Sandra Day O'Connor and the KKK
Supreme Court Justice?
Justice O'Connor feels "It may be true that a cross burning, even at a political rally, arouses a sense of anger or hatred among the vast majority of citizens who see a burning cross, but this sense of anger or hatred is not sufficient to ban all cross burnings." In 2003 the decision was reversed. She invalidated the part of the Virginia ban that assumes cross burning is being used to create fear of bodily harm. The Virginia law could be upheld if the cross burning was proven to have been done with intention to intimidate.
Again, Ku Klux Klan members were given the okay to burn crosses. Is this Justice? What, I wonder, is the purpose of burning crosses on other people's property supposed to cause someone to feel or think, if not fear? People today, are quite alarmed about our spoiled and violent youth and I often wonder how they can expect our youth to behave better than adults. This could be especially true among black youths when taking a look about how US government views hate crimes that have been committed against themselves and their ancestors for years. Justice O'Connor feels that burning crosses can be used to show solidarity with and the ideology of the Klan. In the meantime thousands of lives are being lost overseas to fight the supposed ideology and solidarity of Muslims.
What is going on here?
The KKK promotes hate. I know. My ex-husband subscribed me to their mailing list. I read the material. They claim to be Christians and doing their Christian duty by ridding society of non-white skinned people. My understanding of Christ is that he preached "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and that the greatest two commandments were about love. Love for god and love for one's neighbors. How is burning a cross in a neighbor's yard showing Christian love?
Ironically at the same time I was receiving this unsolicited hate material, I was also receiving an unsolicited magazine, "Focus on the Family". A sister put me on that mailing list. I enjoyed reading that Christian magazine right up until the moment when I read a post about banning books. At the top of the list of books to ban was one of my favorites: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. This sparked a heated debate between my sister and myself. She never read it, but was busy writing letters to editors to decry the book as being immoral and to beg people to have it banned from their public libraries.
In 1998 the headlines were full of President Bill Clinton, Monica, Whitegate and other controversial pardons involving the Clintons' friends and family members. The Jubilee family's 1998 court case did not make much of a stir on headline news. A head injury that was misdiagnosed as "Job Stress" turned my personal world upside down. The injury adversely affected my memory, but I never forgot that a cross was burned on a lawn in the USA, in Virginia, in 1998. Nor the revulsion at the sight of Klansman in their white, pointed-head hooded robes on the streets of Bangor, Pennsylvania in 1994~with either midgets or children, dressed likewise, standing alongside them passing out hate literature.
I have also not forgotten that Pulitzer Prize winner, Alice Walker went to jail at age 65 for protesting going to war in Iraq. It is also clear in my mind that Hillary Clinton declined to support Code Pinker's in their Mother's Day request in 2006 to end the war in Iraq. Women from Iraq came to the USA to stand united with mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of "Our Troops". Having Senator Clinton's endorsement meant the world to us and she let us down.
I do not understand Maya Angelou's support of Senator Clinton, and Clinton's Pro-War stance or solidarity with President Bush and his war machine~a government that allows the KKK to burn crosses, but jails a "sister" and esteemed author for exercising her own Freedom of Speech. Alice Walker is a Code Pink lady. It is almost as if Ms. Angelou approves of caging birds, like Ms. Walker and Carolyn Fisher. A judge ordered Ms. Fisher to undergo psychiatric treatment because "only 'crazy' people question authority". Burning crosses is a mark of sanity, I suppose..
A person who uses animal sacrifices as part of their ideology and to show solidity with other members of their religion, could cite Justice O'Connor's ruling in favor of KKK member, Barry Elton Black, as the precedent needed to be allowed, legally, to sacrifice animals. Everyone is free to hate whomever they choose, but does ruling in favor of the KKK provide for the general welfare of USA citizens of all religions and ethnicities, or just protect the rights of a few to preach hatred?
Senator O'Connor was among those who stopped the ongoing investigation into 2000 election fraud. It would be wrong for me to liken Senator Clinton to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who favors bigots and hate mongers rights over citizens being terrorized by the Klan. I do find Senator Clinton's callousness towards US females and Iraqi women to be very similar in nature to the Supreme Court Justice lack of empathy for people like the Jubilee family. It sometimes seems that justice is only for the wealthy few that are part of the corrupt political practices that has been dividing these United States of America.
Related Links:
'Color Purple' author, 26 others, arrested at peace rally March 9, 2003
Listen Hillary launched January 2006
Threat vs. Symbol
Virginia cross-burning law facing high court test
Virginia v. Black, Barry et al.
Virginia v. Black
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17 Comments
Post a CommentI don't know how I missed this article entirely. Very powerful and deep write. LOL! Burning crosses on people's property falls under under the "First Commendment's" freedom of speech and a woman goes to jail for her views on the war. I guess our justice system interprets "freedom of speech" the way they sees fit at the time. An excellent and very interesting write. I found this article when I read your comments on one of Shamontiel's article's. You did a very outstanding job on this piece.
When you get a chance, will you please post the link to this article on my latest piece about Redneck Shops? I'd like readers of my article to check this one out. This was informative.
...with that one. The whole class met up with Asante in a big auditorium that night, and I asked him "What do you think about a student in my class saying your book was disrespectful to White people?" He lit into that girl without knowing who she was and talked about how people try to avoid the truth so much that they convince themselves it couldn't possibly be real. Guess what? That girl stood up and stormed out of the auditorium. She told on herself by being the sole person to leave. Oh, and she was from Texas and one of the political supporters for Bush. No surprise there.
Yeah Alyce, I missed this article entirely. I can't say I'm surprised but after my article on the Redneck Shop in 2008, I almost expected an article like this. As for this comment: "The Virginia law could be upheld if the cross burning was proven to have been done with intention to intimidate," this is once again why Black history needs to be in schools. Some people have been so set in ignoring history with Blacks involved that they forget about the thousands of lynchings, harassment, and crime that has happened due in some part to the KKK. When someone got a cross burned on their lawn, it wasn't a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" message. Somebody was going to die that night. We can use Emmitt Till having teeth, ears, and private parts removed just as one example, but there are hundreds of others. I recall reading a book called "Erasing Racism" by Molefi Kete Asante, and a student saying Asante pointing out the lynchings was "disrespectful to White people." Oh my gawd. I had a field day
Think About It: If you ever stop back, you might be interested in AC CP Milton Jordan's article about Willie Lynch and the Jena 6. The only thing useful about the KKK was to terrorize former slaves and their desendents. If you had to live your life everyday in fear of breaking some assinine rule that could result with lynching or being tied to a railroad track, you might tend to keep quiet or escape into alcohol or drugs to deal with the angry frustration of being treated as less than human. Females can and do fight; but if men would stop causing wars that would not even be an issue.
I do not believe in a country forcing its religion upon it's citizens, however, racism will not die because there are too many people who want to keep the promise of white supremicy alive. It's kind of how women want the sexism of men to exist, but at the same time want to ban discrimination of women, by that I mean, men must sighn up for war by law, but women are protected from it and no woman fights to change that law. Of course this is one of many things. Also, There are laws that are already in place to force the hiring of black people since not giving them jobs is so wide spread. Even though the law is in place, it dosen't mean that it is enforced. I actually see the KKK as a useful tool back then because people were ignorant and they were paranoid because of the wide spread fear of blacks. Now that we are in 2007 and know that blacks are less likely to commit crimes than any other race because of the history of this wide spead paranoia, there is no reason for this hate group of
Wow Alyce--This is truly insightful!
Sister, you are on point with this information....
This shows how life is never one-dimensional...very, very interesting case you present here.
Because I'm a Libra, I'm going to have to weigh it all out before forming an opinion. Part 2 from you maybe?
Unfortunatley I guess racism will never go away. It is everywhere. Everyone wants to be better than someone else, they always want to be able to put another down. If everyone could just accept each other for who they were, and if it would just be okay to be who you really are, the world would be a better place.
Wow. What an eye-opener. Thanks for the heads up.
Wow! I never knew about any of this stuff. Thanks for giving us thoughts to ponder. Cross-burning is horrible and I believe burbning anything on another's property without their permission should be against the law, no matter what it is. Not only is that trespassing, but you could also end up burning the property, which is arsen.