The Undiscovered Country

IMO, both were wrong. McCain and Palin stepped over the line by inciting hatred and violence at their rallies and Lewis was wrong in comparing McCain to a dyed-in the-wool segregationist.

McCain has a right to feel hurt, but he should realize that he did contribute somewhat to the outburst. It would have looked better coming from moderate Republicans than a relic from the civil rights era, however!

McCain isn't anywhere close to what Lewis said he is. Unfortunately the nature of the McCain campaign has somehow caused some loons who are that bad to think that they have a legitimate place at his table which he would never give them on purpose. He's gone split personality on us, though, by doing the right thing in person at his rallies but still running the ads that contribute to it.

I am an African American man who was born during the 60's so I don't have the personal references to the pre-civil rights era racism John Lewis and Jesse Jackson or even Al Sharpton has, I also detest Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for their opportunism and exploitation during the post civil rights era.

However, please do not put pen to words such as Isn’t there a Statute of Limitations on the institutional racism of the 1960s? No, there is not a Statute of Limitations to racism, did all of the racist who ran the business and government prior to the mid 60s all die away when the Civil Rights Act was passed? of course not (David Duke, Lee Atwater, Southern Strategy, etc.) they just found ways of hiding overt racism, by couching it in terms and actions, which are more acceptable to middle America.

As far as John Lewis is concerned, what has he said that is so wrong; he pointed out that John McCain and Sarah Palin are creating an atmosphere at their rallies, which is equivalent (love that word) to what George Wallace did during his run for the Presidency. Is he wrong, if so, please explain how he was wrong after viewing this video (see how he tries to hide after noticing he is caught on video) and realizing this is one of the milder forms of expression at the McCain/Palin rallies.

I agree, it is time for a new "Black Leadership" (what that means I don't know, but I'll go with your words) to emerge, however if that leadership follows your advice and forgets or ignores what has happened in the past, they are doomed to re-fight the battles that John Lewis, Jesse Jackson and yes even Al Sharpton had fought over 30 years ago and thought they had won.

Finally, in the future, when you decide to put pen to paper to discuss racism, please take a look at the photos on the attached link, particularly the one that is about a third of the way down the page that has the little girl in it, and ask yourself about a country that would raise their young in such an atmosphere.


Lynching In America



P.S.

I've added quite a few links in here so people could learn a little prior to their spouting off on a subject (a great fault of the internet). In particular, please read the entry on Al Sharpton, because while I detest what he has become, I do respect what he has accomplished (notice how they have only a few lines on his civil rights activism while having several paragraphs on his controversies, but we all know Institutional Racism is dead).