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.