Sunday, July 05, 2015

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press of 5 July 2016:


Educator and social justice advocate Franklin McCallie delivered the following remarks to about 100 Chattanooga residents who gathered to honor the nine Americans who were slain in a Charleston S.C., church on June 12, 2015.
Dr. McCallie begins “We gather tonight, first and foremost, to remember and grieve nine American citizens who were slain … because they were black.”

I won’t quote the whole speech here, but will copy a few sections. You can click here to read the entire talk (not too long).

Dr. McCallie describes himself as “…a 75-year old, white, Southern-speaking man. I was born and raised in Chattanooga at a time when we were - and still are - refighting the Civil War. During my first 20 years, I held a strong allegiance to the Confederate flag, to Robert E. Lee and to Stonewall Jackson. "

John was particularly taken with this passage from McCallie’s remarks: “When Muslim terrorists murder innocent people, the vast majority of Americans - liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, tea party - all cry out: ‘Why don’t the moderate, peace loving Muslims handle their own?’
    "But when white American terrorists murder black Americans, some in those same political groups shout: ‘That wasn’t racism! That was a deranged mind!’ Certainly it’s a deranged mind. Deranged first with a culture that injects white people with mind-corroding views against black citizens!
    "Right-thinking, white Americans must step up to challenge a system that keeps black people poor, that closes the door to good education and to jobs, and that sends disproportionate numbers of black men to prison. And ‘nice,’ even well-intentioned, white people who do nothing to help fix this problem help to sustain this racist culture.”

Amen!

I encourage you to read the whole piece - it’s well worth a few minutes.

2 comments:

Sue Retzlaff said...

Mary, thank you for running Dr. McCallie's piece. It has not been reprinted here in Auburn, but it should be printed all across America, IMHO. It is well worth the few minutes--and I hope it receives a much wider audience, thanks to your blog.

Sue Retzlaff in Auburn, Alabama.

Unknown said...

Am pleased to hear you've come back home safe from the beach house. Look forward to reading your blog written at your home town.
Sato