"This is what I mean, an Anti-Nigger Machine" (VRA, Greg Palast)

[derby378]

I am astounded that more has not been said about this on DU yet. If you're just catching up, read on:

The Republican National Committee has a special offer for African-American soldiers: Go to Baghdad, lose your vote.

A confidential campaign directed by GOP party chiefs in October 2004 sought to challenge the ballots of tens of thousands of voters in the last presidential election, virtually all of them cast by residents of Black-majority precincts.

Files from the secret vote-blocking campaign were obtained by BBC Television Newsnight, London. They were attached to emails accidentally sent by Republican operatives to a non-party website.

One group of voters wrongly identified by the Republicans as registering to vote from false addresses: servicemen and women sent overseas.

There's more - a lot more - at these links:

http://www.gregpalast.com/massacre-of-the-buffalo-soldiers

http://gregpalast.com/armedmadhouse/palastDN6-14-06.mp3

If Republicans kill the Voting Rights Act, you know what to do.

[Robbien]

1. Please star out the N word

I know it is part of the quote, but please star out the N word.

Thanks

[CottonBear]

2. I second that request. That word is awful.

I heard someone use it three times the other day. It is horrible to think that people think this way but they do. :(

[Teaser]

4. Keep the word. Don't mess with Chuck's lyrics.

nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. No, it should be sugar-coated for easier swallowing by white liberals

:eyes:


I got a letter from the government
The other day
I opened and read it
It said they were suckers
They wanted me for their army or whatever
Picture me given' a damn I said never
Here is a land that never gave a damn
About a brother like me and myself
Because they never did
I wasn't wit' it but just that very minute...
It occured to me
The suckers had authority
Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell
How long has it been?
They got me sittin' in the state pen
I gotta get out - but that thought was thought before
I contemplated a plan on the cell floor
I'm not a fugitive on the run
But a brother like me begun - to be another one (word)
Public enemy servin' time - they drew the line y'all
To criticize me some crime - never the less
They could not understand that I'm a Black man
And I could never be a veteran
All on the strength, the situation's unreal
I got a raw deal, so I'm goin' for the steel

They got me rottin' in the time that I'm servin'
Tellin' you what happened the same time they're throwin'
4 of us packed in a cell like slaves - oh well
The same motherfucker got us livin' is his hell
You have to realize - what its a form of slavery
Organized under a swarm of devils
Straight up - word'em up on the level
The reasons are several, most of them federal
Here is my plan anyway and I say
I got gusto, but only some I can trust - yo
Some do a bid from 1 to 10
And I never did, and plus I never been
I'm on a tier where no tears should ever fall
Cell block and locked - I never clock it y'all
'Cause time and time again time
They got me servin' to those and to them
I'm not a citizen
But ever when I catch a C-O
Sleepin' on the job - my plan is on go-ahead
On the strength, I'ma tell you the deal
I got nothin' to lose
'Cause I'm goin' for the steel

You know I caught a C-O
Fallin' asleep on death row
I grabbed his gun - then he did what I said so
And every man's demands got served
Along with the time they served
Decency was deserved
To understand my demands
I gave a warnin' - I wanted the governor, y'all
And plus the warden to know
That I was innocent -
Because I'm militant
Posing a threat, you bet it's fuckin' up the government
My plan said I had to get out and break north
Just like with Oliver's neck
I had to get off - my boys had the feds in check
They couldn't try nuthin'
We had a force to instigate a prison riot
This is what it takes for peace
So I just took the piece
Black for Black - it's high time we cut the leash
Freedom to get out - to the ghetto - no sell out
6 C-Os we got we ought to put their head out
But I'll give 'em a chance, cause I'm civilized
As for the rest of the world, they can't realize
A cell is hell - I'm a rebel so I rebel
Between bars, got me thinkin' like an animal
Got a woman C-O to call me a copter
She tried to get away, and I popped her
Twice, right
Now who wanna get nice?
I had 6 C-Os, now it's 5 to go
And I'm serious - call me delirious
But I'm still a captive
I gotta rap this
Time to break as time grows intense
I got the steel in my right hand
Now I'm lookin' for the fence

I ventured into the courtyard
Followed by 52 brothers
Bruised, battered, and scarred but hard
Goin' out with a bang
Ready to bang out
But power from the sky
And from the tower shots rang out
A high number of dose - yes
And some came close
Figure I trigger my steel
Stand and hold my post
This is what I mean - an anti-nigger machine
If I come out alive and then they won't - come clean
And then I threw up my steel bullets - flew up
And to my surprise the wall tower blew up,
Who shot?What, who, what? The bazooka was who?
And to my rescue, it was the S1Ws
Secured my getaway, so I just gotaway
The joint broke, full of black smoke
Then they saw it was rougher thatn the average bluffer
'Cause the steel was black, the attitude exact
Now the chase is on tellin' you to c'mon
53 brothers on the run,
and we are gone

[LittleClarkie]

19. How do you know it's white liberal DUers who're complaining?

Do they type differently from black liberal DUers?

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. I don't, and I don't give a fuck

:shrug:

[LittleClarkie]

23. Then why specify white or black liberals? Sure looks like you give a fuck.

And why cough up a white liberal stereotype while you're at it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

26. The fact is that I don't KNOW

But I suspect. Because it's usually white liberals who faint at the words, "I do declayah I musta caught the vapors!" rather than the black folks I know, who know that you can add a thousand asterisks to the thing and it doesn't change fuck all about racism in America. It's cosmetics versus life experience, but you never KNOW, yeah?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

39. well, this 'white liberal' watched my friends get punched and kicked

bloody while hearing this word being screamed at them, while I was being held back from helping.

that's why I prefer not to see it, why I won't let it be spoken in my presence, and why it turns my stomach all these years later.

[alcibiades_mystery]

42. this doesn't make you unique

you know?

went through about the same thing, except I managed to get my ass kicked too, and the guys doing the ass-kicking were cops. fun fun fun.

but I don't substitute the word for the life experience, which is fetishism in any case.

[Teaser]

50. I don't care what you want to hear.

how about that?

And I don't care about your personal reasons either.

I don't know you and I don't care about you.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

52. What's with all the fucking hate on this thread!!!

I have an opinion that that word is obscene.

Thank god we live in a country where people are allowed their own opinions. sorry for speaking out.

Have a nice day.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

67. Fuck The Hate Viva. I Agree With Ya.

Don't stoop to the level of hatred, for love and kindness abounds here as well.

:grouphug:

[derby378]

68. Ditto

I just don't want black Americans who are in the Armed Forces to lose their right to vote because nobody stateside will stand up for them.

[Catherine Vincent]

46. Gosh, that was rude!

[alcibiades_mystery]

47. You know me

:-)

[slampoet]

38. Because Whitey has never been able to stomache his own creations.

Blacks deal with it all daily.

[alcibiades_mystery]

43. ayup

n/t

[goclark]

81. I'm BLACK and I find it interesting that so called progressives

don't see the wisdom of using ****'s.

[slestak]

17. Word. n/t

[LittleClarkie]

18. Who's Chuck?

If I may ask.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Chcuk D, of Public Enemy

The phrase if from a Public Enemy song, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos. See lyrics in my post above.

[LittleClarkie]

24. Ah, thanks.

Gotcha

[RPM]

61. agreed - that is a specific, quoted reference

keep chuck's stuff intact.

[derby378]

10. See what you make of this - it brings tears to my eyes

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we stiff creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter From Birmingham Jail

[CottonBear]

28. Oh! That brings tears to my eyes too.

:cry: When we lost Martin and JFK, the world became a sadder place. :(

Thanks for posting the letter.

[derby378]

30. I agree - and you're very welcome

Honestly, the first time I heard about this atrocity was last night as I was driving to a reception for our State Representative candidate when Greg Palast was a guest on Randi Rhodes' show. My heart was heavy with anger and shame.

[CottonBear]

32. It makes me sick to think of how racist those GOP bastards are.

:(

[LostinVA]

45. I agree -- just as "f*ggot" was used in a header last week

It's offensive, and people have no choice but to see it when it's the thread header. Too many of us hear nastiness like this in our daily lives.

I know some of the DUers asking it to be changed are black, so could we please respect their wishes?

[derby378]

3. Public Enemy: BLACK STEEL IN THE HOUR OF CHAOS

Check the lyrics at your leisure. If the word makes you uncomfortable, good - but read Palast's article, already.

What we are seeing unfold really is a machine to disenfranchise African-Americans, starting with those serving in the Armed Forces. "Support the troops," my eye.

[Robbien]

5. All it does is make me want to hide the thread

not discuss it.

So discuss on without many of us who would rather not see the N word in the thread title.

Clicking hide thread now.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. me too

a simple * would have led to a much better conversation.

that word just turns my stomach

[derby378]

15. The political reality is much, much uglier than the N-word

Don't you see? It's time for all of us to toughen our hides and get ready for the fight to come.

Please read Palast's column and judge for yourself.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

34. I'm tough, I'm ready!

I still hate that word though.

[wiley]

53. Correct. If that "ugliness" upsets you and other Democrats

then we are never going to run any part of any government. Stop hiding from pain. Millions of Americans feel brutal pain every day because it's too uncomfortable to people to talk about these issues.

[derby378]

62. Exactly - JFK didn't get where he was by getting half-assed on us

The Democrats who take over in November are gonna have six years worth of "ugliness" they have to negate in short order, and that's going to require some serious fortitude.

I'm in this for the long haul. Who's with me?

[robinlynne]

60. you got it.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

35. It's a word. A stupid, fucking word.

Yes, it's offensive, but how is it less offensive if it reads "N*gger," instead of "Nigger?" You still know exactly what it says. I just just find logic like that, well non-existant. "Dear Lord, I'm gonna be sick if I see that word without an asterisk!" Grow up.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

40. see #39

yes, in my trauma induced psyche, the * does make a difference.

It's the difference between wincing inwardly, and feeling punched in the gut.

Perhaps when I 'grow up' it won't hurt anymore?

[alcibiades_mystery]

44. But maybe it's not about YOU

:shrug:

[dipsydoodle]

8. Removal would destroy the context of the thread.

In my opinion it should stay. The n word is always a matter of context.

[Zodiak]

41. yes, context...I agree

I agree with this. Whether the word is used or not, the spirit behind the word is back in full-force, ready to destroy everything we hold dear.

It sure got my attention.

And I am ashamed of myslf that it took Greg Palast on AAR to wake me up to this. I told everyone within earshot about it today.

Sorry to those offended by my disagreement.

[LittleClarkie]

21. I get it now. Nevermind

NO longer confused.

[KingFlorez]

31. Leave the word in

It makes for more of an impact on people who refuse to see reality

[rman]

57. way to distract from the issue

[derby378]

58. S'aright - people are starting to wake up to this

The very future of America is at stake. If it takes the judicious use of a controversial and painful word to wake some people up, you do what you gotta do.

[Cronus Protagonist]

6. Thanks for the link. Forget about the title

It's not the thread starter that's racist here, it's the Republican party.



Educate A Freeper - Flaunt Your Opinions!
http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[derby378]

7. BINGO! And the man wins a cigar

If the VRA is done away with, the effects will be much, mucu uglier than the "N-word" will ever be. Recognize.

[Karmageddon]

11. Agreed. There are a lot of things making me uncomfortable lately

"Hiding" them won't make them go away. You have to look directly at these ugly things if you're going to fight them and defeat them. Leave the title.

I saw this story last week, buried deep someplace. Thanks for bringing it up again.

[RedStateShame]

9. Yeah, it's an ugly word. It's a far uglier action.

[derby378]

12. And more proof that every fat rich white male Bush-loving chickenhawk...

...should hang their heads in shame right now.

[dogday]

13. It's the truth that is ugly

And they way the thugs stoop to deny the very soldiers they say they support, the right to vote...

[Bake]

25. It's an ugly word but the truth is even uglier.

Keep the thread title. I clicked on it because of the shock effect.

Bake

[JNelson6563]

27. OMG

Grow up people, just grow the hell up.

The horrible profanity I see here in thread titles are pathetic, very sophomoric. Yet all the sensitive liberals here on DU trip over each other to join in the silly "outrage" that supposedly justifies such sewage. But apparently some horrible words are more acceptable to the oh so sensitive DUers than others.

Stupid. Just stupid. Ok, self-righteous too.

Julie

[lumpy]

29. What was the article about now?

Oh, yeah, the article....about servicemen having their votes blocked by the Republicans.

[JNelson6563]

37. Indeed but one wouldn't know it

by reading this thread. So many are too busy swooning over a word.

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. See, I don't mind the profanity either

At least I'm consistent. ;-)

[Gold Metal Flake]

33. He was talking about this on Randi yesterday.

Motherfucking goddamn REPUBLICAN racist sons of evil bitches Nazi sociopaths.

You heard me.

They are destroying the VOTE!

Republicans are racist. No Republican can say that he or she is not. If anyone still belongs to the Republican party, they are racist and antidemocratic.

If anyone here still wants to cut "some Republicans" slack, you are simply in denial. Republicans are raacist and antidemocratic. Plug that into your permanent phrase database and use it. Often.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catherine Vincent]

51. That's a "god loves you" site.

And blogspot is spelled wrong.

[formercia]

49. Somewhere there is that voter list they used

The GOP would have had to officially submit a list. It should be made public and those who feel their vote had been illegaly revoked should sue the GOP for every penny they are worth.

This is beyond criminal. Right out of Jim Crow South.

[MaraJade]

74. I believe that the BBC has it. . .

An excel spreadsheet called "caged.xls."

This is a very good case for Morris Dees. . .

[Gabi Hayes]

54. lots of pain, lots of wisdom on this thread. I think most of us can agree,

though, on this:

http://www.bushflash.com/ihr.html

[texasleo]

55. Why does the PC left always destroy things?

[ulysses]

56. what is "the PC left" destroying?

:shrug:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

77. Please DO elaborate. -nt

[rman]

59. Repubs have many election fraud tricks besides owning the machines

This is just one more.

Focusing exclusively on the machines won't do any good.

DU Election Reform forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

[Karenina]

63. Ain't THAT the truth.

Remember the "disappearing" ink?

[derby378]

64. Could you refresh my memory on that one?

Either I missed it completely or my brain refuses to hold on to that mugget of information yet.

[Karenina]

70. Somewhere up Dakota/Montana way

The opti-scans would not read alcohol-based inks the polling places were handing out to Native Americans. Just ONE of many, many tactics...

[Swamp Rat]

72. That's one I hadn't heard!

:hi: Liebling! :hug:

[Karenina]

75. Naaa, Duuuu!!!

:loveya: TOR!!! P-O-R-T-U-G-A-L!!!

[derby378]

76. Thanks - and Ugh

And the hits just keep on comin'...

But I do appreciate the info.

[Ezra the Prankster]

65. Just one question...

Is anybody here going to talk about the actual topic?

[derby378]

66. I wish more people would

I want this thing broadbanded on DU, Daily Kos, and everywhere else we can get it. We need to make sure that the right of all Americans to vote doesn't become some quaint memory.

[Blue_Tires]

69. ttt for those that didn't get the message

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

71. Is the subject anything new? We all know this happened in Florida

and even Al Gore would not stand with the BCC. We know that communities in Ohio were wrapped around their voting places while white communities enjoyed a ration of machines quite high for the populations in their districts. We know that during Viet Nam the same thing happened. We know that the only reason that laws prohibiting felons from voting are because if you are black you are WAY more likely to be convicted of a felony than if you are white. We know an inordinate number of people in our prisons are black compared to white.

As for the brouhaha about the thread title. Chuck D had it right. When the word is used in context as it is here to underscore the institutionalized manner in which the black vote is still diluted, it is appropriate. The reality of black voting rights right now in America is exactly as the thread title and Chuck D said.

[MaraJade]

73. Please leave the *N* word in. . .

That is exactly what white repukes think of we Black Americans. We are nothing but
dumb niggers--good for cannon fodder and nothing else, and this article proves it.

I hope that this information gets the widest possible distribution and coverage.
I'm sending this link to Tavis Smiley?

[derby378]

80. Did you get a response from Tavis Smiley yet?

Please let us know if you hear something. Thanks!

[leftofthedial]

78. don't star out "nigger."

it's the right word for what you are saying.

[DrunkenMaster]

79. you can't edit history

and that word is a potent reminder of a history of hate.

Fuck yes, keep it in. Poor, tenderhearted souls....you just want to pretend it all never really happened here, dontchya?