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Americans hate history lessons because they hate history More

Americans hate history lessons because they hate history

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  • But zoom out and give an honest recounting of the whole slave trade, from origin through Abolition, and on up to today.
    Racism, then as now, lives in the eyes of its beholders, all of them.
    Any useful discussion needs to focus on facts and minimize all of the contemporary canards that have more to do with harnessing political power than a sincere quest for understanding.
    And it's the insincerity of the Racism Industrial Complex that turns my stomach the most, of the contemporary issues.

    • You must not remember the 1965 that I do, then.

      It was in 1965 that I first sounded out a sign that read "COLORED ONLY" and asked my Dad what it meant.

      • (a) I wasn't born yet.
        (b) My ancestors that where in-country fought for the North.
        (c) Learning from history on a rational level is not the same thing as letting some jackwagon turn it into an emotional prison. Evil occurs, yes: mature humans forgive each other, to be liberated of the past, while keeping a weather eye on the future, against repeats.

        To summarize: the historical existence of such signage does not impact me emotionally, except to trigger blowback against those trying to play it for propagna

        • It might be "historical" for you, but it's part of my living memory. And that of a lot of other folks, so I suggest you chuck the solipsism and "If I can't see it right now, it must not be real" crap straight away.

          FWIW, I'm a Southerner, but my family were not slave-owners (with one exception) and various members fought on either side in the War Between The States.

          At least one of my ancestors is known to have fought on *both* sides.

          Due to the single exception I mentioned above, I also have amongst my ancest

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by kesuki ( 321456 )

            the only racism i ever saw was in movies/tv/games. and i didn't grow up hating blacks. then again i am up north.

          • It might be "historical" for you, but it's part of my living memory. And that of a lot of other folks, so I suggest you chuck the solipsism and "If I can't see it right now, it must not be real" crap straight away.

            How are we rating any one individual's memories above any others, in any direction, on any point?

        • One line:
          "It aint hisory, if they still lynch you'".

          • In the case of Zimmerman, the media made up any required history on the fly.

            • Citation?

              You really defend the Mall Cop?

              • Were you conscious, sir? Irrespective of the outcome, Zimmerman has a suit against NBC for defamation [cnn.com]. Or do you think that the evidence is unclear that they deliberately smeared the guy?
                I'm not going to sign on as a huge Zimmerman apologist, but I should hope that when the media is deliberately, systematically distorting the facts, nobody should be accepting the evil. [breitbart.com]

                • He stalked an innocent unarmed man, down the street, then shot him.

                  Those are the relevant facts.

                  • The jury did not seem to think this the limit of the set of relevant facts, for a glance at the verdict.
                    Again, I'm not trying to accuse Zimmerman of Nobel-level brilliance here.
                    But your oversimplification is so gross as to be effectively context-free. Great work!

                    • The jury did what it was told to do, ignore the facts and follow the law.

                      And to JC:

                      But your oversimplification is so gross as to be effectively context-free.

                      Yeah! Life is complicated. You wouldn't understand... I believe that's how the standard cop out goes.

                    • ignore the facts

                      The overarching fact that the federal government, starting with the POTUS, decided to involve itself in a matter of local law totally queered the legal proceeding from the outset.
                      This administration is a river of falsehoods, and its attempt to spin the George Zimmerman case into a general race war is among the larger pieces of crap floating in that river.
                      Zimmerman is Sgt. James Crowley [huffingtonpost.com], Trayvon a slightly more dead variation on Prof. Gates, and anybody who doesn't reject the straightforward propaganda cam

                    • Don't sweat the small shit. When a republican wins the white house, you can go back to loving them again.. Just like the old days..

                    • No, the sun has set on "the old days". The country, thanks to the internet, is turning a corner. For all you fetish the idea I'm a robot, that's YOUR robot idea, not me, sir.

                    • Becoming a minority... Perish the thought!

                    • Minority of what? I reject your attempts at subdividing God's children.

                    • I reject your attempts at subdividing God's children.

                      Well, of course you would. Your attempts are much more effective with your defense of 'traditional' marriage, racist prohibitions, and many other much more subtle methods that are unwritten.

                      Nice diversion BTW :-)

        • It's possible that slavery is a national sin that just isn't ever going to wash out. When slavery was institutionalized in our first Constitution, it became embedded in the nation's DNA. I'm not sure it can be changed. It might get better at times and worse at times, but it's not going away.

          Not all sins are forgivable here on Earth, right? Once you've declared that a certain group of people are not fully human, you can't just say later, "Oh, we didn't really mean it" and have it be forgotten. It's who

          • I categorically reject your premise, sir. I think it a-historical, ignoring the overall historical/economic factors of slavery.
            Please return your ideas to the Hell that spawned them.

            • I categorically reject your premise, sir. I think it a-historical, ignoring the overall historical/economic factors of slavery.

              What do the "historical/economic" factors have to do with sin? What do they have to do with one group of people making a legal assumption that another group is less than human and their worth is only what they determine?

              I'm speaking purely from a standpoint of sin in the Christian sense, but in this case committed by a nation at the moment of its birth.

              I understand why Americans wo

              • They point out that the wildly uneven arguments you proffer are not a calm, rational basis for examining what's occurred and providing equality of opportunity for all in the future;
                rather, you're peddling a garbled stream of emotional effluent that 'unexpectedly' worsens all of the problems you cite.
                I yawn at your approach.

    • Racism Industrial Complex?

      Man. You are out to fucking lunch, buddy.

      • What other term would you apply to Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Cornell West & ilk?

        • Cornel is a real good human being. The other two are media clowns, promoted in the mainstream to remove black voices as a part of serious discourse. They'll never risk another Dr. King.

          Now, To be an "Industrial Complex", one must already possess an elite imbalance of wealth, influence and actual power. The "Industrial Complex" tag implies a large scale, anti-republicanism that seeks cartel/conspiratorial influence over public policy, promoting the participants narrow self-interest and financial rewards -

          • That's a good enough working definition of the Racism Industrial Complex (RIC). While I don't think a true meritocracy is existentially attainable, I do think (based upon my military experience working across the spectrum) that American society is about as optimal as it's going to get, and that the problems we do encounter are exacerbated by the RIC [youtube.com], in the name of maintaining its power, and keeping certain constituencies in line.

    • Racism, then as now, lives in the eyes of its beholders, all of them.

      Exactly the kind of thoughts to be expected from a person swimming in privilege, while willfully ignoring it..

      • Sweet, sweet "privilege" accusation. You'd have to believe in some sort of absolute truth to produce an objective measurement of that, would you not?
        I sport a +5 Ring of Pack-Your-Guilt-Where-It-Will-Do-You-The-Most-Good, buddy.
        You're welcome to come hang out at church, get to know me, absorb the Christian context, and help me understand where I'm falling short of Christ. Now that would be some useful feedback.
        Cheap poo-flinging on /. does not an argument make.

        • Cheap poo-flinging on /. does not an argument make.

          Who's arguing? I'm just making an observation of fact. And it appears that objectivity is not your friend. I really don't expect you to see the reality, so mired you are in cultural indoctrination. Everything on the other side of the fence simply does not exist. I will state it outright. Saying that we are in a post racist society is one of the dumber things you have posted here. You cannot possibly have any idea what it's like to walk in another man's shoe

        • Privilege:

          - Never worrying about a DWB
          - Not being followed in every retail establishment you ever enter.
          - Not looking up, almost every day, to a stranger clearing their throat and thinking, "Oh, no. Here it comes again."
          - Not being patronised and told "We'll be getting in touch" - with the tact and manner that is used to dismiss school children.
          - Never dealing with the understanding that half the people you see, day in and day out, every day of your life, have the word "nigger" float across their minds in

          • Given the behavior of the Administration to exacerbate every problem you cite, given the tendency of Holy progress to exacerbate every problem you cite, I systematically, thoroughly refuse to subscribe to even ONE IOTA of guilt over the items you cite.
            You want to see how I roll? Come to my church [kingstownebaptist.org], which has a sizeable chunk of blacks, mulattos, Koreans, and, yes, people of European extraction.
            Do the problems you cite exist? I don't doubt it. Does everybody need to grow up? Sure.
            I have served God and coun

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