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12 Feb 09 - 06:31 AM (#2564751) Subject: Pete Seeger gets apology From: mark gregory Nearly a half century ago, amid suspicion and fears of McCarthyism, folk singer Pete Seeger faced an ultimatum from the San Diego school district: Sign an oath against communism or cancel a concert he planned at a high school auditorium. Seeger, who at the time of the board's demand was under scrutiny for his leftist politics, refused to sign the oath. A judge allowed the concert to proceed anyway. Decades later, the school board wants to make amends. In a resolution approved Tuesday night, the school district declared that the board "deeply regrets its predecessors' actions" and offered an apology to a man who has become "one of our dearest national treasures." The 89-year-old songwriter appears willing to accept the board's apology, saying the board's resolution is a "measure of justice that our right to freedom of expression has been vindicated." He also quipped that the board's demand for the oath in 1960 may have helped his career. "This was the contradiction the poor blacklisters faced: The more they tried to target me the more they drummed up publicity for my concerts," Seeger told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in Beacon, N.Y. "I like to misquote Thomas Jefferson in saying, 'The price of liberty is eternal publicity.'" |
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12 Feb 09 - 09:28 AM (#2564860) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Sandy Mc Lean It's never too late to do the right thing, and I am pleased that has been done while Pete is here to accept the apology. Has the American senate or Congress ever offered a similar apology? |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:22 AM (#2564892) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Fortunato Sandy, I saw Pete's appearance in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the Welcome Obama concert as a vindication. I would truly like to see Congress issue a formal apology. But once they started apologizing for past ills they'd be tied up until doomsday, and even less would get down on the work of the nation. A formal denunciation of McCarthyism might be shorter and more direct. regards, Chance Shiver |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:27 AM (#2564895) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Sandy Mc Lean Tru enough, Chance! Thanks! |
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12 Feb 09 - 01:02 PM (#2565071) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Big Mick Perfect, Chance. And thanks, Mark, for starting this one. Seeger is one of the most cherished voices of our national conscience. All the best, Mick |
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12 Feb 09 - 09:54 PM (#2565551) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Joe_F Fortunato: The Senate did censure McCarthy, on the spot. Won't that do? |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:06 PM (#2565560) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Mark Ross No it won't, they need to apologize for the blacklist! Mark Ross |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:07 PM (#2565563) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Rapparee Should have imprisoned him...and his henchman, young Dick Nixon. |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:10 PM (#2565568) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Nick E Thought the black list refered mostly to Hollywood |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:10 PM (#2565569) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: topical tom Right on, Mark, since the McCarthy blacklist involved not only Pete Seeger.Others also need apologies. |
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12 Feb 09 - 10:20 PM (#2565579) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: GUEST,iancarterb That can get thorny as it spreads out. Another of his 'henchmen' was young attorney Robert Kennedy. |
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13 Feb 09 - 08:09 AM (#2565810) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: Fortunato McCarthy and his henchman are mostly dead. My wish is for the living Americans who were blacklisted for exercising their constitutional rights and actualizing their American values to be publically vindicated, and recognized for their stalwart insistance on their rights as American citizens. We ought to do this to remind ourselves and the world what we stand for. Life (without torture), Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness regardless of our individual, diverse, beliefs. There is a shadow, a pall, over what we stand for, resulting from recent events that must be removed. |
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13 Feb 09 - 11:31 AM (#2566003) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: topical tom I didn't explain myself properly. I meant, of course, only those still alive who were included in the blacklist. |
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13 Feb 09 - 12:05 PM (#2566043) Subject: RE: Pete Seeger gets apology From: John Hardly "This was the contradiction the poor blacklisters faced: The more they tried to target me the more they drummed up publicity for my concerts," Seeger told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in Beacon, N.Y. "I like to misquote Thomas Jefferson in saying, 'The price of liberty is eternal publicity.'" I agree with Pete. If not for the blacklist, Pete would be as famous today as Dave Guard. But with the blacklist and its publicity, Seeger is a national hero instead of a forgotten folksinger. |