This is NOT the BLOG I’ve been working on writing for the past month. It IS the BLOG that I will write and post in the span of an hour. It’s an easy one. You could almost say…. I wrote it 3 years, 2 months & 13 days ago. How do I know that?? Facebook has a nifty little search feature that I just spent 20 minutes using. Can you see the smile on my face for going back in time and seeing that I was absolutely 100% correct when I got into a heated argument with a “friend” over a post they wrote about removing statues.
On December 20, 2017, Memphis removed the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in the middle of the night from downtown. Cheers erupted on Facebook from some because they thought this was a ‘step in the right direction’ for humanity. I stated clearly and matter of factly that this removal of historic statues will NOT stop with Nathan Bedford Forrest. It won’t stop with Jefferson Davis. I said, ” George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt” would find themselves on the removal list in the near future.
I was called a racist. A conservative blow hard. A FOXNews & Breitbart Kool Aid drinker, AND… here’s the best one…. they said I was “WRONG”.
Should I start checking my Facebook page hourly for apologies or nah? I’m thinking.. nah because they’ll NEVER admit I was RIGHT and even more than that…. they’ll NEVER admit they were WRONG. They just move along as if the heated debate in front of the entire social media world never occurred. I knew that this “removal of offensive things” because the social justice mob demanded it was wrong. It was easy to see where this was headed but MANY were so caught up in the moment they failed to look beyond the concrete pedestal of the statue they were ripping down.
There is a lesson for us all in the ropes they tied around old Nathan’s head. There’s a lesson to be learned from where this began to where it is now and EVERYONE needs to take an active part in learning it.
A long time ago I was on social media and I saw a post from a celebrity that made me sick. It was disgusting! My 1st instinct was to hope that the celebrity lost his job for stating something so hateful. I wanted him to be removed from having the ability to speak to millions of people. I wanted him to be “silenced” and his national platform shut down. No sooner had those thoughts entered my mind (It was pre- BLOG writing so my fingers weren’t hitting keystrokes) did I see someone that I’ve grown to admire through the years say…. “DO NOT demand they lose their job! DO NOT demand that they lose their national platform! That is NOT the way to make society better. ”
I had to really ponder what he was saying because it went completely against my instincts. I would bet his statement goes against the instincts of many of you as well.
We don’t want to live in a world where people are allowed to spew hate. No one does. BUT… our country was founded on providing citizens with freedoms. Freedom to speak. Freedom to write. Freedom to worship, assemble and yes… even protest. As much as you might ‘think’ you want to live in a society that removes and silences people from saying offensive things…. I suggest that you hit pause for a moment and really and I mean REALLY think that through.
Three years ago, I pointed out that the people demanding the removal of Confederate statues would start a ball rolling down a hill that our society would be sweeping up the wreckage from. Do you think I was right? Ask Dr. Seuss. It seems like such a ridiculous thing to even discuss. Dr. Seuss is apparently guilty of being a racist so his books need to be removed from distribution. Before you start…. “It’s only 5 of his books”, ya really need to wake the hell up!
The most powerful company in our land has decided that they will now remove those books from distribution. They will also be taking a hard look at other books to determine if they too should be pulled from the shelf and packed away forever. They will become the book police for the world. Dr. Seuss has met the same fate as Nathan Bedford Forrest for a “crime” that is in no way comparable but wrong is wrong in the eyes of this mob and so the punishment is the same. Eradication!
It’s not just Dr. Seuss. Aunt Jemima, The Washington Redskins, Gone With the Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird, a tub of butter and an Amazon logo have all met similar fates. They are deemed to be part of the systemic racism problem in this country and the price they will pay for being lumped into the mix is annihilation . They aren’t on book shelves in classrooms, stores, movie theaters or NFL stadiums any longer.
In a quest to remove “offensive” things… we’ve jumped the shark and have entered the realm of absolute nonsense! It’s absurd where this movement has led us and it seems as if there is no end in sight. Every day you wake to see that the mob has set their sights on something or someone new and by the end of the day….. POOF!
Do I think old Nathan should still be standing in the park in downtown Memphis?? No, it’s best that he’s gone. It’s the method that the city I live in took that was wrong. It should have been brought to the City Council. Both sides should have been heard. The city council should have voted and then the removal could commence. BUT… what they did was remove it in the middle of the night by order of the Mayor.
WHAT the Memphis Mayor did was bend a knee to the mob! The mob wanted the statue gone. He wanted to avoid confrontation. So…. he capitulated to the demands with no vision of where his spineless act would lead. It emboldened a social justice mob that is coming after anything and everything that they feel ‘might’ make a human slightly uncomfortable. Someone somewhere ‘might’ be offended!
What a bunch of pansy snowflakes the citizens in this country have become! I have said it before and I firmly believe it….. The trend of handing every 5 year old t-ball player a trophy so that no one gets their feelings hurt is the dumbest most asinine thing. If a 5 year old can’t learn to deal with losing or having their feelings hurt……. how in the hell are they going to handle it when they are 15 or 25 or 35? They won’t. They never will. As a result, society as a whole has had to reform itself to provide pillows and fluff for them to fall into when the going gets a bit rough.
People are angry and frustrated that our country is driving down the road to eliminating anything that may offend anyone for any reason at any time. Many think… WHEN will this stop? Well, I can tell you that the man I admire had these words to address that very thing. “It will stop when people stop bending a knee to this mob.” Demand that political leaders have a spine. If they don’t… help them load moving boxes with the contents of their desk.
IF you thought this thing was gonna stop with the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue…. I’m gonna try to be polite but you are DUMB! You stupidly thought this was a righteous cause to remove racism. It was NEVER about racism. It was NEVER about offensive statues. I’ll tell ya something else… it’s NOT about Aunt Jemima or Dr. Seuss either. Even the CAT… the one in the HAT…knows it was NEVER about THAT!
Good Day!!! Wash your hands and QUIT TOUCHING YOUR FACE!!!!!
The DoubleMdaily Blog 