from 60+ white woman----is there much anger in black communities now

[bobbieinok]

where you are?????

and

do you think many blacks will think it's worth voting in any election any more???? I'm thinking especially of younger blacks

as a college teacher (now retired) at a conservative religious college, I was disheartened at how few students seemed to be aware of the suffering, beatings, jailings, and death blacks went through in the civil rights movement to help create a world in which blacks and whites could attend college together in OK !!!!!!, etc

it was bad enough that white students were oblivious, but blacks!!!!!

after 2000, I asked a black activist woman friend what would happen if black college students started seeing the rights they took for granted being taken away

she said there was no way they would put up with it

but I've wondered.....especially as I've watched in OK the inroads pentecostals have made in convincing black pentecostals that abortion and gay rights are the only causes to determine how one votes

if you are willing to share your thoughts, any response will be appreciated

[msgadget]

1. Americans have short attention spans

and if the Pentagon succeeds in drawing down troops in Iraq (their 'secret' plan) and all those pictures of black folks wading through water are in media archives, we could very well see the same desultory turn-out for elections as we always have.

The ones who won't forget are the ones who always pay attention anyway. And, the ones who follow church leaders accepting graft from the right will similarly fall in line. Then again, maybe its too soon to ask this today. I know I'm personally too bitter to respond optimistically.

[kitkatrose]

2. I'm going to school at Howard right now,

and trust me, we're pissed off. This past election, my genetics class got bitched out by my teacher for not voting and just about everyone there said "don't blame us, we did absentee, stood in those long lines, did whatever to get the vote out." I was really surprised. And I may be in a special position since I go to an HBCU, but I do think most of us as students are aware and if not protesting, are at least voting.

but I've wondered.....especially as I've watched in OK the inroads pentecostals have made in convincing black pentecostals that abortion and gay rights are the only causes to determine how one votes

I personally think that's false. I'm from TN orignally, and my church is a bit on the conservative end of the Baptist spectrum. And everyone I know hates shrub, his policies, hell, even Condi and Colin for being suckers, not to negate the fact that my church members were appreciative that hey, we have color in the cabinet. I'm pretty sure we're not voting for repubs, but I think we may be voting less for dems since I don't know the last time they stood up for anything close to a black cause.

On the whole, I think that, at least in the student community at Howard, there's anger and the willingness to lead. That's what we're being trained for. I'm just afraid that it might not be enough for the times ahead.

[wildeyed]

3. I met a young black woman the other day who said she did not like

either Kerry or Bush. She didn't like Kerry because she was completely opposed to abortion and gay marriage on religious and moral grounds. She also thought more people should be locked up for small drug offenses. Weird thing is, she was an intern for a ridiculously liberal democracy group I volunteer with and a social work major. I would have expected a slightly more liberal outlook.

She didn't like Bush either, and I doubt she voted for him. But still, it was a worrisome conversation.