BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives

Subject: RE: BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives
From: NH Dave
Date: 03 Feb 06 - 03:03 AM

Unfortunately Jesse Jackson is nothing but a carpetbagger, out to promote Jesse Jackson as much as possible. If you want to talk about notable Black Americans, think of Frederick Douglass, born a slave, became a member of Congress; George Washington Carver, born a slave, researcher into the peanut and general agricultur chemist; Booker T. Washington, born a slave, became an educator, founded Tuskegee Institute a college for blacks; William E. Duboise, born in the north, sstudied at Harvard and Berlin, was the first recognised Social Scientist, formed a group that later was part of the beginning of the NAACP; Benjamin O. Davis, first black general in the Army; Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., his son, graduated from West Point, became the second black line officer in the Army, his father was the other, was a Tuskegee Airman - learned to fly at Tuskegee Institute, first black general in the USAF; Daniel "Chappie" James, also earned his wings at Tuskegee - the Tuskegee Airmen wear an all black fighter outfit operating from Italy in WWII. No bomber flight, escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen, ever lost an aircraft to enemy action, flew in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam; Justice Thurgood Marshall, first black Justice of the Supreme Court; Colin Powell, Army General, served in Korea & Viet Nam, First black Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, first black Secretary of State; Condoleeza Rice, PhD, NationalSecurity Advisor, first black Secretary of State; Martin Luther King; Bill Cosby, black humorist, Dr of Education; Sammy Davis Jr., noted black dancer and singer; and the list goes on.

Jesse Jackson can neither hold a candle to any of these people, but isn't fit to hold a light FOR any of them either.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives
From: CapriUni
Date: 03 Feb 06 - 02:14 AM

Proposition: That the more varied our sources of history, and other stories by which we define ourselve, the healthier our society, and that when give authority for our national history to a select, elite, few, our society is weakened.

Now, I'm interested in either debating whether that proposition is true or not, or accepting it as true, simply discussing, instead, how to achieve a society with the widest possible range of storytellers in the shaping of our national identities.

Either way, I'd like to do it without resorting to name-calling and insults.

Subject: RE: BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Feb 06 - 09:34 PM

"The once aggrieved..."

Ahhhh, exactly when did the "aggrieved" part of the deal end???

With Brown v. Topeka Board of Education???

Maybe the 1964 Civil Rights Act???

No, maybe the 1971 (9?) Greensboro Massacure???

No, maybe it was when Rodney King asked if "we couldn't just get along???..."

And, BTW, GUEST... Just what is a "limousine liberal"...

And, if there are limoussine liberals then what do we call outright thieves and racists who prance around our governemnt supposedly representing "all" Americans???... Limo theives and racists???

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives
From: CapriUni
Date: 02 Feb 06 - 09:05 PM

As a friend of mine said to me, recently:

"History is written by the winners -- and interpretted by the wieners!"

Frankly, I think the idea I expressed above can apply equally well to fiction, as well as history. Think how different a story like Cinderella would be, if it were told from the point of view of one of the stepsisters, or "Romeo and Juliet" if it were told by Mr. and Mrs. Capulet (or Tybolt).

Which is why, Guest, my mother always told me to: "Consider the source" before forming an opinion of anything someone said to me.

And there's always the Irish proverb: "There is no worth to a story without an author."

Subject: RE: BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Feb 06 - 08:18 PM

Yeah. When limousine liberals stop feeling guilty about how well they are doing, and stop promoting special treatment for the once-aggrieved.

And when we judge a man 'by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin', and when we do this, Jesse Jackson does not blow into town to call us racist.

Subject: BS: PBS mini-series: African American Lives
From: CapriUni
Date: 02 Feb 06 - 12:39 AM

A thought occurred to me while I was watching the "Black History Month" mini-series, African American Lives:

When it comes to history, the more you investigate, the more you discover how intricately all individual lives and events are woven together. And when it comes right down to it, there's only one thing that distinguishes one story from another. It's not the time, or the place, or even the main characters. It's who's telling the tale. Period.

Next month, it's "Women's History Month." Will there ever be a time when we won't need these special commemorations, anymore?