Why Did The 1956 Legislature Change The Flag?
What Stacey Abrams said about burning the Georgia flag in 1992 The New York Times decided to show a picture of a younger, slimmer Stacey Abrams burning the Georgia state flag. The year was 1992. The state flag had the Confederate battle flag embedded. People were asking the legislature to change that. Miss Abrams was a student activist.
The NYT article sparked a twitter dogpile, about the motives of the Georgia legislature in 1956. PG remembers 1993, when the initial proposal to change the flag was made. Changing The Flag is an account of those years. If you have a minute, you should read that post before going any further. The people who wanted to change the flag introduced an argument. They said that the legislature changed the flag, in 1956, as a protest against integration. PG never believed that. One afternoon in 1994, PG found a newspaper article that supported his point of view. After that, PG did not think much about the issue. The flag was changed in 2000 and 2003.
The issue has a few shades of gray. The reason given in 1956 was honoring the Confederacy. In 1993, the 1956 legislature was said to be protesting integration. The emotions of honoring the Confederacy, and denouncing integration, are not entirely separate. Many of the same people, who are proud of the Confederacy, are white supremacists. To an outsider, they can seem like the same thing. PG can understand how someone not familiar with Georgia could mistake the two.
The debate, over the motive of the 1956 legislature, was never necessary. The flag, featuring the Confederate battle flag, was seen as a symbol of racism. Many people were offended by this flag. Why not just say we should change the flag for this reason, and not worry what the legislature was thinking? However, this was not good enough. People needed some more ammunition for their fight. The notion that the flag was changed as a protest against desegregation was born. PG never heard, before 1993, that the flag was changed as a protest against integration. People believed this notion without any evidence, just because somebody said so. 1994 was 38 years after 1956. Very few people in 1994 were active in 1956. The argument in favor of the changed-to-protest-integration notion had two parts: (1) Because I said so, (2) if you disagree you are a racist idiot.
@KevinMKruse No, she burned the old *Georgia* flag, which had been designed specifically by white supremacists as a show of defiance to desegregation in 1956. Let’s dig in. @chamblee54 The Flag was not changed as a protest against desegregation. Changing The Flag @KevinMKruse I literally wrote a book on this, but congratulations on finding a blog post. @chamblee54 I wrote the blog post. If you read the post, you will see I did research. Did anyone say at the time that the new flag was a protest? Do you have a link to this?
@jdtitan Luther, would you say you’re a racist idiot, or more of a stupid racist? @whoopityscoot Hahahahahahah. I just read your blog post. Sir, you are a moron. @ashleystollar That’s like saying the Civil War wasn’t fought over slavery. @Duranti “emotional pride for the traitors to America” @The_SquidProQuo You found one old newspaper article and felt compelled to argue the point huh? Stupid is a hell of a drug. @theDiff_Kenneth I read your blog post and I would like that 10 minutes of my life back. Your “evidence” was an announcement article that supported the flag change and omitted any overtly racist comments. Your writing style is close to unreadable and your investigative skills do not exist. @kingbuzz0 If you ever find yourself in the position of arguing of (insert subject) in the South had nothing to do with (insert stand in for outright racism), you have a bad argument. It’s all racism, always, every time.
@JoshCStephenso You found a single article? Maybe you would trust a paper written by the Deputy Director of the Georgia Senate Research Office – a chamber that is majority R? This tweet was helpful. The report was written in 2000, before the a new flag was driven through the legislature. If you have the time to read the complete report, it is worth your time. If not, a few quotes will be posted here, along with a few helpful comments.
The first Confederate flag looked a great deal like the Union flag. In early battles of the war, the two flags were often confused. “The commanding Confederate officer at the Battle of Bull Run, General P.T.G. Beauregard, determined that a single distinct battle flag was needed for the entire Confederate army. Confederate Congressman William Porcher Miles recommended a design incorporating St. Andrew’s Cross.”… “The St. Andrew’s Cross – the flag’s distinctive feature – had its origin in the flag of Scotland, which King James I of England combined with St. George’s Cross to form the Union Flag of Great Britain. It is believed that St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland since A.D. 750. and brother of the apostle Peter, was crucified by his persecutors upon a cross in the shape of an “X” in A.D. 60. White southerners, many of whom traced their ancestry to Scotland, very easily related to this Christian symbol.” “Other flags such as State regimental colors were used by the Confederacy on the battlefield, but the battle flag, although it was never officially recognized by the Confederate government, came to represent the Confederate army.”
At first, use of the battle flag was restricted to historic events. It wasn’t until the fifties that the flag began to be used by those who fought integration. In 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education was handed down by the Supreme Court, ordering the integration of schools. The Georgia legislature went into resistance mode, and spent a lot of time denouncing integration. The senate research office devotes page after page to these efforts. Finally, “In early 1955, John Sammons Bell, chairman of the State Democratic Party … suggested a new state flag for Georgia that would incorporate the Confederate Battle Flag. At the 1956 session of the General Assembly, state senators Jefferson Lee Davis and Willis Harden introduced Senate Bill 98 to change the state flag. Signed into law on February 13, 1956, the bill became effective the following July 1.”
“Little information exists as to why the flag was changed, there is no written record of what was said on the Senate and House floors or in committee and Georgia does not include a statement of legislative intent when a bill is introduced – SB 98 simply makes reference to the “Battle Flag of the Confederacy.” … “Many defenders of the flag, including former governor Ernest Vandiver, who served as the Lieutenant Governor in 1956, have attempted to refute the belief that the battle flag was added in defiance of the Supreme Court rulings. Vandiver, in a letter to the Atlanta Constitution, insisted that the discussion on the bill centered around the coming centennial of the Civil War and that the flag was meant to be a memorial to the bravery, fortitude and courage of the men who fought and died on the battlefield for the Confederacy.”
This is where it gets murky. It is apparent that the legislature was obsessed with integration. The circumstantial evidence, of the flag being changed as a protest of integration, is there. However, there is no smoking gun. There are no apparent statements, from 1956, saying that this change was made to protest integration. This detail seems to have sprung up in 1993, without having been widely mentioned in the 37 years since 1956. The newspaper article PG found does not mention a protest against integration, and does mention a desire to honor the Confederacy.
“The argument that the flag was changed in 1956 in preparation for the approaching Civil War centennial appears to be a retrospective or after-the-fact argument. In other words, no one in 1956, including the flag’s sponsors, claimed that the change was in anticipation of the coming anniversary. Those who subscribe to this argument have adopted it long after the flag had been changed.” This is contradicted by the newspaper article, and statements by “Governor Griffin’s floor leader, Representative Denmark Groover … “anything we in Georgia can do to preserve the memory of the Confederacy is a step forward.” As for the after-the-fact argument, you could say the same thing about the notion that the flag was changed as a protest against integration.
“There was also some opposition to the change from the state’s many newspapers. The North Georgia Tribune argued that: “….There is little wisdom in a state taking an official action which would incite its people to lose patriotism in the U.S.A. or cast a doubt on that part of the Pledge of Allegiance which says ‘one nation, unto God, indivisible…’ So far as we are concerned, the old flag is good enough. We dislike the spirit which hatched out the new flag, and we don’t believe Robert E. Lee…would like it either” “The Atlanta Constitution also thought that the flag change was unnecessary for the simple fact that “there has been no recorded dissatisfaction with the present flag.” The newspaper article PG found in 1994 was from the Constitution. Even though they were opposed to the change, they did not attribute this change to a desire to protest integration.
“When the flag change was first proposed, it received resistance from groups that one would think would have highly favored the change – various Confederate organizations including the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). “They made the change strictly against the wishes of UDC chapters from all the states that form our organization,” said Ms. Forrest E. Kibler, legislative chairwoman of the Georgia UDC. … The Executive Board of the Georgia Division of UDC had passed a resolution on January 11, 1956 opposing the proposed changes to the flag, citing that the Confederate battle flag belonged to all the Confederate States – not merely to Georgia – and placing it on the Georgia flag would cause strife. … Also opposing the new flag was the John B. Gordon Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. This group protested against all uses of the battle flag except in commemoration of the Confederacy, or by the official use of the Daughters of the Confederacy, the Sons of the Confederacy, and the Children of the Confederacy.” This opposition was touched on in the newspaper article. This is one of the more confusing aspects of this affair.
“While many questioned the political and philosophical motives of the flag change, there were others who considered the change to be an unnecessary expense that would burden taxpayers, since Georgia law required every public school, and all public institutions to fly the state flag. In voting “no,” Representative Mackay said that the present flag was “a symbol of sacred memory” and that “the change puts every flag owner in Georgia to unnecessary expense.” Alleviating the financial concerns of many, sponsors of the bill pointed out that those institutions required to fly the new flag will replace the old flag with the new one only as present flags wear out. Questions were also raised on whether anyone had a copyright on the flag design which would entitle them to royalties – a charge denied by John Sammons Bell and Representative Groover.”
John Sammons Bell is a name that keeps coming up. From 1954 to 1960, Mr. Bell was Chairman of the State’s Democratic Party. He was, by all accounts, an enthusiastic segregationist. One of the jaw dropping moments in the senate report was this: “Bell, a one-time supporter of Governor Ellis Arnall, once had the reputation of being a “liberal” on race issues.”
When the state senate report was issued, in 2000 (6 years after PG found the newspaper article, and dropped out of the argument,) Mr. Bell had a few comments. “He wanted to forever perpetuate the memory of the Confederate soldier who fought and died for his state and that the purpose of the change was “to honor our ancestors who fought and died and who have been so much maligned.” He has also argued that the flag was not redesigned in reaction to and in defiance of the 1954 Brown decision… “Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth … every bit of it is untrue. ”
“On March 9, 1993, (Denmark) Groover moved many Georgians when he stood in the House well to address his colleagues on the subject of the state flag. In an emotional speech, he acknowledged that the flag is offensive to some and conceded that, “I cannot say to you that I personally was in no way motivated by a desire to defy. I can say in all honesty that my willingness was in large part because … that flag symbolized a willingness of a people to sacrifice their all for their beliefs.” Mr. Groover offered a compromise, which included a smaller version of the battle flag. A flag similar to that was adopted in 2000, only to be changed again in 2003.
To sum up, the Georgia state flag was changed in 1956. The new flag contained the Confederate battle flag. Many people were offended by the 1956 flag. PG thought it was ugly. Many others saw it, with some justification, as a symbol of racism. For some reason, speculation arose about the motives of the 1956 legislature. 18 years after the passage of a new flag, people are still arguing over the motives of the 1956 legislature. Pictures for this gratuitous waste of bandwidth are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. .
Who Elects The Dog Catcher?
@realDonaldTrump Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts…. Our ever tweetable POTUS sent this message out today. It raises an important question: what municipality elects the animal control associate? Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
What an elected dogcatcher reveals about small-town America is the result from The Economist. “You’ve reached your article limit Sign up to keep reading or subscribe now to get the complete experience.” For $12, USD, you can get twelve weeks of this publication. There is no guarantee that you will learn anything about dog catcher politics.
Is dogcatcher actually an elective office? Slate wrote an article about this, when all they had to say was no. The author: “Christopher Beam is a writer living in Beijing.” This is a place where dog catchers are an important part of the restaurant supply chain.
A brief history of people who have actually been elected dog catcher The Washington Post tried a bit harder. They found newspaper clippings referring to elected dog catchers. Col. Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley, was said to have been elected dog catcher in Tampa FL. There is also the story of Bob White. He assured voters that even though he lost both legs, he would be able to perform the duties of dog catcher.
Duxbury VT keeps coming up in this search party. They have a town meeting every year, and the dog catcher is chosen by citizen vote. In the most recent town meeting, “dog catcher Zeb Towne, who was nominated almost unanimously for re-election, despite a “no” vote from his wife that cause laughter to erupt in the room. “She’s mad about the late nights I have to go out on those calls,” Towne said. “It’s because you’re out there rounding up them bitches,” This is a repost.
Georgia Voter Registration
@LEBassett “1.Brian Kemp is running for GA gov against Stacey Abrams (a black woman) 2. Kemp is in charge of elections & voter registration 3. Kemp made a new “exact match” rule that is holding up 53,000 voter registrations…. NEARLY 70% OF THEM BLACK 4. THIS IS ALL I WANT TO TALK ABOUT” There is nothing like getting your news from twitter.
Voting rights become a flashpoint in Georgia governor’s race The story gets attention. Georgia is holding up 53k voter registrations. 70% of these registrations are black people, according to an undocumented AP story. These registrations are in the Secretary of State’s office. The current SOS, Brian Kemp, is the Republican candidate for Governor. Mr. Kemp is white. His Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, is black. As you might imagine, the sensation-driven media is in outrage mode.
“An analysis of the records obtained by The Associated Press reveals racial disparity … the list of voter registrations on hold with Kemp’s office is nearly 70 percent black.” No link is provided for the analysis, which is likely to be true. Assuming that is factual … a dangerous proposition three weeks before an election … the next question should be How do they know.? Is the race of the voter on the voter registration application?
STATE OF GEORGIA APPLICATION FOR VOTER REGISTRATION is your basic government form. On line 4, after telephone number, date of birth, and gender (a two check box male/female), we have race/ethnicity: White, Hispanic/Latino, Black, American Indian, Other (with a blank space), Asian/Pacific Islander. Qualifications include: “Have not been found mentally incompetent by a judge.” Does this requirement apply to candidates?
“Why must I indicate my race or ethnic group? The federal government requires South Carolina to document race or ethnic group for voters by the National Voter Registration Act.” This is the standard answer. The documentation for Georgia can be found at Voter Registration Statistics. If you are a statistics junkie, here is your fix for today.
Georgia has an regulation requiring voter registration to have an “exact match” with information already on file with the Georgia Department of Drivers Services (DDS) or Social Security Administration (SSA). “In 2017, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law House Bill 268, which codified a voter registration database “exact match” protocol that had been already shown to disproportionately and negatively impact the ability of voting eligible African American, Latino and Asian American applicants to register to vote.” The regulation was not created by Brian Kemp.
Georgia Knew Its Voter Roll Practice Was Discriminatory. It Stuck With It Anyway. The implication of the recent stories is that applications are being targeted by race. Of course, many, if not most, of the clerks reviewing these applications are black. And how would the state know if the voters were black, if it was not on the application?
New FPCA Form Eliminates the Obnoxious Race Question takes a look from another perspective. Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is designed to help military personnel overseas obtain absentee ballots. With regards to the *race question*, authorities here give the standard answer: “Also, many states ask that you provide your race or ethnic group in order to demonstrate that they are complying with the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act.” This sentence has a footnote. “I have reviewed both the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (“Motor Voter”), “), and I do not find any provision requiring the states to report to the Federal Government on the race of voters.” The article goes on to describe a Texas election. Absentee ballots were disputed because they were cast by non-Hispanic voters.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
091118
This is my 911 story. I repeat it every year at this time. If you saw it last year, it has not changed. Every year I say this will be the last time. The wars started after 911 are still going on.
I was at work, and someone called out that someone had run a plane into the World Trade Center. I didn’t think much of it, until I heard that the second tower had been hit, then the Pentagon, then the towers collapsed, then a plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
I focused on my job most of the day. There was always drama at that facility, and concentrating on my production duties helped to keep me saner. This was roughly the halfway point of my seven year tenure at this place.
One of the other workers was a bully for Jesus. He was a hateful loudmouth. After the extent of the damage became known, he shouted “They are doing this for Allah,” and prayed at his desk. The spectacle of the BFJ praying made me want to puke.
I became alienated from Jesus during these years. Once, I had once been tolerant of Christians and Jesus, as one would be with an eccentric relative. I began to loath the entire affair. I hear of others who found comfort in religion during this difficult time. That option simply was not available for me.
Pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. “This item is part of a collection of images of downtown Atlanta streets that were taken before the viaduct construction of 1927 – 1929. Some of the covered streets became part of Underground Atlanta.”
Robocall Survey
PG was minding his business at 3:00 pm, 09/08/18, when the phone rang. It was Chris, with 20/20 Insight. The voice asked if PG would like to take a five minute survey. At 3:09, the last keypad button was pushed. PG’s emotional buttons were pushed a few minutes before the call ended.
The call started normally. Are you likely to vote in the upcoming election? What is your opinion of Republican Brian Kemp, and Democrat Stacey Abrams? To answer, you push a number on a touch tone phone. There is a lot of pulling the phone off your ear, to look at the keypad, and choose the appropriate button. After a while, this can be annoying. The correct answer for most of the demographic questions is NOYB. This is found at the end of a long list of options.
It is a cliche of phone calls that the third thing you hear is what the call is about. Robocall surveys work the same way. The third topic here was the race for district 81 of the Georgia House. The players are Democratic Incumbent Scott Holcomb, and Republican Challenger Ellen Diehl. It will soon become apparent that @RepScottHolcomb is paying for this robocall.
PG received another call from Chris at 20/20 Insight. It was in support of Sally Harrell. She is running for the Georgia Senate, from district 40. The pattern is the same. You start with the headline race. Then you move on to the race sponsoring the ad. At some point a series of statements are read, and you are asked to respond to them. The statements are positive about one candidate, and negative about the other. It is obvious what is going on.
Robocalls are part of the political game now. They are despised by many voters, and yet many candidates still use them. It is like the strategy used by Nike to sell shoes. You will upset people who are offended when their ritual patriotism is disrespected. These consumers should be offset by the shoe customers who enjoy the exploitation support for their social justice jihad. The problem is, many people support the kneelers, but respect the patriots. Millions of consumers are tired of having their chain pulled over this manufactured controversy. Nike is smirking all the way to the bank.
What does Nike have to do with voters? Elections are another commodity. @RepScottHolcomb has made a calculated decision. The amount of voters that will be positively influenced by this robocall will offset those that are angered by it. John Q. Public’s peace of mind is not considered. The offended voter is collateral damage.
What made yesterday’s call such a trust buster was the negative statements about @iDiehl4Georgia. Chris said that Ms. Diehl was a fanatic supporter of Donald Trump, who “… lives w/ life-size cutout of Trump & talking Trump doll.” The text is from the twitter feed of @RepScottHolcomb. In other words, Rep. Holcomb paid for this ad.
There are a lot of people who don’t like Donald Trump right now. *Trump supporter* is considered an insult, and sometimes justification for violent assault. Evidently, Rep. Holcomb thinks it will help him get re-elected to call his opponent a supporter of the President. The fact that Rep. Holcomb is a well liked incumbent, who could easily run on his record, apparently is not good enough. The Georgia House of Representatives has nothing to do with Donald Trump. Opinions about the POTUS have no bearing on the job of representing the 81st district. This is name calling, and mud slinging politics. Because someone supports an unpopular person, who is President of the United States. So much for respecting the office.
It is incredibly disappointing to lose this much respect for someone. PG feels that he has been played for a fool. Scott Holcomb is no longer the much respected Representative from his district. Scott Holcomb is just another cynical politician. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The photographer was Russell Lee, in Kansas, in August 1939.
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Racism Double Feature
There was a comment thread on facebook. Here is the comment that started it. “I have a Facebook friend, who is a black Trump supporter, who says he doesn’t care “if he’s racist or not.” I don’t know what to think about that. Maybe there are a few of my black friends who can help me with that?” There were a lot of comments, which is not surprising. Race, and not liking Donald Trump, are two popular topics of conversation.
The conversation started with a link to When Someone Says They Still Support Trump, I Instantly Know 6 Things About Them. The six items, with a parenthetical summary, are: 1. You want to be ruled, not governed (authoritarianism,) 2. You are not someone I would trust to do business with (business ethics,) 3. You’re either a racist or an enabler of racists (racism,) 4. You have issues with women (misogyny,) 5. You aren’t quite as “Christian” as you claim to be (religious exploitation,) 6. You are anti-constitution (respect for rule of law,)
While those six items are more or less true about Mr. Trump, it is a stretch to say they apply to anyone who supports the man. (Many of these character traits are present in people who don’t like Mr. Trump, especially authoritarianism.) What is disturbing to PG is the way that racial attitudes dominates the conversation. This is a problem in a lot of ways. The obsession with screaming racist helped Mr. Trump get elected. Insulting potential voters is not a good campaign strategy.
There seems to be a national verdict that Donald J. Trump is a racist. A non compliant racial attitude is worse than authoritarianism, crookedness, and mental instability. If you are white, and you question this orthodoxy, then you are a racist. If you are black, and don’t believe without question, then you are asking to be insulted.
The Trump-is-racist meme follows a cynical decision to make Mr. Trump’s racial attitudes a campaign issue. The best evidence cited is a 1973 complaint, involving discrimination in renting apartments. Other evidence… attacks on nationalities, attacks on religious groups, support of unseemly white people … utilize an elastic definition of racism. Others disagree.
There was a comment: Martin C Ezeonu “Lol… I don’t like Trump cuz he is an asshole. On the other hand we know exactly where there country stands now because of him. This country is still racist as hell. these past years nobody addressed is just politicians smartly covering it up. But now to move forward something has to give. And I like that. Let people stop being deceived. Don’t care if he is racist or not I like the fact that he is not a politician and couldn’t play the game. That’s why both parties want him out.”
Mr. Ezeonu is from Nigeria. He might have little in common with most African Americans, other that his skin tone. That is all many people see. People fail to appreciate the amazing diversity in today’s African America. In the comments, Mr. Exeonu was called an idiot, mentally ill, and many other things. Not agreeing with a national consensus is dangerous.
Mr. Trump has numerous problems. In the list of six things, we see authoritarian tendencies, and ethical shortcomings. Many feel the Democrats made a mistake by screaming racist, instead of focusing on his shady business practices. Many white people were alienated by this campaign tactic. After the Trump victory, many black people feel alienated by his election. The race situation gets worse and worse. Saying that Donald Trump is a racist does not help.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
One of the touted TED talks in the weekly email is Color blind or color brave? It is by Mellody Hobson, a POC in the investment business. It is the standard call to talk more about race. Talk, talk, talk, and talk some more. The word listen is not used.
At the 3:13 mark, Mrs. Hobson makes a remarkable statement. “Now I know there are people out there who will say that the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity, right?” (Yes, this is a TED talk.) It is possible that someone has said that. There are also people who say the earth is flat.
PG asked Mr. Google about this. The top two results are about the TED talk. The third result is an article in Forbes magazine, Racism In America Is Over. It is written by John McWhorter, one of the “black guys at Bloggingheads.tv.” Dr. McWhorter does say racism is over, sort of. The problems that remain are a lot worse. Too much food for thought, for a population with intellectual bulimia.
There is a quote in the Forbes article that is pure gold. “When decrying racism opens no door and teaches no skill, it becomes a schoolroom tattletale affair. It is unworthy of all of us: “He’s just a racist” intoned like “nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!””
There are a lot more results. PG is getting tired of looking. If you want to see for yourself, google “the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity.” Except for a rogue title editor at Forbes, almost nobody has said that. This is a repost. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Robocall For Sally Harrell
PG was minding his own business. Armistead Maupin is appearing at the dickhater book festival, and PG was getting the details. A picture had just been exported. Then the phone rang. It was 20/20 Insight with a *brief* public opinion survey. “20/20 Insight LLC is a full service public opinion research firm that provides services to Democratic candidates and advocacy organizations.”
After a couple of minutes, the focus turned to the race for the Georgia Senate 40th District. The combatants were incumbent Fran Millar, and Democratic opposition Sally Harrell. A few *achievements* of Ms. Harrell were listed. Would this make you more likely to vote for her? A few of Fran Millar’s sins were listed. Does this make you have an unfavorable opinion of him? It became obvious who was paying for the call.
Throughout the call, the incumbent was called Miller, like tastes-great-less-filling. This seemed odd, since the name is spelled Millar. A phone call to Millar headquarters confirmed that Miller is the correct pronunciation. “That is one thing she did get right.”
“…when you sit down next to someone at the church picnic who genuinely loves and respects the black people they know but who consistently votes for politicians with overtly racist policies… ” This is one of the clues for spotting a racist, according to the NYT. Since the 40th district is mostly prosperous white people, it is not politically advantageous to talk about race. The talking points shared in this survey were that Sally Harrell is pro-education, and that Fran Millar voted against expanding Medicare. Both of these issues affect POC and PWOC. Neither is an “overtly racist policy.” Maybe the church picnic someone will have to find another reason to vote.
The brief survey went on, and on, and on. You answer by pushing buttons on a phone, and have to listen to endless options before making your choice. This is especially annoying with the racial demographics, where you have to consider “Hawaiin or other Pacific Islander” before saying it is NOYB. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
How To Talk To R*****S
The New York Times is continuing the slow news day tradition of publishing clickbait content about race. The piece in question is How to Talk to a Racist. If you want to read this feature without interference from the NYT paywall, go here.
The article is useless. Twitter has people sharing the link. Clever people answer the question, how to talk to a racist, with one word: don’t. PG had too much free time, and read some of the comments. A thought came through. With all of this talk about talk, does anyone say anything about listening? As it turns out, the article does. Towards the end of the piece, we see this: “They’ll listen to what you have to say if they trust you’ll listen to what they have to say back.” This is an optimistic approach.
The next paragraph is where this feature begins to wrap things up, in anticipation of the ending. There is an 83 word sentence. “When you encounter a person who believes he’s merely honoring his ancestors by driving a car with an image of the Confederate battle flag on the tag, when a Facebook friend announces that it’s disrespectful to take a knee during the national anthem, when you sit down next to someone at the church picnic who genuinely loves and respects the black people they know but who consistently votes for politicians with overtly racist policies, stop for just a moment and take a breath.” Racist or woke, that sentence is a grammar nightmare.
The first example is “a person who believes he’s merely honoring his ancestors by driving a car with an image of the Confederate battle flag on the tag.” This person paid extra money to have a status license plate with the Stars and Bars. He may be honoring his ancestors, which is not a crime, yet. He may be giving the finger to uppity liberals, like @MargaretRenkl, author of the NYT piece. He might be a genuine white supremacist, and is advertising this attitude in hope of starting trouble. It is unlikely that most people will have much contact with him, except for seeing the license plate in traffic. Maybe the state agency raising money this way should be challenged.
The second example is “when a Facebook friend announces that it’s disrespectful to take a knee during the national anthem.” Holy red herring. A washed up quarterback does not stand for the national anthem. A orange haired politician makes political hay. Millions of football fans are offended when their ritual patriotism is not performed properly. Since Colin Kaepernick, presumably, had a black bio-dad, this is now racism. This issue is a waste of our national energy. It will have no impact, whatsoever, on the police brutality it purports to protest.
The third example is “when you sit down next to someone at the church picnic who genuinely loves and respects the black people they know but who consistently votes for politicians with overtly racist policies.” (The article has a subtle Christian slant, with a reminder to “Think of the plank in your own eye.”) Why are you talking about politicians at a church picnic anyway? What are the “overtly racist policies?” Who was the opponent? Maybe both candidates had “overtly racist policies,” as well as covertly crooked campaign financing. You are going to do a lot of breathing.
This post has gone on long enough. If you want to hear snarky comments about how yukky racists are, go online 24/7. If you want to learn how to talk to racists, or better yet, how to shut up and listen, google might be of some assistance. Or maybe not. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Politically Relevant
A facebook friend shared a post. “i don’t really believe in engaging in electoral politics all that much but would everyone please vote for Stacey Abrams so the material conditions of myself and many of my friends doesn’t get immediately worse if Kemp is elected? like i’m really asking for all my radicalized georgians here to get registered and show up to vote this ONE TIME!!!! like as a personal favor to me. i’m really open to talking about this if you’re unconvinced, and people do deserve the right to abstain! i support you! but also we have to survive long enough to organize ffs”
The discussion that followed is presented below. Names of the other players are replaced by numbers. You should never wrestle with a hog. You will get dirty, and the pig will enjoy himself.
Luther Mckinnon Are the supporters of Miss Abrams going to try to shout down Mr. Kemp,
like they did Mrs. Evans?
@001 Of course! Every damn day.
@002 That’s a really weird point to get hung up on. But hey. Shouting down Kemp is a very fine idea and I am sure you will be joining us, right Luther?
Luther Mckinnon That would guarantee a victory for Mr. Kemp
@003 Abrams supporters didn’t shout down Evans.
Luther Mckinnon Somebody did shout down Mrs. Evans, and Miss Abrams defended them.
@003 Because she defends “freedom of speech,” and because Evans also needed to be held accountable. But she had a good point, why are you hung up on that?
Luther Mckinnon Because this is how mob rule works. Democrats will make excuses for this sorry behavior, but Republicans and Independents will not. If you want to hand Mr. Kemp a victory, then go ahead with your playground tactics.
@003 What are you even talking about
@003 You don’t even know what happened and you’re so defensive.
Go out and canvass if you’re so upset.
Luther Mckinnon Stacey And Stacey
@003 Sorry, I’m not familiar with the reputable source “chambles54.wordpress”
@003 But it’s okay, you’re still upset at Abrams for whatever reason, let’s pretend that won’t make people vote for Kemp, good day sir
Luther Mckinnon Click on the link, and learn about the incident.
@003 Lol, I did click the link, the bright colors of the font threw me off, and I am very familiar with the incident.Again, have a good one
@004 Ugh log off Luther
@004 Old white dudes politically relevant? Not on my watch
Miss Abrams did support people who shouted down her opponent in August 2017. What would happen if white republicans sent a mob to shout down a speech by Miss Abrams? How would republicans react to a mob shouting down Brian Kemp? Would the republicans send security officers to forcibly break up the shouting? This business of shouting down your opponent could get ugly fast. Miss Abrams expressed support of the mob shouting down Stacey Evans. Miss Abrams also played a role in the 1992 riots, after the Rodney King verdict was announced.
Brian Kemp has a lot of shortcomings, and would probably make a bad Governor. If Stacey Abrams runs a playground campaign, as some of her supporters want, then Mr. Kemp is almost guaranteed a win. In the general election, old white dudes are politically relevant. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. “At the May Day pageant in Siloam, Greene County, Georgia” Jack Delano, photographer, 1941 May. UPDATE: More posts were made after this feature was published.
@004 Did you just call us pigs in your horribly designed blog
@004 Kemp is a shitheaded racist who engages in overt voter suppression
I really don’t think you get to tell people how to treat him
Luther Mckinnon You can’t make this up.
Runoff
PG got back from the school, after going up the path to vote. The path gets narrower and narrower. The part you walk on has been washed out, by the same rains that send the weeds into a growing frenzy. The job of trimming back these weeds is never done. Is a primary runoff the electoral equivalent of trimming back these vines?
The voting takes place in the media center, formerly known as the library. A large, obviously new, rug is in the lobby of the school. There is nobody in line at seven thirty. The lady asks for an ID. PG asks the lady not to laugh at the picture. The next lady tries to scan the drivers license, and winds up typing the information in on the touch screen. She goes one letter at a time, using an ink pen. Finally, she gives PG a small plastic card, which he puts in the slot, on the machine. The handicapped booth serves both Democrats and Republicans.
There are only three races in the Democratic runoff. One is for some kind of school board person. Neither name is familiar, so PG picks the most normal sounding name. In the other two races, all four candidates have called PG on the phone. The two Congressional candidates used a live human to call, and the two Judge wannabes utilized a robocall machine. PG has a rule: do not vote for someone that calls you on the phone. All four candidates have broken this rule.
In the judge election, both candidates have funny sounding names. One of them sounds vaguely African. The other sounds like a black lady, born in the United States. PG picks the name that is easier to pronounce. PG does not want to meet either one in court.
The Congressional race is a bit more complicated. PG has written about Lucy McBath. Her opponent, Kevin Abel, is a nice looking young man. Both candidates have sent stacks of slick, well produced, mailers. Mr. Abel sent one with a picture of Donald Trump, with the word “Lies” prominently displayed. It is uncertain how this will help.
The Democrat winner will run against Karen Handel. She is a certified poopyhead. The job at this stage is to determine who will have the best chance of defeating Mrs. Handel. While Kevin Abel has a certain blonde appeal, Lucy McBath will get people interested in the election. Neither last name will inspire a vulgar campaign slogans. (Vote your McBath off.) Mrs. Handel is a heavyweight contender, and will be tough to defeat. Lucy McBath is the best choice here.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Lucy McBath
The GA06 election is moving on. The incumbent, Karen Handel, is a terrible person. Kevin Abel and Lucy McBath will be in the Democratic runoff to face Mrs. Handel in November. PG has not been paying much attention. One exception was receiving a phone call from the Abel campaign. This annoyed PG, and made him not want to vote for Mr. Abel.
On friday the 13th, mailers came from both candidates. Kevin Abel had a pink bordered message, “Women deserve to live free from fear.” Lucy McBath said “When her son Jordan Davis was murdered for listening to his music too loud, Lucy McBath turned her grief into action.” PG remembered hearing about the 2012 incident in Florida, and started to look for information.
“Michael Dunn … pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis … Lt. Rob Schoonover of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said … Davis was sitting in a parked SUV with three other teens, when Dunn parked next to their vehicle and made a comment about the loud music the group was playing. The 45-year-old apparently got into an argument with Davis, who was sitting in the back seat. … Dunn allegedly took out a gun and shot into the vehicle, striking Davis twice.”
During the trial, one of the teenagers offered this testimony. “Thompson told the court that Dunn said: “Turn your music down I can’t hear myself think.” Thompson says he obliged, but that Jordan Davis objected, saying, according to Thompson, “F**k that, n****r, turn it back up.” Thompson turned the music back up … Davis and Dunn began “having a conversation back and forth.””
After the first trial, a juror offered an opinion of what Mr. Dunn could have done. “ABC: What were his options? VALERIE: Roll the window up, ignore the taunting, put your car in reverse, back up to the front of the store, move a parking spot over. That’s my feeling.”
In February 1999, PG was working with someone who played a Christian radio station. When PG objected, the co-worker lost it. It was the worst temper tantrum PG had ever seen. The hysterical abuse continued, in one way or another, for the next six years. The co-worker never forgave PG. What would it be like, to have a carload of teenagers go off on you like that?
Shooting someone is not justified, with or without a stand your ground law. But the saying, “You’re gonna get yourself killed” is not about justification. Mr. Dunn was coming back from a wedding, and possibly intoxicated. Mr. Dunn was armed, and according to a former neighbor, “could be pretty intense.” Mr. Dunn, on that day, was not someone who will “ignore the taunting.”
Getting back to the race for Congress, the runoff will be in ten days. Both candidates will have a tough time, in the heavily Republican GA06. PG will, as usual, decide who to vote for on his way to the polls. Being reminded of a murder will not help. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Prager University AKA PU
It was a peaceful sunday morning. Being home churched has advantages. PG made the choice to listen to a video by Uncle Hotep. The video was about an article at the root, 10 Things I Already Know About You if You’re Listening to Nas’ New Album Nasir. Item 3: “You believe that interracial relationships produce a better grade of black hair.” PG had never heard of Nas’, and asked Mr. Google to direct him to a video. After 16 seconds, the artist used the n-word. Good times.
Dangerous People Are Teaching Your Kids is a video by Prager University, starring Jordan B. Peterson. The pregame video for UH promotes this product. PG called on Mr. Google to direct him to the PU site. One of the results was an article, Free speech champion Jordan Peterson threatens to sue professor over Twitter name calling. This is not satire. While the offending tweet is deleted, the apology is up. @THEWRENCHLEFT AS PER THREAT TO SUE FOR LIBEL, I HEREBY APOLOGIZE TO JORDAN PETERSON FOR REFERRING TO HIM AS AN INVOLUNTARY CELIBATE (INCEL), A MISOGYNIST, A COMMITTED WHITE NATIONALIST, AND SOMEONE WHO HAS DESCENDED INTO RANK BIGOTRY. The Daily Caller presents the other side of the story, Pro-Flag-Burning Prof Calls Child-Having Jordan Peterson A ‘White Nationalist’ ‘Incel’.
Incel (a portmanteau of “involuntary celibates”) is a word that has become popular recently. Popular is not a word frequently associated with incels. The Urban Dictionary defines incel as “A sexist sack of shit who thinks all women owe him sex.” The spell check suggestion for incel is Celine.
Whatever his other shortcomings, JBP has 2 grown children. He had sex twenty something years ago, so he is not an incel. Unfortunately, JBP made a video for PU. Since this show has a transcript, it will be easy to criticize. The lecture style of JBP involves throwing lots of big words at you in rapid fire succession, so you don’t have time to think. With a tranny transcript, you have the luxury of hitting pause, and spreading snark.
PG has been out of the classroom for a while, so there may be trends in higher education that he missed out on. However, is it really true that “It’s now possible to complete an English degree and never encounter Shakespeare—one of those dead white males whose works underlie our “society of oppression.””? JBP does not say which institution offers such a degree. A google search turns this up, Yale ‘decolonizes’ English dept. “Previous requirements for the major included two courses in “Major English Poets,” including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton and Eliot, among others. But that two-course series petitioners had deemed actively harmful due to its focus on white male poets. The series is no longer a graduation requirement for Yale’s English majors.” No longer a graduation requirement” is not the same as “never encounter.
“You’re underwriting this gang of nihilists. You’re supporting ideologues who claim that all truth is subjective …” There is a difference between not requiring a course in a subject, and saying that a graduate will “never encounter” that subject. JBP was lying when he made that statement. This is an example of truth being relative.
“Their world is instead a Hobbesian nightmare of identity groups warring for power.” You should give JBP (or his ghostwriter) credit for knowing how to turn a phrase. It should be noted that JBP is not completely wrong. “They don’t see ideas that run contrary to their ideology as simply incorrect. They see them as integral to the oppressive system they wish to supplant, and consider it a moral obligation to stifle and constrain their expression.” Social Justice Jihad does have a collateral damage problem. It is a handy target for strawman jousting jerkoffs.
“Second is rejection of the free market … Meanwhile, in once-prosperous Venezuela—until recently the poster-child of the campus radicals—the middle class lines up for toilet paper.” Holy strawman, Batman. While some “campus radicals” may be Marxist, that is far from a requirement for Social Justice Jihad. This *free market* rhetoric will play well with the conservatives who make up the bulk of PU listeners. Also, has anyone seen any posters praising the revolution in Venezuela? Maybe they are kept in the same library as the Shakespeare shredders.
“Post-modernists don’t believe in individuals. You’re an exemplar of your race, sex, or sexual preference. You’re also either a victim or an oppressor. No wrong can be done by anyone in the former group, and no good by the latter.” Here again, identity politics can be yucky, but good grief, does anyone really believe this?
The video only lasts 5:02. Staying within the attention span of your target audience is a good idea. It the last part of the message, the naughty professors are labeled as communists. The evils of this tacky ideology are fervently denounced. Does anyone notice what has happened in the Soviet Union? The former KGB dudes changed their colors. Russia is a post-Marxist kleptocracy today. Their leadership is buddy buddy with Donald J. Trump. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. .
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