A fantastic speech from NOLA mayor on the removal of confederate statues in his city:

raydawg wrote on 05/25/17 at 10:08:19:


I can't say that I have.  Please elaborate.

Ok......
I will speak from experience, and how this was shared with me, and how I believe it pertains to this confederate issue.
First off, thank you for allowing me to share..,...

As a person who went to AA, for help, you learn many things from folks whom went down this path already.
The ego would like nothing better than to believe itcan find answers to my problems, etc....
So I look within my self for answers.
Well that is pretty dumb, for I search because I am lost, ain't no answer there, is there....

So I listen to others who shared accordingly.
To begin a life free of the grip booze had on me, I needed to admit my life was out of control....
I didn't like living under these conditions, that I was certain, but I kept drinking, as it freed me from the guilt, etc, but only until I sobered up, rinse, and repeat.
To go forward with any chance of sobriety, I had to leave the past behind me, or it would drag me back.
Yet, I had to also acknowledge the past too....
Seems a paradox.
Of course I am leaving out much, giving you just a quick explanation, but in order for me to clear my books, I had to realize that every thing I did in the past, has brought me to the present......
And this means everything.. ....
You can't pick and choose if you really want to move on successfully.
Now in the present, I am seeking a better way to live, one that is sustainable and free of the baggage that I use to drag around that use to justify my need to drink.....
Now the future exsist so that I too can give back what others gave, freely, without expectation, but with hope it might help another were I once was.

Not sure if I explained myself well, but I sense healing of all the damage slavery caused, etc, won't be erased by removing confederate history, no.
Furthermore I think it plays an extremely important part in realizing the wrongs of the past, etc, but we leave in there, in the past, not deny it, no, but use it to overcome the stigma, etc, that is still tethered to it if we put too much empathist on historical things....

Sure, it is easy for me as a white dude to say that, however, I have heard from many black people they let this historical past drag them into the slavery of taskmaster John Barleycorn.

No one escapes finding ugly things in their lives, we can't always change that, no, however, we needn't let it rob us of the present, either.

Just my sole observation, nothing more.
Again, thanks for asking and letting me share this.

stewmills wrote on 05/25/17 at 13:18:32:


Not even close to the same thing.  Watch the video.

This is about the narrative that these statues represent and the confederacy supporters.  These generals and others in the confederacy were NOT patriots.  They fought to dismantle the Union.

On the other hand, museums teach history.  They provide a historical account of what happened.  They don't try and change the narrative.

If that statue's plaque said that lee was a confederate general and that he fought to separate the Union, to enable slavery to continue - so be it.  That would be an accurate description.

But that was not the intent.

T And T Garage wrote on 05/25/17 at 13:51:24:


You have the luxury of hindsight, on your side
But keeping it in context, in was a growing pain the country had to go through, understand history, the issue was polarizing the nation.
Slavery was acceptable to much of the world in these days.
But because if this, we are better for it today.

I see so many of you here dwelling in past arguments, without realizing how you keep yourself in bondage.

T And T Garage wrote on 05/25/17 at 14:15:36:


Exactly......
And so many folks believed in the south, etc.
It was so much more than just slavery of black folks, but it has become that, and I dare say so folk can still capitalize off of it.

As much as he was, and I guess, still herald, by many, it shows the fallacy of putting too much faith in ideas that pit beliefs, against one another.
The stigma will live on, and give fuel to bias, hate, and prejudice, because no one is willing to let the light shine on the truth, as ugly as it is, was.

+1...  Well said...

Armen wrote on 05/28/17 at 09:07:53:

The Civil War was not about Slavery or any noble value.  It was about states remaining sovereign.

Lincoln didn’t believe blacks should have the same rights as whites.

Though Lincoln argued that the founding fathers’ phrase “All men are created equal” applied to blacks and whites alike, this did not mean he thought they should have the same social and political rights. His views became clear during an 1858 series of debates with his opponent in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas, who had accused him of supporting “negro equality.” In their fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois, on September 18, 1858, Lincoln made his position clear. “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races,” he began, going on to say that he opposed blacks having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites. What he did believe was that, like all men, blacks had the right to improve their condition in society and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way they were equal to white men, and for this reason slavery was inherently unjust.

http://www.history.com/news/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-lincoln-slavery-a...


It is referred to as the War of Northern Aggression for a reason.



Best regards,