down and put it away. Perhaps you can display it another day. The stuff on Stone Mountain is tangible, a work for the ages regardless of its subject. I don't know much about it but I know if they destroy it will be gone...but racism will still be here. We need to focus on the illness (racism) rather than the symptoms (flags, monuments, mountains [and their names], organizational names and so on). We will make a lot more progress that way.
The racist in me is certain that this is an example of their community being on a roll and taking it a monument too far. In fact, the anti-racist in me feels much the same way. Removing symbols is one thing...destroying stuff that other folks value is another thing altogether. And, yes, it does smack of ISIS...or the folks that burned the Library at Alexandria or that left the Iraqi museums to be looted.
This I believe needs to be opposed as strongly as possible.
I'm not even sure whom you are addressing.
I will say that we all have lived in a racist society and racism touches us all ... including black people. But, really, racism isn't the problem. The problem, it is 'ethnicity' ism. It's not about skin color as much as it is about ethnicities. It certainly is not any kind of lefty agenda. Being kind and generous to one and all and restraining unkindness is what humanity should be about. And NO I'm not saying 'kindness' is how ISIS should be treated. I will say that we dare not answer brutal inhumanity with more brutal inhumanity. STOP all the bad guys with whatever (force) is necessary. But let us not become like the horrid murderers of the world.
Ethnicity-ism is about behavior/speech/dress, etc. Terrorism is 'I'll kill you if you don't think like I do and I'll do it because I hate you and I want to terrify your kind.' ISIS is about nothing more bloodthirsty, ignorant ENJOYMENT of the most depraved conduct imaginable. At least I pray there isn't much that goes deeper than what has so far been imagined and accomplished.
To compare any human being who has not cut heads off adults, burned pilots alive and killed Christian (and other) babies without remorse is exactly what I said it was: reprehensible.