I think this thread needs more clarity as to why Lois feels the way she does. I feel just as she does, that these sugar-coated attacks on our country by those that get their info off the internet, painting Americans as racist is unacceptable. To clarify the thread that I find contains offensive and outright ignorance is the thread about Josephine Baker. The poster Tom hasn't read the 213 pages of the FBI file that is now published online. Yet he makes totally false statements as if they are fact. Ken makes a great post explaining communism and racism in the USA at that time and Tom's response is, "that's a load of crap." Tom infers in a poorly veiled comment that Lois is a racist. Then the thread digresses and the famous devils advocate Lulu appears to say thanks for the laughs. I am sick and tired of people in the UK telling me I don't know what happened in my country and painting American as a racist country. It is the less racist country in the world as our diversity in nationality, ethnicity, religion, etc. makes factual. I have dealt with people from the UK that claim to be experts on indigenous Americans I.E. the American Indian. I have been attacked online by these fountains of ignorance. I am from American Indian heritage and take offense to ignorant fools trying to cause division and hate in my birth country. It is very sad to me that when someone like Tom makes a post in ignorance from internet knowledge and purposely tries to be insulting to get responses and then instead of studying the responses and READING the 213 pages of FBI files that make it clear the FBI did NOT think J. Baker was a communist, but that some of the BLACK leaders in the USA were promoted by "WHITE" card-carrying communist. Baker was associated with these communists. This is not the only thread that has met with death from ignorance and posters unwilling to take time to educate themselves before posting. Opinions and personal beliefs are one thing but ignoring documented facts and making generalizations about something you have no other knowledge than a quick internet search, is unacceptable to me. Why post a thread for discussion if your mind is already made up and you are unyielding? What purpose does that serve but to promote ill will and hostilities?
I don't see how you can be 'sick and tired' as quote …... One thread on those lines is about it ! We have the same rubbish to contend with over here too - we're a bunch of racists That's life today - so don't go making a mountain out of one thread
What are we doing. Can we just take a moment and visit reality. My opinion only, something is being blown out of the water, maybe, unnecessarily. .
I just skimmed through the ''josephine baker thread... and I mean skimmed... I have no dog in that fight but I just want to say I hope Tom hasn't been banned
My one and only purpose for starting this thread was to ask people to not intentionally set out to make someone else shut up. I didn't point to anyone in particular because I don't have any one person in particular in mind, and I certainly didn't want for one of the threads that started all this to be restarted here after I had closed it. I am sorry that some of you are unhappy, but it doesn't seem that it's possible to please everyone, particularly when they are quite open about expressing unhappiness but rarely the reasons why. Almost never does anyone tell me privately what they're upset about unless they want me to ban someone. Instead, they post about their discontent in a public forum, which only persuades others to be discontented too. I'll work with you if you talk to me, but if I am left having to guess what you're angry about, my accuracy cannot be ensured. Some people enjoy making other people unhappy, while others just enjoy being unhappy, I fear. There's not much I can do about that. This forum will be open until I no longer enjoy running it, and when I no longer enjoy running it, I'll close it. I don't think that'll be any time soon.