Interesting read...

[Oscar Wao]

From "another place." Some good critical thinking skill applied here. Enjoy!

~~~

Rachel,

I am a 45 year old Black American male who loves your show but I strongly disagree with you about your position on Rand Paul. Just so you know I voted for Obama and Kerry because I was horrified by both Bush and Palin respectively. Here's where I disagree with you.

1. If someone in the Klan owns a restaurant and doesn't want to serve me, why on earth would I want to support him by giving him my money? I don't want my money going to buy little Klan baby clothes. I'd rather the privately owned establishments wear their racism on their sleeves so I know who to support. If they want to lose my money, and the money of all other minorities and people with brains and a conscience, then fine. Racism is bad business.

2. There's two facts none of us can get around. Churches are still the most segregated places in America every Sunday morning. Its called freedom of religion. There are still restaurants where you can't go in D.C. and I can't go in Georgia. That's called tribalism. Integration cannot be forced privately, only publicly. Tribalism cannot be defeated by legislation. Freedom of speech and of religion means also freedom of @!$%#s. I prefer them with their hoods off.

3. I respectfully say that I think you're wrong to imply that Rand Paul is a racist for believing that

Woolworth's should be allowed to be segregated. I will go on the record right now and state that I believe that Woolworth's and any other privately owned business should be allowed to be segregated. We Black's have a choice now that we didn't back before the Civil Rights Act. Why would I want to support cracker ass Woolworth's if that's who owns the store? I'll take my money elswhere. If you had your way, I wouldn't know one from the other. I hope we can one day agree to let Woolworth's be free to take off its Klan Hood so you and I both know where to spend our money. Its not like and oil company. We all "have to" buy gasoline for now. We blacks have a choice which lunch counter we want to sit at in 2010. Rand Paul stated that when violence occurred it was wrong. He said it was morally reprehensible and he would never support it? He shouldn't be smeared as a racist.

I love you to pieces and as a person of color I identify with your pain, but I'm glad these racists and homophobes want to come out into the open now. I don't think Rand Paul is one of them.

Oteil Burbridge

Bassist Allman Brothers Band

Lawrenceville, Georgia

 

[MaggieMae]

The Civil Rights Act wasn't about blacks being unable to eat at a Woolworth's counter. It was about the RIGHT to eat there, should they choose. They had no choice before passage of the Act.

 

[Oscar Wao]

And if they aren't allowed to eat at that restaurant, or go to that cinema, or shop at that store; or at the very least, be made uncomfortable enough to leave there as if they were banned from those places, they'd probably take their business elsewhere and tell others to do so.

It's called...the market!

 

[MaggieMae]

And if they aren't allowed to eat at that restaurant, or go to that cinema, or shop at that store; or at the very least, be made uncomfortable enough to leave there as if they were banned from those places, they'd probably take their business elsewhere and tell others to do so.

It's called...the market!

Of course. But if someone chose to, s/he could file a discrimination complaint against such establishment too.

Before the Civil Rights Act was passed, those parts of the country where discrimination was actively pursued relied on existing Jim Crow laws, not just the whim of a restaurant owner. Black people could be arrested for using white-only facilities.

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm