Again, Don hits the nail on the head...

This thread is about the terror-istic tactics of of the Tea Party... Much of what they have done or have threatened to do goes back to the KKK... It is entirely appropriate for me to talk about race because I have a perspective that I doubt anyone here in Mudburg has which includes:

1. Coming from a family that was engaged in civil rights very early... My mom's first demonstration was in 1961 and her first arrest in 1963...

2. Having a black kid brought into our family and live with us as a brother and family member...

3. Attending an inner city college with black people...

4. Organizing anti-war and civil right demonstrations in the 60s with black folks, SOC, the Black Panthers, the White Panthers (Free John Sinclair), SCLC, etc...

5. Worked one year during college for the local CAP (Community Actipon Program) as a community organizer in a black housing project...

6. After graduation from college working 3 years in an inner city drug rehab half way house and working in as a jail house GED teacher in the Richmond City jail... (Note: In both of these I was a lone white face...)

7. Working the next 14 (or so, might have been 13 or 15 years) years as a social worker working with predominately black clients...

8. During most of these years I lived with or among black folks...

9. Since then I have lived in and around mountain people, hillbillies & rednecks...

10. But also since then I have made several pilgrimages to Mississippi where I met and learned to play blues from the older black musicians and put in 7 years (every Saturday) as a regular at Archie Edwards barbershop in NE Washington D.C playing music with black blues players...

Bottom line??? All of my life's experiences have given me a perspective on race that I'd dare say few white guys my age have any idea of... Yeah, sometimes I do take shortcuts in my explanations of how things are because I think I am talkin' with folks who have some level of understanding about race, civil rights, our own history, including slavery, Jim Crow, Brown v., Plessy v., the 14th amendment, the Civil Rights Act, Dixiecrats, the Southern Strategy, nooses in high schools, ect., etc...

I lived and worked and partied and loved almost exclusively with black folks, including my brother, the late Joesph Washington who lived as part of our family for almost 30 years and when things changed there I continued my relationship with black people with with my music right up until now...

But it isn't what I have done but what I have learned and read and internalized... I mean, with very little work I could probably teach "race studies"... Maybe without any work... These are the things I have brought to Mudcat, a lily white folkie website where the single black person who ventured in ventured back out... I keep in touch with her and she knows just who I am... That is something that a lot of white folks don't get... There's a rhythm and a look that I learned way back when that is part of me... When I see black folks who I don't know (especially with the folks who remember the terrorism of Jim Crow and the KKK) and make eye contact there is a little nod (secret handshake) between us that lets us both know that we ***were there***... I wouldn't expect sawz ot too many folks here to understand what I am talking about but any professor in "race studies" could talk about it... It's a non-verbal connection that we both understand what has gone down...

This is the last post I am going to post on my past and why when I talk about race I am actually talking about the kinds of things that any "race studies" professor would be talking about... Yes, I do use language that people might find offensive... You can't teach "race studies" without stepping on some toes and offending some people... It is impossible...

Lastly, I stand behind everything I have ever written here or on any website... Taken out of context, yeah, it can be twisted much the way the right wing creep twisted Ms. Sherrod's statements about her initial reactions to trying to help white clients... That was twisted to serve a political point...

I don't care about political points... They will win you battles but won't win any wars... They are temporary... What I offer is from my soul and my history... It is of value to anyone who is willing to push aside their egos to score points and has any interest in learning things about race and civil rights that they missed along the way...

Too bad that the Tea Party has so overtly filled in where the Klan left off... It's bad for everyone... Bad for America... I can't change that... All I can do is offer my knowledge in the hopes that someone (any one) gets it...

Enough said... There won't be a repeat of this testimonial...

B~