I am not saying that it was because we were Black we were different we were RUs we were new and scary.......We were changing their way of life. Also possibly changing the economics. Result: Potentially Bitter small town white people.
If you went to a small town predominantly Black and were talking about meditation, flying and brought a bunch of white and indian people there 80% of the people would initially have a bitter response. Thats the point. shempmcgurk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie wrote: > > When I first arrived in Fairfield there were people who had never seen a Black person. Once seven African American Students went to a restaurant in town to eat. When we walked in (actually it was a diner) there was a typical older white gentleman there he may have lived his whole life and NEVER saw one never mind seven Black people walking into a restaurant or any other place where he was at one time. His mouth dropped open so wide I had to laugh. IT WASN'T JUST BEING BLACK THAT WAS "FOREIGN" TO MANY TOWNIES, LOUIS. I REMEMBER GOING INTO TOWN TO DO SOME SHOPPING WITH A JEWISH FRIEND. WHEN WE WENT TO THE CASHIER TO PAY, SHE ACCIDENTALLY SHORT-CHANGED US. WE POLITELY BROUGHT IT TO HER ATTENTION, SHE LAUGHED AND SAID: "OF COURSE, I WASN'T TRYING TO 'JEW' YOU OUT OF THE MONEY!" WE THEN WENT TO ANOTHER STORE AND ASKED THE OWNER IF HE HAD A CERTAIN BRAND OF A PRODUCT WE WERE LOOKING FOR. HE RESPONDED: "IT'S GREEK TO ME!" I'M OF GREEK HERITAGE SO MY FRIEND AND I LAUGHED THAT WE HAD BOTH MANAGED TO BE "INSULTED" WITHIN THE SPACE OF ABOUT 10 MINUTES. I DOUBT THAT YOU AND THE OTHERS WERE THE FIRST BLACKS TO HAVE BEEN SEEN BY THE FAIRFIELDERS YOU CITE. YOU MAY HAVE BEEN A RARE SIGHT, BUT NOT THE FIRST. IF ANYTHING, YOUR UNIQUENESS PROBABLY MADE YOU VERY POPULAR. IN THE 98% WHITE SCHOOL I WENT TO IN CANADA, MOST OF THE "ROYALTY" ELECTED BY THE STUDENT BODY (YOU KNOW, HOMECOMING QUEEN, KING, ETC.) WERE BLACK. THEIR UNIQUENESS MADE THEM VERY POPULAR. > I remember there used to be a club or bar back behind the frats or down the road a piece my friend Steve and I went there one night. I think it may have Been Steve (From Brooklyn) Martin (from Trinidad) and I ( Fresh from Manhattan Spanish Harlem) we walked in and there was these white people who looked like semi hillbillies. I stood at the door like a nut as Steve's security while he went to talk to people. Soon we were all having a good time. That was in 76. The people of Fairfield were not certain about MIU it > was bringing change to their world. They did not know if it would be good change or bad. > > They used to throw things at us from their cars, calling us Ru's. WE ALL GOT THAT, LOUIS, WHITE OR BLACK. > There were people who thought that bringing a whole lot of Blacks to the town was going to destroy the peace and bring crime and drugs. Would I call those people happy? No. Would I call them bitter? Some were but thanks to Maharishi many people accepted the growth of Fairfield or moved away, or died. Fear was the motivator, I was afraid I had never been in a place where there WERE no Black people. In Fairfield there may have been two families at the time. > > The people were afraid because meditation and Black and Black looking little Indian men in white robes was a little much. Yet there were no george Bush's in that picture. Had George been President and killed a few of their sons. Back slid on their daughters who fought in his war as did with the woman from Virginia I believe then they WOULD definitely have been bitter, and they would have held on to their guns..... > > The fundamentalist were doing all they could to infiltrate the campus and seduce student into leaving and divulging secrets. A little kid in a super market says oh look mom a nigger..... or another mommy how come that man is so brown???? > > Not Bitter but curious. When Jimmy Carter became President and the farmers were losing their farms they were BITTER. Hopefully they had God to cling to.... > > Angela Mailander wrote: Thanks for posting this, Sal. That's exactly how I > feel about Obama's alleged "condescension." He's > right on. And a refreshing change to hear him tell > the truth like that. > a > > > --- Sal Sunshine wrote: > > >  > > > > Published on Sunday, April 13, 2008 by > > CommonDreams.org > > Finding Voters âBitter and Frustrated,â Obama is > > Sounding Like Nader > > by Dave Lindorff > > > > I havenât lived in rural Pennsylvania or in rural > > Indiana, but I > > have lived in rural upstate New York, in towns where > > there are so few > > Democrats that on some local election ballots, not a > > single position, > > from town council to justice of the peace, has a > > contest. As in > > China, your option is to vote for the Republican > > candidate, or to > > leave that line blank. > > > > And many of the people in these towns, uniformly > > white, when they > > talk politics, spend a lot of their time complaining > > about black > > people, immigrants (neither of whom can even be > > found in the > > vicinity) and the threat to their guns. > > > > Barack Obama is exactly right. > > > > In Hancock, NY and Spencer, NY, there are no factory > > jobs. There used > > to be in Hancock, but the companies where hundreds > > of people used to > > work have long since folded or moved south of the > > border, courtesy of > > the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) > > aggressively promoted and > > pushed through Congress by Bill and Hillary Clinton > > during the 1990s. > > In Spencer, there are no jobs because in the > > free-for-all bidding by > > companies for tax giveaways between communities, > > Spencer had nothing > > much to offer. The town is so dirt poor that when > > the library board, > > of which I was briefly president, got a measure on > > the ballot to have > > one extra dollar per taxpayer of school district > > taxes allocated to > > support the local little library, which was at that > > time totally > > supported by donations, the measure went down to > > resounding defeat (I > > was labeled a communist by some for promoting the > > idea!). > > > > In 1992, neighbors in Spencer told me they were > > voting for George H. > > W. Bush-a patrician blue blood if ever there was > > one-because Bill > > Clinton, if elected âwould take away our guns.â > > > > Of course, he didnât, and had no intention of > > doing so, but that > > didnât matter. > > > > Donât get me wrong-the people in Hancock and > > Spencer are good folks. > > Iâm pretty sure many of them probably give a > > higher proportion of > > their meager incomes to charity than do millionaires > > John McCain and > > Hillary Clinton. But Obama is right that in their > > angst and > > frustration at seeing the good economic times pass > > them by, at seeing > > themselves abandoned by the federal government in > > hard times, and at > > seeing candidates promise them everything during > > campaigns, only to > > ignore them after winning, they are bitter and > > frustrated. > > > > And they have a right to be, and they should be. > > > > One response to that bitterness and frustration is > > that they are open > > to the charlatans in both parties, and especially > > the Republican > > Party, who have played on their basest fears. Itâs > > Republicans who > > have whispered the poison in their ears that their > > high taxes are > > because âthe Blacksâ are getting all that > > welfare money and are > > getting all the jobs through âquotas.â Itâs > > the Republicans who > > have warned them about âhoardsâ of Mexicans > > coming across the > > border to steal their jobs. Itâs the Republicans > > who have been > > warning them that Democrats are going to take their > > hunting rifles > > and shotguns away. Itâs the Republicans and their > > Christian > > fundamentalist front men who have been saying that > > the Democrats have > > been causing the nationâs decline by supporting > > licentiousness and > > a âgayâ agenda. And itâs Republicans and > > Democrats who have been > > hyping the bogus issue of national defense to keep > > people from > > focusing on the deliberate dismantling of the US > > economy that is > > underway. (Over years of Republican and Democratic > > administrations, > > the tax contribution of US corporations to the > > national budget has > > fallen from 50% in 1940 to just 14% today. Between > > 1996 and 2000, 61% > > of all corporations and 39% or large corporations > > paid no taxes at > > all, and that situation has only gotten worse in the > > Bush years.) > > > > Anything but the real issue, which is how to provide > > funds so that > > the children in places like Spencer and Hancock can > > get a decent > > education without bankrupting the local taxpayers, > > how those > > communities can get jobs again, so that their > > children wonât have to > > move out, how to ensure that everyone in town can > > have health > > insurance and access to medical care. > > > > Barack Obama is right. Iâve seen it in person. The > > people in rural > > America are bitter and frustrated, and after years > > of being played by > > politicians, they fall victim to the charlatans who > > tell them itâs > > all because of âthe Blacks,â or the immigrants, > > or who tell them > > that their guns are in danger. Or they turn to > > religions that preach > > division or apocalypse-a concept that offers the > > chance of a final, > > delicious revenge against the rich and the powerful > > oppressors on > > Wall Street and in Washington. > > > > Now I donât know what Obama has in mind to try and > > turn things > > around for these good people, but itâs a start > > that heâs at least > > talking to them, not down, but honestly. > > > > His talk (http://pa.barackobama.com/page/s/paletter) > > in response to > > attacks on his statement about rural residents being > > âbitter and > > frustratedâ is as good as anything Ralph Nader has > > said about the > > power and mendacity of the ruling political elite in > > America. > > > > As he put it, to wild applause at a rally in Terra > > Haute, Indiana, > > explaining the difficulty of appealing to the rural > > working class > > voters in Pennsylvania: > > > > âFor the last 25 years theyâve seen jobs shift > > overseas, theyâve > > seen their economies collapse, they have lost their > > jobs, theyâve > > lost their pensions, theyâve lost their health > > care. And for 25-30 > > years, Democrats and Republicans have come before > > then and said > > weâre gonna make your community better. Weâre > > gonna make it right. > > > > âAnd nothing ever happens. And of course theyâre > > bitter, and of > > course theyâre frustrated. You would be too, in > > fact many of you > > are. Because the same thing has happened here in > > Indiana. The same > > thing has happened across the border in Decatur. > > (Wild applause) The > > same thing has happened across the country. > > Nobodyâs looking out for > > you. Nobody is thinking about you. > > > > âAnd so people end up, they donât vote on > > economic issues, because > > > === message truncated === > > > Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! 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