"Raw hatred may actually help the cause"

[bobbolink]

This is a thought-provoking and painful column by Leonard Pitts.... I don't appreciate his conclusion at the end because I am firmly convinced that MUCH more needs to be done than telling gay kids "It gets better" (barf), but what he brings up is a sad truth....

He is talking about what President John Kennedy said...

Raw hatred may actually help the cause

By Leonard Pitts Jr.
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(edit)
In a meeting at the White House, the president told civil rights leaders they ought not be too hard on Bull Connor. Connor, he said with a grin, “has done as much for civil rights as Abraham Lincoln.”

(edit)
It had previously been possible for segregationists to wrap their cause in dry euphemism. They framed themselves as defenders of constitutional principle — “states’ rights.” They argued that requiring businesses to serve African Americans violated private property rights.

But that footage outraged the world, awakened the nation and hastened civil rights legislation. The president’s point was that none of it would have happened but for Birmingham’s top cop, who punctured dry euphemism with the rawness of his hatred and forced people to finally see.

Every once in awhile, the battle for human rights needs a Bull Connor. The battle against the bullying of gay kids may have just found one.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/30/1898766/raw-hatred-may-actually-help-the.html#ixzz149xsby7C

He goes on to report the very ugly words of a homophobe he is likening to Bull Connor. IMO, a column worth reading, even it if makes one throw up.