June 19, 2015

"That’s what slaves did. But, you know, we’re not slaves."

Henry Louis Gates asked, "Why does black political participation matter so much?" and Clementa Pinckney said:
"We need to be a part, if we want a say in our own life, if we want to be independent, if we want to influence what’s happening around us. Or the reverse is to let everybody else control and influence and then we just sort of take whatever comes. That’s what slaves did. But, you know, we’re not slaves. We’re Americans, so we have a responsibility to look at ourselves — self-help, if you will. I also think that we have a historic legacy that we need to uphold."
The Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney was the pastor of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and one of the 9 who died in Wednesday night's massacre.

48 comments:

Bobber Fleck said...

We’re Americans, so we have a responsibility to look at ourselves — self-help, if you will.

I'm on board. When do we start?

Rusty said...

A voice of reason silenced.
No amount of retribution can bring these people back,but from my POV the animal who did this will meet his justice sooner rather than later. In lockup.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

My condolences to those who lost loved ones.

MayBee said...

I think we lost a great man, there.

MayBee said...

One of the founders was a free black man, who was punished for having a black church when black churches were illegal, and hung for trying to organize a slave rebellion.
So a very apt thing for Rev Pinckney to say

Vet66 said...

He leaves a great legacy. He was called home because his work among us was complete. A giant among men who graced our existence. You will be missed, sir, and your lesson will inspire those of us who remain to complete your vision.

Shouting Thomas said...

Your husband, prof, is a fucking piece of shit.

He's so excited by this opportunity to don his halo and scream "racist" at other white men that he nearly peed his pants.

He's been over at Lem's site demanding that we kiss his ass and sing praises to his glorious wonderfulness. Of course, he also demanded that we confess our sins.

What a fucking piece of shit.

This tragedy has been, as usual, an opportunity for Larry to gloat over his incredible sanctimonious greatness. I've lost all respect for you, prof, for having any association with this lowlife bastard. No decent person could be associated with this asshole.

Gahrie said...

If Blacks truly want to participate and be taken seriously, then at least 50% of them should vote Republican this cycle.

As long as the Democrats take them for granted (and they do), the Democrats will ignore them and as long as the Republicans write them off as unreachable (and they are), the Republicans will ignore them. That's just smart politics on the part of both parties.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Gahrie said...
If Blacks truly want to participate and be taken seriously, then at least 50% of them should vote Republican this cycle.


Same thing for Jews?

madAsHell said...

uummmmmmm.....someone needs to adjust their meds!!

Tank said...

An evil white person hated blacks and killed some. Terrible.

Still, the whole thing is boring really. Everyday black people who hate whites attack them in "random" acts. Here, the usual suspects will say the usual things to push whatever their particular agenda is.

I may be getting cynical.

Tank said...

AReasonableMan said...

Gahrie said...

If Blacks truly want to participate and be taken seriously, then at least 50% of them should vote Republican this cycle.

Same thing for Jews?


Duh, of course. Except most of the Republicans are losers too. You mean they should vote conservative/libertarian.

Gahrie said...

Same thing for Jews?

Yes, though there is a difference. The Jews vote for Democrats, even though the Democrats hate Israel and for the most part ignore them.

The Republicans support Israel, and are generally more favorable to Jewish concerns, but it doesn't win them Jewish votes.

The Democratic Party is much more anti-Semetic than the Republican Party.

Gahrie said...

And just to clarify, that advice applies to all special interest groups and factions.

If there were any fiscally Conservative Democrats left, I would encourage the Tea Party to support them for instance.

tim in vermont said...

ARM, how is Hillary's war in Libya going?

How is the war with Afghanistan that Bill provoked with his missile attacks going?

How is the war in Iraq, for which Hillary voted "with conviction" going?

Too bad about those 160 "migrants" that were machine gunned just south of the Arizona border yesterday. I am sure that the fact that we refuse to assert our border with Mexico had nothing to do with their deaths.

tim in vermont said...

I wonder if they were killed with "Fast and Furious" weapons? We will probably never know! Good!

DanTheMan said...

>>We’re Americans, so we have a responsibility to look at ourselves — self-help, if you will

At U-California, this would be a microaggresion.

William said...

I think the truly hateful part of this hate crime was the calculated murder of good people at prayer.

Rick said...

AReasonableMan said...
Same thing for Jews?


Ever notice the crazies have this strange fixation on Jews?

Bob Ellison said...

Video of the Clementa Pinckney quote to which the Professor refers.

He was a great extemporaneous speaker with a beautiful voice. I had never heard of him until his murder. As MayBee says, this appears to be a huge loss.

Tank said...

Rick said...

AReasonableMan said...

Same thing for Jews?

Ever notice the crazies have this strange fixation on Jews?


While that may be true, this is a fair question about us Jews. Why, when it is so clearly contrary to our interests (I'm not including Israel in this equation), do so many of us support the left? It is easier to understand why black people do.

Curious George said...

...and then of course they vote Democratic and get right back on that plantation.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Rick said...
Ever notice


Just another guy with nothing to say.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...
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Eric the Fruit Bat said...

It's pretty hard to talk about what members of a well-defined racial class should do to band together so as to control more resources without being racist.

Rick said...

AReasonableMan said...
Just another guy with nothing to say.


Nothing to you of course, which would be as useless as talking to a U-tube of a Louis Farrakhan speech.

Why don't you tell us again how we're inappropriately fixated on race even though left wing blogs discussed it three times more than us?

Don't let facts get in your way. Just continue your celebration that nine people died so you can win the internet.

David said...

"Or the reverse is to let everybody else control and influence and then we just sort of take whatever comes. That’s what slaves did."

If Ayn Rand had said this, everyone would be praising it to the sky. This is a accurate critique of the entire modern mega state, of the statist progressive impulse and of the power of the armies of bureaucrats.

Anonymous said...

I am a white guy living in an area with lots of successful, hard-working, married, family-raising black people. Hey, liberal media. You could do some front-page stories on black people who understand how to set goals, do the work, and reap the rewards. Some choose lives other than athlete, thug, or unwed mother. I see them every day. They make great neighbors and coworkers.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


"Ever notice the crazies have this strange fixation on Jews?"

One of the verities of politics. The remarkable thing is how the mainstream Left has embraced anti-semitism. Of course the mainstream Left of the 21st century is the far Left of the 20th, so perhaps it isn't surprising.

Tank said...

See what I mean about this being boring. Unless you have an agenda, and you want to capitalize on this incident, there isn't really much to say about this act. A bad and/or crazy person did something terrible.

Ann Althouse said...

"See what I mean about this being boring. Unless you have an agenda, and you want to capitalize on this incident, there isn't really much to say about this act. A bad and/or crazy person did something terrible."

1. You can honor the victims and think about them, which is the occasion I tried to create with this post.

2. You can think about the quality of the larger culture and how it influences the young and may lead in some cases to terrible acting out by unstable and mentally disturbed people and how leaders like Pinckney may be able to bring some of the lost sheep back.

3. You can think about what we should be doing to identify and treat (or immobilize) the mentally ill.

4. You can observe and notice your own impulse toward getting back to normal. To what extent is that a good thing and when is it a moral failing.

tim in vermont said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim in vermont said...

What Pinckney said was true for all Americans, not just for black Americans. The question was a softball, but he hit it out of the park.

What we have done is allow a person who manages to associate an image of Aristotle with a sputtering fool blind to his own bigotry dominate the conversation. Who honestly cares what he thinks? He has shown us over the course of many months if not years that he is anything but "reasonable."

cubanbob said...

@ Ann your points two and three are an indictment of left-liberal culture and legal thought. You should have mentioned a fourth point holding those who aid and abet this type of crazy and evil actions responsible such as the farther who bought the son a gun.

Rick said...



Although this was reported earlier police now say the killer bought the gun himself, likely with money he received as birthday gifts.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

You can honor the victims and think about them . . .

There was a scene in one of the last episodes of Mad Men where a private school headmaster, named MacDonald, reveals that Pete Campbell's child won't ever be admitted because of the 17th century Massacre of Glencoe.

They did a pretty good job of making it bizarre.

Unguarded hospitality's a bitch.

Seeing Red said...
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Seeing Red said...

Pinckney is spouting white privilege ideas. Must be crushed.

I Callahan said...

I'm with our hostess on points 1 and 3. Regarding the other two:

2. You can think about the quality of the larger culture and how it influences the young and may lead in some cases to terrible acting out by unstable and mentally disturbed people and how leaders like Pinckney may be able to bring some of the lost sheep back.

You can think about it, beat it up until there is nothing left but gristle, or you can just decide that EVERY era of mankind had people who were mentally ill and acted upon it. Every one. So in fairness, this is pointless. The constant attempt to improve the ways of mankind has shown that you can't. You can only worry about your own, and teach them to be careful with the numerous crazies that actually do inhabit the world.

4. You can observe and notice your own impulse toward getting back to normal. To what extent is that a good thing and when is it a moral failing.

I'm not 100% sure I understand this, but if it means what I think it does, here is my response: oddly enough, the more this happens, the faster I get back to normal. I may be becoming desensitized to all of this, unfortunately. I think we all are to some extent, but feel inhuman because we do. So we obsess over it until we feel less guilty. This is also pointless, if you ask me.

A lot can be said about the violent acts that happen. But most of it has been said already. So what's the point?

I Callahan said...

Although this was reported earlier police now say the killer bought the gun himself, likely with money he received as birthday gifts.

See, now this is something that CAN be talked about more. The media's incessant need to get things out quickly to the point where they could be wrong. Or just the media's treatment of any violent news stories in general. There's lots to talk about there.

FullMoon said...

"Got the gun as a gift"
"Bought the gun"
"Stole the gun from his mother"

Just the facts, nothing but the facts.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, a great majority of them behave like slaves, vote the way their masters want them to, regardless how that vote would jeopardize their own livelihood and liberty: e.g Dear Leader's amnesty of illegals.

Bobby said...

"Unfortunately, a great majority of them behave like slaves, vote the way their masters want them to, regardless how that vote would jeopardize their own livelihood and liberty: e.g Dear Leader's amnesty of illegals."

Frankly, this could probably be said of a "great majority" of Americans of all political parties, and I'd venture to guess of a "great majority" of humans in any participatory democracy. It is what it is.

Michael said...


I visited a black lady friend this morning on another topic but felt compelled to bring up this madness, this evil. Her first words were that she was so sad for the boy killer, crushed that his life was over. Like many of my black friends, this woman is deeply Christian and her first impulse was forgiveness and a thought for the living.

amielalune said...

Yes, and the way they choose to do it is to vote almost exclusively Democrat because the Dems will give them things.

Unknown said...

-----Just another guy with nothing to say.

No you posted a comment highly suggestive of anti-semitism. I hope you don’t share that malady of the Democrats.

wildswan said...

Lessons to be Learned
1. There are black people who never get on television who are a much better kind of person than their self-appointed representatives.

2. With all their experience with repression and with these murders having just happened, this group identified the problem right away as not letting hate get the upper hand.

3. That boy did let hate get the upper hand in him and look what he turned into.

4. We have to learn to confront injustice without calling in hate to help us out.

Good to know because I hate the guy, his friends, what he did and what he stands for. Imagine somebody trying to start a war. I notice he didn't fight the police or shoot himself. Imagine what a total fucking coward and fool would only be brave enough to go out and shoot an 87-year-old Christian woman.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Unknown said...
No you posted a comment highly suggestive of anti-semitism.


This is so stupid that it suggests you have mental problems, but maybe you are just comfortable with posts that are highly suggestive of racism.