Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke’s bank account must be low, so it looks like he’s appealing to the “lynch the Jena 6″ crowd for some scratch. It helps that his white supremacist friends have published the home addresses and phone numbers of the families of the young men.
The people of Jena, the people of Louisiana and I are not racist. We simply want justice to be done. We understand that White people in America have lost our basic civil rights. Whites are now deprived of human rights by racial discrimination in jobs, promotions, scholarships, college admissions and in many other programs. More importantly, Whites are increasingly victims of Black racial violence and hate crimes. In fact, a White person is 40 to 50 times more likely to be a victim of Black gang violence than a Black is likely to be a victim of White gang violence.He’s crying for media attention as well:…The entire Jena scenario and the coverage of it by the media show once again that it is not the people of Jena who are racists. By voting for me and by demanding justice in this case, they have shown rightly that they believe in fairness to all and that White people are now the real victims of racism in America. Once again it is shown that we must have advocates for our rights and heritage just as any other group is permitted to do so.
May the District Attorney and the people of Jena stay strong and never give in to those who seek take away their rights of life and liberty as guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
David Duke is willing to explain to any media in the world what the real issues are in Jena, Lousiana To contact him press the contact button on the right side of the web page.This is exactly why open discussions about race are necessary in general society. The open bigots have no shame in declaring their positions, and are quite sure of what they believe. Those who have good intentions by and large stay silent for fear of stepping on the third rail and “talking out of school.” Discussions about solving racial tensions and its cascading impact are not the sole providence of blacks (or POC) who feel whites have no business talking about this difficult subject, nor does it belong with the David Dukes of the country, who are easy to point a finger at and declare “that’s not me.”
The resulting silence allows basic, human lack of understanding about the issues that challenge all of us on this topic to remain underground. No one learns about building bridges when they retreat to their respective corners.
dnA:
Reading David Duke reminds me of that old joke about the Jewish guy in Germany during the beginning of the Holocaust. A Jewish friend asks him why he’s reading the Nazi newspaper, and he says “Because it has all the good news! We own the banks, we own the government…”Here in my home state of North Carolina, four nooses were found hung from a tree at a school in High Point:I feel the same way about Mr. Duke believing we are somehow overrepresented in higher education and high paying jobs. It’s a facile rationalization for his hatred, but that perception of unequal treatment for white people (when the opposite is actually true) is only slightly refined before being blared 24-hours a day from Fox News, where it gains the kind of legitimacy he could never give it. Simply put what he’s saying really isn’t so different from what Bill O’Reilly says on a daily basis.
Scholars call it a symbol that reflects a shameful period in our nation’s history. Friday, High Point police removed four nooses hung from different spots around Andrews High School.Video is at this link.“To get to a situation in 2007 where people can feel like this as a prank is acceptable, that tells us a lot about how much progress we’ve made and how much progress we’ve got to continue to work on,” Claude Barnes, a political science professor at North Carolina A&T said.
That situation is four nooses hung from the flag pole and other locations at the High Point schoo.. “And so the symbol here of a noose is very, very disturbing whether it was a joke or prank or whatever; whether this was perpetrated by whites, blacks, or whoever, it’s not funny,” Barnes said, “because it takes us back to a tragic and very shameful period is our nation’s history.”
The principal of the school, Monique Wallace, sent a letter to parents after the four nooses were discovered. It’s below the fold.
Via WXII’s web site:
Dear Parents/Guardians:Unfortunately, this letter is to inform you that today, four nooses were found at Andrews High School. School administrators immediately notified the High Point Police Department; the incident is currently under investigation and additional staff and law enforcement presence will be maintained for a period of time. Guilford County Schools (GCS) is fully cooperating with law enforcement regarding this matter. Those found to be responsible for this criminal act will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
We want to impress upon you that this inappropriate act is not a representation of Andrews’ administration, students or staff. Andrews and GCS will not tolerate behavior that is discriminatory or that disrupts the safe learning environment of our students.
Counseling will be available to students as needed by GCS. Additionally, the City of High Point has worked collaboratively with the school since 2004 through the High Point Human Relations Commission to establish a school-based student commission. These students are trained and ready to assist as needed. Please make sure your children are aware that threatening acts are not acceptable. Should your child observe inappropriate behavior or have any information regarding this incident, please ask him/her to immediately notify a teacher, staff member or our school’s resource officer.
Andrews High School has proven to be a school accepting of all races, cultures, religions and backgrounds. We will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that all students feel welcomed and safe in our school. If you have questions, please contact me at 819-2800.
Sincerely,
Monique Wallace
Principal
21 Responses to “With friends like these: David Duke on Jena”
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I’ve got chills. The “those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it” kind.
Thanks, Pam…
why does the principal pussy-foot around. Why doesn’t she say these are vile actions, that the perpetrators are uncivilized, barbaric savages, that that this is highly immoral, and un-American.
All she says is “inappropriate” and “unacceptable”
Is she afraid of “offending” the school’s racist parents?
At least the college professor describes it accurately. But he is not a participant, rather, an observer.
I guess each American generation has its George Lincoln Rockwell.
Every time some slime like David Duke crawls out from under his rock and spouts off some racist bullshit I keep hoping that he’ll be shouted down and repudiated to an extent that makes him so radioactive that Faux News and the like will feel restrained from continuing the cycle.
Ain’t happened yet, but I keep hoping…
Good for the Andrews High school administration and local school board. It’s sad that the principal of Jena got no similar community support for his position on the nooses on the tree. Unfortunately, that’s the core of the whole problem, isn’t it?
Ugh, David Duke, why won’t he just go away?
On a slightly more positive note, I have been relatively pleased with the coverage the New Orleans Times-Picayune has been providing, for being a MSM outlet. And one of their editorial writers had a very good piece in yesterday’s paper that sums up the basic udnerlying issue pretty well:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/deberry/index.ssf?/base/News/1190525154224310.xml&coll=1
I kind of wish someone like you, Pam, or Al Franken would take Duke up on his offer “to explain to any media in the world what the real issues are in Jena, Lousiana,” and eat him for breakfast.
I just want to know where the hell David “Whiter than Thou” Duke got those statistics. I didn’t see a reference to his ass in the quote.
That man makes me sick.
Notice that “the people of Jena” and Louisiana don’t include any non-whites. Speaks volumes doesn’t it?
I dunno, I think that the principal has put just enough into the letter to all students and parents to show that the actions are not acceptable to possibly shame parents who may suspect darling billy of having been part of the prank, and not enough to make said parent think that their darling boy will be totally railroaded if they do come forward for the fitting punishment.
Anything more than that and all you would do is alienate the people you need to confess. Call them vile and wretched and whatever else and they not only will not recognize that in themselves, they may gain seeds of a persecution complex (which already has fertile soil to grow in) and you could lose the children entirely.
well that’s my 0.02 at least…
All she says is “inappropriate” and “unacceptable”
No, she says it is a “criminal act” and that the perpetrators “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
She calls it “threatening” and “discriminatory” and said that it “disrupts the safe learning environment”.
She says straight out: we understood this to be a serious threat against our students, as serious as if someone made a bomb threat. We “immediately” called the police and reacted the way we would if someone brought gun to school.
The sentence with the “acceptable” description is “Please make sure your children are aware that threatening acts are not acceptable”: clearly targeted at those who would respond “it was just a joke!”
No, it’s not a joke. It’s a threat, and we have called the police.
Every time some slime like David Duke crawls out from under his rock and spouts off some racist bullshit I keep hoping that he’ll be shouted down and repudiated to an extent that makes him so radioactive that Faux News and the like will feel restrained from continuing the cycle.
Has Duke been on any major media platform? I haven’t seen it, and if I do, I’ll be sure to blast whoever puts him on. I think he is fairly radioactive, frankly, and it’s about time. The problem is, as someone above pointed out, what hes saying is all that different from what O’Reilly says pretty much daily, and he never gets called on it.
He wasn’t radioactive when Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council paid Duke $82K for his mailing list.
“Notice that “the people of Jena” and Louisiana don’t include any non-whites.”
That’s because in Duke’s mind (now THERE’s a laugh), “colored” people only count for 3/5’s of a “real” white human being.
‘Course, in MY mind (such as it is), Mr. Duke ranks way below household pets, and honestly, most insect life too…
“He wasn’t radioactive when Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council paid Duke $82K for his mailing list.”
I SO want to believe the people on that mailing list probably need their neighbor’s help to read their letters.
But we couldn’t be THAT lucky, I suppose…
Wait wait wait wait wait. Since when does the KKK claim to not be racist? Seriously. I have seen many interviews with Klan members who cheerfully acknowledge “Yup, I’m racist!” So I really am terribly confused by David Duke professing that he is not racist (even ignoring the fact that every thing he says after that claim is in fact racist).
But really, maybe we should view it as a good thing? I mean, it’s harder to hold a position and claim it’s not racist when Klan members agree with you, right?
With any luck, David Puke will be as irrelevant and highly regarded as Lyndumb Ladouche before too long.
Oh, god, does that mean we’ll have annoying little white supremacist college students running around Copley Square and the Common?
“Oh, god, does that mean we’ll have annoying little white supremacist college students running around Copley Square and the Common?”
There probably are some there already, but they’re too scared to say what they really believe right up front.
Most racism these days is that nasty, “I’m no racist, why do you ask?”, underground type that’s hard to eradicate.
The Bushites pissing on Obama thread describes the more “modern” style of racism…
Pam, my only gripe with your piece is that you refer to David Duke without calling him what he is: a convict.
It should be “federal convict” David Duke, “convicted tax fraud and embezzler David Duke.” What he thinks about law and order is less relevant than what OJ Simpson thinks; OJ at least has a clean criminal record, at least for now.
Has Duke been on any major media platform? I haven’t seen it, and if I do, I’ll be sure to blast whoever puts him on.
I don’t know about major media platforms, but he had a disturbing amount of support when he ran for governor of Louisiana in 1991. He ended up in a run-off with the incumbent and a former governor who I think had done time for embezzling public funds during his previous term — Duke got something like 30% of the vote. I was in junior high at the time, but I remember seeing bumper stickers during that campaign that read “Vote for the Crook. It’s Important.”