Because of what went on behind the scenes in messages from the moderators. I just made this post to the Ask the Administrators forum.
And that is the end of my support for DU until I get a PUBLIC apology from Skinner and the moderators. :mad: :mad: :mad:
(But it sure has been fun pounding the pavement and getting the word out on the election fraud!)
OK, here is an open letter I'd intended to send, then decided I was being "unreasonable," potentially "paranoid." HOWEVER, I now see (apparently; pls correct me if i'm making another newbie idiot mistake and missing something here) that the forums for minorities have not been locked, just "archived": it amounts to the same. The discussions have been shut down. Does this mean that only professed white people are allowed to carry on discussions in these forums? Does this mean that those of us who have "culturally specific" issues, not only with this society, but also with this democratic community, have no place here? Might it not be beneficial for non-whites to hear what we have to say "straight from the horse's mouth"?
I now post my comments to the DU Administrators and to the Community at large.
This is Dr. Lilian Friedberg, aka savetheuniverse (formerly catastrophicsuccess), sleepless in Chicago writing to express my sincerest, heartfelt appreciation for the stunningly beautiful things you have done; what you have accomplished as a community is sure to become a major chapter in world history. It was an amazing collective, cooperative effort and a privilege to have been a part of it. Thank you. You have restored my faith in humanity.
Rob Kall at Opednews.com has since graciously corrected my letter on his website, so if efforts to get it printed continue, please let everyone know the opednews.com version is now OK. I will pursue my efforts to get it published from here, addressing the “following” I have since gotten as a result of Rob’s courageous decision to publish the letter. Of course, my ground efforts will also continue—using Paul’s (bigpath) incredible ad campaign materials, and various other methods and means culled from the annals of DU and our “beloved nefarious bowels.” And please, everyone, encourage Rob and Paul to continue their efforts--they are doing such a good job.
Until recently, I’d never posted on such a sophisticated message board as DU. It took me a while to get any sense of orientation. I know I made a lot of classic newbie mistakes—probably mortal sins, in fact—and likely drove the moderators to distraction in my attempts to figure things out. For that, I apologize.
Unfortunately, I do not dare enter the forum anymore. Not until I know some major issues have been addressed and rectified. As many of you noticed, sometime yesterday, I caught myself devising a method of kicking threads that I now call “creative kicking”—that is, instead of just writing “kick”—I began quoting various sources, all of which I thought were in some way relevant, either politically or simply in terms of helping to keep spirits up and encourage a group of overworked, underpaid, slightly frazzled and frenzied people doing some of the best work I have ever in my life seen. It was also a good way to practice using some of the marvelous DU functions I hadn’t realized were there and learning to carry on conversations with people at the same time. Now I am afraid of what I will find. Afraid more of my work has been destroyed. So I can’t even look.
Yesterday, I watched with delight as my work as an “internet graffiti artist” took shape, and waited in anticipation for like-minded DU-lers to take note and follow suit: WOW! Kicking doesn’t have to be a drag. Then came the crushing blow. I returned to the “GET OFF THE COMPUTER” thread only to find that my work had been destroyed. Autodafé. Book burning in cyberspace, these things came to mind. I felt like a Dixie Chick in Texas. Skinner had taken a pliers to my heart. In my inbox, a message warning me against SPAMMING the list. (When I responded by telling him it was a fucking insult, he warned me that I would be thrown OUT if I continued to “abuse” the moderators. Note: word “fuck” is listed in the OED, and its use is thus legitimate as far as I’m concerned. I did not call them fuckers, I told them what they did was a fucking insult to me. That's abuse?) For all I know, they've since put me on lockdown and destroyed ALL of my work.
These are the lines that were deleted:
To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!
http://www.transcendentalists.com/emerson_quotes.htm As an American Indian, as a die-hard, seasoned political radical, I am accustomed to being hated, vilified, damned and defamed. As a female activist, I will never forget Stokely Carmichael’s infamous statements about women’s position in the movement: prone. Sorry, but this IS our (shared) history (as men, women and minorities) and we must learn to deal with it. It doesn’t go away just because we put it in our past (like by "archiving" it?). I am accustomed to attempts to shut me down, shut me up and declare me clinically insane. I never expected this to happen on DU. Einstein said, “Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” So, was it Indian-hating, was it misogyny, fear of hyper-intelligence and creative short-circuit? God only knows. It certainly did seem ironic that the deletions came just as I was starting to "get the hang of it" and learn to work more effectively on this forum. Since others were also subjected to lockdowns, maybe I am just over-paranoid. A charitable reading tells me Skinner simply got super-stressed by the overload. That is a forgivable offense; anything else, just another sign of how much work there is still left to do.
As Winona LaDuke has written in her book Last Standing Woman, Indian-hating is rampant in this country. In many liberal forums, it is particularly insidious precisely because it is not overt and cannot be admitted. If you dare to so much as suggest that it plays a role in any liberal cause, you will be shot down immediately (the bullets don’t match the gun!) I don’t know that subconscious “Indian-hating” played a role here—and I’m not even making that charge. However, 500 years of American history have put me and many others like me on guard; Are we paranoid? No. We’re realistic. We have learned from experience: the basest form of Indian-hating comes to the fore when one of us jackpine savages dares to excel in areas that have traditionally been the preserve of others—any others, whether Black, Asian, Caucasian, etc.—anyone but Indians. Believe me: who ever heard of an Indian who translates Nazi German? Even my own community scoffs at my reputation as a Germanist and translator of German history and literature.
But the potential that latent Indian-hating exists in your communities is something you are going to have to address in your “new democracy”—if you ever succeed in getting it. Another reason I thought this might be a factor was a post I saw on the Ask the Administrator thread, requesting that Native American media links be posted; Skinner’s response to the American Indian poster was utterly dismissive (the poster was wasica, she'd made several requests to post NA media links). I had just been corresponding with Paul at bigpath on that very issue, and, after speaking by phone with the folks at the Circle in Mpls, sent out some posts to the major American Indian media outlets I am aware of.
My final concern is that these media outlets be added to your lists.
The Circle (Minneapolis)
http://www.thecirclenews.org /
http://www.mnnews.com/newspapers/circle.html News from Indian Country
http://www.indiancountrynews.com/news.cfm Indian Country today
http://www.indiancountry.com /
As incredible as the DU experience has been—it has broken my bank account, broken my spirit and broken my heart. I've never been one for the "battle of the most martyred minority" game, but you people do need to realize that the losses of the American Indian people far surpass those of any other group in this country. It's not about "poor me"--it's about dealing with the genocide that is the very foundation of this society. Now, if we manage to get democracy back on its feet, are you as administrators of this list going to take these concerns seriously?
(Of course, as a German-Jewish-Native-American-Female-African-Drummer, I have a lot of experience with mending broken hearts and spirits, so there’s no need to despair or worry about me—and for everything else, there’s mastercard). I scoured the pages of Plath’s collected works for some appropriate words to send to Skinner, telling him what I think. But I’d have had to have sent him the whole thing!
With a plea for peace, love and understanding,
Dr. Lilian Friedberg
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