Chasing Windmills

BULLSHIT

The following is a recent article that has thoroughly pissed me off and I feel the necesssity to address this issue.
Alright, for all you ignorant over-zealous morons let me enlighten you with a little education.
Lee County is named for General Robert E. Lee, an honorable and just man. You would spit on him and condemn him because he fought for the South. Let's look at the facts:

Fact: Robert E. Lee was from a well established family which has honorably served this country since the American Revolution.
Fact: Robert E. Lee did come from an affluent family, but he freed his slaves. Those African-Americans who stayed received wages.
Fact: Robert E. Lee thought that slavery was an evil institution and that it was up to society to do something about it.
Fact: Slavery was a corollary issue to the Civil War. This war was not fought over slavery, or otherwise, the Emancipation Proclamation would have been issued before 1863 (that's 2 years after the war started, for you non history scholars)
Fact: Lee was proud to be an American, but even prouder to be a Virginian. He refused Lincoln's request to be the leader of the Union army, because he could not take up arms against fellow Virginians, fellow friends and family.
Fact: Lee fought valiant for a cause he believed in, not to uphold slavery.

Now, before I become accused at being an insensitive racist, let me point this out. My best friend, whom I have known since I was 10 years old is black. We remained friends when other friends did turn to prejudice and went their separate ways. My family considers him a son and vice versa. I was the best man at his wedding. As I walked down the aisle to stand beside him, I endured snickers and finger pointing as people remarked "that's the best man?" They were astonished that a black man would have or want a white man as his best man, but our friendship has endured societal pressures.
Furthermore, my birthday is January 15th. The same as Dr. Martin Luther King. Seeing his name on the calendar, I had an interest in his life. He is one of the men I most admired because he believed in something and did what he could to make his dream a reality. I admire his passive resistance. Had I been a black man at that time, I probably would have been calling for war. I would have wanted to fight for my independence. It takes a great man to resist instinct, to not fight back when hoses are turned on him and dogs are set loose. I honestly believe that Dr. King would have a lot of respect for Robert E. Lee.
These current fights are hypocrisy. They are not carried out to invoke Dr. King's dream or work. Rather, it is the work of some attention deprived opportunist looking to get his 15 minutes, which he obviously has. There are more important fights to fight and battles to be waged. Take these talents and use them elsewhere. That is what Dr. King would have wanted. These so called crusaders will not make us ashamed to be from the South, nor will they make us feel guilty for having been born white men.


Board member wants Lee County renamed

By JOAN D. LAGUARDIA
jlaguardia@news-press.com
Published by news-press.com on January 25, 2005


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A county advisory group on black affairs publicly criticized a long-time NAACP organizer and started an effort to change the name of Lee County — honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee — in a surprising and emotional meeting Monday.

Local blacks, members of the NAACP and two county commissioners were among those upset by the actions orchestrated by Anthony Thomas Jr., a member of the Black Affairs Advisory Board, at its regular meeting Monday.

Thomas accused Carletha Griffin, Lee County NAACP president, of ignoring important issues and failing to live up to the standards of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"As an African American, I am ashamed of this nomination," Thomas said after Dana Pierce nominated Griffin for the board's black community service award.

Thomas claimed Griffin mismanaged the NAACP.

Griffin stood stunned at a podium in front of television cameras and the print media, who attended the meeting on Thomas's notice that he would try to change Lee County's name.

"This is outrageous here. This is outrageous," repeated Chuck Johnson, a spectator in the rear of the room. "I just lost all respect for him," he said of Thomas.

At one point, Johnson called Thomas out of the meeting to reprimand him in the hallway.

The motion to nominate Griffin squeaked by on a 3-2 vote.

Pierce, who nominated Griffin, left her seat to take Griffin's arm and escort the clearly shaken woman back to her seat. Pierce and Griffin left the meeting early.

"That was a personal attack," Pierce said as she left. "If anyone really had a beef with our NAACP president, there are many people who could have run against her."

Griffin said she was shocked.

"They are not saying the right thing. I was just so perplexed," she said of the accusations against her.

Their exit gave Thomas a chance to kill Griffin's nomination after all. When board member Willie Battle arrived

late, Thomas called for another vote. Battle joined Thomas and Gail Ghinga-Hallas to strip Griffin of the nomination.

"By Robert's Rules of order, that's illegal," said Commissioner Ray Judah, liaison to the advisory board, which has nine members.

Judah said divisiveness is not what commissioners expect from the advisory board.

Judah called the effort to rename Lee County "absurd. I suspect the individual who proposed it wants to call Lee County Anthonyville."

Judah said commissioners and the board should focus on health care, education, racial equality and other important issues, rather than pursue an unlikely attempt to rename the county.

Commissioner Doug St. Cerny, who appointed Thomas to the board, said he was disappointed in Griffin's treatment.

"I've known Carletha for years and worked with her. That kind of catches me off guard," he said.

Advisory board members unanimously supported asking commissioners to meet to discuss renaming the county, but Pierce said they will have better luck addressing more reasonable issues, like removing a picture of Robert E. Lee from commissioners' chambers.

Pierce said changing the name of a county is logistically unlikely.

posted by Michael @ 11:50 AM