Orangeburg Massacre - 'Forgive, but never forget'
Families, victims gather for first viewing of documentary on 1968 shootings
ORANGEBURG - Each year, they meet. Each year since 1968, they have gathered together at S.C. State University to commemorate three young men who lost their lives and 28 others who were injured when state troopers fired buckshot into a crowd of unarmed students. Each year, these families, victims, leaders, historians and reporters dutifully pay their respects and record another anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre, many calling for the state investigation that never has happened.
But this year was different.
The Post and Courier
Ten-year-old Brandon Johnson, great-nephew of Delano B. Middleton, one of three students killed Feb. 8, 1968, at then-S.C. State College in Orangeburg, listens with others Sunday during a short ceremony to honor the students killed and injured in the Orangeburg Massacre.
This year, an audience that filled the university's Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, which stands a stone's throw from the site of the shooting, sat mesmerized by a new hour-long documentary, "Scarred Justice." Made for television, it premiered Sunday, the 41st anniversary of what widely has come to be regarded as a defining moment in the history of the civil rights struggle in South Carolina.
The film tells the story of those three days of unrest in Orangeburg that began with a student protest of segregation at All Star Bowling Lanes and ended with bloodshed. It provides historical context, citing other milestones of the civil rights movement in the state and elsewhere, and describing how, in 1968, the whole world seemed to be coming apart at the seams.
Blacks such as Stokley Carmichael and Cleveland Sellers were beginning to promote the idea of "Black Power," which only stoked the fears of whites and moderate blacks who assumed Black Power meant empowerment through violent confrontation.
The documentary, made by Bestor Cram and Judy Richardson of Northern Lights Productions, features a multitude of voices from all sides: victims, observers and historians, State Law Enforcement Division officers and the late Robert McNair, who was governor from 1965 to 1971.
William Hine, professor of history at S.C. State, presided over Sunday's ceremony and screening. Before the event, Hine said that the Orangeburg Massacre typically is thought to be an isolated event that shattered South Carolina's reputation as a moderate state that had, until then, managed to avoid outbursts of violence and confrontation.
If you go
WHAT: "Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968," by Bestor Cram and Judy Richardson.
WHEN: 7 p.m. today
WHERE: Burke High School auditorium
COST: Free
In fact, the event was one in a long sequence of efforts by civil rights advocates to promote justice, Hine said. Eight years earlier, 388 were arrested, mostly students from S.C. State, Claflin College and Wilkinson High School, when they organized a big march in Orangeburg to protest segregation. That same year, in response to the Greensboro, N.C., lunch counter sit-ins, students in Orangeburg followed suit at a local Kress store, he said.
The early and mid-1960s saw constant demonstrations in South Carolina, Hine said. And it wasn't only at S.C. State and Claflin that black leaders were pushing for political engagement and empowerment, he said. The events of Feb. 8, 1968, did not come out of nowhere.
In the auditorium, Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller expressed regret over how blacks who challenged the bowling alley policy were treated.
"I want to apologize for the actions of our city at the bowling alley," he said.
Many of the people featured in the film were present, along with the families of Henry Smith, Delano Middleton and Samuel Hammond, the three who were killed.
After the screening, a flame of remembrance was lit at the campus memorial site and a tree of reconciliation was planted.
Cram said the audience's reaction was especially meaningful because these are the people who know the story best.
"As a filmmaker, you always hope you're helping to elevate someone's story, and the warm reception shows we were able to do that successfully," Cram said.
State Rep. Bakari Sellers said that the film was many years in the making and that making the story available to a national audience was long overdue.
"It's very powerful, very powerful," he said. "It really gets the message out."
Sellers said the documentary validated the principle "forgive, but never forget."
"I cried through the whole movie," he said.
On Tuesday, when the state Legislature is back in session, Sellers plans to reintroduce his bill from last year calling for an official investigation of the Orangeburg Massacre, he said.
Sellers, 24, the son of Cleveland Sellers, works as an attorney for J. Preston "Pete" Strom Jr. Strom is the son of former SLED Chief Pete Strom who, on the night of Feb. 8, 1968, sat in his police car near the gate of S.C. State coordinating police movements.
"Scarred Justice" will be screened at 7 p.m. today in the Burke High School auditorium. It will be aired on PBS stations later this year.
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Comments
CedarPosts (anonymous) says...
Last year Orangeburg and SC State held a reinactment of sorts to mark the deaths of 3 students forty years before.
But surprisingly it didn't open old wounds, bring out the Klan or even spark debate, it was rather a quiet affair with little drama or media coverage outside of 100 miles.
Even back in 1968 few outside of the Carolina's heard the tragic news that became known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
The photos from Orangeburg in 1968 are today stunning, but at the time scenes like Orangeburg were almost common place. Detroit, Chicago, LA, Atlanta and New York television viewers saw almost nightly fire bombings and police in riot grear clubing helpless and unarmed black men.
So maybe we have progessed a little after all.
Some photos at: http:/cedarposts.blogspot.com
February 9, 2009 at 3:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Blackwell84 (anonymous) says...
I lived and grew up in Orangeburg. In 1968, I was 16 years old. I can remember when one evening after dinner my family and I drove and parked the car on Boulevard an estimated 200 yards before the Russell Street intersection. There, we sat in the car and watched with excitement at all the National Guardsman patrolling downtown Orangeburg and the national news services interviewing people on the street.
On thing that is not reported in the current Post and Courier article is that each time an automobile attempted to drive out of Orangeburg on highway U.S. 601 in front of the then South Carolina State College and Claflin College that a shower of glass bottles could be seen in the street lights being thrown at the innocent passerby.
At this time in my young and somewhat innocent life, I supported myself with a Times and Democrat paper route. My paper route consisted of me driving my family's car to the newspaper at 4:00 AM, loading 400 or so newspapers into the back of the car, and delivering the papers to the newspaper boxes scattered around the city. What the story also does not report is that I had to be escorted by a National Guardsman on my paper route for two days for concerns of my safety from the rioters as I made my morning delivery.
Maybe there is more to a tragic story out of Orangeburg, SC in 1968 that meets the eye. Thank you.
February 9, 2009 at 5:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
they kill more of each other nearly daily than that incident nearly 50 yrs ago... give it a rest already and refocus on what you people are doing to yourself now, realize it's way worse than anything any white men did...
always looking to blame the white man and wanting to live in the past as if it's worse than the present they've created for themselves... hint - it's not, you have much worse self created problems to solve today that you should be dealing with
February 9, 2009 at 6:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
I was a Senior at Summerville High School in 1968,I've racked what little brains I have and I don't remember this incident being the well known event that it is today.
February 9, 2009 at 6:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
franksandbeans (anonymous) says...
while this was a terrible and unforgivable killing/wounding of people, let's get serious. This was not a "massacre"-3 people died, not scores as defines a massacre. Enough already - why must we continue to throw this in the face of many who were never even born yet? As discussed above, there are more killings DAILY in black neighborhoods, of each other. Can we move on to something relevant to society today and stop trying to fan the fires of hate for no good outcome?
February 9, 2009 at 6:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
I was not there and don't know the details, but my thoughts focus on the guardsmen/police present on that day, who did not want to be there, but were ordered there to ensure that the "peaceful" demonstration did not get out of hand. Unfortunately, at some point, things did get threatening and deadly force was used.
I am sure each year when the men that were there and pulled their triggers, read a story about this event, they have flash backs to that dreadful day - they also will not forget.
On a lighter note, looks like we have an English professor in our midst.
February 9, 2009 at 7:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Valkyrie (anonymous) says...
Which political party was running SC in 1968?
Robert Evander McNair - governor of the state of South Carolina from 1965 to 1971. DEMOCRAT
Please ignore any comments of blue_eyes, this individual has a history of posts/comments that add nothing to a discussion but ignorant rants, blame Bush/republicans and attack othe posters.
February 9, 2009 at 7:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
geekboy (anonymous) says...
Please do not feed the troll.
February 9, 2009 at 8 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
512c (anonymous) says...
I have a friend who has camera footage from the gun's angle, very revealing he says...
very...
February 9, 2009 at 8:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mac0cm4 (anonymous) says...
Massacre:
- kill a large number of people indiscriminately; "The Hutus massacred the Tutsis in Rwanda"
- slaughter: the savage and excessive killing of many people
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
February 9, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
franksandbeans (anonymous) says...
Thanks mac0cm4 - I guess blind/blue ayes is a typical liberal - all they know how to do is call people names like small children on the playground...never offering anything of substance. What do you wan to bed blind/blueayes will somehow blame the Orangeburg "massacre" (sorry, I almost laugh when I say that because, as we who are educated know, a massacre means a LARGE NUMBER of people killed, not 3) on George Bush.......
February 9, 2009 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
franksandbeans (anonymous) says...
ps, the weather is beautiful today -- it's George Bush's fault,hee, hee.
February 9, 2009 at 9:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
The first post of the day, that I call Cedar, provided a link to his site, and while I have not read it in detail, makes reference to the Revolutionary war event called the Boston Massacre, in which some British soldiers fired on a group of rioters, and they were charged with murder. Well, John Adams (later second prez) defended the soldiers and got them off (kind of like our Andy Savage). Rioting can get ugly and the folks charged with keeping the peace can lose their nerve and pull the trigger. If you want to protest, keep it peaceful or the results can be tragic.
February 9, 2009 at 9:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Hmmmmm.....Orangeberg was no massacre....Mai Lai constitutes a massacre.
February 9, 2009 at 9:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjrichardson9 (anonymous) says...
From Webster's Online Dictionary:
Massacre-
1 : the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty
2 : a cruel or wanton murder
3 : a wholesale slaughter of animals
4 : an act of complete destruction
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio...
There is no mention of any "large" number. From this definition, the "cruel or wanton murder" of one individual could be a massacre. We who are educated know that you ought to verify facts before you post them.
February 9, 2009 at 9:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
So define a large number there tough guy mac...I think I'll go with definition wjrichardson provided.
Wait they were black Americans, it was just Orangeburg, and it was 1968 so it couldn't be a massacre. Not very surprising coming from the usual suspects around here.
February 9, 2009 at 10:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madd_dog2020 (anonymous) says...
Posted by jammer on February 9, 2009 at 6:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
they kill more of each other nearly daily than that incident nearly 50 yrs ago... give it a rest already and refocus on what you people are doing to yourself now, realize it's way worse than anything any white men did...
always looking to blame the white man and wanting to live in the past as if it's worse than the present they've created for themselves... hint - it's not, you have much worse self created problems to solve today that you should be dealing wit
Every time the blacks do something in remembrance, racist people like yourself always say forget about it or get over it. Do you tell the Jews too forget about what happen too them? How about removing that Klan flag from the states ground; as long as that symbol remain, you need to remain quite; that flag represent something that happen in the past. What about 911, do you tell the victims family too forget about it? A memorial is conducted every September; the reenactment of this horrid event was even used at the Republican Convention of 2008. I guess the Native American's should forget about what your ancestor did too them? If the statement about forgetting came from someone more creditable than the perpetrators of these said events, then and only then should it betaken into consideration. Until this day comes, just shut-up.
February 9, 2009 at 10:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madd_dog2020 (anonymous) says...
Posted by Blackwell84 on February 9, 2009 at 5:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I lived and grew up in Orangeburg. In 1968, I was 16 years old. I can remember when one evening after dinner my family and I drove and parked the car on Boulevard an estimated 200 yards before the Russell Street intersection. There, we sat in the car and watched with excitement at all the National Guardsman patrolling downtown Orangeburg and the national news services interviewing people on the street.
On thing that is not reported in the current Post and Courier article is that each time an automobile attempted to drive out of Orangeburg on highway U.S. 601 in front of the then South Carolina State College and Claflin College that a shower of glass bottles could be seen in the street lights being thrown at the innocent passerby.
At this time in my young and somewhat innocent life, I supported myself with a Times and Democrat paper route. My paper route consisted of me driving my family's car to the newspaper at 4:00 AM, loading 400 or so newspapers into the back of the car, and delivering the papers to the newspaper boxes scattered around the city. What the story also does not report is that I had to be escorted by a National Guardsman on my paper route for two days for concerns of my safety from the rioters as I made my morning delivery.
Maybe there is more to a tragic story out of Orangeburg, SC in 1968 that meets the eye. Thank you.
Were the National Guardsman located there before or after this incident?
February 9, 2009 at 10:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
Wow, so because there are some idiots out here killing each other today the killing of those people should be over looked, glossed over, ignored? And WTF? "it's way worse than anything any white men did..."????!!!! OMG! So hanging, bombing, beating, cutting of feet, whipping, degrading a person to less than human status, raping, shooting, etc just because of the color of a person's skin is better than what is happening today. Talk about jaded!
And note, I called the fools that are killing each other idiots, so I do not condone their action and am disgusted by them as well.
February 9, 2009 at 10:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
OH MY! Some sound as if 3 was not enough to be considered horrible! So murder of three people is not enough for some of you? What would constitute as BAD?
Darn Alabama beat us again! (sarcasm)
February 9, 2009 at 10:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Wj
OK, you have pulled out your Webster, to define the term applied to this even and my old Funk & W does not provide any clarity for the origin of the word . But the contemporary use of the word suggest a large group. So skip the references and tell us what YOU think.
February 9, 2009 at 10:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madd_dog2020 (anonymous) says...
Posted by rednose on February 9, 2009 at 6:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I was a Senior at Summerville High School in 1968,I've racked what little brains I have and I don't remember this incident being the well known event that it is today.
This incident was not well known at that time because it was just the killing of blacks. But, when this same type of incident happened on the campus of Kent State the entire media outlets reported on it. I guess the various media outlet was making the following statement: its just blacks being slaughter, no news here.
February 9, 2009 at 10:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Posted by franksandbeans on February 9, 2009 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks mac0cm4 - I guess blind/blue ayes is a typical liberal - all they know how to do is call people names like small children on the playground...never offering anything of substance. What do you wan to bed blind/blueayes will somehow blame the Orangeburg "massacre" (sorry, I almost laugh when I say that because, as we who are educated know, a massacre means a LARGE NUMBER of people killed, not 3) on George Bush.......
NO Frank, Bush's Massacre occured in IRAQ!
February 9, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Hmmmmm......"We who are educated" so you've experienced a massacre or the aftermath?
February 9, 2009 at 10:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BigNoct (anonymous) says...
Jammer and Franksandbeans, you two are racist trailer trash who sit behind a computer in the trailer park watching your family on Jerry Springer. How dare you make those comments and don't have a clue or understand what it was like to be a Black man living in those times. My dad and my uncle were involved in the massacre and all they wanted to do was bowl. You don't understand the hangings or mistreatment. You don't understand the degredation for just being a DIFFERENT color. You don't understand how to be humiliated in front of your family while you just want them to be equal so don't you dare make those comments. You all won't EVER be able to make up to us what you did for all of those years. NEVER!
February 9, 2009 at 10:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
Who cares? We don't WANT to understand what it was like to be a black man living in those times (other than in a strcitly academic manner), since the price of this understanding--hatred, fear, and irrationality that possesses NOTHING of any importance in today's and tomorrow's world--is way too high. This is the attitude of tormented souls who are emotionally and attitudinally SCREWED UP FOR LIFE being hell bent on making sure others, including the young, are being made miserable as well since they can't stand the fact that some of us are HAPPY and do not want to be miserable. Making up is operationally, emotionally, and otherwise irrelevant. I was 9 years old when this happened and I wasn't involved; therefore, there is absolutely nothing for me to make up for and no one for me to make up anything to. Moving on instead of senselessly torturing oneself over a historical incident from 41 years ago is mentally, emotionally, and operationally healthy. "BigNoct" probably needs therapy--I'm sure he or she literally can't comprehend the ability of some of us to CORRECTLY infer this nearly certain likelihood from just one intemperate post.
Indulging in irrational torment and PROJECTING it on our young is insane. In fact, a CHILD ADVOCATE EXTREMIST could compose an argument that this amounts to mental child abuse and amounts to perpetuating hatred and fear that is clearly unwarranted and in fact uncalled for in today's world.
The whole thing was sad to begin with. The solution of making it even sadder is mentally ill.
February 9, 2009 at 10:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kas (anonymous) says...
only five people died in the boston massacre. so i assume in the eyes of some here that doesn't constitute a massacre either. another thing, what happened in rwanda was not a massacre. it was genocide.
February 9, 2009 at 10:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
racists.....must mean whites.....as only whites are racsist.
February 9, 2009 at 10:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Charleston1 (anonymous) says...
Posted by BigNoct
"You all won't EVER be able to make up to us what you did for all of those years. NEVER!"
Who were you referring to when you said "you all"? I and others in my generation had nothing to do with anything that happened "for all those years" as you put it. While I feel bad for the victims and their families, I and many others not involved owe you nothing.
February 9, 2009 at 10:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Is there some kind of vigil today?
February 9, 2009 at 11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
Kent State got more press because it had a bigger lobby,the anti war movement. I dare say that today if you had a Hollywood project that had to make a choice of which one to make a movie of the Orangeburg incident would win hands down,thats because they now have a larger lobby.(Hollywood literally wets themselves over anything concerning racism....it just feels so good.}
February 9, 2009 at 11:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Who cares? We don't WANT to understand what it was like to be a black man living in those times (other than in a strcitly academic manner)
Well, I think you pretty mush summed up the problem.....you don't care. The people that were affected are still alive today. They remember! And your little outburst just confirmed what they have always feared, Whites don't care and whites aren't remorseful. Whether you were involved or not is not the point...the fact that you have NO EMPATHY has just reinforced BigNocts posting!
February 9, 2009 at 11:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
A movie about this......I don't know....... isn't the NAACP still boycotting SC for the Confederate flag?
February 9, 2009 at 11:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
It's kind of funny how little "empathy" blacks feel for Jews.
February 9, 2009 at 11:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sandnateater (anonymous) says...
BigNot,
how much do I owe you. Obviously you have a dollar amount in your head what a white guy owes you for your suffereing. Put a dollar amont on it and let me pay you off once and for all....
February 9, 2009 at 11:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
rednose, which blacks have you spoken to and which ones confirmed your assertion that black have little empathy for Jews? Discuss.
February 9, 2009 at 11:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
I guess it might be Jesse Jackson,the Nation of Islam....etc.
February 9, 2009 at 11:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DawnM (anonymous) says...
The racist comments here are disgusting.
February 9, 2009 at 11:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
red face - you are embarrassing yourself. One person or one group does not represent all blacks.
That's like saying all obtuse, fear mongering race hating ignoramuses represent all whites.
Or that snake handling nuts represent all Baptists. That Al-Qaida represents all Muslims.
All or none statements don't represent anyone ever!
February 9, 2009 at 11:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
One persons racism is another persons resentment,grow up and deal with it.
February 9, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
Oh, so you mean "certain" blacks and not all blacks? I am hoping that is the case because to toss a blanket accusation up in the air as you just did makes you no better than the BigNocts and blue_eyes of the world whom you disagree with.
February 9, 2009 at 11:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
redface - you are just digging that hole!
Shovel all the crap you want, but do not lump all whites people in with your stupid rhetoric.
You have the right to believe (foolishly) whatever you want, and I can still call you an idiot!
See how that works? Go crawl back under your rock....you are making my stomach turn.
February 9, 2009 at 11:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
I'm not Agreeing or Disagreeing with you or anyone else,I'm simply posting thoughts on a message board,take it or leave it.
February 9, 2009 at 11:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
What you are posting is ignorance and I'm done with you! TROLL!
February 9, 2009 at 11:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
Whats with all the vitriol?.I didn'call you an ignorant race baiting retard,I simply tried to convey the fact that some people will see racism in any thing,I think your sophomoric prose is symptamatic of a poor poor me syndrome,either that or your just stupid.
February 9, 2009 at 11:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Joined: Feb. 9, 2009
Comments posted: 7 (view all)
Contact rednose (log-in required)
Are you hiding something? Sound a little familiar! HMMMMMM
Assume away brother....but you will always be wrong on who you think I am or anyone else on these posts. Some come on here to try to share tolerance, others to spread hate. Wonder which one you are?
OOHHH, I win....you are a troll and now everyone knows it!
Good day!
February 9, 2009 at 11:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
Oh Yeah?......well you're just a big Stupid Head.......LOL
February 9, 2009 at 11:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
Blackwell84, thank you for your insight.
February 9, 2009 at 12:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Back to the story.....remembering the past in hopes of not repeating the same mistakes.
And justice has no time line, so I say shine a very bright light to cast away the shadows!
February 9, 2009 at 12:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ln1959 (anonymous) says...
Posted by AFWally on February 9, 2009 at 10:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
racists.....must mean whites.....as only whites are racsist.
Ha Ha Ha...Are you that ignorant to make a commet like that.
For all of you that always mentioning the black on black crimes and talk about what we are doing to ourselves. Please read other news paper beside the P&C and you would know what's going on in the world. If you think black kids that's killing each other (which is a gang thing and they don't know each other) is worst then a white kid killing there hold family, white man killing his hold family, which includes his mother and father (yes, there are blacks that have done it, but not as often). I think this is something you need to concentrate on. Find out why your people are eliminating three generations in one crime spree
February 9, 2009 at 12:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
What did Lenny Bruce say.."Humor is nothing more than tragedy and time."
February 9, 2009 at 12:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it.
February 9, 2009 at 12:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
There are never enough I Love You's.
Lenny Bruce
Now that is a quote worth posting!
February 9, 2009 at 12:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
or Ambrose Bierce "a slave is someone who is waiting for someone to come and free him"
February 9, 2009 at 12:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
franksandbeans (anonymous) says...
A big stupid head? Good grief......
February 9, 2009 at 12:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
well what do you want,I got through the Citadel on a Pell grant...bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
February 9, 2009 at 12:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Maybe they should air "scared straight" instead
February 9, 2009 at 12:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
or Booty Call
February 9, 2009 at 1:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
George Washington Carver:
How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.
February 9, 2009 at 1:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Ralph W. Sockman:
The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.
February 9, 2009 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
or black man
February 9, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mac61 (anonymous) says...
It is always good to remember the past so it is not repeated.
February 9, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood.
-- Josephine Baker
February 9, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
One thing's for certain. Something this UNIMPORTANT in today's world has far and away the most posts of any article today. I think the fanatical focus of some on something that should be dead and buried instead of being obsessed about to the exclusion of far more important and immediate matters that will have a PROFOUND effect on our lives RIGHT NOW and for the foreseeable future is very telling about the backwards mentality of some.
Also, for anyone who wants to try playing the race card regarding my posts here, I refer you to my post on the article about Shem Creek where I direct identical criticism based on identical logic at WHITE PEOPLE. This means that race baiters will have to go seriously figure.
February 9, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity."
-- Benjamin Franklin
Some people think that the past is past, some people stare backwards to their own harm, others glance back to make sure they steer clear of the same mistakes....I wonder where some posters would place themselves?
February 9, 2009 at 1:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
John, shall we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya?
February 9, 2009 at 1:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Hey, if it will help....why not?
February 9, 2009 at 1:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Wouldn't it be Gay for a bunch of men to sit around holding hands singing like girls? :)
February 9, 2009 at 1:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
The biggest tragedy is when we, as humans, take one incident and belittle it as nothing or blow it up out of proportion and no one learns anything from it on either side!
--Lovely_One, 2009
February 9, 2009 at 1:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Get_seriousHELP (anonymous) says...
SpiderJohn - cut and paste, cut and paste, cut and paste - LMAO!
February 9, 2009 at 1:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
ROLMFAO!
February 9, 2009 at 1:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Get_seriousHELP (anonymous) says...
"All my life I've been dealing with my race because of where I grew up and being in the rap game. I'm at a boiling point.. Anybody who pulls the race card is getting it right back in their face." Eminem
"I miss the '70's where you had shows like 'The Jefferson's' and 'All In The Family' where Black people could be Black and white people could be white. Racists could be racists, and non-racists could be non-racists, but it was talked about." Queen Latifah
"My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white." Bob Marley
"Judge them as you find them. Never prejudge anybody, based upon any of those things that sometimes people are prejudged on." Norman Schwarzkopf
February 9, 2009 at 1:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Just making you and Val feel safe in this posting. I know how much you enjoy referring to other people's ideas then posting them as your own.
At least the people I cut & paste had something of substance and relevance to say, but hey, you can always jump back into the Hannity Non News Fox website after you have learned something of importance!
And what is soooo wrong with men showing they are indeed from the human race?
February 9, 2009 at 1:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
OK but as long as we show we are big strong hairy men.
February 9, 2009 at 2:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
franksandbeans (anonymous) says...
Spidey,
excuse me, but what other race could men be from if not the Human Race?? Just wondering....forgive me, I've got a public school edumacation.
February 9, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Some of the posts I read indicate some are from a sub-sect called Neanderthals.
February 9, 2009 at 3:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
AF - sure, but no crying or sharing feelings...I have to draw the line somewhere!
February 9, 2009 at 3:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
Spidey, I'd place myself in the only sane place--being aware of the past in order to avoid repeating mistakes and otherwise considering it dead and buried. Reopening old wounds is BAD BUSINESS, which is why I disapprove of the NON MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL healthiness we see here. The picture of that little black child being taught to have a problem with White people (regardless of any claim to the contrary) really makes me mad. I will state unequivocally that using children as pawns of any kind, whether political or to project adult quarrels onto them, etc., is an ABOMINATION and I dare you to disagree with me.
By the way, I'm a student of history, fortunately of the HEALTHY variety. The psychology here can be logically equated (hold your breath) to the Hitler Youth, since the idea is to inculcate them with the grievances of adults (in this case people in their mid 50s and older) in order to perpetuate an agenda that no longer has any meaning, as the new occupant of the White House makes very clear.
February 9, 2009 at 3:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
SpiderJ, some would say that was an insult to the Neanderthals.
February 9, 2009 at 3:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
John, I'll try not to cry man.
February 9, 2009 at 3:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
Lovely - I think postman just proved your point.
Yep, hold my nose not my breath.
Dude, whatever you need to say to yourself in order to get through the day....go for it. But, don't think that my rose colored glasses are blinders....I see you for who and more over WHAT you are.
The only sane thing your said where --being aware of the past in order to avoid repeating mistakes.....the rest is rationalizations to be able to face yourself in the mirror on a daily bases.
I suggest you watch a great HBO Special called the Black List - Volume One.....very insightful and will give you a point of view that you probably never saw before.
The last interviewee talks about how he was suppose to project multiple identities to the world....(somewhat close, but nowhere as good as he said) "I had to at once be saying see I'm smart, I'm educated, No, I'm not going to hurt you see I'm safe and please don't hurt me...." That speaks very loudly to me.
February 9, 2009 at 3:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SpiderJohn (anonymous) says...
AF - I only cry when I've had some really spicy food!
Come on ice cream!
February 9, 2009 at 3:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CHARLESTONIAN_SALVADOR (anonymous) says...
To bring back all these "emotions" by those affected and those who experienced this tragedy. It is a testimony for all of us to learn from and to remember that it was a struggle for people to be accepted during that time frame. Acceptance of people of other color, background, ethnicity, is still as much of a struggle today as it ever was.
BIGNOT: I understand why she/he defends her beliefs and roots as she/he does. And for anyone to say that it is not as worst as blacks killing on blacks today, well, crime accelerates but the motives of today are different than they were before.
To sum it all up, just respect the fact that they want to reunite and always remember a "tragedy." Desptite the level of "crime" it still is a tragedy experienced by both sides of the spectrum.
February 9, 2009 at 3:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
I, for one, teach my children about the "struggle" of our ancestors and our grandparents and parents so that they will be appreciative of what they have today and value it as I do. I teach them that "we" were viewed as property. We were looked at as a fraction of a human being by our white counterparts. We were spat on and beaten and killed for having a darker skin tone. We were not deemed as worthy to even enter a building through the same door as our counterparts. We couldn't vote. and on and on.
And while telling them that I let them know that they are not to use that as an excuse as to why they couldn't succeed at something. I tell them that they should be thankful that they are afforded all of the rights and freedoms that they are privy to today.
February 9, 2009 at 4:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scottmcx (anonymous) says...
At least 618,000 Americans died in the WBTS. Some experts say the toll reached 700,000. The number that is most often quoted is 620,000. These casualties exceed the nation's loss in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam.
The Union armies had from 2,500,000 to 2,750,000 men. Their losses, by the best estimates:
Battle deaths: 110,070
Disease, etc.: 250,152
Total 360,222
The Confederate strength, known less accurately because of missing records, was from 750,000 to 1,250,000. Its estimated losses:
Battle deaths: 94,000
Disease, etc.: 164,000
Total 258,000
Each fighting for what they believed the Constitiution meant.
That's a massacre.
After "Freeing the Slaves" the Union hired them as "Buffalo Soldiers" and used them to kill off the Western Indian Tribes.
Free some Non-Whites, kill the rest.
Ain't Freedom in America Great.
February 9, 2009 at 4:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scottmcx (anonymous) says...
June 23rd 1865, The last Confederate General Officer and Command to surrender to the Union were under Brig. Gen. Stand Watie, who was also a Chief of the Cherokee. He must have known what was coming....
1869, Phil Sheridan, Union Civil War General, meeting with Indians he governed in Oklahoma reportedly said, "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead."
Try to gain (or like the Indians, keep) your Freedom from the US government and it seems...you might just die.
February 9, 2009 at 4:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
John - Like some nice hot wings made with either Thai peepers or habanero's....ouch!
February 9, 2009 at 5:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
maddog you're seriously trying to compare 3 people killed to millions of Jews??? gezzzz you people need more help than is available... what an incredible insult to the Jews
this was an unfortunate incident but it was no massacre, that's just tabloid dribble...
calling people names doesn't help your cause, whatever flag that may be about these days... think I'll go buy some more BBQ sauce, yawwwnnnn...
February 9, 2009 at 5:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madd_dog2020 (anonymous) says...
maddog you're seriously trying to compare 3 people killed to millions of Jews??? gezzzz you people need more help than is available... what an incredible insult to the Jews
this was an unfortunate incident but it was no massacre, that's just tabloid dribble...
calling people names doesn't help your cause, whatever flag that may be about these days... think I'll go buy some more BBQ sauce, yawwwnnnn...
Have you ever heard of the Black Wall Street? Google and read what happened, then comment.
February 9, 2009 at 6:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CHEFHODGES18 (anonymous) says...
MOST OF THESE COMMENTS SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN YOU GUYS D*** MIND AND SHOULD HAVE NEVER MADE INTO THE COMMENT BOX...I MEAN. EVERYTIME US "BLACKS" GET TOGETHER TO REMEMBER OUR LOVED ONES, THERE'S ALWAYS, AND I DO MEAN ALWAYS A RACIST COMMENT BEHIND IT. CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY? I'M JUST AN INNOCENT TEEN THAT WANTS TO KNOW WHY? IT SERIUOSLY DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. AND BY YOU GUYS PUT DWON AS YOUR COMMENTS, IT CLEARLY SHOWS THAT YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE AND THIER FEELINGS...I BET YOU ANY MONEY, IF SOMEOME WOULD KILL YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER TODAY OR TOMORROW, AND IT WAS A BLACK MAN OR WOMAN THAT DID IT, YOU WOULD WANT THEM IN THE ELECTRIC CHAIR OR YOU WOULD WANT THEM KILLED THE SAME EXACT WAY THEY KILLED YOUR LOVED ONE(S). OMG...WE ALL ARE GROWN, GROW THE HELL UP FOR GOD SAKE. PLEASE!!! I THINK YOU GUYS SHOULD KEEP THE RACIST COMMENTS TO YOUFSELF OR TO YOUR PEERS. BECAUSE I KNOW ALL OR MOST OF ALL OF YOU WORK FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND YOUR BOSS OR MANAGER IS BNLACK..IF SO, I WONDER WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT THEM BEHIND THEIR BACKS??? YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET A LIFE.
February 9, 2009 at 6:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lovely_One (anonymous) says...
madd_dogg, many people haven't heard about Black Wall Street because the perpetrators like to cover it up like they did Rosewood and the Holocaust.
February 9, 2009 at 7:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
swampfoxreb (anonymous) says...
Every time I read the blogs I run the risk of losing all faith in humanity. Then I remind myself it's the same dozen or so yahoos spouting the same backwards ass, race-baiting, uninformed, insensitive, and yes racist comments. (The idea that current Black on Black crime somehow makes aspects of America's past less racist is juvenile blame shifting at its worst, and really, just ignorant.) But to the rest of you, please find comfort in this. The 40 years from the civil unrest of 1968 and the election of a Black president is but a blip in our history. While we have miles to go, that we have come so far in such a short time gives the rest of us hope. African Americans made up 13% of the voting population. That means the majority of Obama voters were, like me, WHITE. That also means many of the ideas above will die with the people who espouse them, their children wiser than their parents. It's just around the corner. When it happens, it will have been well worth the wait. Perhaps we'll read your words in a museum somewhere and find them quaint . . . but I doubt it.
February 9, 2009 at 8:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
there are several black wall streets http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/e...
if u mean the original little africa yes I have heard of it, and even if proved true it still pales in comparison to what the Jews have gone through and should not be compared
if true, of course no one in their right mind would condone this act... and like most of us are saying, you can't blame me for those atrocities... I had nothing to do with them
nearly all people have done others wrong in some time of our history but u have to look at today and deal with life today one day at a time... we've progressed because NO one condoned that kind of stuff, the few that did way back when were pushed aside and prosecuted many years later... or had to answer to the ultimate authority when their time came
orangeburg was not a massacre, it was wrong but not a massacre IMHO ... we have much worse incidents nearly on a weekly basis TODAY that should be much more of an importance
Little Africa can be rebuilt very easily in todays world, but it won't be built by osmosis so you might want to tell ppl to quit whining about yesterday and get busy with today
jfi I lived in orangeburg for a cpl yrs in the late 60's and don't ever remember hearing about it until many years later... who knows how history was rewrote
in the future, black or white if an officer tells you to stop and get down on the ground, even today you better listen or you will get beat/tased/shot depending on the resistence that officer thinks he's up against... that's just life, not racism
February 9, 2009 at 8:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yird (anonymous) says...
Same tired old sh!t. It will never end!
February 9, 2009 at 11:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
captivated (anonymous) says...
I pray for my classmate Delano Middleton. He never had a chance to succeed in life. However, I long ago forgave the people who ended his short life.
February 10, 2009 at 7:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhshjh (anonymous) says...
Posted by BigNoct
"You all won't EVER be able to make up to us what you did for all of those years. NEVER!"
Posted by Charleston1
Who were you referring to when you said "you all"? I and others in my generation had nothing to do with anything that happened "for all those years" as you put it. While I feel bad for the victims and their families, I and many others not involved owe you nothing.
I Agree. "I" don't owe anyone anything.
Had to copy and paste, since some people will not go to the link. I did not write this, I just thought it was a good article pertaining to what was said above.
My point is that many people were slaves, and we need to get over it and move on.
" I want reparations too...fair is fair "
Well now let me get this straight. Blacks in America (presumably even those who have immigrated here long after slavery was abolished) want reparations from the American government. Who shall pay for this? Will it be only white Americans, hence a "White Man Tax", or will all Americans be required to shoulder the burden? Now you take me for example; I am a white man whose parents came to the USA in the 1950s. Am I too required to pay a "White Man Tax"?
On second thought, my ancient ancestors, the Hebrews, were in fact held as slaves of the Egyptions; a group of people often said by blacks to have been black Africans. Hmm...I guess in that case, all Jews should also be entitled to reparations from blacks. And since this event happened some three thousand years ago, well the interest on the money owed is going to be murder.
We might add that not only were the Hebrews held in slavery by those black Egyptians, but, while the blacks in America served only "two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil," to quote Lincoln's Second Inaugural, the Hebrew slaves in black Egypt served 400 years! And they had to work a lot harder, building them pyramids. And then there was the little matter of the slaying of the male children of the Hebrews, while the lives of black slaves in America were carefully protected as valuable property.
In any case, it's a neat rhetorical point. From now on, every time some black activist or pseudo-scholar starts ranting about equal rights he should be hit with a demand for black reparations to the Jews.
Now the Hebrew-centric argument against black slavery reparations may seem to break down when we remember that the Hebrews despoiled the Egyptians of their wealth as they were fleeing Egypt, and that no comparable windfall came to America's freed black slaves and their descendants. Unless, of course, we count the several trillion dollars in racial cash transfer payments, the unearned college and graduate school admissions, the unearned high-level jobs, the unearned promotions, and the unearned deference and esteem that white America has extended to blacks from 1964 to the present.
February 10, 2009 at 12:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
The Irish that came here were endentured servants, same as slaves really they should get payments.
February 10, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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