When I lived in Eufaula Alabama in '69-'70, I would laugh & joke with a fellow cotton mill worker (black) approx.my age...I was from Connecticut & thought nothing of it. I was informed by my Father in Law, the local KKK leader, that "that nigger will be hanging from a tree with his balls in his mouth if he don't quit smiling at you"...I believed him.

I heard of this. It is a terrible loss of life. I don't view it as racisim because the article says that white people were killing the black people.

@AmmaRE007

Sarcasm, I hope

You may enjoy Howard Zinn's book titled: "A People's History of the United States.", written from the perspective of those who actually lived through and experienced that history.

Last night I was reading a Bill Bryson book, "Sunburned Country" and what the European immigrants did to the aborigines was unbelievable. Every country is guilty of horrible deeds to others either natives or newcomers. It's a part of tribalism.

@JackPedigo I agree it is important to understand that this is worldwide and not just American.However , we need to continually forcefully condemn and push for reparations for our own actions.

@KittensandSage history books should be re-written. Gone are the days when history books are only written to suit the writers so the baddies are protected. The truth is out there and must be told.

@JackPedigo of course. Like all countries, we bury these incidents and hope they are forgotten, in this case, literally.

@nogod4me, @ JackPedigo Thank you, I’ll check those it out. I’m well aware of man’s inhumanity to man, It’s always been this way. I marched in the US with protestors against South African Apartheid after a speaking visit by Desmond Tutu at UCSD campus in the 80’s. (I left the demonstration when they decided to block the I5 freeway, lol). I like the idea of our High School’s and colleges History courses requiring reading of Howard Zinn's book titled: "A People's History of the United States.". It could be alongside  “To Kill a Mockingbird”.l

@Lorajay And how do we determine reparations, to whom (who has legitimate claims) and where will the money come from? Also, how does a nation set limits. Should the German government pay reparations for all those interred and murdered in the camps? Last night was a program about the destruction of Dresden. The British firebombed the city for 2 nights and the smoke made it impossible for the Americans to bomb legitimate military targets and more civilians were killed. The two atomic bombs on Japan also killed over 100,000 (a similar number were killed in the bombing of Tokyo. Point is this is an extremely complicated issue with far reaching ramifications. How do we get through all the issues and, again, find the money to pay without creating hardships on the people of today who may have had nothing to do with the earlier crimes?
Thanks for the comment as it has helped me compile my thoughts on this subject.

@KittensandSage True, but somehow they don't always remained buried. Someone, somewhere always manages to document the episodes and bring it to light.

I lived in Germany for a long time. The Hollywood series, "Holocaust" came out and it was shown in Germany. The young people got really upset at the Americans as they thought it was just Hollywood hype to make them look bad. Unfortunately, the German government was so ashamed of this chapter it was not taught in the schools and they had to admit to their young it was true. It is very important for governments to not cover up the past no matter how bad it was. I have a degree in European History and this area is very interesting. It is said history does not repeat itself but it sure rhymes.

@JackPedigo Reparations are not always money but in many instances they should include efforts to make sure the descendants and victims have as equal a chance as possible at a better life. A sincere apology and a sincere effort to make people understand the evils of tribalism would make a profound difference for the victims and their descendants. Education can make everyone understand more fully that the aggressors are also victims.

We live in a country that is very divided between the haves and the have nots. Changes in our policies need to happen that will both repair and aid the disadvantaged among us for our country to heal and prosper. The money should come from both fairer taxation policies and a change in our military goals from a mercenary enterprise to protect corporations to a real Defense Department.

@TimeOutForMe agree. We cannot change the nature of humanity, but education may help to curb racism, & make it less easy for racist organizations to recruit our youth.

@JackPedigo I went to school on an Army base for 3 years in Germany, and lived off base for a year, fluent in German. They were ashamed & in some cases, misinformed regarding the Holocaust. Speaking of it was considered hostile. As I was so young while living there, I thought the US was less likely to allow a holocaust. Our current administration IMO, would lead us down the path of white supremacy if unchecked, & to a degree,, has already done so. So carrying forward for each generation a history & accountability should be a fabric of an enlightened society. We are nowhere near there yet, but we can work & hope for a better future.

@Lorajay @TimeOutForMe,
All well intentioned ideas but a critical thing is missing and that is the availability of resources. I strongly believe we are often not as in charge as we think and a lot of what we do is determined by geography and nature. Jared Diamond in his "Guns, Germs and Steel" spoke of the geography part and every place I have lived have I seen this aspect at work. Even where I live geography plays a big part even in the differences between the 4 larger islands. When resources become low (climate is a major resource) people start to compete and break up into tribes. Often when resources are low women and children are the lows on the pecking order. This country is 330+ million and we have the largest carbon footprint on the planet. Our people's are extremely diverse and that diversity comes with a cost. Yes there are bad people and religion makes a lot of 'good' people do bad things and a must do place to start is to reduce the influence of religion. But look where that has gotten us!!
Sorry, I see the critical issues as all being far more complex than we would like. Simple ideas do not fix complex issues.

@JackPedigo I don’t see an idyllic future by any means, but raising awareness will never be wrong, on any level. When we can do better, we should do better. Small actions are better than none, speaking up is better than silence. Just knowing is not always enough.

@KittensandSage Thank you and I totally agree. I try to use other's ideas and statements as evidence and a couple of months ago was an article in National Geographic about birds [nationalgeographic.com]
The article became more about cats than birds. Notice the last sentence. It is critical. However, one must know before taking the next step. I quit a local transitions group because I wanted to present ideas and they felt some knowledge was useless. Also, speaking up often entails being willing to face criticism.

*"People generally agree that the feral cat population is too large. But there the agreement stops, partly because right now we have no good solutions. Birds aside, feral cats pose all kinds of intractable health, safety, and philosophical dilemmas that have overwhelmed our current systems. No matter how you believe cats should be treated, the world has just too many cats to manage.

This is, in fact, the most succinct argument for leaving cats alone: We’ll never be able to get rid of them, no matter how hard we try. Long after humankind has faded from this planet, cats will surely be scratching around whatever’s left of it. But if we give up on seemingly unresolvable problems, the world will grow more miserable, not less so. I think we can do better."*

@KittensandSage Which base? Naturally, I was in Heidelberg, Altstadt. Unfortunately, quickly losing my Deutsch. I still communicate with some friends, though, (a German neighbor and a Syrian/Turkish family).

Absolutely education is the key for a lot of issues and it is especially important for women. My late partner had 4 brothers but she was the favored child and immigrated (from Iran) to the US at 24 and in 5 years learned the language and received a degree from a state university. She had numerous Nieces all of whom went to universities in Iran and one got a degree in engineering and was hired by a firm in Stuttgart. She spent a year as an au paar to learn the language and then 3 months to learn the terminology of her job. Women can compete and education is necessary to lower the overpopulation issue.

Unfortunately, there is always a but and the fact is education is a resource and it is becoming strained. Different groups use it for their own purposes. My late partner was an elementary educator in a Seattle public international school and I/we learned first hand the issues with education.

@KittensandSage Sorry, but this issue has developed a complexity all it's own. Several have gotten into discussions and I am losing track of who said what. lol

This is often used on this site and I can now see it's value: You said "agree. We cannot change the nature of humanity, but education may help to curb racism, & make it less easy for racist organizations to recruit our youth."

I learned a long time ago there is no such thing as race. With our species the only differences are cosmetic and cultural (there have evolved some minor genetic differences). I, and probably, yourself, have seen people are all the same (and yet they are different). However, we are broken into tribes. All the tribes in a country have differences in what they see are important and to some education is less important than earning a living. In the Seattle School District (several years ago) there were 150+ languages spoken!! All those languages demanded special programs (bootstrap, translators, IA's, language schools and on). Often the languages were so obscure that it was impossible to find qualified helpers so anyone who could speak the language was hired. So much money was needed money was being taken from the special education programs. Nothing, absolutely nothing today is simple. We have reached an era of specialization. Problem is the specialists only see a part of the picture but miss the large view. I consider myself a generalists and see some large views but I also realize behind the large view is an unbelievable level of complexities.

@JackPedigo Von Ansbach, nach Garmish . Ich habe vergessen vielen Deutsch auch. We lived on Bleidorn Kasern, and in Sachsen for a year before there was housing available on base. The comparison as humans being feral cats is not lost on me lol. truth is so difficult sometimes.

@KittensandSage Ah, Garmish Partenkirche. Remember visiting there several times. Funny, a memory returns of an unheated Zimmer-frei and a thick Federdecke. I had a partner who loved Muenchen and we went there all the time. I worked for the University of Maryland and she was an academic advisor and traveled a lot, but always outside of Germany. I was in the micro-graphics/transcripts dept. and still remember Munich campus was a school for misfits. Was in Heidelberg 15 wonderful years.

Somewhere I read another article about cats being the worst species on the planet and lots of letters were written (one by myself) saying they were no where near as bad as humans. I think both species follow their instincts more then they realize.

@JackPedigo agree on the species observation . wow, on your travels. Heidelberg was my favorite, and Rothenburg. That must have been an amazing journey!

@KittensandSage A lot and could write a book about just the crazy things in Heidelberg. I have posted that there were 3 American guys (one was the town playboy - he's still there) and one Brit. in a small house under the castle. The things we did. After returning to the US also traveled and the last trip was a month in Viet Nam with my brother, his Vietnamese wife and her 2 daughters. We did not go on a tour group and saw both scary and beautiful things.
Being connected to the military you also must have seen a lot of places. What other places have you been?

@KittensandSage Actually under a post by Glennlab U capture contest is a reply I made concerning one such shenanigan.

@JackPedigo Paris, Stonehenge, Bavaria, Mexico, Canada, and all over the Country. I work with Veterans at VA med Ctr as an RN. Dad was. in Nam and in Korea, he's buried at Arlington

@KittensandSage Pretty impressive, a lot of places. Originally from Texass then California, Washington, Mass. (Devens), Turkey (Sinop), VA (Vint Hill Farms & NSA), Oklahoma (Lawton, Ft. Sill), Maryland. These are just places stationed or lived. Getting to live in other cultures is a great way to understand the world. One gets a whole new perspective.

Thank you. Even more important.

@KKGator different areas in South Africa had their own deep murderous deeds. 90% hasn't surfaced yet. Those in the know are shutting up and enjoying their retirement at the expense of other's and hold onto 85% of the country's wealth.

@TimeOutForMe That is the result of only allowing a select or elite few to gain wealth thru land ownership. You do seem to get the economic impact of the plantation mentality (colonialism is the same thing basically)

Seek & ye shall find.

The problem is they do not want to know.

It's not really amazing. Much of this type of history remains untold and not taught in the schools.

I've been to the Civil Rights building in Atlanta and I was in tears. How can one not be without emotion witnessing the dreadful atrocities on fellow mankind just because they're another colour. I read the story of Emmett Till and plenty others. Who gives white man the damn right to commit these deeds on fellow human beings and later rewarded or obtain medals of bravery for these deadly inhumane deeds. It came to my mind at one point when I was a teenager in South Africa that perhaps the deranged (white people) were thrown to earth because their behavior was not tolerated elsewhere, now we have to suffer at the hands of these "evil" people.

Three mass graves in South Africa of men women and children were found in 2007. An ex South African Defence Force soldier told me in 2004, that there were plenty mass graves in SA....when it came up on the news I called him. I said, you were right. He told me there's plenty more. There are so many black South Africans missing to this day. No account for them. ...was no law for non-white people. Nothing got to the courts, if it did, no fair trial at the hands of the butchers themselves. Those in charge were at large.

It should be part of history taught in the schools. Just like other major events that have occured in history.
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