New march on Washington embraces history on fraught anniversary of King's speech

[rooster59]

New march on Washington embraces history on fraught anniversary of King's speech

By Makini Brice and Nandita Bose

 

People gather around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool during the 'Get Your Knee Off Our Necks' march in support of racial justice, in Washington, U.S., August 28, 2020. Olivier DOULIERY/Pool via REUTERS

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of people took part in a march in Washington on Friday to denounce racism, on the anniversary of the march in 1963 where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr made his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.

 

"You might have killed the dreamer, but you can't kill the dream," civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton told Friday's crowd.

 

Activists and politicians gave speeches, including Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who appeared in a recorded video. Many referenced U.S. Representative John Lewis, a civil rights hero who spoke at the 1963 march and died in July.

 

Speakers stressed the importance of voting in November's election and links between activism for Black civil rights, disability rights and LGBT rights and against gun violence, among other causes.

 

"In so many ways, we stand together today in the symbolic shadow of history, but we are making history together right now," said Martin Luther King III, Martin Luther King Jr's son.

 

The half-mile march from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Memorial, on a hot, humid day in the U.S. capital, comes amid a summer of racial unrest book-ended by two high-profile incidents in which Black men were shot by police.

 

Nationwide protests began in May, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

 

This week, protests broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police officers shot another African-American man, Jacob Blake, multiple times in front of his children. Though Blake survived, lawyers said he has been paralyzed.

 

"We will not be your docile slave. We will not be a footstool to oppression," said Letetra Widman, Blake's sister.

 

George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, appeared on stage as well. At times, he stopped to collect himself, apparently overcome with emotion.

 

"I wish George was here to see this," he said.

 

Allisa Findley, sister of Botham Jean, an African-American man killed in Dallas by an off-duty police officer who said she mistook his apartment for her own, said: "I am tired of adding new names, adding new hashtags to an already long list of victims of police terror. We cannot allow our brothers and sisters to only be remembered for how they died."

 

'TOO LITTLE TOO LATE'

 

James Jarell, a business owner from Delaware, said recent demonstrations of support from corporations and professional athletes was not enough. "For people who live with the terror of getting shot by the police every day, this is too little, too late," he said.

 

Bella Ridenoure of Arlington, Virginia said President Donald Trump should have acknowledged Black frustrations during his speech on Thursday that closed out the Republican National Convention.

 

"How much does it hurt President Trump to acknowledge racism?" the 43-year-old government worker said. "Instead, he played politics and is now making it look like we are criminals who want the police defunded."

 

Sharpton's National Action Network, which planned the event, took steps to protect marchers from the coronavirus pandemic, in which Black people have suffered disproportionately. At one point, a speaker directed attendees to stand with their arms out to ensure there was enough distance between them. Staff wiped down the podium and microphones between speakers.

 

Black people are more likely to be sickened and die from the virus and to lose jobs from the economic fallout, statistics show.

 

Though many people wore masks, many others did not.

 

A virtual commemoration is also planned, featuring Reverend William Barber, a prominent civil rights activist and the co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. It will also include civil rights activists, politicians, artists and entertainers.

 

Kerrigan Williams, a founder of Freedom Fighters DC, said the activist group was organizing its own march later on Friday to promote a more radical agenda that includes replacing police departments with other public safety systems.

 

Separately, a wing of the Movement for Black Lives, a network of Black activists and organizations, has scheduled the "Black National Convention" on Friday night, following national conventions by the Democratic and Republican parties over the past two weeks.

 

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Nandita Bose; Additional reporting by Katanga Johnson and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Heather Timmons, David Gregorio and Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-29

 

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[Tug]

I stand in solidarity with the BLM movement and civil rights keep up the pressure peacefully don’t give the administration any ammunition change can only come with a change of leadership 

[Siamjim]

MLK said judge a person on their character,  only see here are beating on whites for being white.

[Orton Rd]

11 hours ago, Tug said:

I stand in solidarity with the BLM movement and civil rights keep up the pressure peacefully don’t give the administration any ammunition change can only come with a change of leadership 

King would have had nothing to do with the BLM Marxists- he was a republican. Trump has done more for blacks than even Obama did, far more.

[Yasobill]

23 minutes ago, gazza4 said:

Sorry, but I am confused. I see what I see on most forms of media. What I see is so much evidence of the opposite to what you are saying. please help me to understand how I am getting it so wrong.

 Are you a US citizen or have you lived in the US as an expat for years? If not, it would be hard for you know the truth!
Are you saying the US is a racist country? If so, than yes, you are confused. 
What you are getting wrong, is you believe what the media tells you is always fact...Well, hate to burst your bubble, but it’s not always fact. Very often it’s poor information or manipulated information. Check out the “entire George Floyd video” then make your assessment on that case. 
 

As a 58 year old American citizen, I ca assure you, the US is not a racist country! 
 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by Yasobill

[earlinclaifornia]

1 hour ago, Yasobill said:

 Are you a US citizen or have you lived in the US as an expat for years? If not, it would be hard for you know the truth!
Are you saying the US is a racist country? If so, than yes, you are confused. 
What you are getting wrong, is you believe what the media tells you is always fact...Well, hate to burst your bubble, but it’s not always fact. Very often it’s poor information or manipulated information. Check out the “entire George Floyd video” then make your assessment on that case. 
 

As a 58 year old American citizen, I ca assure you, the US is not a racist country! 
 

 

 

That is really sad you saying that, America is overwhelmed and cluttered with terrible racist. By the way birther this!

Edited August 29, 2020 by earlinclaifornia

[Scott]

A post with knowingly false information has been removed along with replies and troll posts.   Posting false information will result in suspensions.  

 

[connda]

Doctor King advocated that all lives matter.
 

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
 

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
 

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!"

And yet today we are being told that only black lives matter.  No one else's.  Not Thai, not European, not Indo-asian, not Sino-asian, not Islander, not Hispanic, not aboriginal, not native American - only black lives.  And those of European decent, we are now told, are racists by virtue of the lack of pigmentation of their skin.  So yet we are judged by the "color of our skin" and not "the content of our character."  Sad! 

How did Doctor King's message become such a shambles?  Instead, it sounds as though many are celebrating Malcolm X and Louise Farrakhan because the current message being promoted sounds about the same as those originating within The Nation of Islam's doctrines.

Doctor King was a great man with a great message.  A message that I'm afraid is being eroded and lost to a more virulent form of racial divide. 

I stood by Doctor King and his message while he was alive.
I stand by Doctor King and his message today.
"I have a dream."

Edited August 30, 2020 by connda

[rcummings]

On 8/29/2020 at 7:14 PM, Yasobill said:

 Are you a US citizen or have you lived in the US as an expat for years? If not, it would be hard for you know the truth!
Are you saying the US is a racist country? If so, than yes, you are confused. 
What you are getting wrong, is you believe what the media tells you is always fact...Well, hate to burst your bubble, but it’s not always fact. Very often it’s poor information or manipulated information. Check out the “entire George Floyd video” then make your assessment on that case. 
 

As a 58 year old American citizen, I ca assure you, the US is not a racist country! 
 

 

 

And you can take Yasobill's word as holy writ because he has been deputized by every American citizen to attest to this basic truth. Not one American citizen disagrees with him.

And you are to disregard the lies perpetrated by studies such as this:

Police stop fewer black drivers at night when a 'veil of darkness' obscures their race

"Study also finds that when drivers were pulled over, officers searched the cars of blacks and Hispanics more often than whites

The largest-ever study of alleged racial profiling during traffic stops has found that blacks, who are pulled over more frequently than whites by day, are much less likely to be stopped after sunset, when "a veil of darkness" masks their race.

That is one of several examples of systematic bias that emerged from a five-year study that analyzed 95 million traffic stop records, filed by officers with 21 state patrol agencies and 35 municipal police forces from 2011 to 2018."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200507094621.htm

 

 

 

 

 

[rcummings]

On 8/29/2020 at 7:01 PM, Orton Rd said:

King would have had nothing to do with the BLM Marxists- he was a republican. Trump has done more for blacks than even Obama did, far more.

Do you mean that he was a big "R" Republican or a small "r" republican? Because if you're asserting that King was a supporter of the Republican Party, that's just nuts. In 1964 he denounced the Presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater who had voted against the Civil Rights Bill.

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by rcummings

[jayboy]

On 8/29/2020 at 7:14 PM, Yasobill said:

 Are you a US citizen or have you lived in the US as an expat for years? If not, it would be hard for you know the truth!
Are you saying the US is a racist country? If so, than yes, you are confused. 
What you are getting wrong, is you believe what the media tells you is always fact...Well, hate to burst your bubble, but it’s not always fact. Very often it’s poor information or manipulated information. Check out the “entire George Floyd video” then make your assessment on that case. 
 

As a 58 year old American citizen, I ca assure you, the US is not a racist country! 
 

 

 

On the contrary it is not necessary to be a US citizen or to have had long residence there to understand some of the major issues in the US.Indeed an outsider who studies another country deeply often has insights that a citizen of that country does not have access to.Possibly the greatest analyst of American society was a young French aristocrat, de Tocqueville: his insights are valued by American scholars and historians to this day.Some of the greatest analysts of Thai society have been American and British scholars.

 

Furthermore racists, killers and bigots never for a moment think of themselves as racists, killers or bigots.

 

With respect your assurance as a citizen that the US is not a racist country is worth, with respect, precisely nothing.If you are able to summon up some well thought out arguments, that would be another matter.But you have nothing of that sort.In my view as an outsider who has studied American history at degree level there is no doubt in my mind that race still bedevils American life, and that the weight of slavery still hangs heavy.

 

Quite willing to examine your reasoning but your call to "check out the entire George Floyd video" suggests that nothing very illuminating will emanate from your corner.

[Yasobill]

11 hours ago, jayboy said:

On the contrary it is not necessary to be a US citizen or to have had long residence there to understand some of the major issues in the US.Indeed an outsider who studies another country deeply often has insights that a citizen of that country does not have access to.Possibly the greatest analyst of American society was a young French aristocrat, de Tocqueville: his insights are valued by American scholars and historians to this day.Some of the greatest analysts of Thai society have been American and British scholars.

 

Furthermore racists, killers and bigots never for a moment think of themselves as racists, killers or bigots.

 

With respect your assurance as a citizen that the US is not a racist country is worth, with respect, precisely nothing.If you are able to summon up some well thought out arguments, that would be another matter.But you have nothing of that sort.In my view as an outsider who has studied American history at degree level there is no doubt in my mind that race still bedevils American life, and that the weight of slavery still hangs heavy.

 

Quite willing to examine your reasoning but your call to "check out the entire George Floyd video" suggests that nothing very illuminating will emanate from your corner.

I respectfully beg to differ. If you want an accurate reflection of race issues in America, go live there and experience it. Otherwise you really don’t have a basis for reality on the issue. Only what the media decides to feed you. 

sure, you can quote a French man from the “19th century”, But are his reflections really accurate to current times? Likely not. That’s like saying Jules Vern is the architect of the space race.

Studying degree level history is fantastic. By the way, what year did you study History? History doesn’t reflect current times...it’s history! America has changed since the cultural revolution, thankfully so! Do we have further to go?..yes. 
There are pockets of racism in America, no doubt. Just as there are pockets of racism in the U.K., Germany, Japan and even Thailand...but to give America a blanket definition of a “racist country” is absolute incorrect! 
keep reading your history books and taking the mainstream media as the gospel and you’ll have a perfect view of Global societies.
 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Yasobill

[Yasobill]

43 minutes ago, Yasobill said:

America has changed since the cultural revolution,

Ha ha...been in SE Asia too long. Should have read Civil Rights Movement 

[jayboy]

42 minutes ago, Yasobill said:

I respectfully beg to differ. If you want an accurate reflection of race issues in America, go live there and experience it. Otherwise you really don’t have a basis for reality on the issue. Only what the media decides to feed you. 

sure, you can quote a French man from the “19th century”, But are his reflections really accurate to current times? Likely not. That’s like saying Jules Vern is the architect of the space race.

Studying degree level history is fantastic. By the way, what year did you study History? History doesn’t reflect current times...it’s history! America has changed since the cultural revolution, thankfully so! Do we have further to go?..yes. 
There are pockets of racism in America, no doubt. Just as there are pockets of racism in the U.K., Germany, Japan and even Thailand...but to give America a blanket definition of a “racist country” is absolute incorrect! 
keep reading your history books and taking the mainstream media as the gospel and you’ll have a perfect view of Global societies.
 

I didn't say America was a racist country.I said that race bedevils American life, a fact which only an ignoramus would deny.Clearly you have never heard of de Tocqueville so it's pointless discussing his significance with you (but yes his reflections remain extremely relevant). But on the more general issue the past does inform the present and attitudes are determined by a long history.For example the recent controversy over the Confederate flag and Confederate statues has a long history tracking back to the Civil War.I know there are millions of decent Americans without a trace of racism but that does not alter the essential facts.Again there is racism in every country but the US is unique in his legacy of slavery which still poisons the political arena.I'm no fan of BLM and although there's a truth at the heart of their movement, there's also irrelevant Leftist doctrine and third rate leadership.There will inevitably be a backlash and Trump will encourage/try to capitalise on this.Look I'm a fan of America and the principles enunciated by that extraordinary set of geniuses, the Founding Fathers (are these eighteenth century men irrelevant also in your opinion?)The principles of the American Constitution are universal ones.The alternatives to American leadership are repellent - China,Russia etc.The friends of America want the country to renew its position of moral authority

[Yasobill]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

I didn't say America was a racist country.I said that race bedevils American life, a fact which only an ignoramus would deny.Clearly you have never heard of de Tocqueville so it's pointless discussing his significance with you (but yes his reflections remain extremely relevant). But on the more general issue the past does inform the present and attitudes are determined by a long history.For example the recent controversy over the Confederate flag and Confederate statues has a long history tracking back to the Civil War.I know there are millions of decent Americans without a trace of racism but that does not alter the essential facts.Again there is racism in every country but the US is unique in his legacy of slavery which still poisons the political arena.I'm no fan of BLM and although there's a truth at the heart of their movement, there's also irrelevant Leftist doctrine and third rate leadership.There will inevitably be a backlash and Trump will encourage/try to capitalise on this.Look I'm a fan of America and the principles enunciated by that extraordinary set of geniuses, the Founding Fathers (are these eighteenth century men irrelevant also in your opinion?)The principles of the American Constitution are universal ones.The alternatives to American leadership are repellent - China,Russia etc.The friends of America want the country to renew its position of moral authority

True, I stand corrected on my statement regarding the accuracy of your comment...Apologies.

Additionally, believe it or not, but I actually agree with the majority of last post. De Tocqueville spoke of the tyranny of the majority, but what is occurring is a tyranny of the minority.

The minority being mainstream media and current Leadership & Political parties, right or left. They create much of this turmoil and “Racism”. It’s a joke! 
It has become quite intolerable! The American people must stand together to correct it.

Another issue that the MSM certainly isn’t promoting, but being spoken throughout America is our retraction from global conflicts. We are tired of our leaders herding our children to the meat grinder and emptying our coffers for the unappreciative and corrupt purposes, as I’m sure our allies are too.
We’re simply tired of being the world police. Time for someone else to take the role. The world should be far more concerned with this quiet movement than that of the fake BLM and the intentional chaos.

 

peace out!
 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Yasobill

[Yasobill]

16 hours ago, rcummings said:

And you can take Yasobill's word as holy writ because he has been deputized by every American citizen to attest to this basic truth. Not one American citizen disagrees with him.

And you are to disregard the lies perpetrated by studies such as this:

Police stop fewer black drivers at night when a 'veil of darkness' obscures their race

"Study also finds that when drivers were pulled over, officers searched the cars of blacks and Hispanics more often than whites

The largest-ever study of alleged racial profiling during traffic stops has found that blacks, who are pulled over more frequently than whites by day, are much less likely to be stopped after sunset, when "a veil of darkness" masks their race.

That is one of several examples of systematic bias that emerged from a five-year study that analyzed 95 million traffic stop records, filed by officers with 21 state patrol agencies and 35 municipal police forces from 2011 to 2018."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200507094621.htm

 

 

 

 

 

and of course we can all rely on crummings to the WWW search no copy & paste rescue...I’ll play along too
Here’s the actual Stanford Study, not a media reported and focused version. We 

https://5harad.com/papers/traffic-stops.pdf
People of color do lead the way in many categories but is it always due to racist police officers or policy? I’m sure RCummings will know the answer and see my actions as pure racist rhetoric, but who cares what he/she thinks.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Yasobill