William Waller: RIP

[Dr. Cheese]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/us....html?src=recg

I had never heard of him before, his story certainly deserves to be better known. Mods, I know he was a politician, but he was a major person in Southern history.

[Dr. Cheese]

I'm bumping this because I think his obituary demonstrates how difficult it was to challenge discrimination in the South at the time.

[Dr. Cheese]

I guess saying good things about people is boring. If I had posted something negative about a white person, I would have had fifty replys by now.

[MJ5150]

Sure speaks volumes don't it......

-Mike

[i_got_a_mohawk]

It's probably that not many people had heard of him, as you said.

Looks like he was a real visionary, good to see someone in power going against the grain, in a positive way.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

It's probably that not many people had heard of him, as you said.

Looks like he was a real visionary, good to see someone in power going against the grain, in a positive way.

I'm sure that's true, but if I had posted this same link and said something negative, all of the usual suspects would have posted blasting me. I think this thread shows just how much some people look forward to an argument.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I thought that's what the internet was for?

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

I thought that's what the internet was for?

Fair enough.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

I thought that's what the internet was for?

Nope, you are wrong, and I'll skip sleeping tonight to prove it too.

-Mike

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Who do you think you are? Hitler?!

Facist.

[Tituscrow]

I sometimes read links without posting a comment, but it doesn't mean I'm not interested. I read your link first time round and found it very enlightening, but the world in which William Waller operated is so vastly different from anything I've ever experienced being a 42 year old British white man, I didn't think I could say anything of any real worth on that subject.

I've posted links about FIFA and Sepp Blatter and this years joint Nobel Peace Prize winners (for example) that few engaged with. I just took that to mean folk had either had better things to do than engage in discussion or that the subject matter was not within their sphere of experience, not that the subject matter wasn't important.

Carry on

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Interesting link, Dr. Cheese. I was not aware of him either. Thanks!

[SteveC]

Well, it is political in content and you know what happens to those threads...

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

I sometimes read links without posting a comment, but it doesn't mean I'm not interested. I read your link first time round and found it very enlightening, but the world in which William Waller operated is so vastly different from anything I've ever experienced being a 42 year old British white man, I didn't think I could say anything of any real worth on that subject.

I've posted links about FIFA and Sepp Blatter and this years joint Nobel Peace Prize winners (for example) that few engaged with. I just took that to mean folk had either had better things to do than engage in discussion or that the subject matter was not within their sphere of experience, not that the subject matter wasn't important.

Carry on

That's all very fair. I made the statements I did because there have been many who have attacked me for bringing up cases of white racism against blacks. The fact that it has taken so long for anyone to comment on this thread does show how some people fade away except for when their is a chance to be negative.

That said, it is also reasonable to assume that if there is little comment, there is also little criticism of my post also.

[Tituscrow]

Gotcha. So you were wondering why there was so little response when you posted a link about a white man doing GOOD for black folk? He seemed a very influential and important figure. But nope, never heard of him until now....so thanks again for the link

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Gotcha. So you were wondering why there was so little response when you posted a link about a white man doing GOOD for black folk? He seemed a very influential and important figure. But nope, never heard of him until now....so thanks again for the link

You know, he really did good for the whole state of MS and the South. He is of the same generation as Jimmy Carter who told some stories of the garbage he had to deal with because he would not join the White Citizen's Council. As a black person and as a person from a younger generation, it is hard sometimes to appreciate what a sympathetic white person in the South had to go through.

[Tituscrow]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

You know, he really did good for the whole state of MS and the South. He is of the same generation as Jimmy Carter who told some stories of the garbage he had to deal with because he would not join the White Citizen's Council. As a black person and as a person from a younger generation, it is hard sometimes to appreciate what a sympathetic white person in the South had to go through.

Without wanting to sound patronising, that is a thoroughly refreshing attitude youve got right there.

And he sounds like a redneck Schindler

As a white European, the most we have to go on is the likes of Mississippi Burning or old MLK newsreel footage. That's why I feel I need to hear testimony from folks that have to walk the walk....

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Without wanting to sound patronising, that is a thoroughly refreshing attitude youve got right there.

And he sounds like a redneck Schindler

As a white European, the most we have to go on is the likes of Mississippi Burning or old MLK newsreel footage. That's why I feel I need to hear testimony from folks that have to walk the walk....

I was a kid the time he was governor, but I grew up in South Carolina. Segregation was over but little things popped up from time to time that let you know just how recently things had changed. You could run across old segregation signs or maybe you would go to a store and they would still send you to the "black" bathroom. I would probably noticed more of that sort of thing had I not spent a lot of time on a military base.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

Interesting link, Dr. Cheese. I was not aware of him either. Thanks!

+1! I'd heard about the Evers case many times, but never dug deeply enough to discover Waller.

[Tituscrow]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I was a kid the time he was governor, but I grew up in South Carolina. Segregation was over but little things popped up from time to time that let you know just how recently things had changed. You could run across old segregation signs or maybe you would go to a store and they would still send you to the "black" bathroom. I would probably noticed more of that sort of thing had I not spent a lot of time on a military base.

See that's fascinating for me. All the black folk I know are British, and whilst they have each had incidences of discrimination or abuse that they've had to handle, it doesn't seem anything close to what it must have been like to have had to live through that kind of blatant and overt system of dividing up human beings.

And I apologise if I have spoken out of turn in terms of playing down any experiences of black Brits. Absolutely not my intention.

I used to work with a black guy from Soweto, who lived through apartheid at its worst. Man, the things he told me made my blood run cold.