To anyone who lived through the Civil Rights Ear, how did you guys do it?

[NNguyenMD]

How did you guys keep your dignity and cool after being pummeled on by the government, the press, police dogs, water hoses, FBI, smear campaigns?

Its so frustrating being a liberal, maybe its always been that way, but I am about this close to blowing up if I read another piece from the MSM defending Republican hypocrits like Gannon. I know that this trend has been going on for decades, but they've (MSM) have really but their foot on the accelerator in terms of trashing liberals. We're portray as fussy, whiny conspiracy theorist when we call the Republicans out on their lies, or wimpy do-nothings when the Republicans get their way. THIS IS SO FUCKING FRUSTRATING!!!!!!

As the character Jack Stanton eloquently said in the movie Primary Colors, "I can't just get a break now can't I?"

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. The world has changed

We endured things because we honestly believed in passive resistance, BUT - and this is a big BUT - we had people in government who were on our side. Bobby Kennedy as Attorney General was heroic, and his assistant AGs were equally brave.

That's all changed now. The government is usually our enemy, and they've added a whole new dimension of resistance. That's why passive resistance is no longer a viable tactic.

Now, I'm convinced that we've got to hit them back when they hit us, and we've got to kill them - as you must kill a king - with one blow.

As for the American MSM, they're a waste. They're utterly without any redeeming social value, and they should be ashamed to call themselves "journalists."

[monobrau]

2. second that

There was real debate going on and real changes taking place before our eyes. This country was going to change or it was going to burn. Now there is no debate.

It's like one of (comic) Lewis Black's routines:
Cheney walks right up in front of you, drops trou and takes a dump, right there on the sidewalk.
You say "What the F**k or you doing, you just took a crap on the sidewalk?".
Cheney says "No I didn't. Why do you hate America?".
And that's it.

The press will say that "liberals" have accused Cheney of crapping on the sidewalk, but of course that's so absurd, and why would the vice president lie?

[mmonk]

3. allies in government

and a free press. Don't know if change can come again once a few more justices are in place. It will be closer to dictatorship here then. Representative democracy and freedom will become nothing more than political rhetoric.

[bobbieinok]

4. people in fed govt supportedcivil rights, fed courts especially, and MEDIA

and MEDIA

Halberstam, who wrote the book The Children, about the freedom riders, said some years ago on a c-span presentation/discussion of his book....

TV news was still pretty new then; they wanted pictures and stories and sent people (usually young) out to where the action was

anything that happened, the country saw it on TV.....children being attacked by fire hoses and dogs in Birmingham; little black girls walking between lines of screaming white adults to desegregate New Orleans schools....

if we'd had the fed govt and courts and media then that we have now, Bull Connors would still rule Birmingham and MLK would be in some penitentiary .... no 1964 Civil Rights Act and no 1965 Voting Rights Act

[TacticalPeek]

5. Perseverance.

KKK planning to attend Killen trial

Group calls itself Christian, nonviolent

By Jerry Mitchell
[e-mail]

PHILADELPHIA — When Edgar Ray Killen's murder trial starts April 18 for the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers, the Ku Klux Klan is expected to be there.

J.J. Harper of Cordele, Ga., imperial wizard of the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, is requesting permission to demonstrate on the lawn of the Neshoba County Courthouse in support of Killen, an 80-year-old sawmill owner and part-time preacher who pleaded innocent to murder last month in the June 21, 1964, Klan killings of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman.

The Web site of the American White Knights shows a hanging post with three nooses holding the severed hands of African Americans. The post reads "Murder in Mississippi," but the word "Murder" is crossed out in red with the word "Justice" written over it.

Harper said his organization is both Christian and nonviolent, but he says on his Web site: "Brother Killen is being charged with murdering a n----- and two Jews back in 1964. Personally, I'd ask, 'What's wrong with that?' "

more
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050225/NEWS010702/502250368/1002/NEWS01




The death penalty would insure that he does not repeat the offence. Sounds like some of his buds want to join him.

[GarySeven]

6. We shamed them.

We made them see who and what they were. Through confrontation - albeit nonviolent - we forced them to drop their veneer of civilization and to demonstrate the primal brutality at the heart of conservativism. And we did it in front of their TV cameras, so that the message would be carried into each, comfortable Republican home: that the submission and servility of the working class was not the result of our lack of humanity, but because our humanity had to be supressed by force of hired thugs. When they sicced their dogs on children, or turned firehoses onto crowds, or charged into marchers with their nightsticks, shields and brass knuckles, it was all before the TV cameras and the violence of this repression was seen by a people who suddenly realized that their worldview was false. Like Leo and the Matrix, they took the red pill and saw that their shining city on the hill was not built by the ideals of liberty but instead by those to whom liberty was denied. Their world was only possible because some human beings were forced into submission by others.

This is why we need new revolution; to force the complacent at homes with their widescreen TVs and PlayStations to realize that liberty is not a gift, but something which must be fought for and won.

[CindyDale]

7. It's a myth that violence and revolution improve anything

It just allows an excuse for even weirder people to take over.

What we need to do is hold on to our values, see through the lies as best we can, boycott.

Also we need to change, get control over our consumption, for one thing. We are enabling this.

[elehhhhna]

8. An old pal o'mine said it was fun & exhilarating to march

(anti-war or civil-rights--not sure) until he turned the corner and saw a tank.