When I was born Dwight Eisenhower was President and his Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy were preparing to run against each other for the Office of President.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists like Medgar Evers were campaigning for the rights of Black Americans and others and would lose their lives in doing it within a few years. In that time Blacks were violently attacked even in church, the 15 September 1963 Street Baptist Church bombing. Just 6 years before I was born a 14 year old boy named Emmit Till was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman. His killers backed by a surge of popular support were acquitted of the murder and a few months later confessed to the murder unable to be prosecuted under double jeopardy. Blacks did not gain legal protections enjoyed by whites until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
When I was a teenager my home town of Stockton California desegregated its schools. I am proud to be part of the first class at Edison High School that completed all of its high school years in that environment. I remember those times fondly and my friends there are all my “Soul Vike” brothers and sisters.
I know this but I never believed that I would see racism become fashionable again. But then I should have seen it coming because it has always been there maybe just under the surface but still there. Back in 2009 I was attacked and threatened by a White Supremacist in response to articles about World War II and a baseball game on this site.
The battle against racism and for the civil rights of minorities has been a part of my life since High School. Over the past number of years that fight has expanded for me as I look to the rights of women, the LGBT community as well as religious minorities, free thinkers and other dissenters.
These articles reflect much of my thought. Some are about the the struggle of blacks in America and the sacrifices of various individuals including Dr Martin Luther King Jr, pioneer African Americans in the military and politics, the courageous men who broke the racial barrier in baseball and the men of the Negro Leagues. There are articles about laws, justice and injustice, political commentary as well as articles dealing with religious issues and the LGBT struggles to find acceptance in society.
I will update this page periodically. There are quite a few topics that I plan on writing about and there are many times when current events trigger more thoughts and make me more of an advocate for the civil, political, economic, legal and even religious rights of all Americans, but especially those who face real discrimination every day.
Peace
Padre Steve+
A Watershed Moment: Jackie Robinson and Civil Rights in America
Schadenfreude: Who Doesn’t Love the Exposure of Unrepentant Racists?
I Have Been to the Mountain: The Assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
The Message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for 2011
Four Little Girls: The Birmingham Church Bombing 50 Years Later
24 Heroes: An Honor Long Overdue Finally Rectified
The American Ideological War: The American Civil War…The Continuation of Politics by Other Means
Buffalo Soldiers and Racial Prejudice on the Western Front 1918
Vice Admiral Samuel Gravely Jr: Pioneer of Integration and Civil Rights in the U.S. Navy
Padre Steve’s Favorite Peace, Protest and Social Justice Song
Be Careful of What you Vote Against: A Warning from History
Protecting the Ideal: Reflections on Gettysburg, Freedom and Why It Matters
Confederate Army Strong? I Think Not
Gettysburg at 150 and the Lingering Curse of the “Lost Cause” on the United States
42: Thank God for Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey
Jackie Robinson and Dr. Martin Luther King they Changed America
Remembering the Men of the Negro Leagues: Carl Long Appreciation Day
Spring Training and the Integration of the Major Leagues
The Danger of Right Wing and Left Wing Extremism
Padre Steve Plays Devil’s Advocate: The Complex and Often Confusing Issue of Religious Liberty
Killing Trayvon: The Power of Fear and Racism
Trayvon Martin and the Pro-Life Movement: Do the Post-Born Matter at All?
DOMA Struck Down: The Day After our 30th Wedding Anniversary
52 Years: Musing on Life and Civil Rights in 2012
The Double Edged Sword of Denying Religious Rights
My God What Happened? I’ve become a Civil Rights Advocate and I know Why
A Christian Defense of the Rights of Moslems and Others in a Democracy (or Constitutional Republic)
Blazing Saddles and Contemporary American Life and Politics
