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America's first lynching memorial results in some local residents filled with ire, resentment [View all]
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/30/1760996/-America-s-first-lynching-memorial-results-in-some-local-residents-filled-with-ire-resentment?detail=emaildkre<snip>
As Sam Levin writes in The Guardian, some locals in Montgomery feel resentful that the museum is “dredging up the past.”
“It’s going to cause an uproar and open old wounds,” said Mikki Keenan, a 58-year-old longtime Montgomery resident, who was eating lunch at a southern country-style restaurant a mile from the memorial. Local residents, she said, feel “it’s a waste of money, a waste of space and it’s bringing up bullshit”.
“It keeps putting the emphasis on discrimination and cruelty,” chimed in her friend, who asked not to be named for fear that her child would disapprove of her remarks. The memorial, she added, could spark violence.
“It’s going to cause an uproar and open old wounds,” said Mikki Keenan, a 58-year-old longtime Montgomery resident, who was eating lunch at a southern country-style restaurant a mile from the memorial. Local residents, she said, feel “it’s a waste of money, a waste of space and it’s bringing up bullshit”.
“It keeps putting the emphasis on discrimination and cruelty,” chimed in her friend, who asked not to be named for fear that her child would disapprove of her remarks. The memorial, she added, could spark violence.
<snip>
“Bring that stuff to light, and let it be there, but don’t dwell on it,” said Tommy Rhodes, a member of the Alabama Sons of Confederate Veterans. “We have moved past it … You don’t want to entice them and feed any fuel to the fire.”
<snip>
Wow. So many astonishing things about these quotes...
1. She wants to remain anonymous because her child would disapprove of her remarks? Just Wow.
2. "We have moved past it..." Who is "we"? The white people whose ancestors committed the lynchings, and then presumably taught their offspring their own special brand of hatred and cruelty? So big of you to have "moved past it"
. Moron.
3. Who is "them"? Who is it he's trying not to "entice". As if this memorial is intended only for "those people" whose immediate families were devastated by these horrific crimes. As if "they" are going to be so angered by this poignantly beautiful memorial that "they" might become violent? Sorry, sir. That's what YOUR ancestors did, not "theirs".
4. And as if "we" can't all learn and ponder and meditate on the causes and repercussions of such violence. Certainly this memorial goes a much longer way toward healing and growing as a nation than some idiotic statue of Stonewall Jackson.
I grew up among people like those quoted in this article. Sadly, I'm not surprised by the ignorance displayed in their comments. My hope is derived from the acknowledgement by the one woman that her children are vastly smarter than she is.
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