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Southern white guy opens up (Original Post) zebonaut Apr 2015 OP
Post removed Post removed Apr 2015 #1
Well... zebonaut Apr 2015 #6
Really? This is where zentrum Apr 2015 #30
he was responding to the hidden post Duppers Apr 2015 #39
I know, my bad... zentrum Apr 2015 #46
Just fucking wow. That make you feel better? Ed Suspicious Apr 2015 #12
this isn't at all what I expected. OKNancy Apr 2015 #2
perhaps the best use of the word Tuesday Afternoon Apr 2015 #3
Wow. Powerful. And he's talking truth to power. BlueCaliDem Apr 2015 #4
It's just you. hippywife Apr 2015 #35
I forgot to put my reading glasses on! BlueCaliDem Apr 2015 #43
Surprising. Ineeda Apr 2015 #5
Well, put aside everything that would make us suspicious before lending Baitball Blogger Apr 2015 #7
I think the "Come to Jesus" moment is what this vid is about... Rockyj Apr 2015 #40
I would love to see this one video turn into a trend. Baitball Blogger Apr 2015 #41
Simple, honest truths here. Plucketeer Apr 2015 #8
+1 heaven05 Apr 2015 #9
I took it to mean Duppers Apr 2015 #38
Truth. Right on man. Big time respect for having the courage to tell it like it is. Ed Suspicious Apr 2015 #10
This was a great video. bravenak Apr 2015 #11
So real. And lets face it, probably not an easy position to take where people who Ed Suspicious Apr 2015 #13
I agree. It had to be very hard. But he did it. bravenak Apr 2015 #14
Exactly my thought, as well. It needs to come from him and people like him. Ed Suspicious Apr 2015 #15
It's not an easy position to take for any beneficiary of ws to take. n/t 1StrongBlackMan Apr 2015 #19
Agreed. Ed Suspicious Apr 2015 #22
Powerful. He gets it. herding cats Apr 2015 #16
Alright! DLnyc Apr 2015 #17
BRAVO! For the courage to speak the truth about this country and the white bonniebgood Apr 2015 #18
The man speaks the truth. Who is he? What's his name? brush Apr 2015 #20
As soon as he used the word "narcissism" I knew he was too intelligent and too aware to be a real DesertDiamond Apr 2015 #21
Yeah, that stood out for me too. Narcissism - really? canoeist52 Apr 2015 #24
I am not sure we can change that so easily until a lot of the old racists are gone because they jwirr Apr 2015 #23
I think he means a time when 'we' weren't afraid and greedy suzanner Apr 2015 #32
Very insightful Jack Rabbit Apr 2015 #25
What I make of it is this... hippywife Apr 2015 #26
Great message MadCrow Apr 2015 #27
Mostly well said young man project_bluebook Apr 2015 #28
Speaking truth to white power. democrank Apr 2015 #29
excellent, all white people need to listen to this! nt steve2470 Apr 2015 #31
Just raised my impression of "the South" up one notch. Hulk Apr 2015 #33
Didn't expect to hear what he was saying. madamvlb Apr 2015 #34
... says he's no longer racist ... FraDon Apr 2015 #36
A most excellent rant. Dont call me Shirley Apr 2015 #37
Okay… That's a good start... MrMickeysMom Apr 2015 #42
I like this guy. mahina Apr 2015 #44
He's right, it's fear and, sadly, it's perpetuated by religion. mountain grammy Apr 2015 #45
I hung on every word. Elmer S. E. Dump Apr 2015 #47
I really liked his POV libodem Apr 2015 #48
*kicking this up** Tripper11 Apr 2015 #49

Response to zebonaut (Original post)

 

zebonaut

(3,688 posts)
6. Well...
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:14 AM
Apr 2015

Republican Ag corporations poison their citizens with sugar, wheat and cheap carbs. This leads to Southern obesity.

zentrum

(9,865 posts)
30. Really? This is where
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 04:12 PM
Apr 2015

....you want go after seeing this video? Anything rather than addressing the substance, I guess.

Ed Suspicious

(8,879 posts)
12. Just fucking wow. That make you feel better?
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:58 AM
Apr 2015

Have some respect for a man speaking truth and get over hangups about outward appearance.

BlueCaliDem

(15,438 posts)
4. Wow. Powerful. And he's talking truth to power.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:05 AM
Apr 2015

Is it just me or does he look and sound like a young John Goodman?

Ineeda

(3,626 posts)
5. Surprising.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:09 AM
Apr 2015

Appearance and accent can be deceiving. Belies the 'if it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck' cliche.

Baitball Blogger

(46,745 posts)
7. Well, put aside everything that would make us suspicious before lending
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:36 AM
Apr 2015

support to this video, I have to say, he said all the right things. That's the dialogue I want to hear.

As one person who is the victim of extreme bigotry and discrimination in a predominately white community, I know what I would like to see before I can redeem my opinion of people. I would like to see them have a "come to Jesus" with their conscience and step forward and admit that behind the horrible, abusive reasoning that they use to undermine my rights, is fear and greed. Fear of legal retribution and fear of losing all the illegal advantages that they have absconded for themselves over the years.

 

Plucketeer

(12,882 posts)
8. Simple, honest truths here.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:47 AM
Apr 2015

The only real flaw is in his closing statement about "Taking White America back". I understand what he's inferring, but that Take Our Country Back line smudges a lot of what he says up to that point. It's a bad choice of words, is all. We need to leave old America behind - pull ourselves out of the swill we've immersed ourselves in, and go FORWARD to a future free of racial hatred.

 

bravenak

(34,648 posts)
11. This was a great video.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:57 AM
Apr 2015

So true. If we could get people to understand what he understands, we might be able to make some progress.

 

bravenak

(34,648 posts)
14. I agree. It had to be very hard. But he did it.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 12:04 PM
Apr 2015

And people like him are the best ones to be right out front telling some harsh truths.

Ed Suspicious

(8,879 posts)
15. Exactly my thought, as well. It needs to come from him and people like him.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 12:06 PM
Apr 2015

It needs to come from all of us, all the time, but it especially will be far more effective coming from him.

DLnyc

(2,479 posts)
17. Alright!
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 12:16 PM
Apr 2015

When more people speak, and hear, the truth, we will have a much healthier society.

Thank you, good man in the video, for speaking up!

bonniebgood

(943 posts)
18. BRAVO! For the courage to speak the truth about this country and the white
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 12:18 PM
Apr 2015

race in general. Puts Tim Wise at a disadvantage on the topic of white supremacy.
Bravo dude.

brush

(53,794 posts)
20. The man speaks the truth. Who is he? What's his name?
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 12:51 PM
Apr 2015

My hat is off to him. He sees thinks as they are and is not afraid to tell the truth.

DesertDiamond

(1,616 posts)
21. As soon as he used the word "narcissism" I knew he was too intelligent and too aware to be a real
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 01:05 PM
Apr 2015

racist. Great insights from this awesome guy!

canoeist52

(2,282 posts)
24. Yeah, that stood out for me too. Narcissism - really?
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 01:25 PM
Apr 2015

The right question, as stated above, is to ask is who is this man?

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
23. I am not sure we can change that so easily until a lot of the old racists are gone because they
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 01:12 PM
Apr 2015

still hold the power and that power is not just in the USA but world wide through our corporations. As to the government being part of the racist white culture - do we really just want to get rid of it all? Social Security? Medicaid? Medicare? Obamacare?

I don't see a real answer coming until the voting population is dominated by minorities united together. I (white) look forward to that day.

I am glad he spoke out because he is totally right about why. Fear of revenge. They were afraid even before Nat Turner struck out at his owners. They knew what they were doing was wrong regardless what the preachers were using to justify it. White people know they got it coming. Let us hope that those minorities are more grown up than we whites have ever been. Let us hope they are more merciful. What I have seen of the youth in Ferguson MO makes me hopeful.

When he talks about taking America back to a time when we were not like this - I wonder what time he is talking about? For America this started with Native American's the day we stepped off the boat.

Jack Rabbit

(45,984 posts)
25. Very insightful
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 01:26 PM
Apr 2015

He came to realize that in a true democracy there can be no inherent privilege for any one. A lot of people are going to have to have the courage to step down from a pedestal where they've always stood but never created. They don't know how they got there, but there afraid of life among the ground dwellers.

hippywife

(22,767 posts)
26. What I make of it is this...
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 01:26 PM
Apr 2015

this man not only opened his eyes, he did a lot of soul searching regarding himself and the privilege that definitely does exist and always has. He's absolutely right on all counts, and based on the rest of what he said and the fact that this is a stream of consciousness speech, he misspoke when he said he wanted to take white America back, and corrected himself at the end, expanded on what it was that he really meant. This man did a very brave thing by taking this public, too. Don't doubt that for a moment.

He's absolutely right that this is a question of morality, and I'm very happy for him that he confesses to coming to terms with his own.

Living here in the south, I've seen everything he talks about, even from so-called 'good life-long Democrats.' That term doesn't always have the same connotations in the south as one might naturally assume. Sadly, there are still a good number of old-fashioned Dixiecrats populating the party down here.

But another thing I do see and take heart from is that there are also many who aren't racist and never were, or who, like this man, have changed their minds over the years.

(Just as an aside, I think he must be a truck driver and recorded this from the sleeper in his truck. )

MadCrow

(155 posts)
27. Great message
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 01:48 PM
Apr 2015

I have to confess that I made an erroneous assumption when I first saw him. I thought he fit the stereotype of the typical red-neck. After hearing what he said I am ashamed that I could prejudge someone on looks alone. Maybe I have to examine my own reactions to others and realize that I as a white liberal can also be prejudiced.

 

Hulk

(6,699 posts)
33. Just raised my impression of "the South" up one notch.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 05:01 PM
Apr 2015

I know there are good people that live in the South. I've met them, and some of my dearest friends are from the South....Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia. I sure did appreciate hearing his message. Not sure where he was going with the "take white America back", as that seems a bit like a negative as the expression has been used recently.

Am watching Netflix "The Civil War" by John Burns again for the second or third time; and every time I watch it I am more pissed at the South today than when I started it. Try watching "Reconstruction" some time. It boils my blood, because so much of that attitude is still alive and sick in the South.

Just a side note. I have heard, and I believe, that all around the world people have a more negative impression of their fellow man by the color of their skin. I know it is true in Mexico, and I'm maybe over generalizing; but I've heard it and read it before. If you are dark black, you are perhaps at the bottom of the totem pole. If you are light black, up a notch. If you are Latino, up a notch; but if you are white.....you start at the top. Seems to be evident when the Europeans conquered the Americas. Even today the attitude lingers.

FraDon

(518 posts)
36. ... says he's no longer racist ...
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 07:00 PM
Apr 2015

I believe him - admire him - hope this goes viral ...

and hope he has protection.

Dont call me Shirley

(10,998 posts)
37. A most excellent rant.
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 07:59 PM
Apr 2015

It would behoove us to examine and delete some common phrases which are rooted in the oppression of groups of people.

MrMickeysMom

(20,453 posts)
42. Okay… That's a good start...
Mon Apr 6, 2015, 11:21 PM
Apr 2015

Next up… how we are programed. This stuff doesn't just appear in your head…. It's learned.

Remedial learning, white Americans. That would be a long one...

mahina

(17,678 posts)
44. I like this guy.
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 05:08 AM
Apr 2015

Only got half way through but I don't disagree with one word he said yet.

So what if he's fat? Judge not, etc. Nobody's business but his and his family's. I give him credit for speaking the truth publicly.

mountain grammy

(26,630 posts)
45. He's right, it's fear and, sadly, it's perpetuated by religion.
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 10:41 AM
Apr 2015

I was surprised and relieved to see him make no religious references, just the facts of fear and hatred. We shouldn't embrace equality because of Jesus, but because that's what America is supposed to be about. Right on, good buddy!

 

Elmer S. E. Dump

(5,751 posts)
47. I hung on every word.
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 05:58 PM
Apr 2015

The man is someone that has apparently tuned into the conciseness of love for all people. BRAVO! We need more people to wake up. Spread the word!!

libodem

(19,288 posts)
48. I really liked his POV
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 07:25 PM
Apr 2015

I think he's right. I hope he reaches his intended audience. Possibly many more feel just like he does and it will encourage people to speak out and make alliances. It's a beginning.

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