Is Open Carry the new White Sheet.

I'm not a fan of Open Carry. I'm no fan of concealed carry or Stand Your Ground laws.

If someone feels the need to carry a gun for self protection, Fine. Let them and their actions stand an objective test and not be enabled by NRA like lobbyists.

So, I feel no surprise when the KKK in Virginia, home to former slave owner and Confederate General, Robert E. Lee, plans a public display of weapons in 'peaceful protests.'

The KKK and Peace Protests. I have never attended a KKK rally, complete with a Fiery Cross, White Hoods, Confederate symbols, and a Grand Dragon. Those events might have been urban legends but I don't think so. I'm sure those were held, sometimes in public places, with more than a little fiery violence. For all I know, they also rallied in public parks to stage lynching and fried chicken eating contests.

Now, I know where to go for a peaceful KKK rally and protest, if protest is the right word for intimidation.

Charlotteville, Virginia.

Here's a noble quote from one of the Knights, “It’s an open-carry state, so our members will be armed,” said James Moore, a member of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan."

So what purpose to this peaceful rally if not to intimidate or incite violence? Well, let's ask.

“The liberals are taking away our heritage,” Moore said. “By taking these monuments away, that’s what they’re working on. They’re trying to erase the white culture right out of the history books.”

Or, maybe I should restate the press release type of boilerplate message. "The KKK is protesting the Charlottesville City Council’s decision this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public park and rename that park."

So which should we believe? Peaceful protest or the new version of Lynching on the Square.

Tomorrow's news? Open Carry is the New White Sheet.

Democracy measured in America, 2016

In 1971, Howard Zinn measured our government against the harshest of all standards, the ideal of Democracy. Against any ideal standard, man's achievements, measured in 1971 or 2016, although worthy of praise, fall short of ideal.

Zinn measured our shortages against 10 categories. As we close Election Day 2016, perhaps the most trivial election of our lifetimes and also the most important as is every election, Zinn's mythical 10, or at least three of them deserve another measurement, access to the ballot, freedom of individuality, and the opportunity to protest. Like Zinn, I choose to test my 3 against the ideals, not just the present versus the past, nor a scale of good, better, and best.

Zinn's 1971 opinion found the ballot, or political activity in general, favored the weathy, as measured in health, social-economic status, and education. I agree in 2016 with Zinn. Given the amounts of money needed to place a name or an issue on a ballot, the our election process differs little from a dictatorship. The sick need not apply to democratic methods just as the Irish were told. The corporate person, the highest social-economic status, offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner to willing political actors. And, the least educated suffer under a crushing burden of misinformation and information overload without a trained mind.

Voters, in Zinn's time, like today's voters, faced voter suppression efforts.The 1966 state poll taxes being similar to the 2016 purchase of a state validated voter ID card or photo ID. The white men under the white hoods, openly racist in the 1960's, resemble today's open carry thugs patrolling political rallies as self appointed 'candidate security.' I offer no Zinn equivalent to the 21st Century closing of inner city polling locations for budgetary reasons. The US electoral system denies a right to vote, freedom to vote, and perhaps a place to vote. There is no Democracy in that.

By measuring the present versus the past, freedom of individuality, measured by a woman's access to birth control without a husband's consent, the availability of same sex marriage, or discrimination against minorities in housing and employment, grew larger since Zinn's time. Yet, some call to end immigration, shout for the building of walls, and cry for mass expulsions based on religious beliefs. There is no democracy in that.

Just prior to Zinn's time, Chicago's Democratic Convention protesters found themselves beaten by police, four college students in Ohio were shot to death by the National Guard seeking to end campus protests, and the nation saw pictures of Martin Luther King dead on a Memphis balcony.

This week, pipeline protesters in at Standing Rock, ND, were assaulted with noise cannons and rubber bullets by enforcers wearing riot gear supported by military vehicles. The city of Miami, in preparation for FTAA protests, developed what is called, the Miami Model, based on City of Miami Ordinance 54-6.1,included a ban of 8 people meeting in public, and defining a parade as two or more people, and a ban on weapons, a 2nd Amendment right. All the signs of a democracy under challenge or the actions of dictatorship.

We must choose, in 2016 and beyond, a striving towards ideals and the path of pragmatism. Elections must have a time, a place, and faithful rules for access. The route to Individualism needs a Main street, many side roads, and the safety of reflective pastures to nurture and advance. The protests of one against many or the many against one requires the willingness and cooperation of more than one side without the government enforced passivity similar to slavery.

America fails my measurements and standards for Democracy. The 2016, in ways, a referendum on emails and vulgarity, tests whether the willingness or ability exists, in my time and yours, to seek more than trivial issues in deciding a Presidential Election.

Democracy measured in American, 2016

In 1971, Howard Zinn measured our government against the harshest of all standards, the ideal of Democracy. Against any ideal standard, man's achievements, measured in 1971 or 2016, although worthy of praise, fall short of ideal.

Zinn measured our shortages against 10 categories. As we close Election Day 2016, perhaps the most trivial election of our lifetimes and also the most important as is every election, Zinn's mythical 10, or at least three of them deserve another measurement, access to the ballot, freedom of individuality, and the opportunity to protest. Like Zinn, I choose to test my 3 against the ideals, not just the present versus the past, nor a scale of good, better, and best.

Zinn's 1971 opinion found the ballot, or political activity in general, favored the weathy, as measured in health, social-economic status, and education. I agree in 2016 with Zinn. Given the amounts of money needed to place a name or an issue on a ballot, the our election process differs little from a dictatorship. The sick need not apply to democratic methods just as the Irish were told. The corporate person, the highest social-economic status, offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner to willing political actors. And, the least educated suffer under a crushing burden of misinformation and information overload without a trained mind.

Voters, in Zinn's time, like today's voters, faced voter suppression efforts.The 1966 state poll taxes being similar to the 2016 purchase of a state validated voter ID card or photo ID. The white men under the white hoods, openly racist in the 1960's, resemble today's open carry thugs patrolling political rallies as self appointed 'candidate security.' I offer no Zinn equivalent to the 21st Century closing of inner city polling locations for budgetary reasons. The US electoral system denies a right to vote, freedom to vote, and perhaps a place to vote. There is no Democracy in that.

By measuring the present versus the past, freedom of individuality, measured by a woman's access to birth control without a husband's consent, the availability of same sex marriage, or discrimination against minorities in housing and employment, grew larger since Zinn's time. Yet, some call to end immigration, shout for the building of walls, and cry for mass expulsions based on religious beliefs. There is no democracy in that.

Just prior to Zinn's time, Chicago's Democratic Convention protesters found themselves beaten by police, four college students in Ohio were shot to death by the National Guard seeking to end campus protests, and the nation saw pictures of Martin Luther King dead on a Memphis balcony.

This week, pipeline protesters in at Standing Rock, ND, were assaulted with noise cannons and rubber bullets by enforcers wearing riot gear supported by military vehicles. The city of Miami, in preparation for FTAA protests, developed what is called, the Miami Model, based on City of Miami Ordinance 54-6.1,included a ban of 8 people meeting in public, and defining a parade as two or more people, and a ban on weapons, a 2nd Amendment right. All the signs of a democracy under challenge or the actions of dictatorship.

We must choose, in 2016 and beyond, a striving towards ideals and the path of pragmatism. Elections must have a time, a place, and faithful rules for access. The route to Individualism needs a Main street, many side roads, and the safety of reflective pastures to nurture and advance. The protests of one against many or the many against one requires the willingness and cooperation of more than one side without the government enforced passivity similar to slavery.

America fails my measurements and standards for Democracy. The 2016, in ways, a referendum on emails and vulgarity, tests whether the willingness or ability exists, in my time and yours, to seek more than trivial issues in deciding a Presidential Election.

Racial Assault

Wow! I had a real moment of revelation today and it must be shared.

A Facebook friend posted from the AJC about the students in Klan hoods acting out at East Coweta High School.

Here's the picture.

I think the behavior is offensive. And, I said so. Then, things got interesting.

Let me quote.

"Not being the intended target Mike, it's easy for you to dismiss this as a simple insult. An insult is telling me you don't like my hairstyle or outfit. This my friend, is not just an insult. The klan is still alive and thriving throughout the south. I have no idea what these kids parents take them to on weekends. I have no idea what they have planned next. What I do know is that as a black woman in the south, I would feel threatened if I encountered someone dressed like this."

That wasn't enough.

"Agree: I see this outfit as equivalent to a T-shirt with the words "I will cut your throat and hang you from a tree if I can find a chance to do it without getting caught." Which is pretty much the entire point of the Klan hood, right?

So that's not a specific threat, unless you happen to be near this person and alone (in which case it's a pretty violent, gruesome threat)."

After some reflection, here's my reply to my friends.

I've thought about this several times today. I'd like to put the white man spin on it. Give me time to spell it out.

I know a young man of 35 with two little children. The man loves his wife and children. Those three people are the dearest things to him on the planet. Deep, deep down ... he knows ... in some way ... he's been blessed with more than he could possibly deserve. [That's the best I can do as far as sharing how I think the man feels about his very, very good life.]

IF a 'clown,' the word I used earlier, jumped out in front of his wife and children in a parking lot like this 'clown' did, my buddy would want some pay back. To him, this is an assault. Not a threat.

It is like pointing a gun at a person then running away.

That's how I will think of it from now on. It's how I will explain it to anyone and everyone. Should be a crime.

Southern Honor

In April of 1864, an army of over 5,000 Confederate Infantry and Calvary overran Fort Pillow.

"The fort consisted of a dirt parapet, approximately 6 to 8 feet high, and formed a 125-foot semicircle. Built on a steep bluff that descended rapidly to the Mississippi, the fort faced east. To the north, a small stream, Cool Creek, entered the river. To the south, a small town consisting of storage buildings and bunkhouses sat in a ravine below the fort."

The Great Southern General, Nathan B. Forrest, described this dirt fort and the battle as follows, " I cannot compliment too highly the conduct of Colonels Bell and McCulloch and the officers and men of their brigades, which composed the forces of Brigadier-General Chalmers. They fought with courage and intrepidity, and without bayonets assaulted and carried one of the strongest fortifications in the country."

"My loss in the engagement was 20 killed and 60 wounded," Report of Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, C. S. Army, April 26, 1864. "We captured 164 Federals, 75 negro troops, and about 40 negro women and children"

Oh the proud descendants of these brave soldiers enjoy retelling this story of 'courage and intrepidity.' Less than 500 armed Black and White Union soldiers confined to a 125 semicircle wall of dirt defeated by an army of 5,000.

How about a map to show some details of the assault?

The dirt fort remains as a National Historic Landmark called Fort Pillow State Park.

Union survivors who escaped capture were less than 100. No Black soldiers survived capture. Forrest captured some 75 Black soldiers and some 40 Black women. Forrest did not consider them prisoners of war. Many would be lynched by the Southern troops during the following march. Bodies were left hanging in trees as a warning.