You might be surprised to learn who wrote this:
… It is easy to go out and publicize how many times a player got arrested to make the case he doesn’t deserve a scholarship. After all, the sensationalism will get people to read the magazine or tune into the network’s news programs.
Click here to find out.
Get The Picture 
UNCLE LUKE….the mayor! Didnt read the article though
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Good. Because he just makes some excuses for the rap sheet associated with an athlete who he happens to know, then he seems to make the case that CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated are just part of the white man trying to keep the black man down. Here’s all you need to know about the “article”, it contains this sentence: “The judicial process is set up to disenfranchise African-Americans, a majority of whom can’t afford their own lawyer and then take guilty pleas to get on with their lives.” Now, I’m probably more liberal than most of those who read this blog, but even I think a statement like that is BS. Where’s the supporting information for a claim like that, Uncle Luke? Prove to me that the process is set up in order to disenfranchise black people. Prove to me that most take plea deals despite innocence in order to move one with their lives. What’s that? You only have the attention span to write six paragraphs on the matter? You are only using one piece of anecdotal evidence to support your theory? Then how about putting the words “I believe” at the front of that sentence instead of trying to pass that off as factual information.
Sorry, Uncle Luke, but I’m going to go ahead and stick to letting reputable sources criticize the media. But I’ll be sure to come to 2 Live Crew whenever I feel the need to be as nasty as I wanna be.
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Racist!
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It’s an absolute mystery why Blacks would ever distrust the judicial system. After all, the penalties for crack v. powdered cocaine were just reduced from being 100 times worse to being only 18 to 1 worse. Those are odds are good compared to what they were before. So why does Luther look a gift horse in the mouth? Now Florida’s new AG wants to take away their limited restoration of rights. That’s so weird because Skeletor really understands black folk.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-02-24/news/rick-scott-really-understands-blacks/
http://www.postonpolitics.com/2011/02/bondi-wants-to-do-away-with-automatic-restoration-of-rights-for-felons/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14904102
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124795401
Click to access RaceandClass.Sentencing.pdf
http://www.drugpolicy.org/communities/race/criminaljust/
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6218/Felony-Disenfranchisement.html
http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/002380.html
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The South was clearly doing what he says well into the 20th Century. Thankfully, due to some brave black Southerners and some outsiders forcing white Southerners to stop much of it, the problem isn’t as bad now as it once was.
But do you think the problem just completely went away a few decades ago? Or are there remnants of it left in our institutions?
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An Imperial Wizard guesses it’s just remnants. If it weren’t, the Alachua klavern would have to find a bigger fallout shelter for their meetings.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/florida-kkk-leader-says-law-enforcement-officers-are-169139.html
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Meh.
We don’t even have to go to the extremes of the KKK. All it takes is institutions run largely by white people elected and produced by a culture which, while fortunately no longer as overtly hostile as the culture of its parents and grandparents was, is still pretty fairly slanted against impoverished black communities.
Institutional injustice and bigotry is a tough topic b/c it’s not as obvious as water cannons and separate water fountains. It isn’t seen in one person but is manifested in the institutions that are created by thousands and millions of people across communities, states and nations. An eye-roll here, a more quickly dismissive response there… on their own no big deal. But multiplies across millions it results in observations like the prosecution and conviction rates you noted above.
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He’s a 9-11 truther, a grassy knoller, and and FDR knew about Pearl Harborer, rolled into one.
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You left off birther.
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People of Luther’s, ah, demographics, aren’t generally birthers.
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Yeah, you’re right. He’s probably still thinking about that lie about Nixon and the break-in at the Watergate…er…no..maybe about that falsehood about Reagan diverting money to illegally supply guns to Nicaraguan freedom fighters without Congress knowing or approving it…wait….that’s not….or that fabrication about guns for hostages with Iran….uh,not that either…or that spoof about Clinton getting a BJ from Monica Lewinski in the Oval Office…wait…no…..Hmmm……
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Easy to dismiss Luther Campbell given his past, but Doug Blackmon won the 2009 Pulitzer for Non-Fiction for basically making the same argument about the South well into the 20th Century. He explains it here:
Part 1
Part 2
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TD, I respect your position and your thoughtful comments on this blog regarding this subject but I do not agree with Luther Campbell or Douglas Blackmon. Were there awful things that happened to black Americans in the latter 19th century and first half or so of the 20th century and even later? Yes. Was there still racism in the South (and other parts of the US) in the 50s and 60s and even beyond that? Absolutely. But oppressive things tantamount to what Blackmon describes happened to whites, too. Ever been to the coal mines of Appalachia, particularly West Virginia? In those small towns entire families were enslaved by the “company store” system where workers worked in a state of perpetual bondage to pay off the debts to their employer which they accumulated just to survive. Those people were predominately white but were treated as sub-human by the mine owners. How about the history of the Native Americans in this country? We as a nation have got to find a way to put all this behind us and move forward. What is important is that we must make certain that things like that cannot and will not happen to anyone in this country in the future. Rehashing the awful things done to people 50, 60, 70 years ago and more only serves to Balkanize our society. I have a friend who is a few years older than I am who loves to talk about civil rights and the things he did to try to make things right. The only problem is he still sees things now as they were then and they simply are not. He was waxing on about this subject the other night and I asked him: “When are you talking about?” His answer was: “1966.” Was there racism in the South in the ’60s? Damn straight there was. Did public officials try to deter black people from voting back the . Sadly, yes. But this is no longer that time and voter intimidation for the most part no longer exists–and if it does it will be fully prosecuted any time and any place it is found. Let’s stop rehashing the past and try to build a future that is the best it can be for everyone rather than reopening old wounds. One thing that Douglas Blackmon said in the above interview that I emphatically disagree with is that he hopes that young people, particularly high school students, will read his book. I cannot think of anything worse for the future of our great nation than for the bitterness engendered by that era to be carried onward into the 21st century. The best thing for everyone in is for all of us to ignore Douglas Blackmon. He’ll write about something else when he figures out that there is no longer a market for hate in this country.
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I expected the autor to be either Mark Bradley or even better Jeff Shultz.
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I figured it would be Texas Dawg.
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Terrence Moore???
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Hate to break it to you guys but there is nothing special about racism in the south, it exists everwhere. I’ve lived in other parts of the mainland and maui and the racism I’ve seen in those places exists to a greater degree than the south. In my opinion the south has become more tolerant of other races, even moreso than other regions. As a white man, trust me….you don’t want to get caught acting up here in Maui and involved with law enforcement or the legal system. You just deal with it and accept the fact its the locals island. We’ve become as a country so wrapped up in political correctness and liability, its overshadowed the fact that there’s always going to be differences.
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You should write a book about that.
As I mentioned above, Douglas Blackmon wrote this one saying the exact opposite of what you say, and it won him the 2009 Pulitzer for Non-Fiction. Go figure.
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The Pulitzer Prize. Wasn’t that the award given to Janet Cooke of the Washington Post for a non-fiction piece that was later proven to be totally false?
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I grew up in the South during the 50s and 60s. I saw racists, as it is generally defined, and while it was a minority of whites, it existed. As an adult who has lived in several states and managed a large group of people in all locales, I still see racism, but almost all of the hatred and divisivness now comes from blacks. Black leadership in this country has done a terrible injustice to those who could have succeeded in this country but the truth is those leaders need to fan the flames of hatred to maintain their powerbase…..which is what it is all about to them.
We are almost 60 years from Brown vs the Topeka Board of Education, and approaching 50 years since the Civil Rights Act and other legislation which could have brought all our citizens together in a strong, cohesive society. Unfortunately, black society is now poorer than ever, with no clue how to extricate themselves. Black society has serious family unit issues which leads to educational deficiencies and lack of discipline. Black communities suffer from a culture of crime as they fail to work with those who are paid to make their communities safe. Black on black crime is off the charts, and drugs flourish endangering the lives of all who live there. Rather than step up to the issue as a community, blame is placed on those who not only don’t live there, but aren’t even living at all. You can blame slavery for all your problems, but there are no slave owners around, and there hasn’t been for a century and a half. As bad as slavery was, the truth is, a small minority of people ever owned a slave even in the 1800s. It damned sure isn’t relevant now, and wallowing in it is not going to change anything.
Multi-culturalism and the entitlement mentality have weakened the values of this country for everyone, not just black citizens. Leaders like Jessie Jackson, Cynthia Hill, the imbecile congressman in Atlanta, etc. all keep their feet on blacks while the opportunity so many fought for has been squandered. No one minds helping those who need a helping hand, balck or white, but who is willing to give something away to someone who has no plan to improve themselves? It is like pouring money into a bottomless pit.
Corporate America in the 70s, 80s, and 90s were looking for black men and women to hire, train, and promote but found a severe shortage of qualified applicants. It was frustrating then, and the search is even harder now. The chip-on-the-shoulder attitude on those who do not have prison/drug histories, or covered their bodies with tatoos, etc., has become a problem for America’s largest companies who cannot afford to have representatives who offend their customer/consumer base. America has always been a melting pot, and was stronger because the blend into one culture of Americans made a pretty good stew. It will not survive the individual pockets of cultures with no glue to hold it together.
Not saying black leaders are to blame for everything that is wrong in America, but for blacks to insinuate whites are the ones holding them back while exploiting them is asinine. The civil rights movment achieved what it desired; then came a worse fate that was visited on blacks, the carpetbag vultures who led them astray for their own personal gain. People of all colors and backgrounds have succeeded in this country, including blacks, but none have failed so badly. Despite what is alledged against white society, the last two generations could have been a great success story had black leaders (political, clerical, and within the family unit) stepped up. Telling people they were “entitled”, and excused from the same standards was the worst possible thing that could have happened. We are seeing the results of that now, and it is looking like a train wreck.
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Yep. Just a small group of nameless people that none of us are descended from nor in any way still haunt our culture and institutions as they and the results of all their actions just magically vanished into perfect harmony as soon as outsiders finally intervened.
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Hell, Texas, +1
And Mac, while some black leaders have done their race an injustice, the simple fact is that racisim has just put on a smiley face in the south, which is the only area of the country I can speak about with any authority.
The feelings are pretty much the same as they used to be we are just a lot more polite about it.
It will take generations before the influence of that small group of nameless people is erased.
Except on Saturday in the fall.
God bless Wilbur Jackson.
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Since this is a football blog i’ll keep this minimum. This is just my personal opinion and there may be a term for it…but whether its GA vs Fla, SEC vs Big 12 conference rivalries etc. People always are going to have instinctive preferences that identify with the smallest denominator against a percieved “threat” of indifferences. It really is a survival instinct among ALL humans. That pack will always defend itself against whatever the opposing force. Hell its even evident among GA fans when we argue about the coaches…but if anyone outside of the fan base has anything to say its all hands united. Same for 9-11(USA) vs terrorists and same if it were aliens vs the world. We all unite against whatever is the percieved threat is…my point is, whether its races, sports, politics…its all the same. That’s why I say it will always exist…and it becomes even more evident among those that have lower reasoning skills (e.g. your drunk SEC non alum Auburn fan defending the program)
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Macallanlover, you’re beginning to worry me…I find myself in complete agreement with your comments and they show thought and backing as much as Texas Dawg’s are the usual dull, “the white man did it” I’m a native Georgian, old enough to have lived in the two system South and also old enough to witness the “new Slavery” of entitlement handouts and the resultant neutering of Black Americans by this system. I was educated on the West Coast and had to defend the South in California college classrooms of the 60’s and am proud of the almost 100% support of the Black classmates from the Sout h gave me. These were young Black men and women who were working their way thru school..prior to the Great Society..and were buying into the work ethic of our founding fathers. Texas Dawg is still giving the tired old excuses for the lack of success by the “new Breed” of young Blacks in America.
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I think TDawg just parrots the conventional “wisdom” of media talking-heads, probably read a few books on the subject. His comments simply do not reflect actual life experiences. Bigoted characterizations of Southerners can be found not only on Big 10+2 sites, many SEC teams have fans who just assume the accusations are true. As the Mayor says above, the folks who wallow in the past pointing fingers, assigning blame are the very ones who drag us all down and miss the opportunities of this time period. You can learn from the past but you can’t change it. If you continually keep your eyes on the rearview mirror, you will end up in a ditch.
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