San Diego to rename street for Harvey Milk
Classy
“A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of more than 1,300 Americans nationwide finds that about nine of 10, black and white, say civil rights for African Americans have improved during their lifetimes.
(…)
On the question of whether race relations between blacks and whites will always be a problem, there has been virtually no change at all among whites since 1963: 44% of whites said then that relations between blacks and whites would “always be a problem in the United States.” In the new poll, almost precisely the same number, 45%, of whites hold that view.
In contrast, the days of soaring optimism among blacks has ended.
In 1963, seven in 10 blacks predicted relations between blacks and whites “will eventually be worked out”; 26% said they would always be a problem. Now, 55% of blacks see it is as a conflict that won’t end.”
Poll respondents chart racial progress since MLK
More —> USATODAY
Final Vote: 33-29
“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”
New York Republican State Senator Roy McDonald speaking to a reporter (New York Daily News)
Freedom Riders: Watch the Full Film (above)
The story behind a courageous band of civil rights activists called the Freedom Riders who in 1961 creatively challenged segregation in the American South.
“I just don’t remember it as being that bad.”
Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour on civil rights era - Ben Smith
The unforgiving lens of history
Through Ernest C. Withers’ lens, many of us were introduced, visually, to African-Americans’ struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s — even my generation, who saw Withers’ photos of Memphis sanitation workers holding signs saying “I AM A MAN” in a history book, causing us to puff our chests out a little further that day.
In many ways, Withers — who died in 2007 at age 85 — was a hero to me. This morning, I am heartbroken. I find it hard to consider someone a hero when he informed on the Civil Rights leaders who considered him in their confidence, and did it for money. Ernest C. Withers was a paid informant to the F.B.I. - Jamil Smith
Continue reading… MaddowBlog
Rachel Maddow shoots down Haley Barbour’s attempt at historical revisionism regarding the civil rights movement and his own, racist, anti-civil rights history. The Right has already been trying for some time to redefine the right-wing Nazis of Germany as left-wingers in order to smear the Left, and now the Right has decided to hijack the Civil Rights movement — a movement that right-wingers fought and continue to fight against tooth and nail.
Civil rights beyond race:
Rachel Maddow explains the political context of the civil rights movement and points out that on the fringe of American politics there is still debate about the whole role of the government in assuring equal rights for all Americans.
Rand Paul with Wolf Blitzer today
Last week (July 3, 2004), Congress hailed the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The heroic Ron Paul was the only member of Congress to vote No. Here is his statement:
Mr. Speaker, I [Rep. Ron Paul, MD] rise to explain my objection to H.Res. 676. I certainly join my colleagues in urging Americans to celebrate the progress this country has made in race relations. However, contrary to the claims of the supporters of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the sponsors of H.Res. 676, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not improve race relations or enhance freedom. Instead, the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty.
continue reading… lewrockwell
“The report represents a comprehensive review of the division’s litigation activity in the Bush administration. When compared with the Clinton administration, its findings show a significant drop in the enforcement of several major antidiscrimination and voting rights laws. For example, lawsuits brought by the division to enforce laws prohibiting race or sex discrimination in employment fell from about 11 per year under President Bill Clinton to about 6 per year under President George W. Bush.”
April 7 1968, Ted Kennedy gave a speech to the Alaska Democratic Convention days after Martin Luther King’s assassination, on the subject of civil rights.
