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David J. Sharp's avatar

I was born in 1950. I remember watching the civil rights movement on television. Little Rock, Selma; the firehoses, the attack dogs; sheer, ugly hatred.

It took young men and women brave enough to confront that with nonviolence. Do we have those warriors today? Not the dumb rabble of January 6, 2020, but the good trouble of 1964. Brute force versus conscientious force…

They stood up—can we? Will we?

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defineandredefine's avatar

I'd like to think, based on the BLM marches in 2020 and current mobilizations for Gaza, that the answer is yes.

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KingRayVet's avatar

Neither one of those are anything like the Civil Rights Movements. It took people who believed in nonviolence, ones who didn't, and ones who believed in violence to take this country by storm. You didn't see how quickly they put that thing in action, based on the murder of Emmett Till. That kind of courage no longer exists in young people, but I hope they find it. I'm only 7 years younger then David, and saw all of that, too. Plus I'm Black.

Naaaaa, those 2 fizzled out things are nothing like it. Only people who weren't there during the 60's think there are similarities. Not to rain on your parade, but we have to be realistic here and not see this through the lens of YouTube videos or TV. LOL

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defineandredefine's avatar

I take your point. I have to - I was very definitely not alive in the 1960s to dispute it!

I have to quibble about the Gaza protests though - they are ongoing. But it is disheartening how much momentum was lost after 2020 re: the BLM protests...

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KingRayVet's avatar

BTW, I said that what happened in 2020 would fizzle out, in one of my YouTube videos, when all that occurred. I just knew it, because I saw the lack of passion and it was one more thing people could tell their friends about. They weren't ready for the prolonged fight that was necessary like the 60's movements. As soon as the pandemic let up a little, they all dispersed and it was business as usual.

What was unique about the George Floyd murder was everybody was sitting at home in front of the idiot tube, because of the pandemic lock down, and that is the first time many people saw what was really happening to Black people in 'MuriKKKa. Other things were happening around the same time, and they did not show up for those murders. That's how I knew it was disingenuous at best and folks just hit the snooze button a few times before turning the alarm off.

White people can opt-out of seeing racism in their face. We cannot. If they couldn't, they would see what we see as an ongoing fight. When it gets too hard, they opt-out. They didn't during the 60's, but they did before. I was so happy to see so many whites involved, and that involvement was also fueled by the Vietnam War they were protesting. It all melted together nicely. It was an ugly time, but it was worth it.

Will people see what's going on in the U.S. before it's too late? I honestly don't know. They went back to sleep.

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KingRayVet's avatar

I'm not sure why/when this happened, but young people no longer respect their elders like I was taught to. They're not listening to us, don't want to believe us, and argue with us every chance they get. Therefore, wisdom isn't being handed down. In the information age, I'm amazed at how much this happens and how much people don't know cuz they're not talking with people who were there. Folks are way more fragile and if what we say doesn't jive with their upbringing, it gets ignored. Each older generation says they're tougher than the ones that came after, and it's true. I don't mind owning that, because it makes me stronger.

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KingRayVet's avatar

Yes, the Gaza protests endure until that head of Israel knocks it off, but that is not about THIS country. When it comes to us, nobody's doing anything but beating up Biden for supporting them. Yes, I was alive during the 60's and I don't agree with that part of our administration. We have no business in that fight, or whatever it is isn't being shared with Americans. No transparency. We need the money going to Israel to clean shit up here.

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