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The President of the University of Texas at Austin released a letter regarding the removal of statues on the campus.
[...] The University of Texas at Austin is a public educational and research institution, first and foremost. The historical and cultural significance of the Confederate statues on our campus — and the connections that individuals have with them — are severely compromised by what they symbolize. Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African Americans. That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry.
The University of Texas at Austin has a duty to preserve and study history. But our duty also compels us to acknowledge that those parts of our history that run counter to the university's core values, the values of our state and the enduring values of our nation do not belong on pedestals in the heart of the Forty Acres.
The issue isn't a new one, they first looked into the issue in 2015, and had a wide range of options including effectively turning the mall into an open air museum, which they eventually decided against. Should the statues be relocated from their historical context just because of the attitudes and behaviour of noisy minorities? (Your humble editor cannot forget the local riots when a historical but hostile-themed statue was relocated.)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @05:07PM (7 children)
Pffft, apologist crap. The statues are not history and the subjects are already in history books. Your comment really sheds light on the complex interplay within your brain:
"I'm not racist, but for some strange reason I just really need to defend racists. Except not. God I need a therapist!"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @06:09PM
Mod down if you'd like, but the contradictory elements are obvious for anyone to see. I have met quite a few closet bigots, most of the time their negative tendencies are left overs from their upbringing. It takes generations for such institutionalized hatred to wash out, and hopefully we're seeing one of the last major revivals right now. Seriously, comments like TMBs are along the lines of the guys screaming "I'm not racist" while they protest right along KKK members. Perhaps they are not racists, but their close friendships with full blown nazis puts them smack in the middle of the dark gray area. This isn't complicated, unless you have some massive paradoxes stored in your brain, then the obvious truth becomes so much harder to perceive.
In this instance, there is obviously validity to the idea that the Civil War was about more than slavery, but using those less relevant facts to pretend that confederate statues not about slavery and racism is dumb. Stupid. Moronic. Retarded. Crazy. Willfully ignorant. Brainwashed. Apologist bullshit.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday August 22 2017, @06:58PM (5 children)
Sorry, not a good enough troll to get anything more than this as a response. Keep trying though. One day you may have the skills to start a flamewar over emacs vs vi.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @07:05PM (4 children)
The Mighty Troll can't even distinguish a real comment from a troll comment, I guess you've spent too much time in the trenches. Since you can't muster up a defense I'll just presume your psyche crumbled under the pressure.
(Score: 2, Redundant) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday August 22 2017, @07:40PM (3 children)
Pssst... If it wasn't even a good troll then it logically follows that it was an absolutely abysmal argument.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @10:55PM (2 children)
I see, you thought this was a debate. Incorrect, my statement was an observation based on your past and current commentary. Your brain is stuck in some convoluted loop that runs through some logical and some emotional regions, can't see the forest for the trees.
From what I've seen I wouldn't expect you to be full blown racist, just that awkward in between where you say shit that is borderline and are easily persuaded by racist agendas as long as they have a "logical" underpinning that lets you pretend race/bigotry isn't the actual issue. For someone not stuck like you are it is easy to tell the difference. I can talk to someone that isn't emotionally involved with immigration and have a productive conversation, but talking to a typical conservative it becomes an emotional conversation since they've been programmed for xenophobia.
Based on your libertarian ideology and posts here I would say you are in the transition state, and I hope you have the courage to keep challenging your own preconceptions.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 23 2017, @12:46PM (1 child)
See, that was better. Too obvious now though. You should have opened with something like that. I might have bitten.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @03:49PM
Whatever you say guy. Therapy, think about it.