Whatever Opat's reasoning is - and I don't think it really matters in
the larger scheme - the underlying truth is an unwillingness to face up
to modern horrors that the people of our state, our grandfathers and
grandmothers, perpetuated on others. This is why Germany has turned
Auschwitz into a permanent memorial, and why we have the holocaust
museum in D.C. - the people of Germany have realized, as have other
cultures, that we share shame for doing evil to our fellow humans, and
for turning a blind eye to evil while millions are slaughtered. The
Duluth lynchings are very recent and very real and very close in
proximity. We should feel uncomfortable and angry that it occurred,
but we should not allow that discomfort to become a rationalization to
depict it less noticeably. The people of Minnesota don't need to be
protected from this truth, any more than they need to be protected from
the U.S.'s internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII, its atomic first
strike on Japan, its slaughter of native americans, its kidnapping,
enslavement, and continued discrimination against african-americans, or
now its discrimination against and rounding up of arab immigrants. As
a people, we have a duty to face up to what our government is up to -
with our blessing or against our will as the case may be - and our
personal responsibility in preventing further injustice and horror.
It is now the beginning of February, and there is time to take a
meaningful stand. I would urge everyone here to contact Opat's office,
and the offices of our elected officials (who are able to exert
pressure), and ask that the original image be replaced.
Roxana Orrell
Central
On Wednesday, February 5, 2003, at 03:15 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
Message: 15
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 11:51:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Susan Maricle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [Mpls] County Board/Black History Exhibit
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<snip>
What is Opat's reasoning against the image? It makes
him uncomfortable? The fear it will bring upon
depression, or insurrection, among Twin Cities African
Americans? I would venture that the image is already
there, the depth of its subconscious varying depending
upon the person, regardless of the month.
Two posts and out,
Susan Maricle
Bruno, MN
formerly of Folwell
TEMPORARY REMINDER:
1. Send all posts in plain-text format.
2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible.
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