Text 8716, 84 rader
Skriven 2005-03-28 14:19:00 av JERRY MORLAND (1:275/311)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHIEL VAN DER VLIST
Ärende: 2nd Observation
=======================
Greetings Mr. Van der Vlist, and to All who read this message,

 I wish you well on your journey through life, and I hope  you will allow me to
share something personal with you. I have read your messages in this conference
for a very long time.  I do not post here nearly as often as I have many years
ago.  So, if you will indulge me for a few moments, I would like to post a
message now.

 Not nearly as worldly as many of you, and with only a few excursions to the
Caribbean, I have not traveled outside of the United States.  Although, my wife
and I intend to take a trip to Europe when we retire.  

 Some of you use the epithet,  "nigger".  There are three of you in this
conference who have used it at least once, and one of you uses it more often
than others.  It has been many years since I have written the word on paper (or
computer), and I pray I never have to write it again.

 I am but an aging man.  Humble by all means; I try and live my life modestly
and honestly.  I love my wife, and I love my family.  My great grandfather,
whom I knew as a small child, was taken from Nigeria and brought here to the
United States on a slave ship, crewed by Australians (as research revealed). 
He was a strong man in his youth, also head strong.  The beatings he received
throughout his tormented life changed him, turned him into something other than
human.  The white men called him a Nigger.

 Our government said that he was a free man when he died at a very old age. 
Truth be told, since he was taken from his home, he was never truly free.  My
father told me he died believing he was a nigger.

 "Let us never forget the days of dark, for they make the days of light much
brighter."  (myself)

 When all of you write the word nigger on paper, please think of those who
passed from this earth contemplating that word and what that word means to
them.  To use the word only once does not make it less.  The spirit of the word
is present regardless of who utters the word, how many times that word is
mentioned, or who writes it.  It will carry in the wind for all the time we
walk the earth for there are men who will always have hatred in their heart.

 Someone in this conferences wrote, "Everyone is culpable, nobody is immune". 
These words encouraged me to talk to a few BBS sysops on both sides of the
Atlantic ocean and try to understand what the underlying conflicts are in this
conference.  The answers I found were, as I thought, fundamental issues between
cultures.  The underlying differences, evident in this conference, are
ultimately  perceptions between societies.   Specifically, Racism and
Persecution.

 Thomas Babington once stated, "To punish a man because we infer from the
nature of some doctrine which he holds, or from the conduct of other persons
who hold the same doctrines with him, that he will commit a crime, is
persecution, and is, in every case, foolish and wicked."  

 Americans, Dutch, English, Canadians, and Swedish alike.  Lest we forget the
sacrifices each of our families have made that should have brought us together,
not torn us apart.  

 Each of you stands on common ground with the other.  As an entity, you were
the first open public forum for International Computer Electronic Mail.  While
Fidonet may be declining in popularity, each of you can stand tall and remember
what contribution you have made to the international computing community.  It
would be wise if as a group, you collaborated on a paper for the Fidonews
Newsletter documenting this fact for future generations.  We should never
forget the contribution of Fidonet to the world of computing, nor should we let
the computing world write Fidonet off as non-existant.  Use this common ground
to rebuild the trust between you.  If all you have left in your world his
hatred, then you have no world left to you at all.  

 In conclusion, after reading my humble little post, you still find it
necessary to write the word nigger in your messages, then you do so with
thoughts of evil hatred and disgust.  I refuse to believe that people walk the
earth with hatred as putrid as the black of night.  If I begin to believe that
you are truly evil, then I would be a nigger too, just like my great
grandfather.

"Prejudice is the child of ignorance." (William Hazlitt)


 MVDV> word "nigger" once or twice and you took that as "racial 
 MVDV> slur". You are
 MVDV> making a mountain out of a mole hill.
 
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