Friday, June 12, 2020

Changing history

Or, rewriting it, anyway.

First there was the (once) failed attempt to banish all "Confederate" statues. (even though many of them are mis-targeted) that was reanimated in the current riots protests.

Second there was the attempt to ban Gone with the Wind.

Are they gonna demand that we get rid of all UnaApproved literature? 

Books, films. are they gonna demand the destruction of every copy of  every film that depicts slavery, or reinforces the stereotypes of the black culture and the (sometimes poor) treatment of black people by whites?

How about the parodies? "I'm Gonna Get you Sucka"? "Blazing Saddles"? The entire "Foxy Brown" genre? Lots and lots of printed books? (Not that much of the Mob has bothered to even READ a book) that make FUN of the stereotypes.

Thing is, the Mob had destroyed or defaced confederate era statues and monuments...even when those monuments were of abolitionist or in memorial of black regiments that fought against slavery. Unmindful hatred led these fools to destroy ALL monuments that were from that era, no matter who they honored. (Not that the Confederacy and their war against the North was entirely about slavery,  moreso an economic war, but don't ever let history get in the way of uneducated hatred, after all....). Many of the monuments that were defaced had nothing to do with slavery, yet defaced they were, in blind, unfocused hatred.

I doubt that the Mob will be able to understand the concept of satire in movies, if they even care.

The Mob has now even gone after the band "Lady Antebellum" because they have the word in their name that (some) people associate with slavery.

How much history are they gonna rewrite or outright edit out? How much will it take to appease the uneducated?




9 comments:

  1. You didn't mention 'Undercover Brother' which spoofed all of the stereotypes. It was directed by Malcolm Lee and starred Eddie Griffin. Black director, black writer, mostly black cast. But because it's good hearted, it will have to go too.

    The thing is that the destroyers will never stop. Their goal is to erase history.

    Also, there's a new 'holiday'--Juneteenth. It just showed up on my Apple calendar and I saw it on the news as well. It's celebrating the day that slavery was abolished. Wonder if they will give any kudos points to the Republicans?

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  2. ...And for so long, we've wondered why great societies with huge amounts of power disappeared, leaving very little behind but bricks and mortar... Egypt comes to mind...

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  3. Now they are after the kids show Paw Patrol because one of the hero dogs represents a cop in a positive light.

    I wish I was joking.

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  4. adolf hitler would be so proud....uh..wait...hitler was the fascist...the antifacist was lenin...
    vladimir lenin would be so proud

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  5. First, I'll say that I'm in complete agreement with you regarding books, film, television, etc.

    Now if you want to go see a confederate monument or statue, go to a civil war battlefield--you know, where the history was actually written. There are plenty of monuments and statues honoring both sides. And I'm not aware of anyone trying to banish any of them.

    As for those trying to get confederate monuments and statues off state capitol grounds and out of city parks, many have proposed moving them to battlefields or to personal estates, i. e. a Robert E Lee statue to his homestead in Arlington, VA.

    So, as far as the monuments and statues go, no one is trying to change, rewrite or erase history.

    Pete

    PS As for causes for the Civil War, I'm sure you are aware that there's a whole lot of disagreement on the subject. I'm sure I could find plenty of experts who would not agree with your statement, so don't be so quick to state your OPINION as fact.

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  6. Pete, Have you watched the news? These are not statues being moved by the State. These statues are being defaced and pulled down. Only a step below what the Taliban did to the Buddhas in Afghanistan. Do a quick search on tearing down or defacing statues. Then, for the love of little green apples, go read Orwell.

    Here, I will even spoon feed you some to start:

    https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/portsmouth/protesters-tear-down-parts-of-portsmouth-confederate-monument/291-f33c288b-1b40-4561-96a2-24070631250a

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/protesters-tear-statue-confederate-president-jefferson-davis/story?id=71190694

    https://www.rt.com/usa/490703-gandhi-statue-defaced-protests/

    https://www.wbur.org/artery/2020/06/03/16-statues-memorials-damaged

    https://thehornnews.com/stop-taking-statues-warn-historians/

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  7. Pete: Why is it that folks like you can't read for comprehension?

    I stated: "Not that the Confederacy and their war against the North was entirely about slavery, moreso an economic war" Which is entirely true.

    I will break the statement into parts to make sure you understand....

    "Not entirely about" (that means, that in part, it was....but not all the reason of the war was slavery.

    "Moreso an economic war"....(this means that part of the reason for the war was control of the economy and manufacturing ability of the South...which is ALSO true. If you think otherwise, then you need to educate yourself. Lots of literature on that easy to find....(if you need help finding it, email me and I can show you some unbiased sources)....or, you could remain ignorant. Your choice.)

    There were many reasons for the Civil War. Slavery was a very small part.

    I don't see the Mob agitating to move the statues, either. I see them pulling them down and breaking them effectively destroying historical artifacts. Also covering others with spray painted graffiti or otherwise defacing them. Perhaps you are seeing a different reality that I do on the news? Is there a Liberal Only channel where you get this biased sort of picture of reality?

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  8. Hello Midwest Chick,

    Sorry you missed the intent of my post. I will try and clarify.

    I was not denying the vandalism you cited. And I do not condone any of the vandalism. I certainly don't understand the vandalism of the Ghandi or the statues in Boston Commons.

    But none of the cases you cited took place at a civil war battlefield (Gettysburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Antietam, etc.), which was the point of my post. Again, at civil war battlefields, where the history actually took place, there are statues and monuments to both sides and no one is trying to deface them or remove them. You want to see a statue of Robert E Lee, go visit his homestead in Arlington, VA. No one is trying to tear that down. You want to see a statue of Jefferson Davis, go visit his homestead in Biloxi, MS. No one is trying to tear that down.

    As for the statues on state capitol grounds or in city or state parks, I don't see any reason why black people, citizens of this country, should have to put up with memorials, in those locations, to people who tried to keep them from their freedom. I don't believe that getting rid of these statues and monuments is rewriting or erasing history. It is simply putting the history back where it belongs--at the battlefields.

    Regarding the proposed relocation of confederate statues and/or monuments (B, the following bits are for you too), here's something from Arkansas:

    https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/petition-to-remove-confederate-monuments-arkansas-state-capitol/91-ce6feb90-aefc-4ff4-a817-00a901bc89f9

    Seems they've already done most of the heavy lifting in Florida:

    https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/06/15/most-confederate-statues-in-central-florida-have-been-relocated/

    There's a bunch of stories regarding three statues on the capitol grounds in Raleigh, NC from the summer of 2018. Seems the democratic governor tried to get the statues moved, but a 2015 monuments law passed by the republican-controlled statehouse made it difficult to stay within the guidelines. Best I could find out was the statues stayed in place.

    Here's a story that details the roadblocks that states like TN, NC and AL put up to keep cities and other localities from being able to remove monuments they find divisive.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/when-local-officials-want-to-tear-down-confederate-monuments-but-cant/537351/

    So, yes some statues have been moved. And, yes there are people trying to move other statues.

    Hope that is a little clearer.

    Pete


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  9. B,

    I got the gist of your post, but thanks for the extra dollop of condescension. I agree with you that there were many reasons for the civil war. I take issue with your opinion that "slavery was a very small part."

    The following is the third sentence of Mississippi's Declaration of Reasons for Secession: " Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world."

    Three other states issued Declarations of Reasons for Secession: Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. The following link shows pie graphs that chart how much verbiage was devoted to each reason mentioned in the respective Declarations.

    https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/reasons-secession

    Slavery seems to play a bigger role than you suggest.

    Actually, Virginia released a Secession Ordinance too. It doesn't really go into reasons except it does mention, "not only to the injury of the people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the Southern Slaveholding States."

    Or you can read all 5 statements here and determine for yourself how much of a role slavery played:

    https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-seceding-states#Mississippi

    I'll be sending an email to solicit your reading recommendations in the near future.

    Pete

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