I am ashamed.

Yes, that seems to be the general attitude... sad isnt it!
I cant know ANYTHING because I cant walk in their shoes!

Never mind my personal experiences of youth that may have opened my eyes to certain sensitivities and brought about an understanding that we are much more alike than different..

Never mind that the summary of my post is positive as to the initial effect of A-A.. and points to the achievements of those finally let in.... the fact that I am red-state, WASP conservative negates all that and means I am a chump cracker.
Whereas I WOULD be qualified to my opinion if I were BLUE-State white Liberal, assoc member of NAACP, and had a liberal arts degree from Amherst.

Or would I, even then?!!

Or how about if I were REALLY mouthing JC Watts.. or Bill Cosby... or even Harold Ford? When would the opinion be valid in your eyes... or would it EVER be?
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But never mind.. that is all setup for this:

I am truly ashamed that I did not speak up!

When I heard and read on the MSM about all the violence and rampant killing and rapes in the superdome and convention center it did not ring true to me.

I believed that there MIGHT be 10,000 dead from the flooding, but did not question it. It was possible, trhough it didnt make sense even considering what i saw and know.

And I believed that the death toll in the two evac centers might be very high... but I could NOT believe all those accounts of savagery from word of mouth to correspondents which was then relayed to the world really happened based on what I knew of human nature.

But I said nothing in protest. I never went on record as NOT believing it!

Granted, i have been to NO only twice.. and I knew that the cops there have real problems and that certain neighborhoods are not safe anytime.
BUT
Due to my age and interest in not only the news but human nature and why people might do what they do and when might they do it... I should have really known better.

These rumors of mayhem did not reflect what I KNEW happened previously in times of urban crisis. But I passively accepted that they MIGHT be true.

Knowledge of human nature tells me that the vast majority of people, no matter their daily attitudes and indiscretions.. even to the point of murderers rapists and thieves... will support others in time of crisis.

Looting of electronics and jewelry stores doesnt count... that is fallibility, greed or just 'business'.

But for those same people to set on the weaker of the other victims is beyond belief.

But I said nothing. And I am ashamed of that.

How about you guys?