Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Countering hate

Jon Ham at Right Angles posted:

Solomon Burnette, son of former Durham City Council member Brenda Burnette, served more than a year in prison in 2000-01 for robbing two Duke students at gunpoint and violating his probation.
Ham noted Burnette has just published in North Carolina Central University’s Campus Echo a column reacting to the collapse of Mike Nifong’s frame-up.

Column title: “Death to all rapists.”

Burnette ends his column with:
Black men, stand up. Black women, stand up. Black children, stand up. We have been at war here with these same white people for 500 years.

The time to fight, whether intellectually, artistically or physically, has always been now.
Ham titled his post:"Still mugging Duke students"

Does any organization give a prize for “Best Post Title Exposing a Hate-filled Columnist Writing for a College Newspaper?”

If yes, I want to nominate Ham’s title.

Ham ends his post with:
For the record, NCCU Chancellor James Ammons released a statement distancing himself and his school from Burnette’s ravings.
I salute Ammons for speaking out the way he did and Ham for noting it in his post.

Their actions are typical of both men as I know them.

I wish Chancellor Ammons wasn’t leaving NCCU and Durham to assume the presidency of his alma mater, Florida A&M, but I wish Ammons well and thank him for his leadership here, especially during the last year.

As for Jon Ham, I'm glad he's staying in Durham.

Hat tip: The Johnsville News.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Black men, stand up. Black women, stand up. Black children, stand up. We have been at war here with these same white people for 500 years."


I need to brush up on my history. I didn't realize that slavery had been established in the America's by 1507.

JWM said...

Dear Wayne,

One can never be sure what's in a hateful racist's head other than those very close cousins, hate and racism.

But I'll hazard this guess: Burnette was invoking the theme some black hatemongers invoke: slavery started 500 years ago when Columbus discovered America.

Slavery in the Bible?

Slavery in Africa for hundreds of years before Columbus and right through to today?

Let's just say hatemongers hate those questions and see them as just more signs of YOUR hate.

I mean, if you get into all that evidence of blacks as slave holders and traders, how are you going to blame slavery on "whitey?"

And so it goes.

Wayne, if you see this comment, please let me know. I get all comments passed through to me.

I appreciate and respect your remaining a JInC visitor because I "missed" on your first comment; something for which I remain sorry.

Best,

John

Anonymous said...

I don't know, but would guess the Chancellor can't get out of Durham fast enough either. He is a very impressive guy and all the best to him.

Anonymous said...

You know, if you want to talk slavemongering, you gotta hand it to the Spanish and Portugese - they wiped out whole indigenous populations and resettled them using black slaves.

Americans were pikers by comparison.

But, back to our man-of-the-hour. My theory is that the Duke students the "mugged" misunderstood: Mr. Burnette was merely seeking a Solominic solution by dividing the student/wallet baby in half.

-AC

Anonymous said...

John, forget about my first comment. I had until you brought it up. While I rarely comment here I always read your blog. What I would like a response on is when Charlie Piot's "Shut Up and Teach" paper is going to be published. Can't wait!

I think your average black supremest forgets that the slave trade started in Africa with blacks enslaving blacks. Maybe they picture bands of mounted white men riding inland and throwing nets over the natives like a scene from Planet of the Apes. No use letting history get in the way of a good story.


Did you see where Solomon Burnette said the mugging never occurred? he seems to be saying it was as fictitious as Whaneema Lubiano's "Mugged by a Metaphor".

Anonymous said...

Letter to the HS lets see if they print it.

A Tale of Two Cities

Lewiston, Maine
Police are investigating the placing of a ham steak near where Somali students were eating at a local middle school.

Durham, NC
A 26 year old college student with a criminal background pens an op-ed in a local university's newspaper advocating racial violence.

Lewiston, Maine
One student is suspended and the police are looking into the possibility of a hate crime.

Durham, NC
Nothing. Op-ed is still in the paper and the university says that it doesn't agree with the writer's words but he has 1st amendment rights to say them.

Gee, this world gets more confusing all the time.

Anonymous said...

An often overlooked fact is that between 1530 and 1790 up to 1.5 million Europeans were kidnapped and enslaved in North Africa.

Jefferson's war against the Barbary pirates was partly about the enslavement of American sailors in Africa.

One-third of Muslims in America are African-Americans. Yet, the Koran condones, in fact demands, the enslavement of non-Muslims. Thus, the Nation of Islam (mostly black)is a proponent of slavery.

Slavery is as old as man. The Romans had slaves; the Greeks had slaves.

Ultimately, most everyone's ancestors have been subject to slavery at some time in history. Perhaps we should all adopt a victim mentality and start looking for someone to make reparations.

Mike in Nevada

Anonymous said...

I doubt there is one black American who is really concerned about slavery either in Africa now or in the U.S. nearly 150 years ago.

It's just a means of getting an easier road, hustling money from the government and shaking down private industries and individuals.

Anonymous said...

Send Burnette to the Sudan today if he wants to see truly horrific slavery. But of course he won't go. Much more comfortable in the U.S. He can just sit back in his air-conditioning and with all the other creature comforts.....and hate and complain.

swampfox said...

I blogged for Duke New Sense before I graduated from Duke this past May. In the midst of the Hoax, I attended the Black Panther Rally on Duke's campus, and Solomon Burnette was in attendance. I interviewed him to get an NCCU student's perspective, and was appalled by the racism of Burnette and his friends. Burnette's racist quotes were included in my post (May 1, 2006, on www.dukenewsense.com), and he also left a long rant under my Comments. Ironically, Burnette identified himself as part of the NCCU History Department. It sounds to me like he is trying to rewrite history to justify his racist beliefs.

AMac said...

'Swampfox' referred to a comment apparently left by Solomon Burnette at the "Duke New Sense" during the heyday of the Hoax. Mr. Burnette's eloquent and heartfelt version of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech is the 9th of 11 comments at this post. Excerpt:

[The issue at hand] is in actuallity the fact that the historically slave owning institution of duke has been monetarily,academically, and ideologically providing a space where it's students can solicit the sexual favors of women and scream racial slurs at them... people would love to focus on media distractions, reverse racism,protest and the like, but the fact remains that duke is a historically slave owning institution and as of today 06/12/06 still perpetuates slave rape culture."

[sic] for the grammar, sick for the content.