Morgan Freeman: No black history month

[White Shogun]

Morgan Freeman, in an interview with 60 Minutes, says "No" to Black History month.

Freeman article

Stunning that he would say this, although it is in keeping with the way older black Americans feel about race in America today, e.g. Bill Cosby. Great sentiments, I find myself giving Mr. Freeman a big:

 

[backrow]

he is right, the only way to leave racism behind is by completely changing the mindset... then it wouldnt matter at all what color is your skin... it sure wouldnt matter if a runningback or cornerback was white, would it... but i don't see it in any near future

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Too bad Freeman also said he doesn't see the Confederate Battle flag as being part of his heritage. It is, whether he wants to believe or accept it or not. If he was a little more open minded/educated, he would understand and accept it as such.

 

[White Shogun]

Did they mention the Confederate flag in the interview? All I read was what was written in the link I posted; I did not watch the interview or read a transcript.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

They asked him about the Confederate battle flag being in the Mississippi flag, and he disagreed with it and said it could never be a part of his history.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Here's his quote;

Why because he seemed to say as much in the same interview. Freeman told Wallace that the Mississippi state flag, with its confederate emblem, should be changed. "That flag has always represented, number one, treason and, number two, a separation of white people from Jews, ******s and homosexuals. And you can't change that. You can't tell me...I'm never going to be able to look at that flag and think, 'Ah, it's my heritage...' Never," he said.

It is something how ignorant and narrow-minded he is on this subject.

 

[bigunreal]

What an idiot. What do Jews or homosexuals have to do with the confederate flag?

 

[jaxvid]

What an idiot. What do Jews or homosexuals have to do with the confederate flag? 

Didn't the South want to succeed from gays and jews too? I hope so, I know I'd like to. Makes my want to go out and buy a flag.

As I remember the South had a cabinet member, Judah Benjamin, a jew, who was Confederate attorney general, secretary of war, and secretary of state. He was very valuable to the cause. Of course I don't expect Freeman or anyone in the media to know that, it doesn't fit the agenda.

 

[White Shogun]

I think the stereotypes associated with southern people have been attached to the Confederate flag, rightly or wrongly. Would it be fair to make the general statement that most southerners would like to avoid mingling with avowed homosexuals and 'gay rights' supporters? Less generally, but fitting the stereotype of 'southern,' is the aversion to blacks and Jews.

These stereotypes of the south have become attached to the historical symbol, which is the Confederate flag.

I personally adore the Confederate flag more as a symbol of independence and rebellion against a dictatorial federal government, than anything else. I'm not sure if that view is historically accurate, either, perhaps just another stereotype that has become accreted to the flag. Nevertheless, it seems to have become a symbol meaning many different things to different people, rightly or wrongly.

 

[White Shogun]

I also wanted to add, that despite Morgan Freeman's views toward the Confederate flag, I nevertheless appreciate his views concerning black history month and racism.

 

[JD074]

I think he means that there should be more black history, that it shouldn't be relegated to just one month. I personally find black history to be irrelevant. What is there that's important that should be taught in schools? Freeman would disagree.

 

[White Shogun]

I think he means that there should be more black history, that it shouldn't be relegated to just one month. I personally find black history to be irrelevant. What is there that's important that should be taught in schools? Freeman would disagree.

I guess I need to watch the interview in its entirety or read a transcript then, because I did not get that impression from the brief article I read.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I agree with him about not being identified as African-American. As far as the Jewish connection to the Confederate flag, thousands of them fought and died for Southern Independence, which is the main thing that I see that flag as representing. It never was a national flag of the Confederacy, just a soldiers battle flag. It represents the cause of freedom from opression that the soldiers under it fought for, be they white, black, red, or Jew.

 

[Lord_Lugdreg]

It never was a national flag of the Confederacy, just a soldiers battle flag.

That is right. I am not a Southerner, but I do know that the Confederacy was represented by an almost dizzying array of different Flags. (Didn't Irish and Scots/Irish soldiers have their own big Green one?)

The Southern Cross/ Confederate Battle Flag just seems to have beaten out the Bonnie Blue Flag and some others as being seen as 'The Recognizable One'

 

[backrow]

(Didn't Irish and Scots/Irish soldiers have their own big Green one?)

irish 69th regiment, there were others similar to that also used for various Irish regiments, brigades

 

[jaxvid]

Wasn't the 69th a Union regiment?

 

[backrow]

yes they were, New York volunteers

PS oh i read the therad carefully now not limiting myself to the last post

my bad

PS2 i found this flag of Emerald Guard from Alabama:

and to my knowledge there weren't many Irish fighting for Confederacy, although its cause seemed to be in their best interestEdited by: backrow

 

[jaxvid]

There were a lot of Union Irish troups because they were inducted into the Army right after getting off the boat from Ireland. It was a bad deal for them but typical of Lincoln's need for more cannon fodder.

The South had some Irish troops, usually led by an Irish commander, many of the Irish in the Confederate Army were landed gentry, not new immigrants just off the boat.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

There were many more Irish than you think in the Confederacy, backrow. Most estimates say there were around 140,000 with the Union, and somewhere over 50,000 with the South. Many books have been written about the Irish fighting for the South. Considering the smaller numbers of Irish in the South at that time as compared with the cities of the North, they were very numerous in Southern armies. Considering the population difference between the North and South, they were as well represented in the Confederate armies as the Irish in the Federal armies. Like most groups in the war, the "Fighting 69'th" gets more fame and press because they were with the Union. Ever heard of Confederate General Patrick Cleburne? He was an Irish immigrant who lived in Helena, Arkansas at the beginning of the War. He was killed leading his men in the battle of Franklin, Tennessee in 1864. There were 7 Irish generals with the North and 6 with the South. As for Green Irish battle flags, the one I think of is that of the 10'th Tennessee Irish Regiment. Here is their flag.

As for the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia becoming the symbol of the Confederate Army, it had been the flag of Lee's famous command during the War and continued to become a more recognizable symbol of the Confederate Army as the years progressed. It is funny to read stories of Confederate units in the 1880's having reunions and being presented with Lee's battle flag and commenting that they never fought under that flag, and seemed totally unfamiliar with it. By the 50'th anniversary of the War, most Confederate veterans had adopted it as a universal symbol for their armies, even though it was not universally correct.

As has already been mentioned, there were hundreds of different Confederate battle flags. Here's the Choctaw's and Cherokee's. Note the 5 red stars in the Cherokee flag representing the 5 civilized tribes.

Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[backrow]

hey thanks for the read Colonel... i actually heard of gen. Cleburne, since i lived in Murfreesboro, TN for some time, and battle of Franklin is pretty well known around Tennessee

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

it's that time of year again... when we're inundated by even more pro-black messages than usual. if that's possible, that is.

it's black history month (or more accurately, black historical fiction month with all the outright make believe that is being put forth as fact).

MSN.com had the commentary The End of black history Month on its homepage. and while the title sounds positive and the authors mention some meaningful criticism of the idea, they of course put a pro-black spin on it. some excerpts:

This yearâ€â€￾like last year and the year before thatâ€â€￾we'll see ads from major corporations featuring the ritual images of African-American iconography: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Civil War-era soldiers, the Freedom Riders and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. ... the usual suspects. Elementary school teachers will devote blocks of time for students to recite the biographical talking points of those and other black historical figures; on television and radio, and in school assemblies everywhere, we can expect to hear most of the same one-minute sound bites from King's "I Have a Dream" oration.

...

When black American history intertwines so completely with American history in general, what's the rationale for separating them?

edited to add: please forgive me if i happen to think that THIS is one of the most impressive contributions to historical authenticity amongst the black community that i have ever seen.

Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[j41181]

Morgan Freeman happens to be one of my favorite actors. He's a class act, among black actors. I use to like Samuel Jackson, though not that much, he's still OK though. Will Smith, I also respect, I liked most of his movies (especially Men in Black I, and Independence Day). But Morgan Freeman, I really liked, even though one of his movies (DEEP IMPACT), saw him portrayed as the BLACK PRESIDENT of the USA.

But as for the Black History Month thing, I virtually never pay attention to such rubbish at all. What have I got to feel guilty for? NOTHING!!!!Edited by: j41181

 

[Electric Slide]

edited to add: please forgive me if i happen to think that THIS is one of the most impressive contributions to historical authenticity amongst the black community that i have ever seen.

Jimmy, I always think it's amazing that blacks in the media are considered in such high regard. As for most of you, I have the opportunity every day to be in a majority black environment. And for those of you who don't know, it's not red carpets, white and black hos dancing around, guys walking around with gold chains, and everybody driving fancy cars.

Now, obviously white people have their faults too. Somehow some people who are not exposed to blacks in daily life, or refuse to believe what they see out of blacks, choose to think only white people can be trashy, socially akward, mentally disturbed, unconfident, and paranoid. But in my experience those qualities are much more prevalent in the black community.

I would like to go around with a camcorder and record all the black bums, thugs, hookers, and druggies, and trashy looking families and homes. I'd like to make youtube videos of this. If these images of blacks were shown on a daily basis I guarantee it would change people's perceptions. Unfortunately people always see glamorous images of blacks in sports, music videos, TV shows and movies. It affects the mental image of even otherwise intelligent people who know better.

 

[white is right]

There were a lot of Union Irish troups because they were inducted into the Army right after getting off the boat from Ireland. It was a bad deal for them but typical of Lincoln's need for more cannon fodder.

The South had some Irish troops, usually led by an Irish commander, many of the Irish in the Confederate Army were landed gentry, not new immigrants just off the boat.

I remember reading that Irish immigrants that only spoke Gaelic were still inducted and probably died at a higher rate than English speaking soldiers. My father told me similar stories about German immigrants.

 

[celticdb15]

Irish and Germans filled the lower class cities in the big cities of the North. In the union's mindset it only made sense to put the lowest class on the front line. I find the topic of Irish and German soldiers risking their lives for their new country. whether they were forced to do so or not, fascinating.Can you picture a similar situation happening now? Would Mexicans take up arms to keep the Union in power? Would they risk their lives for Southern culture?