Remember That Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Is Not Just Another Holiday, It’s a Day of Service

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Martin Luther King, Jr. at the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Martin Luther King, Jr. at the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. [From the LBJ Library; Photo by Yoichi Okamoto]

The third Monday in January is not only Martin Luther King, Jr Day, but, also, it is the only holiday that has been designated a National Day of Service.

What was the last gift you gave your community? Did you pick up litter? Did you volunteer to work with kids? Did you help a food kitchen?

If you are thinking about ways to help, here’s just a few of the places you can volunteer in Humboldt:

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Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.”

Yet this statement is now deemed racist by the democrat party.
We are told we MUST treat people differently based on race. We are now back to segregated dorms, segregated graduations and teaching children that race is an important characteristic of who they are.

We all know racism still exists, but let’s remember that it exists in all cultures and all races.
This will not be solved by creating division among the races. No, we need to follow the words of MLK and STOP judging people based on the melanin content of their skin. Judge people by their actions and their character and don’t let anybody tell you that is racist.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

These days it is accepted and taught in American schools that it’s ok to be racist against whites. It’s called “wokism”. I don’t think that is what MLK intended….

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

What schools are teaching that?

In 2015 a Texas geography school textbook called “Patterns of Immigration” came under major fire for this:

 “The Atlantic Slave Trade between the 1500s and 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”

The same textbook also talks about indentured servants as working for little or no pay, while not doing the same for the SLAVES.

Was it deliberate, unconscious bias, or just not thinking it through?

To this day, there are those that say, in essence, Black people in the US should be grateful that they were brought to the US.

I have a feeling you are talking about “Critical Race Theory” which is one of the boogeymen of the right-wing media and politicians. Which amuses me when I ask someone railing about it to define it.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago

“ Which amuses me when I ask someone railing about it to define it.”

This is a good definition of crt From yesterday:

“​Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin defended his decision to outlaw critical race theory in public schools — slamming the controversial philosophy as “racially divisive.”

Youngkin made the remarks following a decision to issue an executive order banning school lessons that define racism as an institutional problem deeply embedded in American society.

“There’s not a course called critical race theory,” Youngkin said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“All of the principles of critical race theory, the fundamental building blocks of actually accusing one group of being oppressors and another of being oppressed, of actually burdening children today for sins of the past, for teaching our children to judge one another based on the color of their skin, yes, that does exist in Virginia schools today​,​ and that’s why I signed the executive order yesterday to make sure that we get it out of our schools​,” he said.

H​e said his executive order will target the “tenets of racially divisive concepts,” and slammed liberals for trying to confuse the issue surrounding the teaching of critical race theory.

​”​We absolutely have to recognize what the left liberals do here is try to obfuscate this issue by saying there’s no course called critical race theory. Well, of course there’s not in elementary school. But, in fact, there are absolutely the tenets of CRT present in the schools and that’s what our executive order went at yesterday​,” he said.​

He was asked by Fox News’ John Roberts whether​ the theory was “merely a trumped up phony culture war” or whether it is actually being taught.

“Anyone who thinks that the concepts that actually underpin critical race theory are not in our schools has not been in the schools and … by the way, I think the school systems in Virginia, and particularly Loudoun County, have been doing everything they can to try to obfuscate the fact that the curriculum has moved in a very, very opaque way that has hidden a lot of this from parents,” Youngkin said.

“And so, we, in fact, are going to increase transparency, so that parents can actually see what’s being taught in schools, and we’ve instructed our board of education, I’ve instructed our secretary of education, our state superintendent of public schools, to review the curriculum and get racially divisive and other divisive teaching concepts out of the school system​,” he said. ​​

Youngkin defeated Terry McAuliffe, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, in November in a race that centered around the issues of critical race theory and parents’ rights to have a say in what their children’s education.

In the Fox interview, Youngkin emphasized that Virginia will not teach “children to view everything through a lens of race.”

“Yes, we will teach all history, the good and the bad, because we can’t know where we’re going unless we know where we have come from. But to actually teach our children that one group is advantaged and the other disadvantaged simply because of the color of their skin cuts across everything we know to be true,” Youngkin said.

He went on to invoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King that “we must judge one another by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. This is what will be the founding principle of our executive order and what we’re going to do in Virginia schools.”

https://nypost.com/2022/01/16/virginias-glenn-youngkin-defends-banning-critical-race-theory/amp/

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

Yougkin = leader in backward agendas

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Let’s just focus on instilling the SKILLS that will help distinguish our children. Shoving race theory into the school curricilum instead a Merit based system creates more real problems than you can solve.

You cannot make people feel better about themselves by attaching a stigma that does not belong to them.

All people are creatures of God.

We are not victims nor are we perpetrators until we accept that as our own truth.

It’s a weapon of division

Al L Ivesmatr
Guest
Al L Ivesmatr
2 years ago

Yep. That about sums up the American dream. As MLK, said, judge by the content of character and all the rest of the goodness will follow. Long live Bob Marley, prophet.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

How about we focus on instilling LEADERS to help our children better understand our collective history and the way forward under the eyes of God (or whomever or whatever goodness-bearing spiritual thang speaks to them).

People feel best when they more fully understand and then make truly informed choices. In the meantime, let’s get out the vote, let’s let everyone who can have the easiest possible access to vote, for the most caring, considerate, informed, intelligent hard-working people that can be mustered to run. Amen.

Xebeche
Guest
Xebeche
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

To carry your truth just one small step further…would any of these critics be willing to change there skin color? Trade places with any black person of the same general age demographic? I seriously doubt it, all you really need to know.

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Xebeche

In case you missed it, there have been quite a few white folks trying to pass themselves off as minorIties over the last few years. I would have loved to be able to check the black, Native American, or woman box when I was applying for universities and it sure as heck would be beneficial today applying for many high-paying jobs.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Your article is from September 2003, a lot has changed in almost 20 years! Lol

“But to actually teach our children that one group is advantaged and the other disadvantaged simply because of the color of their skin cuts across everything we know to be true…?”

And you quote it as if there is something sensible to be learned from it….”

The sensible thing is that nowadays there are black astronauts, black pilots, black doctors, black lawyers, black actors, black singers, black dancers, black sports players, black presidents, black Vice Presidents, black CEO’s, black billionaires, black everything etc. etc.

In fact if there’s a job opening between myself and a black man, he is more likely these days to get it due to racial equality laws that mandate hiring a certain percentage of black and minority groups.

There’s black only grants, churches, clubs, organizations, news channels, etc.

This is also true for brown.

But not for white.

Problem is that whites are being demonized these days, shamed and guilted. Whites are considered the oppressors, while blacks are the oppressed, the victims. Problem is that the children of today had nothing to do with it, and are being made to feel guilty for something they had no part of.

Last edited 2 years ago
Mocking bird Hanged for looking!
Guest
Mocking bird Hanged for looking!
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

Any interview with FOX news has a bias built in. They are the GOP’s conservative mouth piece of lies. They push their message of the ultra rich to maintain the lie that in America ALL men are created equal. WE know that is not reality. Not 150 years ago, not 50 years ago and not today. This is all about a select control without transparency. And now Asians and Hispanics are on their targets. Ruby Ridge was a perfect example of White hatred ingrained in a right conservative culture.

Connie DobbsD
Member
Connie Dobbs
2 years ago

None of the other media are biased, and you must protect people who are too stupid to recognize bias from learning what it looks like. Got it.

Last edited 2 years ago
ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago

“The Atlantic Slave Trade between the 1500s and 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”

Since you brought it up…. Who sold their own people into slavery? It was the black Africans

Google- Who was the first slave owner in America? It was Anthony Johnson.. a black man.

History was brutal, that’s why we can’t erase it and must teach it, so that we can learn from it and try not to repeat it.

MLK was not trying to reverse racism, he was trying to do away with it..

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

My interpretation of the comment is that evil can be found in all races. Something that is quite true. We should educate our children not to do evil, without concentrating on the race of those perpetuating the evil.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

Yes, in a nutshell

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Kym, I agree that many black people start out in life with a disadvantage, but I disagree what that disadvantage is.

The problem in the black community is not because the repercussions from slavery and racism have damaged their futures, but because the odds that they are being raised in a single parent household is quite high.

Children from fatherless homes are likelier to drop out of high school, die by suicide, have behavioral disorders, join gangs, commit crimes, and end up in prison. They are also likelier to live in poverty-stricken households.

But is the weak black family a legacy of slavery?

In 1960, just 22 percent of black children were raised in single-parent families. Sixty years later, more than 60 percent of black children are raised in single-parent families.

Are we to believe that the the repercussions of slavery and racism had less of an effect on black people in the 60’s than it does now? That certainly doesn’t ring true, so it must be something else.

I also am compelled to mention Breonna Taylor since you used her as an example…

Breonna Taylor had a relationship with Glover, a known drug-trafficker, who was tracked going to her house multiple times. This justified the warrant.

Breonna’s current boyfriend decided to open fire on the police, shooting one in the leg, when police entered the apartment after knocking and announcing themselves.

Sadly, Breonna was killed when the police returned fire. She was NOT in her bed as you claimed, she was in the hallway directly behind the boyfriend who shot the police officer. If you watch the police body cam you will see an empty bed with no blood and see Breonna’s body in the hallway blurred out. Lots of misinformation spread about this case (and many others.) This had absolutely nothing to do with race.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

“The problem in the black community …”

That line , it just killed me 😂

You must live and work with multiple black communities to be so ‘woke’ as to their problem. Or is it cut-paste from, oh I don’t even want to think about it.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

It don’t matter where a person starts, hard work pays forever. Sometimes educated people try to dissect , do studies, write papers , when the answer is simple. Crack me up, thinking they are here to make the world better ,and all they do is talk in circles and try to get out of physical labor. Anything is possible in American, that’s what I tell all kids, just got to want it and work hard.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Very important point you made here.

The slave trade and jim crow era certainly set up many black families to be economically disadvantaged. The loss of culture was also horrible. I worry that being taught to see yourself as a victim and outsider by the members of your sub-culture does more harm than any other factor today.

My opinion is that regardless of why a person is economically disadvantaged, we should seek to lift them up. By doing this we can unite insted of being divisive.

Connie DobbsD
Member
Connie Dobbs
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Does cheating on his wife count as physical labor, because Hawking did manage that.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

As did MLK but we don’t look to either for an example of marital ethics do we.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

Where we start is the most important predictor of our outcomes. Everything from your mother diet to your education and so on.

Connie DobbsD
Member
Connie Dobbs
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

Isn’t it interesting that children raised in the same environment by the same people can turn out so differently.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Connie Dobbs

Yes it is, and that is largely due to the genetics they are born with. But sociocnomicaly neither have good odds of reaching a higher social class than they are born into.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

It was a response to Angela’s comment about black slaves getting worse treatment than indentured servants. Point was that blacks participated in owning slaves and selling slaves as well as whites in early America. Mankind has savage roots. Before modern civilization it was a fight to stay alive, and truly was kill or be killed. Man has progressed greatly since those times, and it’s time to move on… We need to teach this to the children so they understand where we came from and where we are going

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

Did those civilizations/nations have a founding body of documents that included the phrase:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”?

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Im at a loss as t how to can have interpreted his comment that way. That’s just silly.

Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

I recall the first time someone said this to me, to I guess somehow make the slavery issue in the US seem like it wasn’t the fault of white Colonists/early Americans, it was because Africans had sold other Africans into slavery, and I guess the buyers had no choice but to buy them. Enslave them, separate their families at auction, rape their women. Beat them, kill them, work them to death literally. Because it’s always okay to buy humans en masse, when other humans have taken them in as prisoners during their own bloody wars/battles.

The US was late in its ending of slavery, compared to the rest of the civilized world. We own that shame.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago
Reply to  Mendoreader

I’m not trying to justify anything that happened in history, as I stated history was brutal. And for the record, none of my ancestors were slave owners, as I am first generation born in the USA.

“to I guess somehow make the slavery issue in the US seem like it wasn’t the fault of white Colonists/early Americans“.

“We own that shame“

No “we” don’t ! The participants own it.

As I stated above, the first slave owner was a black man, and yes, blacks sold their own people, and they have to own that too…

Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

You’re literally pointing out ONE black man. Against how many other slave traders?

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Mendoreader

One black American salve owner. But MANY Africas who sold other Africans into slavery.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

ahh damn “salve owners”?

Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

Also, are you saying we should teach where here and there an African sold slaves to the slave trade? To not erase history? Okay, then can we also teach our kids how it was mainly a whole different group of folks trading, selling, and abusing these slaves, for centuries? Is that not what you’re saying? History was brutal, that’s why we can’t erase it and must teach it? You do realize there were slave breeding colonies in many areas. Look at Cape Verde islands. Look to many other places where slaves were brought and bred with other slaves, some of them Irish indentured servants. You can’t wipe it all away by saying Africans sold other Africans into slavery.

ILoveplants
Guest
ILoveplants
2 years ago
Reply to  Mendoreader

Please teach it all, that’s what I’m saying

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Mendoreader

You reply here is a good example of a major problem people have talking about this issue. There is no reason that you would somehow infer that plants was implying anything should be wiped away, erased, or not taught, other than your own bias, and unfounded assumptions about those who dont share every nuance of your position.

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  ILoveplants

Go WOKE….Go Broke

Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago
Reply to  Country Joe

Do you have any idea that left leaning people don’t say woke, don’t insist on woke? The only people I see or hear saying woke, are right leaning folks, putting all liberals in a box. It’s not real, man. Let it go.

We all see each other differently.
Guest
We all see each other differently.
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

If you believe all cultures are racist on some level, then I would submit all political parties are racist also. And while I’m at it most religions as racist. Racism is up to the individual. The South is an example. God fearing Christians hate black people and Jews which I know the latter is not a race. As is the case with Proud Boys. Donald Trump is a racist based on his comments about Hispanics. The Army is racist, I was in the Army for four years. Every ethnic group tended to migrate to their own kind. You are a racist with somebody as I probably am. Racism is not restricted to melanin. But it is all about not liking someone based on their differences. It’s everywhere. And in your life time and your children’s and my life time this country will on some level deal with racist peoples. The best policy is to meet everyone as an individual of variety of different characteristics. Some good, some bad. Surround them with respect and love. It’s the best one can do.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

Do you think the country needed the Voting Rights Act of ‘65?

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

Great points, we need to return to MLK’s vision of a color blind country. Letting politicians and activists divide us by race for their own benefit is a huge mistake.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

I consider myself far left. I consider what most people call far left today to be regressive, and antithetical toward the goal of a egalitarian society.

Unfortunately you are correct, due to some very bad philosophy that has come to dominate sociology departments and colleges, many on the left today have the position that “color blindness” cannot be a pass to a post-race society.

rollin
Guest
rollin
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

“Yet this statement is now deemed racist by the democrat party.
We are told we MUST treat people differently based on race.”

Yup. And not another fuckin one of em on here with the balls to admit that and call to stop this shit and change course.

Xebeche
Guest
Xebeche
2 years ago
Reply to  rollin

If black people had not been treated so terribly in the US for the last 400 years or so, and had that mistreatment not contiued to this very day, no one would be asking that would they? If they WERE treated the same as white folks there WOULD BE NO ISSUE OF RACISM. [edit]

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Xebeche

And we would not have been blessed with the blues

Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago

Slave chants are also painfully beautiful, but I’d prefer that people weren’t enslaved, beaten, raped, tortured and killed by slave owners, to get such beautiful music. Maybe I misunderstood your point.

You seem to post comments that suggest you’d prefer Kym just does away with the comments, maybe this is your way of contributing to their demise? If I lived near the surf, I’d be surfing or beach combing. Not commenting here.

Last edited 2 years ago
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Mendoreader

“…..enslaved, beaten, raped, tortured and killed by slave owners”

What does this have to do with your life, TODAY?

Here’s an example of not one living person alive in America has personally experienced slavery in America, yet for all the brutal reminders that have been shoved down everyone’s throats since they were old enough to read and write, I find It somewhat hollow that open air slavery still exists in this world, TODAY, and the victims nor the perpetrators of genocide is held by any one race or culture.

(Not in my Backyard)

HUMAN AND CHILD TRAFFICKING AND pedophilia IS ONE OF THE MOST DISGUSTING CURRENTLY OVERLOOKED issues today.

We are a human race dealing with the evil shadow of the human mind.

Last edited 2 years ago
Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago

Okay?

You said we would not be blessed with these blues, in a reply to Xbeche. If not for slavery? Why are you railing about human/ child trafficking? Here?

Last edited 2 years ago
Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Mendoreader

Might be A Q-thing.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Xebeche

Have you considered the Appalachians, you know the white trash, the flyover people? What is their privilege? 16 tons an whata you get, another day older and deeper in debt?

How is it, White lib college educated women are calling Black men like Tim Scott a white supremacist. Ya, you CNN and MSNBC.

Today it’s not the color of your skin, it’s the color of your money. The elitists are setting the rules.

I’ll stay with MLK, it’s the content of your character.

Teach your children well! To love, to learn about, and to be kind to everyone that will let them.

Last edited 2 years ago
Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

“white trash”
Such a derogatory term.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Xebeche

You are writing as if there was never emancipation or the civil rights era.

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

For all who like to talk about MLK’s “colorblind” part of the famous eecsph. You should read the whole thing, rather than latching onto the one thing that suits your purpose.

Like this:

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. The note was a promise that all men, Black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.”

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago

Its not only a line fromone speech, it was his philpsohy that he spoke on many times. What point is it that you think the highlighted portion makes? None of us have said or in any way implied that the USA has zero racial inequality today, only that these remaining inequities can be addressesed with colorbolind laws.

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

He was hoping for a society that doesn’t see Black Skin. That his little children would be judged not by the color of THEIR skin.

This retconning of King’s message is another “All lives matter”. in response to the term “Blacks Lives Matter”. That is a complete brushing aside of the reason people had to say “Black lives matter, too“.

Colorblind laws won’t do diddley squat if the people enforcing them are not colorblind.

Last edited 2 years ago
well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago

“He was hoping for a society that doesn’t see Black Skin. That his little children would be judged not by the color of THEIR skin.”

No. You obviously know nothing of the man. He was an egalitarian. He didn’t want ANYONE to be judged by inalienable characteristics or circumstances of birth.

Police brutality is an issue for everyone, especially those with lower incomes.

“Colorblind laws won’t do diddley squat if the people enforcing them are not colorblind.”

I agree. Same goes for race based / racists laws.

Last edited 2 years ago
HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

👍

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

Well, do you support the passing of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by the Senate?

Al L Ivesmatr
Guest
Al L Ivesmatr
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Do you support needing some form of ID to vote? 85% of the American people do. Everyone has an id as you need it to drive, bank, travel, get in government buildings, vote, got a fishing license, get a weed license, go to a doctor, buy prescriptions, library, get into the Capitol, collect ssi and Medicare, get welfare, get food stamps, etc, etc. Anyone can get an id for free. Vote harvesting is a fraud. Dropboxes are a fraud. Non signers absentee ballots are a fraud, federal run elections run by the feds only are a fraud and unconstitutional. So, no, stop using race to bait for vote weakening. MLK has nothing to do with the current American voting system, no matter how much the democrats scream, cry, whine, or jump on the crying up a tantrum like a two year old.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Al L Ivesmatr

You say:
“MLK has nothing to do with the current American voting system”

A whole lotta, ahem, MLK-loving Black Americans seem to differ with you:

“Today, remember the true nature of my father’s work. He fought for easy access to the ballot box & civil rights protections. He isn’t a figurehead to be used to uplift backward agendas. We won’t celebrate until Congress does its job and legislates” —MLK lll

PS — “federal run elections run by the fed only are a fraud”, you say. “vote weakening” 🤔
You do realize most everything you say about elections are from the Trump-Bannon playbook. Yer being coached thru the screen 😉, it’s all carefully crafted, yer doing great.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

A feeble excuse to let non citizens vote.
Terrified because you’ve lost the American people.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Excuse me, I’m “terrified” I’ve lost the American people? 😂
Hmm, I’d guess less educated whites are the terrified ones. I mean if you listen to certain leadership (wealthy rightwing), and their Svengali peeps (educated in art of deception) we hear a lot of freaking out, including the Trumpster Fire rapist-criminal-blah blah that he’s on record spewing.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Al L Ivesmatr

👍

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

I haven’t read it but I support it so long as it is in no way based on ethnoracial identities. Briefly looking over it, I see nothing objectionable.

I am in favor of direct democracy personally. But until we achieve that, I support easy and early access to vote for all US citizens.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago

“Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”

MARTIN LUTHER KING

Dirty
Guest
2 years ago

I won’t be recognizing this day

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Dirty

That’s your choice. I find it odd considering how much MLK did for our society.

Mendoreader
Guest
Mendoreader
2 years ago
Reply to  Dirty

Me too, I’ve been busy ironing my white sheets and hoods all damn day long.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

Today, this comment section will include some of the more twisted thinking, and messaging, and not by actual Conservatives but by ReTrumplican fringe (base?).

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Are you aware that chronic TDS is detrimental to one’s mental health…

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Country Joe

The man who coined derangement syndrome as to politicians, his opinion was Trump is an infant. Enjoy your boy.

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Another deluded reply…

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Country Joe

Sorry, Joe, but I can’t say it isn’t so. Actually, it gets worse (for Trump):

“This is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism where the world outside himself has value — indeed exists — only insofar as it sustains and inflates him … (He) is dangerously out of the mainstream and temperamentally unfit to command the nation.”
— Charles Krauthammer, 2016.
Noted Conservative writer. Oxford University (Commonwealth Scholar in Politics). Harvard (M.D. 1975).
Served on President Bush’s Council on Bioethics (2001-06)

The Infant en Chiefs response?:
“I get called names by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants.”
— Donald Trump

Note: Krauthammer was confined to a wheelchair ever since sustaining a head injury in a swimming pool at the age of 22.

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

@Kym!!!!!

If you think this KIND OF COMMENT
isn’t THE PROBLEM. .

YOU ARE.

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Reminds me of a game of ping pong…

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I would agree with you, but I can’t find anywhere where someone said “liberalism is a mental disorder.”

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

Look back to December 12th, 3:49 AM, 23rd comment down from the one talking the “Bi-dumb Administration” (which I wrote).

Kidding!

canyon oak
Member
canyon oak
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Just for those who don’t know, that slogan is from the nationalist talk show host Michael Savage.
Check him out, he’s a enigma.

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Are Rollin and Homesteader the same person?
If not, why do you think Homesteader believes the comment is “fine?”
Just because he didn’t call it out? I see lots of posts I consider rude and insulting, but I don’t flag them or comment on them, I just ignore them. As you said, they are allowed under the rules.

Now, if they are the same person, your point is quite valid.

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I strongly dislike hypocrisy, but that seems like a pretty high-standard Kym. If Homesteader had made the comment himself, I would totally be on your side, but…

If I complain about a comment I need to complain about every single one? Seems kind of like expecting you to edit or delete every single objectionable comment, not just the ones that catch your eye.

Or expecting an officer to ticket every single speeder if he decides to ticket one.

Last edited 2 years ago
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I would like to think you know the difference between a comment in response to an attack and the comment that serves as the attack.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I quoted two words by James Carville, so it’s waiting for approval, why??
And now this comment is waiting approval also?????

Last edited 2 years ago
Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

I wish peace be with you, sincerely.

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Hard to watch people create and stoke the flames of division.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

With addition (progression), subtraction (of lies) and multiplication (of voters), division doesn’t have a chance.

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Says the match to a dry bed of grass, in front of a kindling filled community.

You are playing with fire, and act very irresponsible with your taunts.

You are a not a source of healing, nor would I think you as a responsible arbiter of truth.

Last edited 2 years ago
Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

Magnifying glass, butjust looking at bugs within the National grass.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

“Quit whining” James Carville.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Sigh…

shirley
Guest
2 years ago

It breaks my heart to see the words of MLK so twisted as to perpetuate the exact opposite of his intention. Sigh indeed, Kym. How to combat the mindset that denies the existence of institutional racism in the US? Martin Luther King never gave up until his dying day and, in his honor, neither can we.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  shirley

Can you give an example of institutionalized racism that cannot be addressed with colorblind (aka not racist) laws?

The comments denying all institutionalized racism or suggesting that we “give up” must have been deleted.

Last edited 2 years ago
shirley
Guest
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

Republican voter suppression laws. Underfunding of schools in predominantly Black school districts. Redlining. Food deserts. Higher maternity death rates for women of color. Trayvon Martin.

The denial of racism in our current culture is seldom explicitly expressed, but hidden by the use of supposedly non racist terms like “color blind”. When he used those words MLK was hoping for a time when barriers to full citizenship had fallen. Have you not noticed that this has not happened?

I am a White mother and it never occurred to me, as my sons were growing up, that a traffic stop could prove fatal to them if their conduct was not perfect. Yet every Black parent must deal with the possibility that his or her son or daughter may be killed by police.

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  shirley

Republican voter suppression laws are easily addressed by color blind laws. In fact the very laws that have been recently passed or are proposed to address this are almost all colorblind.

Under-funding of schools in predominantly Black school districts is an economic inequality. School are underfunded in all economically depressed areas, including predominantly white ones. This can be addressed with colorblind laws which would help all underfunded schools.

Red-lining is not an instance of institutionalized racism. Which institution red-lines? It is horrible and should not be done of course. The fair housing act is intended to prevent discrimination against ANY racial or ethnic group in this way.

Food deserts are a manifestation of economic inequality, poor people of all ethnoracial groups suffer from them. We in no way need race based laws to address them.

Higher maternity death rates for non-white women (women of color is a disgusting term, no different than colored women) is almost entirely a mater of economic inequity. Economic inequality is best addressed according to income metrics not racily. Or do poor mother of other races not deserve to be treated the same?

Trayvon Martin is in no way an example of institutionalized racism. If you assault someone, they might defend themselves with deadly force.

You are reading a “denial of racism” into other peoples words that is simply not there. To call the ides of color blindness racist is a insult to the legacy of MLK.

What you refer to as “full citizenship” is not clear.

I was taught (by my white father) that a traffic stop could prove fatal to me. This is fact, as once an interaction with law enforcement has been initiated, all races have about the same odds of suffering violence at the hands of law enforcement. In keeping with this I was taught not to resist arrest to avoid escalation. Maybe your socioeconomic situation is the reason this was not taught to you.

Did you even stop to think for a single second whether or not these issues could be addressed by colorblind laws?

Last edited 2 years ago
well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

Sorry for the formatting, for some reason when I post the spaces are being removed.

Last edited 2 years ago
Guest
Guest
Guest
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

That goes away when and if “read more” is pushed.

Last edited 2 years ago
well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Ahh thank you. I find the walls of text unreadable.

Xebeche
Guest
Xebeche
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

But the racist government officials elected by the racist population OPPOSES colorblind legislation that attemts to address those issues. Explain THAT please 😊

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Xebeche

So, how long has Ca. been run by Democrats?
How are you not seeing them as racist?
Explain that please.
Racism is being used as a tool to distract from war and poverty, created by the super wealthy, and global institutions. A tool to control.
Global institutions are running the world and western countries are being brought down.

Last edited 2 years ago
well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Xebeche

I find that to be a somewhat fair question. In that we have not achieved equitable educational, nutritional, or economic outcomes for our citizens. Although I don’t think the majority of politicians or the population fits any sensible definition of the term racist. I will say that far too many people regard one-another based on racial identities, the rise of this on the left especially concerns me.

In my opinion the reason for our failure here is not racsim, rather it is poorly regulated capitalism and religiosity.

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  well . . .

Institutionalized racism does not exist in America…

well . . .
Guest
well . . .
2 years ago
Reply to  Country Joe

Im sure some US institutions have some degree of racism going on.

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  shirley

There are no republican voter suppression laws that I can find anywhere. Could you please provide me with a few examples? Thank you…

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  shirley

“Yet every Black parent must deal with the possibility that his or her son or daughter may be killed by police.”

Ridiculous statement. Time and time again there have been studies that prove that when adjusted for crime rates, blacks are not killed by police in any greater number than whites. Don’t fall for the rhetoric, it isn’t true. Blacks are killed by police at a higher rate than their population suggests, but that is because they commit a much higher rate of violent crime than their population suggests.

As far as traffic stops, if you disobey lawful commands, fight the police, try to escape, etc, you are running the risk of the police using force (perhaps even lethal force) against you. It matters not what color you are.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

“It matters not what color you are.”

Oh, it very much matters, Hugh. There are endless documented stories of folks doing nothing wrong, after they were stopped, being harassed and worse.

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

For the topic of discussion… police shootings… no, it doesn’t matter one bit.
Now some of those same studies did show an increase in black people being pulled over for minor offenses, and that is a legitimate gripe. That is most likely caused by police “fishing” and pulling people over for minor infractions in hopes of finding larger offenses.

This is arguably a tactic that the police should not use, but the thing is, it works. Cops have pretty good radar when it comes to who might be up to nefarious acts. Seeing as blacks are far over represented in criminal activity, it is no surprise that they are over represented on cops “fishing expeditions.”

As far as harassing people, some cops are just assholes. I have been unjustly harassed on two police stops myself. Obviously some cops are also racist and treat minorities unfairly, but the data simply does not support the claim of police killing minorities in greater numbers than non-minorities relative to their criminal activity. People committing violent felonies get shot, no matter the race.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

Sorry, but you wrote a whole paragraph-sentence, a self-separated topic (“As far as traffic stops”). It matters a great deal.

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Oh, I see. I wasn’t clear that you were just referring to the traffic stops. I would still argue it doesn’t matter “a great deal”, but the fact that it matters at all is wrong. We agree on this point.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Would you care to explain what’s going on in Chicago, it’s not the cops shooting Blacks.

Or red lining, even the railroad wants to leave LA due to theft, when you burn down your stores and pharmacies, do you really think they will build back better?
Heck no, they take their insurance money and leave.
Civilization requires everyone participate.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

What’s going on in Chicago? Well, I googled that and got the following:

Chicago’s Official Roast Battle Championship’s Grand Finals! (A comedy event thing.)

The Play that Goes Wrong:
What would happen if Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python had an illegitimate Broadway baby? (It’s, um, a Play)

Pritzker Military Museum & Library Launches Virtual Exhibition of Legendary Political Cartoonists Bill Mauldin’s Work View A One-of-a-Kind Virtual Exhibit That Tells the Real Story. (Self explanatory)

Rosemont’s Parkway Bank Park entertainment district is thrilled to kick off the holiday season with the return of its Chicago Wolves Ice Rink Friday. (Y’know, hockey)

There’s more …

Last edited 2 years ago
Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Incorrect.

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

Thank you for bringing facts into the discussion.

Dave Kirby
Guest
Dave Kirby
2 years ago
Reply to  shirley

I still get goose bumps when I hear Dr. King’s ” I have a dream” speech. Those who weren’t around then have no idea how much raw courage it took to go into the heart of the beast and march and sit in in the face of murder and intimidation. To be a non violent warrior in those bloody days was above and beyond. Bless your memory Martin.

Guest
Guest
Guest
2 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kirby

👍

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kirby

👍

canyon oak
Member
canyon oak
2 years ago
Reply to  shirley

It is ideological combat isn’t it Shirley.
I don’t deny that systems should be preferential to their founding cultures, why build them otherwise, right?
The American system was pretty obviously built for “white” people from Europe.
And yes, I know Chinese laborers and black slaves were forced to build the edifices of this society, and that was shameful and inauthentic.
Using the labor of other cultures like we do now still, is always wrong in my opinion.
Humanity has a lot to come to terms with.
Myself, I’ve moved past the MLK era.
I don’t see his message speaking to the self justified violence perpetrated by his brethren.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

The Senate needs to pass theJohn Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is an effort to restore and revitalize the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).

The Lewis Act is not a “power grab” that Ted Cruz and others have suggested. The DOJ would continue to play the same role upon passage as it played so successfully for almost five decades under the ‘65 VRA.

Connie DobbsD
Member
Connie Dobbs
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

You’re not selling it….

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Let every American have a free ID that doesn’t have one.
Open more polling places, people shouldn’t have to stand in long lines.
Then they can vote.
The Lewis Act is a “power grab”

Last edited 2 years ago
Claudia Johnson
Guest
Claudia Johnson
2 years ago

My mother’s looked at people for who they are and what they do how they act no race should be better than another or religion no better than the other that’s what this country was built on freedom So that was how I was brought up

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago

That’s the American way…

beetlejuice
Member
2 years ago

I have a dream, that for one day people quit bickering and debating these issues and just honor the man and the things he accomplished ..Go out pick up some trash, give a homeless person a sack lunch, check on an elderly neighbor, plant a tree. You don’t need to do big things to help your community

Last edited 2 years ago
Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  beetlejuice

I think MLK would rather have the populace having intelligent discussions on the merits of returning to segregation on our college campuses than making a homeless person a sandwich. While both have merits, the former is an issue which may divide or mend this country.

beetlejuice
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

Actions not words.
also, it is the only holiday that has been designated a National Day of Service. Not a National Day of Discussions…..

Last edited 2 years ago
Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  beetlejuice

Words are what stimulate people to action.

beetlejuice
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

And all some people want to do is talk.

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  beetlejuice

We are both here commenting on the same story, so…

beetlejuice
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Hugh Manatee

The difference being I actually went out and did something…

Hugh ManateeD
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  beetlejuice

And for some reason you assume I did not?

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  beetlejuice

It’s not either, or, people can do both.

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

Messages, today, from MLK’s kids, MLK lll and Bernice, in regards to their Dad and now. The thrust? Honor King’s memory by passing the John Lewis voting rights act.

“Today, remember the true nature of my father’s work. He fought for easy access to the ballot box & civil rights protections. He isn’t a figurehead to be used to uplift backward agendas. We won’t celebrate until Congress does its job and legislates” —MLK lll

“If ever there was a time that the world needs this love-centered way, now is the time.“ — Bernice King

Photo is Lewis, right side, with Kingz

31D20232-0D04-49F3-A915-BFBE7210BD00.jpeg
canyon oak
Member
canyon oak
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

I was also just reading that back in 1991, mlk’s wife, Coretta Scott King, opposed progressive and corporate open border ideology by declaring that Illegal immigration “undercuts American jobs and living standards”.
She went so far as to sign on to a letter written by a American black And Hispanic advocacy group asking that fines for employers that hire aliens not be reduced.
The effort failed obviously, and we see what corporate America has done to this society in the last 3 decades.
Black people never get the jobs, illegal Aliens do.
I’d attach the link but I don’t know how.
It was on my breitbart feed today if your interested, and the original letter is linked there as well.
All I’m sayin is, if you say you care about black people, then you have to got to criticize allowing people from other nations to come here and out compete them.
Build up OUR own people for OUR own economy!
Stop importing foreign labor for this horrifying global economy!

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  canyon oak

“All I’m sayin is, if you say you care about Black people, then you have to got to criticize allowing people from other nations to come here and out compete them”

I’m sorry but this reads like slick-twisted ant-immigration logic, from today’s bait-and-switch braintrust (Bannon, et al). Inside the Bannon brain? Let’s encourage Blacks to blame Dems and immigrants for Black poverty, etc.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

But somehow it’s ok if you blame republicans? hmm

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

I like the wise ones, just-ok enough anyway. But not the likes of the three-stooge RINO’s, plus Cruz and other, similar, scumbags

BBE642D5-817D-4EE5-9BC3-7BAAEE9C5798.jpeg
Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Listen to the MLK family today, now, Ms. Coffee, it’s all ya need to know.

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago

“The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.”

That trial was held in Memphis in November and December 1999.

We can both celebrate the man and also remember the conspiracy that killed him.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/09/us/memphis-jury-sees-conspiracy-in-martin-luther-king-s-killing.html

https://newsone.com/2843790/did-you-know-us-govt-found-guilty-in-conspiracy-to-assassinate-dr-martin-luther-king-jr/

Last edited 2 years ago
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago

A DOWN VOTE FOR JUSTICE?

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE SO FULL OF HATE, AND IGNORANCE?

THE SAME HATE, AND IGNORANCE THAT KILLED MARTIN LUTHER KING, JOHN F KENNEDY, ROBERT F KENNEDY.

Look at what justice has shown and who was responsible, then you will understand this is A WAR AGAINST US

Rimme
Guest
Rimme
2 years ago

Easy there, easyyyy ..,

Too, Coretta requested Bill look into things again. A 2000 Dept of Justice investigation concludes:

“Our investigation… found no reliable evidence that Dr. King was killed by conspirators who framed James Earl Ray,” “Nor have any of the conspiracy theories advanced in the last 30 years, including the Jowers and the Wilson allegations, survived critical examination.”

So, we still don’t know for sure. Unless, y’know, folks have convinced themselves otherwise. My guess is that (drumroll, for the stunner) whomever did it were racist.

Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
Guest
Homesteader_Surfer_BacktotheLander
2 years ago
Reply to  Rimme

Rimme, there is way too much information out there to support the jury’s verdict in the Lloyd Jowers Trial.

Jim Douglass was present for the entire MLK civil trial, and what was very interesting was the absence of major media on the critical days of discovery.

https://youtu.be/UUdqgD6-cLM

Not sure if you are serious.

Last edited 2 years ago
Connie DobbsD
Member
Connie Dobbs
2 years ago

There are slaves picking cotton in China right now. That peeled garlic you buy is hand-processed. By slaves. You and the guy from the Warriors don’t care, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Once a Texan always a Texan
Guest
Once a Texan always a Texan
2 years ago

LBJ was not a friend of the MLK movement. He was a Texas politician that feared he might be seen in a bad Texan light. Civil Rights was his attempt to appease and garner control of the nation that still had a Vietnam smell in the political air. Legacy was his focus. He would squash any GOP or Dem like a bug to protect his power. In his biography it was reported that he made disparaging comments of blacks and Mexicans and include Gay people. As a part of Texan political culture, that exists today, LBJ was a pure manipulator.

Guest
Guest
Guest
2 years ago

I saw LBJ as an evil man.
I saw the hate and ambition in his eyes, as he looked at President JFK.

I believe that the JFK assassination, and the subsequent LBJ Presidency, was a turning point in the downfall of this Nation.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
2 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Jackie didn’t want any part of LBJ either.

I agree about the downfall.