Black People : Freedom Rider: Saving the White Man

RAPTOR

Well-Known Member
REGISTERED MEMBER
Sep 12, 2009
6,840
3,594
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
keshia-thomas.jpg

It’s the kind of story that brings tears to Middle America’s eyes: selfless Black person puts life on line for undeserving white. In a white man’s world, saving a redneck from a beating qualifies a Black person for sainthood, while acting in defense of Black people makes one a dangerous militant.

There would have been nothing wrong with McKeel getting a bloodied nose that day in 1996.”

On June 22, 1996, a small group of Ku Klux Klan members gathered for a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, only to be outnumbered by a much larger group of black and white protesters. A white man in the crowd, Albert McKeel, Jr., was not wearing a KKK hood but had an SS tattoo on his arm and a shirt decorated with a Confederate flag. He was on the verge of being assaulted by the larger group when he was saved by Keshia Thomas, an 18-year old black woman.

This story was forgotten but recently came to public attention again thanks to a BBC online series about teaching kindness. The little known event gained new life and so did a standard meme which is treacherous for black people.

In a recent issue of Black Agenda Report this columnist wrote about the inexplicable determination of some black people to forgive any harm done to them by whites. Jonathan Farrell was shot to death by a white police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina yet his mother and fiancée forgave his killer. When I discovered their comments I was perplexed, but I should not have been. The reaction to the Keshia Thomas story explains it all quite well.

Michigan newspapers called her “courageous and kind.” The Huffington Post said the tale will “restore faith in humanity.” Media outlets not only in the United States and the U.K., but as far away as Australia, felt compelled to bring the story from obscurity into the bright light of day and to breathlessly extol the virtues of saving a man who didn’t deserve saving.

No one in the media attempted to give voice to any justification for the angry crowd.”

This level of adulation isn’t ordinarily directed at black people. Usually our actions are called into question, our successes are ignored and our missteps are punished disproportionately. What does a black person have to do to be praised? Apparently, saving a redneck from a beating is the only out.
Read more: http://blackagendareport.com/content/freedom-rider-saving-white-man

 

Donate

Support destee.com, the oldest, most respectful, online black community in the world - PayPal or CashApp

Latest profile posts

HODEE wrote on Etophil's profile.
Welcome to Destee
@Etophil
Destee wrote on SleezyBigSlim's profile.
Hi @SleezyBigSlim ... Welcome Welcome Welcome ... :flowers: ... please make yourself at home ... :swings:
Back
Top