From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Political Inventions
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 16:35:44 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Ted,
	Gracious, but you certainly seem to see the worst in people.  Maybe
that's why we're butting heads just ever so slightly.  I prefer to see the
best in people, including you.  Saves me from having a sour disposition all
the time.
	To answer your question, yes, I am being snide.  I have observed
that screaming at people and denying their humanity generally provokes
hostile reactions.  As a result, I often employ subtle comments, including
snideness, to provoke thinking rather than fighting.  I commend the fannish
button to your attention, "Why bring your enemies to their knees when you
can bring them to their senses?"
	I am comfortable with my knowledge of history and humanity, and
resulting lack of racism.  If you would like, I will ask my African-American
cousin for a note giving me permission to exercise my rights under the First
Amendment.
	When I said that the flag went away, I meant that the state of South
Carolina formerly flew the Confederate flag over its Statehouse.  The South
Carolinans recently removed that flag from the Statehouse dome to a
historical park within the Statehouse grounds.  The flag physically went
away from the Statehouse.  If you have an alternative definition of "go
away," please clarify your terms.
	Earlier in this chat, I stated that I read Black Muslim theology.
Your comments that some blacks find the Confederate flag insulting is
unnecessary.  When I was at the University of Mississippi, we elected a
black man to the position of "Colonel Rebel" -- the equivalent of Homecoming
King.  I consider this to be an example of fighting racism using humor
rather than censorship.  But, this may also be considered an example of
being snide.
	Concerning your final comment, I believe that the motto of the
British Order of the Garter -- that nation's highest honor -- translates as
"Evil to he who thinks evil."  We snide people are JUST EVERYWHERE.

Lee S.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ted White [mailto:tedwhite at compusnet.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2002 3:04 PM
To: WSFA members
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Political Inventions

"Strong, Lee" wrote:

> Ted,
>         My twist on the name of the National Association for the
Advancement
> of Colored People (NAACP) was intended to satirize their current actions
in
> fighting a battle that is IMHO long since over.  My ancestors paid in
blood
> to suppress the Confederacy's perversion of the American dream and I am
> willing to allow the descendants of the Confederates to fly the Stars &
Bars
> and/or the Battle Jack in a HISTORICAL setting.  I am confident in victory
> and don't see a need to grind the faces of the descendants of the
> Confederates who have been Americans for many years now.  The fact that
the
> NAACP is spending its time boycotting South Carolina because the former
flag
> isn't FAR ENOUGH from the Statehouse rather than boycotting bad schools or
> bad politicians strikes me as a tragedy for all Americans but especially
for
> those they claim to be advancing.
>         Racist?  That word meant something once, but in recent years, it's
> been so widely misapplied that it's come to mean almost the exact
oppositte.
>         Ignorant?  In answer to Erica's question, the real Equal Rights
> Amendments are the 14th and 19th.
>
> Lee Strong
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ted White [mailto:tedwhite at compusnet.com]
> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 4:50 PM
> To: WSFA members
> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Interesting Inventions
>
> "Strong, Lee" wrote:
>
> >         The flag did go away but the National Association to Annoy
> > Confederate People hasn't.
>
> I sincerely hope this was not intended to sound as ignorant and racist as
it
> does.

1.  The flag did *not* "go away."

2.  A great many black people living in the south perceive that flag -- and
the
people who wave it -- very differently than you do.  For them it's a living
reminder of hate and oppression -- wielded by people who *do* hate them and
*do*
wish to oppress them.

3.  On the face of it, your statement which I quoted above *does* sound
"ignorant and racist" (and snide).  I sincerely hoped that you did not
intend
that and I'll take your word for it that this is in fact the case.

--Ted White