Well, facts ARE facts. South Carolina got their "hertiage" over the state capitol thanks to Fritz Hollings in the '50s. If "the south" doesn't like the party of Lincoln they can vote back in the DemocRATs (come to think of it, Arkansas and Louisana did exactly that... good going, guys).
The "evil kennebunkport damnyankee carpetbagger" George W. Bush pointed out during the 2000 campaign that TX took down the confederate flag, and all the "confederate hertiage" types ranted and raved about it and then Pat Buchanan ran around the south touting his "pro-confederate" credentials as the 2nd coming of George Wallace.
Well "the south" gave the "damnyankee kennebunkport liberal" about 57% of their votes, and "Mr. Confederate hertiage" Pat Buchanan about 0.25% of their votes.
Looks like you guys aren't as representative of "the south" as you think.
But as a purely political campaign strategy a candidate saying things like "y'all are just a bunch of backwater dumb@$$ racists and we kicked yer hiney" is just not gonna fly.
But, also for the record, see Post #32.
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Yet Virginia Senator George Allen and Georgia Congressman John Lewis will be arriving together in Farmville this weekend to pay tribute to the people of that town who are taking steps to heal the racial divide that has existed there since the days of Jim Crow.
Allen, Lewis, and other members of Congress, including Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott, are a part of a delegation led by The Faith & Politics Institute that will focus on the progress that has been made in Farmville toward racial reconciliation. Governor Tim Kaine will join them for an event tomorrow night.
The Allen-Lewis partnership, as well as the willingness of other Republicans and Democrats to come together in Farmville this weekend, provides rare evidence that political opponents can unite to promote the common good, despite the ugly, partisan atmosphere that prevails in Congress.
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RACIAL reconciliation is not a new idea, of course, but it is getting renewed attention as the result of a variety of little-noticed, faith-based efforts underway in Southern towns such as Farmville; Philadelphia, Mississippi; Greensboro, North Carolina; and Waco, Texas. While it has taken different forms in every community, it seems to have been inspired by the truth and reconciliation process at the end of apartheid in South Africa.
In Farmville, the centerpiece of the effort is the scholarship program the state legislature created for African-Americans -- now middle-aged -- who were deprived of education when Prince Edward County closed its schools between 1959 and 1964 rather than integrate them in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
Farmville, like some other Southern communities, is not following the usual advice to simply forget historical grievances. Nor has it yielded to the temptation to debate divisive side issues such as reparations or hiring quotas. Instead, it is simply laying open the wounds of the past and publicly acknowledging the impact racism has had on the lives of both black and white citizens.
Nobody wins; nobody loses, but everyone moves toward forgiveness.
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