Friend Patrick O'Neill of the Catholic Worker House in Garner, North Carolina
Patrick O'Neill stood among a swarm of people on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a sign hanging from his neck. “I'm sorry,” it read.
He wore a T-shirt bearing an image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When asked by a reporter why he was sorry, O'Neill said: “I thought because I'm a white guy, it might be self-explanatory.”
O'Neill, who is from North Carolina, said that on Saturday he had stood on the bridge and had a lot of conversations with African Americans. Today he wanted to return to demonstrate his support.
“I stood on the spot where people were beaten, non-violent people,” said O'Neill, 58. “I said to myself, I'm a white man of privilege in this country, and so much is still the same.”
He said that North Carolina is facing many of the same challenges as the rest of the nation, such as the disenfranchisement of black men through mass incarceration.
“I feel I need to accept responsibility for my privilege as a white male,” said O'Neill, who runs a branch of a Christian pacifist organization called Catholic Worker House in his home state.
“I didn't want to make it complicated. Just two words of repentance.”
Elvira Carter, 48, overheard O'Neill and quickly approached him: “I just want to shake your hand,” said Carter, a resident of Butler, Alabama.
“I'm here with you in solidarity, sister,” O'Neill replied.
Ms. Simmons can be reached through http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-ann-simmons-staff.html
***
My follow-up email to Patrick:
Dear Patrick,
Well done!
Thanks for stepping up.
Did I send you this cartoon?
"Use your White Privilege. Luke."
Or this article?
Whites Think Discrimination Against Them Is A Bigger Problem Than Bias Against Blacks
If you didn't see the Plowshares article in this week's New Yorker, I think you'll be interested. http://
Pax tecum
Alan
"Bad Black People." Why Bill O'Reilly Is Wrong Even When He's Right
"Bad Black People." Why Bill O'Reilly Is Wrong Even When He's Right
Diane Rehm Guest Gets To The Nub Of Police Violence And How Easily It's Prevented
There's Never Been A Safer Time For Cops Nor A More Dangerous Time For Criminals
Flashback:
Jesus Sign Torn Up, Crowd Cheers
4/26/08: Raleigh NC hosted a military parade to honor the troops. The ~20 protesters offering a different perspective – mostly Veterans for Peace, received little or no coverage in the news. One peaceful protester (Patrick O'Neill) encountered harassment and attacks in front of police, Raleigh dignitaries, and the general parade audience, including a young boy who swiped a sign saying “Jesus said: love your enemies” while the crowd roared with amusement and approval.
Below find a few photos of the incident. For the full 9 minute video, please visit: http://revver.com/video/849305/kid-rips-jesus-sign-at-military-parade/
Follow-up comment on "I'm Sorry" by D.M.
I was just going to let it go with a note to Patrick, appreciating his action, but I do have political
questions about the issue of "white (male) skin color", etc. It is a good point, but not, I think,
what is the main issue, which is to reach across color lines to unite on the basis of class.
One of my ancestors who came on the Mayflower came as an indentured servant (a kind
of white slave). At least in my immediate past of grand parents and great grand parents they
were farmers from Nebraska and Kansas, worked hard, lived in relative poverty. On my mother's side, her own mother was one of two sisters who came from Ireland to Los Angeles where one
(my maternal grandmother, died soon after having her fourth child, while her sister, "aunt
Mary Corkey" worked all her life as a house servant (we used to go down the driveway to enter
by the servants entrance to see her).
The real difference, for me, speaking from a "pacifist/Marxist point of view" is that we are
not really entitled to guilt - we had no hand in the grave injustice of slavery but we must
take responsibility in the here and now to fix what is wrong, and we do this in alliance with
the Black community, the Hispanics, the Asians. We change the world by looking ahead.
Focusing on white skin privilege is not very convincing to me.
4/26/08: Raleigh NC hosted a military parade to honor the troops. The ~20 protesters offering a different perspective – mostly Veterans for Peace, received little or no coverage in the news. One peaceful protester (Patrick O'Neill) encountered harassment and attacks in front of police, Raleigh dignitaries, and the general parade audience, including a young boy who swiped a sign saying “Jesus said: love your enemies” while the crowd roared with amusement and approval.
Below find a few photos of the incident. For the full 9 minute video, please visit: http://revver.com/video/849305/kid-rips-jesus-sign-at-military-parade/
Follow-up comment on "I'm Sorry" by D.M.
I was just going to let it go with a note to Patrick, appreciating his action, but I do have political
questions about the issue of "white (male) skin color", etc. It is a good point, but not, I think,
(my maternal grandmother, died soon after having her fourth child, while her sister, "aunt
Mary Corkey" worked all her life as a house servant (we used to go down the driveway to enter
by the servants entrance to see her).
The real difference, for me, speaking from a "pacifist/Marxist point of view" is that we are
not really entitled to guilt - we had no hand in the grave injustice of slavery but we must
take responsibility in the here and now to fix what is wrong, and we do this in alliance with
the Black community, the Hispanics, the Asians. We change the world by looking ahead.
Focusing on white skin privilege is not very convincing to me.
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