But this is one of the most idiotic things I've seen so far.
For anyone to see divisiveness or bigotry in Rev. Lowery's words is either woefully or even willfully ignorant of the history of the civil rights movement.
As Decaturguy says,
True Southerners who know their history heard what Lowery said and had a good laugh.Do not let woeful and willful ignorance rule. Do not let the modern know-nothings have any room except for their ever-shrinking world.
20 comments:
I read the comment thread at PP. Good job on putting up the good fight against the big-ass group of idiots.
I know I don't say it enough - thank you for standing up against people who seem unable to see beyond their noses.
It's really amazing to me that anyone could hear Reverend Lowery's and not hear the message of inclusion in them.
uh, that was supposed to say:
It's really amazing to me that anyone could hear Reverend Lowery's comments and not hear the message of inclusion in them.
Right wingers don't know what to do or where to turn. The playbook they have used for the past 40 years has failed miserably over the last 4 years. Whether Obama's Presidency is to be a success is yet to be determined, but there is no question we have just elected a very dynamic figure as our President and the Republicans don't have anything to fire back at.
So this is just an attempt to go back to the old playbook and try to get people all scared about something an 85 year old civil rights hero said in one line in his speech.
Earlier in the speech it should be noted that Rev. Lowery said:
"And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance."
I have nothing but respect for Rev. Lowery, yes, he says whatever he feels like without political filter, but he is a genuine hero and walking, living legend who just happens to live in our community and aint no racist by any stretch of the imagination.
I have a great deal of respect for Rev Lowery and the father of one of my closest friends marched with him.
I wrote it off to a an old man with old rhymes. The truth is that whites (and everybody else) elected Obama, so we have embraced what is right.
I also think it is cool that he says black, yellow, red and white instead of stupid PC labels.
Besides, the OPC labels are hard to rhyme.
Poor whitey, always getting slammed. I feel so bad for him.
While not born in the South, I've lived here now more than half my life and I can recognize humor when I see it too. I laughed out loud. Great speech by Lowery.
Grift-as Gray said.. thank you for weighing into that fray. I was otherwise occupied yesterday but was not to shocked to read it both at PP and Red State.
I wonder if two months from now someone over there will wonder why they they don't have any non-whites in their party..oy
Rev. Lowery was likely the only one they could throw rock at all day since the ceremony was beautiful and the crowds amazing.
Thanks again
The whole episode is kind of ironic in light of Coulter's recent book about liberal "victims."
I saw in the crowd that it was taken in the spirit in which Dr. Lowery intended. Nobody was offended, we all laughed, and smiled, and recognized how far we've come in achieving what Dr. Lowery has been working for his whole life. And how far we still have to go.
I can't reasonably expect right-wingers to be any happier about Obama's inauguration than I was Bush's. I remember how deflated I felt watching Bush's first inaugural.
I didn't grasp how thoroughly awful he would be, but I was disgusted that such a blatantly immature, feckless man was President.
Nevertheless, the graceless, idiot-rage displayed by many on the right yesterday was surprising to me. And I'm not easily surprised by that sort of thing.
I would have thought that a group of people who recently had "Country First" signs in their yards might have grasped the significance of 2 million (or so) people standing in the cold to see Obama's speech and Bush's departure.
By the way, I didn't like Lowery's remarks. I wasn't offended by them though. For lack of a less tortured metaphor, I'll say Lowery was playing his instrument in a key I didn't especially want to hear yesterday.
Ah, historical context...that excuses everything!! LOL!!
The listener certainly gets to hear the music the way he wants, Andy. But he doesn't get to say this concerto is offensive while listening to a Grateful Dead jam.
I thought about writing an essay on this but right here's as good as any place.
You know why when the very first line of Rev. Lowery's "ditty" emerged people started chuckling?
Because they'd heard it before.
I'm pretty sure that I heard it in Forsyth County in 1987.
I have no doubt some older folk in the crowd heard it many years ago.
It was a slow chuckle of familiarity with something that now seems a bit anachronistic but once upon a time was said with passion and zeal.
But the know nothings not only miss the history of the saying but the most basic history of the civil rights movement - that it was based on inclusion not exclusion. Its chants were at times based on love from the old time gospels and sometimes it was based on sorrow from the pages of the blues.
But most importantly all was based on the belief of a better world to come.
To see Rev. Lowery's use of the words as a scold is to ignore all that has gone before. To ignore the glint in his eye as he recited the words is to not understand he was winking at the past.
Those that chose to be offended, well, as I've said before, if you are determined to be offended you will be.
Those that had heard them before understood the irony of their use on the day an African-American man rose to the highest office in the land and also understood that the old warrior was reminding us that we still had work to do to see that better world to come.
They said over there that you have an ilk. Can I be in it?
And I love how all of the defenders keep spelling it "Rouge."
I guess I'm woefully ignorant. I listened to the event on the radio and was struck by the color line. If he was repeating something from the past and it was an inside joke for some and not all of us, I think it wasn't the time or place.
I didn't like Warren's ending with his version of God either.
An inauguration is a time to include, not divide us. Whites do need to get it right, some of us try to do that. Those that believe in a Triune God, while the majority in the country, are not all of the people that need to get behind the new government.
Here's the deal. I don't expect people to know history backwards and forwards. I do expect people to pause when the hear something odd, think maybe I should talk to someone/read something that might add a little context instead of letting a lizard brain impulse make them start screaming absurd untruths like RACISM.
Some people don't give a damn other than feeding the beast and frankly I'm about damned tired of them. However, Dave I don't think you are one of those people.
I also think it is idiotic and I am glad you said so. I had no problem with anything Lowery had to say.
I am so glad I found this blog! It was sort of an accident--by way of the Peach blog, which I usually don't like but, just like when passing a train wreck, I can't help looking at.
"I do expect people to pause when the hear something odd"
I agree. Now, tell me what is odd about hearing Lowery criticizing white people?
When someone says something that they have been saying for 40+ years, it is not odd.
Rememebr that I haven't criticized him in any way for that statement, in fact, I said I thought his word choice is cool.
actually, i do think lowery's remarks were unfortunate and unnecessary.
but the blogger lost me when he quoted michelle malkin. yikes, that lady is creepy.
Oh, poor me. I'm white. Poor, poor, pitiful me.
Seriously, every time someone expects the white man as victim meme to fly, it shocks the hell out of me.
And reminds me of one of those classic Chris Rock routines--to paraphrase:
Not one white person in this room would trade places with me--and I'm RICH. Ask that one-armed bus boy back there. Hey man, you want to switch places? Naw, man--I think I'll just ride this white thing out for awhile.
The day I allow myself to get defensive about my race will be the day I or my family are *actually* exploited or punished for being white--like so many other Americans have been persecuted for being non-white. When that day comes, I'll have every right to fight back. Until then--WTF? Boooooohoooohooooo.
Reverend Lowry has earned the right to make a right-on joke during the Inaugural benediction. A lion of the movement--anyone who pretends not to know where that man's heart is is a liar or an uneducated hack.
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