The aim of the terrorists is to impose their narrow view on the population, create fear and vent their hatred.
Back in the 1960s the black population of the Southern parts of the United States were subjugated through terror. There were beatings, shootings and killing.
At night men in robes and hoods would ride through a community and place a burning cross in front of any house that had someone who was getting uppity. It was a chilling warning. If unheeded fire-bombing, shooting and murder would result.
The people were terrified.
But after a while brave members of the community began to raise their heads and demand justice. Many of these were shot or lynched. More came along to take up the cause until there were too many marching for the terror to work anymore.
I salute the bravery of those early black activists and the white activists who came down from the North to support them.
Here’s to Martin Luther King, Medgar Evans, Michael Schwerner, James Earl Chaney and Andrew Goodman and all the hundreds of others who died in that struggle.
The virulent racists of the South were defeated just as the hate-filled Islamic jihadists will be.
As short a time ago as the 1960s segregation held sway in the United States. Whites were considered superior and supremacist groups, such as the Klu Klux Klan, were widely supported. They might have been forced to do away with slavery through losing the Civil War but the notion still prevailed – They viewed the Black Race as inferior and were determined to keep them down. The idea of equality was repugnant. It is a Racist ideology that persists to this day and results in the situations that are occurring in US cities where black lives are considered cheap and blacks are being shot by police.
We’ve still got a way to go.
In the 1960s segregation was apartheid. Blacks had different buses, water taps, cinemas, music, housing and even concerts were segregated. To be black was to be second class. They were actively prevented from voting.
Martin Luther King was a Baptist Minister and Humanitarian. Born in 1929 he lead the Civil Rights Movement (SCLC) and fought for equal rights and the vote. He fought for desegregation – the rights for schools, jobs, transport and utilities to be shared by all. He inspired mass protest and based his tactics on those of Mahatma Ghandi.
There were sit-ins, marches, bus boycotts and protest. Protestors were beaten up, murdered, harassed, threatened, abused and arrested. They remained non-violent and defiant.
In 1963 Martin Luther King called for a march on Washington. A million white and black people, side by side, marched on the Capital and were roused by the incredible oratory of Martin’s as he delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
He was an incredibly brave man. The FBI and CIA did their best to discredit him. He received death threats. On the march between Selma and Montgomery in 1964 he was expecting a bullet with every step. He marched regardless.
He was condemned by black radicals such as Malcolm X of ‘The Nation of Islam’ and members of the Black Panthers for being non-violent. They believed the only way to get equality was to fight for it and demand it. They were wrong.
Martin Luther King diversified his protest to fight for an end to poverty and to oppose the Vietnam War. He saw it all part of the same struggle.
In 1968 he was assassinated. A cowardly sniper shot him on his balcony at the motel he was staying in in Memphis.
I visited that balcony, stood on that spot and was grateful that we had people as brave, fearless, intelligent and outspoken. Without such people we would be oppressed and still in the Dark Ages. They gave us light and hope for a world of real equality.
Where are our leaders now?
In this day and age it is easy to think of terrorism as something perpetrated by religious fanatics, brainwashed and packed off with their bombs to blow up innocent people in trains, planes, mosques and buses. That is not always the case.
The Ku Klux Klan were a terrorist organisation with the sole intent of maintaining White Supremacy by instigating terror in the Southern Black population.
They used hoods, burning crosses, pseudo-Christian rhetoric and gibberish and weren’t above threats, beatings, shootings, arson and lynching to make a point. They ruled through terror.
It took a brave man to stand up to the Klan. Their reach was long, forgiveness none and retribution vicious.
Where evil lives it is up to all good people to stand up and oppose it!
The Klan
The countryside was cold and still
There were three crosses upon the hill
Each one wore a burning hood
To hide its rotten heart of wood
And I cried
Father I hear the iron sound
Hoofbeats on the frozen ground
Down from the hills the riders came
Lord, it was a crying shame
To see the blood upon their whips
And hear the snarling of their lips
And I cried
Mother I feel a stabbing pain
Blood flows down like a summer rain
Each one wore a mask of white
To hide his cruel face from sight
and each one sucked a hungery breath
Out of the empty lungs of death
And I cried
Sister raise my bloody head
It’s so lonesome to be dead
He who rides with the Klan
He is a devil and not a man
For underneath that white disguise
I have looked into his eyes
Brother, stand with me
it’s not easy to be free
The use of slaves was widespread in America though there were some opposition from certain groups. They were used as domestics, artisans or field workers. These Africans were imported via the Arab slave traders in what had become a lucrative trade.
With the American War of Independence slavery was maintained. The Southern States had the greatest numbers as their agricultural practices of growing tobacco, cotton and rice was very labour intensive.
In 1808 an act came in prohibiting the importation of slaves. The Northern States began abolishing slavery. In 1830 abolitionists such as John Brown favoured armed force to foment riots among black slaves. Baptists and Methodists preached for the abolition of slavery.
It all came to a head in 1860 with the civil war. The Northern States renounced slavery and the Southern States supported it. In 1863 Lincoln’s proclamation of Emancipation promised freedom for slaves. At the end of the war in 1865 the proclamation was enforced throughout America and slaves were freed.
Unfortunately that was not the end of the matter. The aftermath of slavery is still felt today with a legacy of racism that pervades many parts of the States. Up until the civil rights movements of the 1960s blacks in the South were not permitted to vote, were forced to use second rate facilities and institutions and treated as second-class citizens. The White Supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan maintained an apartheid system through force and terror.
In the modern age this racism, which still persists, is intolerable.
The hope that the election of a black president signalled the dawn of a new age is still perhaps premature. There is a way to go.
Freedom is won through the bravery of men like Medgar Evans and Martin Luther King and the determined struggle of those white and black activists and people who stood up to be counted, protested and marched despite the intimidation and threats. Many were killed in that struggle. It still is not complete.
You can only have real democracy when you have transparency, fair representation and a vote for every man and woman. That was far from the case two hundred years ago.
Women were denied the vote. Only landowners could vote. Some towns with only a handful of voters were electing two MPs. Two towns electing two MPs each had only 1 eligible voter. Half of the MPs in the House were elected by a mere 154 votes. Cities with hundreds of thousands were grossly underrepresented.
The economic and employment situation in the North was dire and people felt they had no recourse to justice. They had no vote and no representation.
At St. Peter’s field near Manchester between 60,000 and 80,000 gathered to hold a peaceful public meeting and protest. The establishment was rattled. They thought it might develop into a riot, ferment general unrest and lead to a revolution. They banned it. But the protesters still met.
The cavalry were called to charge. People were trampled and slashed with sabres. The crowd was eventually dispersed. They left 11 to 15 dead and over 600 to 700 badly injured – 168 of which were women. The first to be killed was a baby knocked out of his mother’s arms by a charging cavalryman. Witnesses claimed the cavalrymen slashed out indiscriminately at anyone they could. The area was sodden with blood.
It became known as the Peterloo massacre in ironic contrast to the recent battle of Waterloo.
It led to renewed impetus for justice and the Chartist Movement who fought for the right to vote.
Freedoms and rights are not freely given. They are paid for with lives and blood and can so easily be stripped away again.
Tolpuddle Martyrs
In 19th century Britain it was illegal to organise in order to gain better working conditions and pay. In the 1830s the industrial revolution had created a surplus of workers which had resulted to wages being lowered to starvation level.
In Tolpuddle, a small village in Dorset, a group of farm labourers formed a collective to argue for fair pay. They refused to work for the reduced rates.
Six of them were arrested and charged with organising. They were sentenced to seven years deportation to Australia.
There was a public outcry, a petition signed by 800,000 and a march on London.
It was the first successful protest.
The sentences were commuted. All but one (with a previous criminal record) were released.
It is right to remember that our rights and freedoms come at a price. Our unions had to be fought for. The establishment gives neither wealth nor power freely and just as readily takes it back given a chance.
Firstly – condolences to all the many victims of terrorism here and abroad – the terrible crimes recently committed in London, Manchester and Kabul.
History is littered with atrocities. Violence is part of what we are. The propensity to cruelty and fanaticism is unfathomable. The traits seem imprinted in our DNA. We merely seek the excuse – politics or religion, racism or jealousy. It matters little.
The ability to hate is there.
How to control it? That is the question.
It is fuelled by inequality, poverty, bullying, revenge and inferiority.
It is inflamed by people with political motives in order to gain power and exploit the gullible.
IMHO there are no easy answers or quick fixes. The answer will take time and requires a many-pronged attack.
a. Wipe out ISIS militarily to prove that there is no ‘god on their side’.
b. Police the mosques – arrest the purveyors of hate and lock them up.
c. Refuse entry, or extradite, all people who support the enemies of this country.
d. Support the Muslim population of Britain and bring them onside.
e. Stop unjust wars.
f. Solve the Palestinian crisis.
g. Integrate the Muslim population into mainstream culture.
h. Do away with religious schools.
I. Ban religion from schools, teach British values of tolerance, empathy, morality, equality, respect, democracy and freedom.
j. Stop the inequality, poverty and racism.
k. Shut down the madrassas and all indoctrinators of young children.
l. Speak with one voice to condemn violence.
m. Keep the impact of terrorism in perspective. Do not let it eat your mind, fill you with fear, alter your lifestyle, alter your values or perspectives, cloud your judgement of people or religions…….. Terrorism is not going to effect many directly. It’s greates effect is on the mind and imagination. Don’t let them win. Don’t let them fill you with hate. Don’t let them cause division. They are a tiny minority.
Vote in a Labour Government with fairness and justice as their basis.
Once again we have politicians pulling in two different directions. They want more religious schools. They want more integration.
They want Muslims being taught in segregated schools. They want Muslims integrated into British society with British values and language. Aren’t the two wishes counterproductive.
Surely the best way to integrate people is to teach them alongside each other rather than keeping them apart?
Haven’t we seen this in Ireland with Catholics and Protestants being educated apart?
Surely it is time to take all religion out of schools? Why do we want our children being brain-washed?
I find it repugnant.
What reasons do religious groups have for getting their hands on our kids? Isn’t it obvious?
The government is looking to get education subsidised by religious people without caring about their motives.
Surely our children are too precious to be abused in this way?
Merry Christmas to One and all.
In the sentiment of unity, celebration and harmony.
To people of any faith and no faith.
Inclusively.
As I gather my family around me and enjoy the wonders of loving, caring, giving and receiving in our new home I wish the same happiness for all of you.
To those who have had great losses this year I am thinking about you.
To those who I have angered or wronged I am sorry.
To those who I have offended – well – that’s life. We have to speak our truth as we see it – but not with hatred, animosity or violence.
I wish you all a fruitful, happy new year and hope that despite the many challenges ahead we can find a way to discuss, debate and find a way to make the world a better place for ourselves, humanity and the rest of life on this planet.
All the best
To everyone all over the planet
Opher xxx
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I wish you a wonderful celebration with family and friends!
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(Yes – even an antitheist can find an excuse to celebrate! There is no religion here just love and sharing.)
