[TomServo]

Looking for election-year support from black voters in the South

He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

[tuckrdout]

Last year, my son and I attended a MLK Jr. celebration in a small town in Northern Virginia.

We were the only white faces at the Church!

And I have to tell you, that I have never felt more hostility in my life! Only 2 people welcomed us and smiled. Hundreds glared at us. We actually did not stay for the whole thing, we left because it was causing a disturbance to the ceremonies, having us there.

Were they judging me by the "content of my character" and not the color of my skin, as Dr. King dreamed everyone would do? A shame really, that during ceremonies aimed at honoring this man who fought and died for peaceful integration, such discrimination would be displayed.

I am a great admirer of Dr. King. If you have not read his speech, "Rediscovering Lost Values" do so today. It is wonderful!

[aomagrat]

As Bush placed a wreath on King's crypt, a low chorus of boos could be heard from across the street where 700 protesters beat drums and waved signs bearing slogans such as "War is not the answer" and "It's not a photo-op, George."

The NAACP's and Jesse Jackson's rent-a-mob. It shows up here in SC every King Day to protest the Confederate Flag.

[baltodog]

As a white man, I would never attend any memorial to any fallen black icon.

I have seen too much hostility towards whites. I have explained the good MLK did to my children, but they also understand that the new black heroes blaspheme MLK's memory.

It's blacks that are keeping racism alive, not conservative republicans...

BTW, is this memorial a federal memorial or a for-profit memorial?

[gortklattu]

booing somebody who is paying their respects for the dead?

Today's liberals are evil. Just evil. Good people don't do such a thing.

[Tacis]

This issue with King is ALWAYS, "Did you pay the man?" The King family wants pay days. It is a difficult road when on one hand, they want Marty King to be a national icon but, on the other, want you to license any image or his words from them.

If Bush had paid enough to be there, the Kings would have hired "enforcers" to guarantee that there would be no opposition. The King family (no, not the singers!) does more to perpetuate racism in this country that the Klan ever did. Corey has to be the greediest woman alive today.

[truth_seeker]

I wonder if there is a single state which Bush lost in 2000, which he could win because of getting a higher percent of the Black vote?

Because otherwise, the effort doesn't yield a tangible political benefit.

Of course I know GWB would do it anyway, because he's a good and decent man.

[PLK]

The president's critics dismissed his visit to the grave as a symbolic gesture that only underscored shortcomings in the administration's relationship with blacks.

Like WHAT? What shortcomings? No one, not even the bent one, had more blacks in their administration. And if Prez Bush has "shortcomings," just WHAT SPECIFICALLY did Clintoon do for them, other than come pandering in Harlem after he left the White House?

It must really embarrass the silent majority of black people in the U.S. to be associated with the Jessie's and Al's and Malcom's. Ugh.

[Dog Gone]

This really is indicative of how hateful the black leadership, at least in Atlanta, is. Bush would have been pilloried if he hadn't shown up, also. We all know that.

No credit is given the Bush Administration for having the first black Secretary of State. Can you imagine how Clinton would have been praised?

And how about Condi Rice in possibly the most critical position during the most trying of times?

No, no mention.

There is absolutely no upside in reaching out to "Black Leadership". The only hope is to make inroads at a much lower level. But even that hope seems futile to me. If Condi Rice and Colin Powell aren't role models, what do you do?

[Mr. Mojo]

bearing slogans such as "War is not the answer"

Where were all these "war is not the answer" types when Clinton was bombing the hell out of innocent Christian citizens in the Balkans?

[ladyinred]

These people violated the spirit of MLK. I hope they are proud of themselves. I know they know no shame.

[Tempest]

So did the protesting crowd consist of spoiled, rich, white kids recently inducted into the liberal fold via institutionalized guilt?

[gitmo]

These are the same people who declared Bush a racist for not attending an NAACP convention.