Comments on: Breach of Peace (Freedom Riders site launch)

By: Ken Nickless

Ken Nickless — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:24:21 +0000

Great read and the new Breach of Peace site can only get better. Although not from the USA your story reminded me very much about the state of South Africa in the late sixties when I visited it with a black Fijian friend of mine. Myself coming from a country (England) that didn’t have these problems in the sixties I can’t tell you how horrified I was the way my friend was treated.

By: krystyn

krystyn — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:26:21 +0000

Reading Michael’s response — specifically “More shocking is that all this happened only 45 years ago!” — strikes a chord with me. Sure, things have come a long way, but there’s still a lot of work to be done in the United States.

Living in the South, I’ve come across my share of “good old boys” in the corporate environment — and I’ve witnessed the real, modern day slavery of a Rwandan genocide survivor in the North.

I keep telling myself that people will become more accepting over time, and I long for the day when I can look back on it all and think “Wow, people were so narrow-minded and barbaric back then.”

Hats off to this website for bringing such a difficult topic out of the shadows.

By: Fran

Fran — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:02:12 +0000

Don Ulrich- You are so right! I love the sign. I am 60 yr old “white woman”. Never considered my self prejudiced in any way (even marched a little). When my middle daughter had the most beuatiful bi-racial daughter, I realized I had not been color blind. Color in fact was most often the first thing I noticed about a person. Not that I thought that person less than me just that I noticed.

If asked, ” Which girl was it? I would have replied the black girl. After my grandaughter I say “You know that one with the great smile, sits in the third cubicle” or “You know that snotty girl in the fourth cubicle.’ In other words skin color means no more than hair or eye color it just is what it is.

By: Warshaw

Warshaw — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:58:32 +0000

Btw, the “great website” I refer to is the one that you link to. But yours is ok, too. :-)

By: Warshaw

Warshaw — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:57:55 +0000

What a great website. I hope you don’t find this upsetting, but I find myself a much bigger fan of your site when the posts aren’t related to web design and development. It’s no fault of yours, of course; I just don’t like the goons that show up with the Holy Book of Standards trying to tell you what a heretic you are.

By: Michael Newton

Michael Newton — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:52:49 +0000

Speaking as a 30-something white guy living in western Canada, I don't think it's easy to appreciate the risks taken and the sacrifices made by those involved in the civil rights movement. We just don't have too many black people here compared to the US, and most are recent immigrants or first-generation Canadians. Of course we know about MLK, and that there were (are) some "good old boys" causing problems for blacks. But I just learned about the "freedom riders" and other civil rights pioneers last year watching PBS' American Experience and was amazed by their stories. More shocking is that all this happened only 45 years ago!

By: Don Ulrich

Don Ulrich — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:33:23 +0000

The Kunstler piece reminded me that all of us live with racism
everyday. Everyday we need freedom riders. When I look at children I ask myself how we can instruct by example to be
tolerant and except people for who they are. At the office
exists a big poster in Helvecta. It reads “We are color blind”

By: Lisa Firke

Lisa Firke — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:45:32 +0000

Wow. Some powerful stories there. Great that they are getting the attention they deserve.