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Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month
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A recent op-ed piece written by Ms. Malkin suggested that concepts like Black History month should be done away with because it divides American along racial lines and does not promote a culture of unity (slightly different words, but I'm paraphrasing).

I wonder what her thoughts are about St. Patrick's Day? If Black History Month (or any other type of month promoting anything but "we're all the same") divides us, then so does St. Patrick's Day. If somehow St. Patrick's Day brings us together (you could claim we're all "celebrating" being Irish), then don't other analagous events like Black History Month do the same?


Just a random thought
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [Tridiot] [ In reply to ]
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St Patrick's day is not meant to celebrate being Irish. It's meant to celebrate being drunk.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [Tridiot] [ In reply to ]
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Michelle Malkin is a fucking idiot. This is the same woman who wrote a book defending the internment of Japanese during WWII. At some point in her life she decided that instead of doing something worthwhile to make money, it would be easier to just say outrageous crap (a la Ann Coulter) and thereby lead the blind and the naked of the crank brigade. She and Ann and Michael Savage et al are just the ugly stepchildren of Morton Downey Jr., who curiously had an epiphany about his former life shortly before dying of lung cancer. Funny how impending death leads to clarity.


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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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You got me there.

St. Patrick's Day + Friday + NCAA Tournament = One of the best days ever.
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [Tridiot] [ In reply to ]
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<A recent op-ed piece written by Ms. Malkin suggested that concepts like Black History month should be done away with because it divides American along racial lines and does not promote a culture of unity (slightly different words, but I'm paraphrasing). >

It looks like Morgan Freeman feels the same way.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10482634/
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [catmandu] [ In reply to ]
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At least Freeman made sense. i'm really tired of hearing about how important it is to close the divide, so we have to have something special for African Americans. How exactly does that clsoe the divide?

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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Why does Black History Month have to divide us? Can't we all celebrate that part of our culture?

We have to look at why it came about, because Black History was not included at all in the history of the US. You first have to get people to recognize the contributions to the US that blacks have made in our history. One way to do that was to create a point where everyone had to reconcile the fact that those people and events occurred.

Morgan Freeman's comment makes sense because it really talks about integration. Black History month needs to become obsolete, we need to make sure ther eis no need to single out that which by its nature should be included.

Black History Month originated to close the divide by bringing the divide to light. It did not cause the divide.
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [catmandu] [ In reply to ]
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See my post below to slowguy. There is quite a bit of difference between what Morgan Freeman and Michelle Malkin are talking about.
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [trio_jeepy] [ In reply to ]
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"She and Ann and Michael Savage et al are just the ugly stepchildren of Morton Downey Jr., who curiously had an epiphany about his former life shortly before dying of lung cancer."

I couldn't agree more. And the first two are often called-upon, noted commentators on cable TV as if they know something special. Amazing.
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [Tridiot] [ In reply to ]
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"Why does Black History Month have to divide us? "

Well, I guess if you are specifically celebrating one ethnic group, and you aren't doing that for all the others, I don't really see the alternative. It's not like we are celebrating the history of Nigerian Americans or Ethipoian Americans. We are specifically asked to celebrate the history of a group of people who share the same skin color. The whole point is that we are supposed to be blind to skin color.


"Black History Month originated to close the divide by bringing the divide to light. It did not cause the divide."

I don't think it caused the divide either. However, I also don't think it's helping to close the divide. You can't call for racial equality, and then ask for special considerations for your race. It doesn't make sense.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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I agree with what you are saying, but I really think you are forgetting the history of the month.

The "melting pot" view of America always has been a misconception. During the heydays of Ellis Island, the US was very ethnic centric, Irish took care of Irish, etc. We've always lived in pockets, originally because of ethnicity, and these days more socioeconomically (racial/ethic differences are mischaracterized, we're really in an era of economic "bigotry").

The goal of Black History Month (BHM) was/is to point out that we left a major section of US history out of the textbooks. I'd freely admit that in this day and age it may be obsolete. BHM will only separate us if you view it that way, in my opinion. I think it's a great opportunity to learn about things I wouldn't have otherwise, I feel it brings me closer to people.

Heck, every single day/week/month is a "special" day these days. If its not "green socks day" its "remember your left-handed cross-eyed co-worker day". We wear rubber wristbands to "be a part" of any one of 300 different special causes. All of these things "keep us spearate" if you want them to. Or, they help bring to light that our differences make us the same (we're all different, hence the same).

You can't be blind to color, it can't happen. It's a reality that person A is black, and person B is white. This is part of who they are, why ignore this? Why ignore that person A is also rich and person B is poor? We can't be blind to our differences, we have to realize them, understand them, and then appreciate how they make us more similar than we think.

We have a day to celebrate Veteran's of wars, aren't we calling out that difference, separating who we are as Americans? Of course not, because we realize it's to celebrate something special.

BHM isn't about asking for something special, or to be treated differently. It's asking for equality, just like Morgan Freeman is saying. Let's get rid of BHM!! Let's teach equality in our American history. Let's be honest about our differences, not hide from them (Note: I actually think current curriculum does a great job of teaching the full American history. We teach so much more now in US history than during the 50s it's almost ridiculous, I have a totally separate theory about this to share at a later time).
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [Tridiot] [ In reply to ]
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I understand the history and the reasons why Black History month was originally celbrated, and I have no doubt that there were valid arguments for having it. However, the are a large number of African Americans who would raise Holy Hell if you tried to back away from it now, and that doesn't make sense to me.

"You can't be blind to color, it can't happen."

Maybe you and I can't, but the law is supposed to be. If the govt continues to recognize a particular time to recognize a particular race, how does that bring us closer to unity?

"We have a day to celebrate Veteran's of wars, aren't we calling out that difference, separating who we are as Americans? Of course not, because we realize it's to celebrate something special."

Yes, and we celebrate Mother's Day and Secretary's Day, etc. Those are pretty obviously different. There isn't some big movement to make Secretaries equal with everyone else. There's a big difference between recognizing folks for what they do and recognizing them for what skin color they have.

"BHM isn't about asking for something special, or to be treated differently. It's asking for equality,"

But it isn't. Asking for equality would be asking for the History of African Americans to be accurately depicted in our textbooks and schools. I think we're doing this much better now, so why do we still need a designated month to reinforce the fact that we are different?

Anyway, I think we're on the same page about getting rid of BHM, just coming at it from different perspectives.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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I think we're at about 80% agreement.

Maybe you and I can't, but the law is supposed to be. If the govt continues to recognize a particular time to recognize a particular race, how does that bring us closer to unity?
- The law is color blind, or at least is supposed to be. But bringing a particular element of American history to light does not change the law.

Yes, and we celebrate Mother's Day and Secretary's Day, etc. Those are pretty obviously different. There isn't some big movement to make Secretaries equal with everyone else. There's a big difference between recognizing folks for what they do and recognizing them for what skin color they have.
- Secretaries are supposed to be equal to everyone else, but the day separates that job role from everyone else. Everyday is "the person in charge" day, and then we throw a bone to secretaries. But we're not doing anything for the other 98% of the working world. By calling out secretaries we're inherently, in my eyes, doing what you are talking about with BHM. It's slightly different, but not totally. To me, an extension of what you are saying would be "No special days for anyone. None for secretaries, as they are equals to us all. None for breast cancer, as people cancer are just like us,

But it isn't. Asking for equality would be asking for the History of African Americans to be accurately depicted in our textbooks and schools. I think we're doing this much better now, so why do we still need a designated month to reinforce the fact that we are different?
- This is where our agreement comes into play. I think we're at the point where we should be starting the movement that way. Of course it'll take time. BHM has been a part of our culture for a while. And there will be people who don't think we've fully integrated black history to an acceptable leve.

The "holy hell" issue I also agree with, and relates to the immediately above stuff. But honestly, wouldn't secretaries flip out if we took away their special day? You KNOW veterans would (and I'd say justifiably).

What got me going was Malkin's language, which read "Celebrating any differences, is inherently building a wall between us." Which is just false, because we celebrate thousands of differences. If we couldn't celebrate differences, there'd be no birthdays, no Christmas, etc. These are differences.
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [Tridiot] [ In reply to ]
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"But honestly, wouldn't secretaries flip out if we took away their special day? You KNOW veterans would (and I'd say justifiably)"

Maybe, but those days are honored because those people have done something. Last I checked, African Americans are born that way. It isn't an accomplishment like being a Mother or a Veteran or a Secretary. I think there's a significant difference there.

"What got me going was Malkin's language, which read "Celebrating any differences, is inherently building a wall between us." Which is just false, because we celebrate thousands of differences. If we couldn't celebrate differences, there'd be no birthdays, no Christmas, etc. These are differences."

I certainly don't agree with Malkin's language. It's not a matter of not celbrating any differences, but of celebrating them equally as a way to recognize all the things that make up our "melting pot." Dedicating an entire month to recognizing a racial difference seems contrary to what we're trying to accomplish.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Michelle Malkin, St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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Are we really this sad that we're talking about stuff like this online on a Saturday night?


I take it back to socioeconomics and a lack of integration in our culture. Too many times the "We're all the same" routine is pulled by people who live charmed lives and have no concept of being "normal".
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