Thursday Open Thread

Posted on August 24, 2017 by rikyrah

The REAL monuments that tells America’s TRUE HISTORY.

Thoughts on Confederate Statues from a Southern White Male

Growing up in the South, I was told (and unfortunately believed) a number of things about the Confederacy. Of course, I heard the common Southern sentiment that the Civil War was about states’ rights and definitely not slavery, but I was also told that the Confederate generals were upstanding and honorable men, while the Union generals consisted of morally corrupt misfits. I was told that many Southern slaveowners treated their slaves well (aside from the whole “forcing them to be slaves” part, I guess). I even heard that the Northern, non-slave-holding states were just as racist and oppressive as the South (maybe even more so).

The fact that none of this was true didn’t matter. This wasn’t about truth, but rather about instilling and propagating a racist ideology. It’s important to note that this mentality was not limited to extremist groups such as the KKK. This way of thinking permeated the community I grew up in, and I knew no one in the KKK. My teachers, friends, and even some relatives believed this. It was “normal.”
This same revisionist and racist mindset is what fueled the erecting of Confederate memorials throughout the South. The vast majority of them were built between 1895 and World War I, a time of violent persecution of black people as well as the systemic and government-sanctioned oppression of Jim Crow laws. Some statues were put up during the civil rights movement. Their message was clear: the South belongs to whites.

In light of today’s controversy over these Confederate memorials, I keep hearing people say that their removal is an attempt to erase history. This misses the point entirely. The memorials themselves were an attempt to erase history. If these monuments were about history, we would see statues of slaves being whipped by their owners, black families being torn apart as they were sold to different places, and plantation owners with their black slave mistresses and children. If this was about history and not white supremacy, we’d see a statue of an innocent black man hanging from a tree and a group of happy white people posing for a picture with his lifeless body. This isn’t about history. This is about whitewashing history.

I also hear others say that tearing down a statue has no impact on racism. On one hand, I agree that dismantling a statue of a Confederate soldier won’t do much to directly combat the racist undercurrent that still runs deep throughout our nation. But, these statues are symbolic of a mindset that has been tearing at the fabric of America for generations, and bringing them down is at least symbolic of us collectively rejecting that mindset. When we remove a Confederate memorial from a public site, we are saying that it is time to remove the veiled hate that put it there in the first place. I think the time is well overdue.

This entry was posted in Black History, Civil Rights, Current Events, Domestic Terrorism, Hate Crime, Hate Groups, Healing, Heritage, History, Human Rights, Institutional Racism, Jim Crow laws, Lynching, Media, Memorial, Open Thread, Politics, racial hate, Racial Oppression, racial terror, Racism, White Supremacy and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

55 Responses to Thursday Open Thread

  1. Liza says:
    August 24, 2017 at 8:21 pm

    Good update on Hurricane Harvey…

    Hurricane Harvey Expected to Strengthen to Category 3 Status; Strongest Texas Coastal Bend Landfall in At Least 47 Years Likely; Extreme Flood Threat
    By Jon Erdman
    Aug 24 2017 08:00 PM EDT
    weather.com

    https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/hurricane-harvey-forecast-gulf-coast-texas-louisiana

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      August 24, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      Pray for the folks on the south coast of Texas, that is where this hurricane will make landfall.

      By the time it gets to Houston it will be a tropical storm, but it looks like they’re expecting major inland flooding.

      SG2, I hope that y’all are safe throughout this ordeal. I know you’re concerned about the little one being in Houston but they’ll take very good care of him.

      Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    DREAM TEAM
    Inside Robert Mueller’s Army
    To probe alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, the special counsel has essentially built his own miniature Justice Department. Meet the experts he’s recruited.

    Betsy Woodruff
    08.24.17 12:49 AM ET

    In a secure location in southwest Washington, D.C., with access to a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility for classified material, 16 of the country’s top lawyers have passed the last several months working on an investigation that will likely be as consequential as it is secretive.

    The following details—gleaned from conversations with people familiar with President Donald Trump’s legal team, as well as intelligence experts and friends of the people working for special counsel Robert Mueller—help explain the broad range of legal and counterintelligence experts he’s assembled. Mueller has essentially built his own miniature Justice Department.

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 11:47 am

    SG2,

    May you and your family be safe with this storm heading to Texas.

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 11:43 am

    Report: Trump Aide Sent Email About Possible Meeting With Campaign, Putin
    By CAITLIN MACNEAL
    Published AUGUST 24, 2017 7:06 AM

    Investigators in Congress have discovered an email sent by a Trump campaign aide in June 2016 referencing an effort to set up a meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNN reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

    Rick Dearborn, who was Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff in the Senate as well as a Trump campaign aide at the time, sent the email passing along information from an individual from WV, a reference to West Virginia, sources told CNN. The individual was looking to connect the Trump campaign to Putin, CNN reported.

    Dearborn (pictured above on the left), who is now the White House deputy chief of staff, seemed skeptical of the attempt to set up a meeting in the email, one source told CNN.

    Dearborn was also involved in arranging Donald Trump’s speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., in April 2016, which was attended by then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Investigators are now questioning whether Dearborn helped arrange two separate meetings between Sessions and Kislyak, according to CNN.

    Reply
  19. SouthernGirl2 says:
    August 24, 2017 at 11:00 am

    This is some effed up ISH, y’all. Can it be anymore clear that he’s racist as hell?

    https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/900691215523467266

    Reply
  20. SouthernGirl2 says:
    August 24, 2017 at 10:57 am

    A Cat 3 Hurricane is coming and my little precious darling will be in Houston.
    😢😢😢

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Russia ambassador to Sudan found dead in swimming pool. 4th senior Russian diplomat this year, after UN, India ambassadors, diplo in Greece— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) August 23, 2017

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 9:03 am

    ‘Consumed’ with Russia scandal, Trump keeps clashing with Republicans
    08/24/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 08/24/17 09:45 AM
    By Steve Benen

    A Republican senator this week told a New York Times reporter that Donald Trump is “consumed” with the Russia scandal. And given the latest revelations, there’s every reason to believe the president’s preoccupation has affected his judgment.

    Following up on yesterday’s coverage, we now know Trump has clashed with Attorney General Jeff Sessions because the president expected the nation’s chief law-enforcement official to shield the White House from the investigation into the Russia scandal. Trump has clashed with former FBI Director James Comey – whom Trump ultimately fired – because the president wanted Comey to give him a hand with the same probe. He clashed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell because the president expected the senator to “protect him” from committee investigations.

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 8:54 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/23/17
    Trump dossier testimony from Senate Judiciary could be published
    Rachel Maddow describes some of the history of the collection of intelligence known as the “Trump dossier,” and the apparent likelihood that the Senate Judiciary testimony of the company responsible for that dossier, Fusion GPS, will be made public.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/23/17
    Dossier testimony would open new chapter in Trump Russia story
    Rick Wilson, Republican strategist, talks with Rachel Maddow about the background of the Trump dossier and the implications for Donald Trump of possible publication of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson’s Senate Judiciary testimony.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/23/17
    New Trump dossier documents likely to advance Russia probe
    Malcolm Nance, veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, talks with Rachel Maddow about the nature of the intelligence in the Trump dossier and what investigators are likely to learn from 40,000 pages of documents related to the dossier now turned over to the Senate Committee

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 8:51 am

    Former DNI worries about Trump’s fitness, access to nuclear codes
    08/23/17 02:05 PM—UPDATED 08/23/17 02:09 PM
    By Steve Benen

    A couple of weeks ago, former CIA Director John Brennan, responding to Donald Trump’s reaction to Charlottesville, could hardly contain his frustrations. The Republican president, Brennan said, through “his words and his actions,” is “putting our national security and our collective futures at grave risk.”

    The former CIA director added that Trump is poised to do “lasting harm to American society and to our standing in the world.”

    As it happens, Brennan isn’t the only former intelligence chief thinking along these lines. As the Washington Post noted, James Clapper, the Obama administration’s Director of National Intelligence, was equally incensed after watching Trump’s remarks last night in Phoenix.

    James R. Clapper Jr., former national intelligence director, questioned President Trump’s fitness for office following his freewheeling speech in Phoenix on Tuesday night, which Clapper labeled “downright scary and disturbing.”

    “I really question his ability to be – his fitness to be – in this office,” Clapper told CNN’s Don Lemon early Wednesday morning. “I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it – maybe he is looking for a way out.”

    Reply
  37. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    August 24, 2017 at 8:33 am

    🎈🎂🎈 Happy Birthday Ava Duvenay! 🎈🎂🎈

    Wishing you a wonderful celebration and thanking you for all you have given us through your movies!

    Reply
  38. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    August 24, 2017 at 8:25 am

    Thanks for posting the excellent article with the videos, Ametia.

    This excerpt from the article needs to be read and reread by everyone:

    “In light of today’s controversy over these Confederate memorials, I keep hearing people say that their removal is an attempt to erase history. This misses the point entirely. The memorials themselves were an attempt to erase history. If these monuments were about history, we would see statues of slaves being whipped by their owners, black families being torn apart as they were sold to different places, and plantation owners with their black slave mistresses and children. If this was about history and not white supremacy, we’d see a statue of an innocent black man hanging from a tree and a group of happy white people posing for a picture with his lifeless body. This isn’t about history. This is about whitewashing history.”

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    August 24, 2017 at 6:03 am

    Good Morning,Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply

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