Kwanzaa Celebration Canceled Following Death Threats

[proud2BlibKansan]

Kwanzaa Celebration Canceled Following Death Threats
Portland Press Herald
Published on November 28, 2007


The Bangor chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has canceled this year's Kwanzaa celebration after a 75-year-old man allegedly threatened to shoot chapter members. <…>

According to court documents, Sawyer apparently made statements to his doctor at the Togus VA Medical Center that he was "going to shoot any and all black persons that he saw attending a meeting of the NAACP at a church in Bangor." He made similar statements to a Department of Veterans Affairs police officer, who described the encounter with Sawyer as "chilling."

Sawyer, who has no known criminal record, was quoted as saying he did not like blacks and Hispanics and that "Maine should be a 'white' state." He also said he owned a .45-caliber handgun, which authorities later removed from his home. <…>

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/hatewatch/item.jsp?hid=1447

[nightrider767]

1. Nice guy

How can people be so stupid?

:banghead:

[shadowknows69]

2. Bangor freaking Maine?

New England becoming Alabama of the 60's? Stop the planet I want to get off.

[Warpy]

11. New England has always had de facto segregation

even though all the Jim Crow laws went out a long time ago. Segregation was enforced socially, and block busting was a fact of life in urban areas in the 50s and 60s as one black family moving into an area signaled the whole block it was time to move to the suburbs. Redlining by banks ensured that wherever black folks moved in, blight was soon to follow as no one could get loans to fix up their property.

I moved to Boston from the south and was astonished by the wall of racism I saw up there. Oh, I don't think it was any worse than southern racism, but it certainly was different. In the late 60s, there were two parallel cities and rarely did they mix.

I'm not a bit surprised by this fool, in other words. I'm a little surprised that all they did was take that cannon away from him, that he didn't end up being pink papered for a 3 day involuntary commitment to figure out just how crazy he really is.

I would hope the congregation thinks better of canceling their Kwanzaa celebration because of one white asshole.

[Clark2008]

30. My husband came the other way - Boston to Tennessee -

and he thinks racism is worse in Boston.

[Warpy]

35. These days, he's probably right

because Dixie was forced to come a long way in a short period of time, especially in the cities.

In the late 60s, they were about even.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. I remember well the riots over desegregation in Boston in the 70s

You bet there is racism in New England.

[Clark2008]

29. I was going to ask if this was Bangor, MAINE

Given the contention from some DUers that the entire South is nothing but racists, I wanted to tuck this one away to make a point.

BTW, I don't know of any Kwanzaa celebrations in the South that are being shut down because of nuts.

:hi:

[shadowknows69]

31. I don't make that assumption about southerners

Particularly since I lived in a northern town which could give any southern state a run for their money when it comes to racial divides in the community.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. Lock his ass up and celebrate. BS intimidation has no place here. n/t

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Not to those who celebrate it

[Terran]

7. "fake"?

Explain please..unless I missed your sarcasm (not that that appears to have anything to do with the guy threatening to kill people).

[Sultana]

12. not guy's reason for the threat.

But my opinion about Kwanzaa.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. How is it more fake than Christmas?

Or any other holiday?

[Sultana]

23. A lot of holiday have....

"some" connection to religion minus New Years, Thanksgiving etc...

In my opinion Kwanzaa doesn't does have a real "connection" with African people (I don't know any African family that celebrates it). I never heard of Kwanzaa until I arrived in the US. As for Christmas and Easter, Santa Claus and the Easter bunny are frauds.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. That doesn't explain why it's fake.

You're not making any sense.

[uppityperson]

37. Most holidays have a connection to Seasons also.

Easter is named after Astarte, in the spring (first Sunday after the first full Moon after the Equinox), Christmas put on top of solstice. Kwanzaa may be a fairly new holiday/celebration, but is real for those who celebrate it. We celebrate x-mas/solstice time as Family/friends celebration, sort of like Kwanzaa but not as specific.

[shadowknows69]

8. Welcome to DU

enjoy your stay. What fake celebrations do you hold dear exactly?

[shadowknows69]

9. Weird?

Atrocious, Despicable, Ignorant, Dangerous, Sickening are all words I'd pick to describe this instead of "weird" but that's just me.

[DangerDave921]

13. How is it weird?

It's weird for someone to threaten death? Why is that "weird" as opposed to scary, gruesome, illegal, shocking, etc.?

As to fake, I assume you're showing off your intelligence that Kwanzaa was started in the 1960's. So? There was also once upon a time when x-mas was not a holiday, nor Easter, nor thanksgiving, nor labor day, memorial day, president's day, new years, etc. Are those holidays fake?

[Sultana]

15. It's weird because one elderly man...

was able to cancel an entire event.

[seriousstan]

17. think white, talk white, act white, create white, buy white, vote white, and live white

Sound racist now?

[marmar]

14. All non-White Christian holidays are fake, right?

:eyes: Enjoy your day out at DU.

[Sultana]

16. I am black and African-born

[marmar]

18. The statement still applies.....

n/t

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[devilgrrl]

24. Yeah sure you are Marilyn...

[Sultana]

27. I don't have to prove it to anyone

I am fan of Marilyn Monroe. Just because she is on my avatar doesn't mean I am not black.

Are you trying to say that black people shouldn't be fans of white celebrities?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. I reserve the right to regard that statement with a heavy dose of skepticism. -nt

[Sultana]

28. Wow,

I was born in Sudan, raised in Kenya. I am fluent in English, somewhat fluent Kiswahili and Arabic. I came to the states when I was young.


:eyes: You people are crazy. And I guess you also think that I am a undercover freeper because of my low post count.

[DangerDave921]

32. LOL

Yes, some on DU are certifiable! :)

And some are just very skeptical of new posters. I'm sure no offense was intended.

Welcome! Enjoy the discussions!

[karlrschneider]

33. The politically-correct rules here at DU are very complex. I've been here 4 years

and still can't figure them out. :P

[Terran]

34. No

I think it was referring to Kwanzaa as "fake" that did that. :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. Nobody ever admits they're a racist.

Even white supremacists come up with an excuse, "I don't hate black people, I'm just proud of my own white race, heil Hitler."

It's really a cliche, and they use the same ones over and over again.

I've got lots of black friends.
My wife is a Mexican.
I've got a Nobel Prize in Biology.
They were burglars.

and on anonymous message boards there's the ubiquitous "but I'm black!"

So when somebody says African American holidays are fake, but can't explain why, but then says "but I'm black!" it's met with some degree of skepticism.

[Sultana]

40. I've known that people get burned in GD threads but damn!

that was firestorm I didn't expect but I understand why. :D

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

38. OK, produce a photo of yourself holding the day's paper in one hand

and making a Vulcan salute with the other.

Then, and only then, I will discard the possibility (which I never stated as certainty) of you not being truthful.

[devilgrrl]

39. but but but but but...

:popcorn:

[aquart]

6. 75? And all his VA doctor did was call the cops?

I dunno. Maybe an MRI or some cognitive reasoning tests might have been in order?

Of course, if he regularly saw the same doctor instead of whoever was around, someone might be aware of a drastic change in behavior.

[DangerDave921]

10. Something else

So you have one crazy guy threating violence, and the whole celebration is called off? Hasn't that guy been arrested yet?

Something doesn't add up. One whack-job cannot cancel an entire celebration.

[Ishoutandscream2]

41. Goddamn southern rednecks, wait, Bangor Maine?

:crazy: