I'm sure most of you learned about the Freedom Riders in school. At least I hope you did. They were people from the north who came down to Southern states to help register Black people to vote. Three young men (2 white Jews and one Black) who came down to Philadelphia, MS, in 1964, were chased down, beaten and shot to death by the KKK. Since lately people have been talking about the history of race in the US, I thought I would share some wonderful news.
After 41 years of silence, the mastermind behind the plot to murder and dispose of those three brave young men is on trial. Today, in Philadelphia, MS, he will sit in a defendant's chair before a jury of Whites and Blacks. And I'm hoping with all that is in me that he will spend the rest of his life rotting in cell and waiting for the day he has to beg God to spare his life even though he took it upon himself to end someone else's.
This kind of thing is why the Confederate flag should not be flown over public buildings. This is what it represents. We have come so far in the US, but we have miles to go before we sleep. So if you're thinking that bigotry and racial terrorism are a thing of the past and should just be let go of, imagine how you would feel if your loved ones were slaughtered simply because some animal decided that his white skin made him a god and that the true God somehow gave him a pass on that "thou shalt not kill" thing. Imagine knowing that your son, husband, brother, sister, etc., was killed for trying to help people vote and living with the knowledge that no justice would be done. And imagine waiting 41 years to see someone pay for the crime.
This is why we need these dialogues about race and we must remember history and pass it on to our children. People like Edgar Ray Killen have long thought that they could hide behind time, fading memories, and fear. This SOB was a MINISTER!!!!! Can you believe that? But see, as long as we pretend that prejudice only exists in PBS reruns of "Eyes On the Prize," garbage like him will be able to hide in plain sight around decent people. He counted on people being too apathetic or fearful to come forward and I'm sure he convinced himself that he got away with it after being acquitted on federal civil rights violation charges back in the 50s.
But now the state of MS is taking a stand, just like it took a stand when it convicted Byron de la Beckwith 30 years after he murdered civil rights leader Medgar Evers on the porch of Evers' Jackson, MS, home. If Mississippi, one of the historical strongholds of racial prejudice and hatred can stand up and try to right wrongs, the least all of us can do is have the conversation so the cycle of hate can stop.
Read the full story here:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7209834
Let's send up our collective prayers for justice to be served ice cold and a bit of solace for the families of the Freedom Riders.
5 comments:
"This SOB was a MINISTER!!!!! Can you believe that? "
Unfortunatly I do. They were and are the ones thatv speard the most race and religious hate.
Just wish things would come about sooner. Wish people could be punished for even having hate groups *groan* alas free speech.
But as for flying confederate flags, I don't know, maybe shouldn't be flown over government buildings tho. But, the civil war didn't have anything to do with slavery, neither did the confederacy.
You know, I believe in free speech. People can paint their cars like the General Lee and make their horns play "Dixie" if they want to. I don't like it, but whatever.
My problem is when people want to hang these symbols of atrocity on public buildings. We have enough daily reminders of the fact that our horrible past is not so distant. In actuality, a lot of those things still happen today. Case in point, the recent cross burnings in Durham, NC, that were all over the news.
Sometimes I wonder if God ever looks down on all that goes on here and feels a twinge of regret.
That BS just makes me sick! It is so depressing! I just cant understand that kind of mindset! I dont see how 1 race can think that they are better than another & even go to such a horrible length to kill! I am so glad that they are FINALLY getting what they deserve, but I wish justice would have been done immediately!!! what a shame!!
...please where can I buy a unicorn?
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