Of course. But Dr. King and his followers kept it peaceful. That was the genius of his plan. His organization obtained the proper permits to march. They kept it peaceful and lawful. The police had no choice except to protect the marches. Even the racist cops found themselves protecting the marches because they had to. They were lawful marches. Sadly there were a few cases where the police did allow people to attack the marches but that was the exception. Most of the time Dr. King’s strategy worked.
Night and day difference in the rioting and looting in Ferguson. The peaceful protesters were overwhelmed by the thugs and opportunists. There’s no comparison at all to the 1960’s marches.
Indeed. I did not mean to suggest that Norman was an uninvolved bystander, rather that his stand was a simple, conscious one of solidarity, often overlooked, but for which he paid a considerable personal price.
We should be so lucky, as to see NFL players today with as much courage.
Do you truly not understand that the rioting and looting are separate from the protests? There are hundreds of protesters in Ferguson. Thousands nationwide. There are a handful that are taking advantage of chaos to engage in mayhem. They are a tiny minority. The Rams players were showing solidarity with those engaged in peaceful protest, not the agitators.
These protests have been ongoing since August. Damage was done on a handful of nights, and is extremely limited in geographic scope. The vast, vast majority of protests are completely peaceful.
Your ignorance on this subject is simply astounding.
You didn’t get much of an education on the Civil Rights Era, I’m afraid. The police beat the crap out of the marchers. They didn’t allow the marchers to march peacefully. President Kennedy had to Federalize the Alabama National Guard and send in military troops to protect the marchers on their one successful march, the one to Montgomery. You’ve got a really poor grasp of the facts here.
I see. I still think it’s a misstatement, though, to say he “simply stood beside” them — it at least gives the subsequent actions of the government more context (though not more justification).
By the way, since I posted my response and went to dinner without checking, nice ninjaing! You even predicted the exact same timeframe in which the football protest will be forgotten.
Night and day difference between the rioting in Ferguson and five football players making a non-violent gesture on the field, too. The gestures by the Rams are exactly like Dr. King’s peaceful demonstrations. How you can think they would incite a riot in the stadium is way past me.
:o Yeah, my bad. I just assumed it was another RO thread in the Pit. Oops. Still, I don’t think I broke any rules with my post, so no harm, no foul, right?
Lack of perspective seems to be the norm in today’s right-wing America. I don’t mean to condemn Aceplace57 specifically – I don’t know even remember if he’s a right-winger (like one of America’s major parties) or a looney racist (like the other party), but lack of perspective today is amazing. Benghazi is up there with Pearl Harbor and 9/11 as one of America’s great tragedies if you follow the yakkers.
:smack: I think Blacks, and all good-spirited Americans, thank Dr. King for much more than just “preventing a race war.” And to call it a “troubled time” is to overlook the outcome. Unless you think the Civil Rights Act was part of the “trouble.”
And now these uppity black athletes are at it again. Don’t they know their place?
That could be because our teacher focused on Thurgood Marshall’s role in using the courts to aid the civil rights movement. He argued several key cases before the Supreme Court. His lawyers fought in the courts to get permits to march. Marshall understood that segregation could be successfully fought in the courts. We focused a lot on that strategy. But as you said, even with permits the cops didn’t always protect the marchers. There was always the human factor that resulted in violence.
I’m by no means knowledgeable. Graduate students in history can easily write their thesis on just one small part of the movement. It’s a complex topic. I admire the courage of the people that stood up for change.
I’d love to see them get involved off the field. For example why not go to Ferguson and lead volunteers in cleaning up some of the mess? Those five NFL players could easily attract a 100 volunteers to spend the day helping out. It would get a lot of press attention and present a positive image from Ferguson.
I have no issue at all with them speaking out. Just not during a game.