PBS Brief but Spectacular, Bryan Stevenson: America's racial terrorism, 'our silence condemned us"

[betsuni]

"Unlike in South Africa, where you are required to hear about the damage done by apartheid; unlike Germany ... in Berlin, Germany, you can't go 100 meters without seeing markers or stones or monuments placed near the houses of Jewish families abducted during the Holocaust. But in this country we don't talk about slavery, we don't talk about lynching, we don't talk about segregation. Our silence has condemned us."

[pansypoo53219]

1. just watched the 3rd part of PBS's WW1 DOCS.

the horrid homecoming the brave blacks got after the war. turnip is white priveledge telling obama nothing changes.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

2. I saw it too.

That was an aspect of WW1 that was never mentioned in my history classes.

The lynchings of "slackers" of all races was also news to me.

Side note: I don't like Woodrow Wilson, Democrat or not. His strong religious beliefs (to the point of interfering with reality) and arrogance sickened me.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Part of the problem is when it is discussed, the discussion is lop-sided.

Too many people act as if racism began and ended with the Civil War. It didn't.
Too many people act as if racism was only in the South. It wasn't.
Too many people act as if slavery/racism was the only reason for the Civil War. It wasn't.
Too many people act as if racism ended after the Civil Rights movement. It didn't.
Too many people act as if the African-American experience is only limited to slavery. It isn't.
Too many people act as if the discussion about racism should be about "white liberal guilt". It shouldn't be.

History is important, but it has to be discussed truthfully, no matter how painful, embarrassing, or complicated.

[murielm99]

4. Our entire history is tied up with race.

The Constitution reflects it.

The Civil War reflects it.

Our educational system reflects it.

Our cities, North and South, reflect it.

The way the Civil Rights Act turned the South from Democratic to Republican reflects it.

I am sure my list is missing at least ten or twelve more items.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

5. Race, and exploitation in general.

Irish immigrants were mistreated and exploited too. There was an episode of "Secrets of the Dead" (PBS) that showed (spoiler alert) almost everyone from an entire ship of Irish immigrants were murdered after they had completed their task of building a railroad. Dead people don't get paid.

African Americans are still dealing with racism, sadly.

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. It happened to the Chinese, as well. I didn't know it had happened

to the Irish. What a legacy of history the poor, often noble, people of the US have to overcome. The worst of our ruling class in Europe seems to have seen rich pickings in the US, in stark contrast to Australia, NZ and perhaps Canada with its climate. Of course, the Normans occupiers had been marauding Vikings a few centuries before, living off their plunder. The parasitism of the far-right Tory mindset hasn't changed a lot.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

11. Man's cruelty to man still amazes me.

I watched a recent episode of "Origins: The Journey of Humankind" (NatGeo) that delved into the history of war, and Genghis Khan's army often killed everyone they attacked.

The episode implied that war became more problematic after humans settled down as agriculturalists, but I'm not sure that I accept it. Nomads committed atrocities against other nomads in order to plunder as well.

And, of course, that show had to make war seem like a good thing in a way -- e.g., for supposedly mixing different cultures and knowledge together. Uh huh. As if we need war and death for that to happen!

[Buckeye_Democrat]

7. Truth and honesty is crucial.

I'll even play devil's advocate and say that some white people are at a disadvantage, in some instances (not overall), because they were too sheltered from reality.

This is a silly example compared to race crimes, of course, but I worked at a sweatshop in my younger days and it was always the white guys who would volunteer for some of the worst jobs there. Why? They naively believed they would be rewarded for their hard work. African Americans at that place never seemed to have those delusions.

On a broader scale, look at all of the bitter white people who are so upset that their lives didn't turn out as well as they expected. The worst part about it is that many of them are still clinging to the myths they were taught in school (such as sanitized, pro-USA versions of history) and elsewhere, and are thus more likely to seek out scapegoats for their situations.

[certainot]

6. what's condemning us is giving 1200 radio stations a free speech free ride to

excuse racism all day, attacking trayvon martin and mike brown as thugs while excusing and praising their shooters and telling tens of millions all day there is no racism and white privilege, and illegal aliens are voting for dems, etc.

it starts at your local rw radio stations, and we let 88 major universities support 257 limbaugh stations without complaint

[Joe Chi Minh]

8. If only it were silence that condemned the country. But, alas, it is

much worse. It's not that uncommon to see a young poster on a Christian website eviderntly hankering for a return to slavery - never considering themselves to be the enslaved, of course. They'll do it in the form of asking a question.

Furthermore, they are ignorant of God's emphatic condemnation of slavery from among their own people, in scripture. While, of course, it is one of the most fundamental axioms of the Christian faith and Jesus' express teaching, that the world is now 'our own people', our neighbours, our brothers and sisters.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

10. I slammed the door on a high school classmate who was...

... a Jehovah's Witness soon after graduation, after she knocked on my door a few times to discuss it.

Anyway, she quoted scripture that she believed supported slavery! That's when I told her to never knock on my door again and I slammed it shut.

I didn't have the impression back then that she was endorsing slavery of African Americans. If my vague memory is right, she seemed to be endorsing slavery for anyone that wasn't working.

To be clear, I'm NOT generalizing about that religious group with this post! I have no idea what they support as a group on that issue (and I don't really care).

[Honeycombe8]

12. I disagree. Slavery and segregation are discussed A LOT in this country...

there are numerous documentaries and articles on it. Hardly a month goes by where slavery or discrimination against minorities isn't mentioned on national and/or local television.

We have a gigantic African American Smithsonian museum in Washington.
http://www.dctourshuttle.com/national-museum-african-american-history-culture-tour/ (It is the second most popular attraction in the U.S., the site says.)

We have a monument to Martin Luther King (and many highways renamed for him).
We have an MLK national holiday.
We have a month in the U S dedicated to African Americans, incl. ALL the history related to them.
We have a statue of Medgar Evers.
We have a statue of Harriet Tubman and several plaques dedicated to her and the underground RR.
We have a statue of George Washington Carver (and other notable Af. Americans)
We have an Af. American Civil War Memorial.

It seems to me that we have at least as much and maybe more discussion, information, memorials, statues, and highways honoring and discussing and disseminating information about African American history in the U S than Germany has honoring Jews that were targeted by the Nazis.