Friday Open Thread | James Comey: Take down the confederate statues now

Posted on February 8, 2019 by SouthernGirl2

Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey called Thursday for the removal of Confederate statues in Virginia’s capital in the wake of blackface scandals involving top statewide elected officials, in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

“Expressing bipartisan horror at blackface photos is essential, but removing the statues would show all of America that Virginia really has changed,” Comey writes.

“There is no doubt that Virginia’s leaders need to be held accountable for their personal history, but every Virginia leader is responsible for the racist symbols that still loom over our lives,” Comey writes.

Last week, a photo from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook surfaced showing one person in blackface and another dressed in the Ku Klux Klan’s signature white hood and robes. Northam initially apologized and said he was in the photo, but then said a day later that he was not one of the two people pictured. The governor said he had darkened his face to resemble Michael Jackson during a dance contest in 1984.

Despite increasing pressure to resign, Northam has not indicated he will step down from his post.

On Wednesday, Virginia was further plunged into chaos when Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he had appeared in blackface at a 1980 college party.

Comey writes that elected officials who wore blackface “or lied about it, shouldn’t hold office,” adding that “past actions matter.” He describes blackface as a “tool of white oppression.”

“White people designed blackface to keep black people down, to intimidate, mock and stereotype,” Comey writes.

“As a college kid in Virginia during the 1980s, I knew that, and so did my classmates,” he added.

But Comey argues that the Confederate statues are “much larger and more powerful symbols of that oppression — symbols born of a similar desire to keep black people down.” He describes them as “gigantic bronze embodiments of that same racism.”

“They loom over Virginians every day,” Comey writes. “If Virginia’s leaders want to atone for a troubling legacy, changing state law so Richmond’s statues no longer taunt the progress of our country would be a good place to start.”

The former FBI director argues that the statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson “weren’t put up to celebrate history or heritage; they were put up as a message: The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution aren’t going to help you black folks because the South has risen from that humiliation. Jim Crow — a name rooted in blackface mockery — is king.”

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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117 Responses to Friday Open Thread | James Comey: Take down the confederate statues now

  2. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 8:26 pm

    A political hit is happening in Virginia. I wouldn’t put anything pass this creepy mofo. He should be in jail. If he did it to Robert Mueller, what the hell would stop him from going after Fairfax? Dems better know what they’re doing here.

    https://twitter.com/JacobAWohl/status/1092858817790930944

    Reply
  3. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 7:23 pm

    The SHINY object right now is VA. TRUMP is up to his eyeballs in CORRUPTION.

    All his cohorts are crooks, thieve and liars, and the media wants us to look at Fairfax and some trumped up bullshit about an alleged rape, while “BLACKFACE” NORTHAM is on a PR touch up tour.

    You can’t make this fucking shit up.

    Reply
  5. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    Hear ye! Hear ye! Read all about it. A political lynching of the Black Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax, starting with introducing articles of impeachment on Monday based on an allegation & a letter. Virginia can’t escape its racist history.

    https://twitter.com/HopeforVirginia/status/1094016005267951616

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      February 8, 2019 at 7:36 pm

      What the fuck is the impeachable offence, pray tell?

      So BLACK FACE bench warms and unproven claims of rape gets a full court press.

      OH TO BE WHITE & RACIST in AMERICA!

      Reply
  7. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 5:50 pm

    @ametia @rikyrah Railroading the Black guy but Northam ain’t moving.

    https://twitter.com/MattMurph24/status/1094016011588767746

    Reply
  9. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    Carson news………..

    Carson runs into Jay’s room and points at tv and says please. He wants daughter to turn it on so he can play the game. 😍😍😍

    Reply
  11. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 4:16 pm

    NOPE! Due process. He’s entitled to an investigation. Why isn’t she filing charges? This is a political hit job. They had to up the ante since the first accusation wasn’t working in their favor. Stop being gullible.

    https://twitter.com/TerryMcAuliffe/status/1093993726257569792

    Reply
  12. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 4:10 pm
    Reply
  15. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 3:54 pm

    Stick a fork in Fairfax=DONE

    Second woman accuses Lt. Gov. Fairfax of sexual assault, calls for his resignation
    POSTED 4:27 PM, FEBRUARY 8, 2019, BY WEB STAFF, UPDATED AT 04:28PM, FEBRUARY 8, 2019

    A second woman has come forward accusing Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault.

    Lawyers for Meredith Watson released a statement Friday saying that she was raped by Fairfax while they were both Duke University students in 2000, and called for Fairfax’s resignation.

    The statement is as follows:

    https://wtkr.com/2019/02/08/second-woman-accuses-lt-gov-fairfax-of-sexual-assault-calls-for-his-resignation/

    Reply
  16. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    John D. Dingell Jr., who served almost 60 years in Congress, dictated parting words for America on the day he died.
    “One of the advantages to knowing that your demise is imminent, and that reports of it will not be greatly exaggerated, is that you have a few moments to compose some parting thoughts,” Dingell said. He dictated these reflections on Thursday to his wife, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), at their home in Dearborn. He died later that day at age 92.

    “In our modern political age, the presidential bully pulpit seems dedicated to sowing division and denigrating, often in the most irrelevant and infantile personal terms, the political opposition.

    “And much as I have found Twitter to be a useful means of expression, some occasions merit more than 280 characters.”

    https://s2.washingtonpost.com/107844d/5c5deef6e6e81b54008ce307/YXdhcmVvZjQxMUBnbWFpbC5jb20%3D/2/10/3a569220054ddfca9b49a25bb24a75b5

    Reply
  19. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 3:33 pm

    SG2, remember the farmer John Boyd? FACE PALMS

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  20. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 3:32 pm

    Whitaker is begging for jail time. I can see it coming.

    Reply
  30. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 1:31 pm

    I don’t know whether to scream or cry…..

    https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1093953684298481664

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      February 8, 2019 at 12:53 pm

      Yeah, right. Everyone will believe it, I’m sure.

      Why don’t they just say that the Saudi Royals are above the law and be done with it?

      Reply
  33. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 12:19 pm
    Reply
  38. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 11:07 am

    #Whitaker is playing fucking games. He is trying to use up folks time by giving long answers when he could answer in a simple yes or no.

    https://twitter.com/woodruffbets/status/1093917121564811264

    Reply
  50. Ametia says:
    February 8, 2019 at 9:29 am

    Word of the Day : February 8, 2019

    Wiseacre:noun WYZE-ay-ker

    Definition: one who pretends to knowledge or cleverness; especially : smart aleck

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/wiseacre-2019-02-08?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=w&file=wiseac01&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wotd&utm_content=pron

    Reply
  54. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 8, 2019 at 9:19 am

    I was listening to him. My mouth dropped opened. WTFF?

    https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1093890231672160257

    Reply
  55. Liza says:
    February 8, 2019 at 9:07 am

    1968 yearbook, the year MLK Jr was assassinated.
    https://twitter.com/virginianpilot/status/1093565167550500866

    Reply
  57. Liza says:
    February 8, 2019 at 8:52 am

    And to think Florida came so close to having a progressive governor.

    https://twitter.com/AndrewGillum/status/1093616305394077697

    Reply
    • majiir says:
      February 8, 2019 at 7:04 pm

      They didn’t just rape them, they got them pregnant, and sold their own offspring into slavery to make money.

      Reply
  65. rikyrah says:
    February 8, 2019 at 7:28 am

    😠😠😠

    Zpac Shakur (@ChristineFox) Tweeted:
    Black farmers purchased more than $100k worth of seeds at a farm trade show. The certified seeds had 0% germination ability. (They were promised 100% germination & high yields.) This was a race-based scam & they are now suing the billion dollar company in federal court.

    https://t.co/SfuNk96Hi3 https://twitter.com/ChristineFox/status/1093360512518184960?s=17

    Reply
  86. rikyrah says:
    February 8, 2019 at 4:22 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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