UNC Chairman: Blacks Have Known Terrorism for Years

None ^ | POSTED: 10:26 a.m. EST January 2, 2002

[Helms]

UNC Chairman: Blacks Have Known Terrorism for Years

POSTED: 10:26 a.m. EST January 2, 2002

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Black Americans have known terrorism for hundreds of years, and few people have cared about their suffering, the chairman of the UNC Board of Governors said.

In a fiery speech at the annual Freedom Day celebration Tuesday at First Baptist Church, Ben Ruffin pointed out that blacks have long been the victims of bombings, lynchings and other acts of terror.

"But when that happened to us, we didn't have a national day of mourning," he pointed out in remarks that were frequently punctuated by shouts of "Amen". "We didn't have all America wanting to help us out."

Concern about what happened Sept. 11, Ruffin said, should not erase the memory of what has happened to blacks for centuries and continues to happen.

"I'm concerned about Sept. 11," Ruffin said. "I love America. I detest what happened in New York and Washington. But if you've been up on the wall with black folks, you've already seen terrorism."

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks formed a backdrop for Ruffin's speech as well as remarks by other speakers at the event sponsored by the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Vicinity Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. The alliance holds the celebration every New Year's Day at the church to remember the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Lincoln signed Jan. 1, 1863.

Even 140 years after the signing, Ruffin said, blacks in America still are not completely free.

"It is harder to stay free than it is sometimes to get free," Ruffin said. Blacks cannot be fully free, he said, "when we represent 12 percent of the population, but 50 percent of the prison inmates."

Even so, he said, "We still love America, despite the fact that America doesn't always love us. We still support this country, even when this country did not support us. We've loved this country, stayed with this country. Now is the time for this country to stay with us."

Ruffin acknowledged some progress has been made, pointing out that 40 members of Congress and 25 members of the state Legislature are black.

"They put us in jail, but they couldn't keep us in," Ruffin said to shouts from the congregation. "They couldn't kill the dream."

Blacks in the United States must take responsibility for their full freedom, he said.

"Nobody will save us but us," Ruffin said, as he implored his listeners to use their power of the pocketbook and the power of the ballot box. "People will never respect us until we respect ourselves."

Ruffin elicited perhaps the loudest reaction from his audience when he emphasized the importance of doing well in school.

"There's nothing wrong with getting As and Bs," he said. "But there is something wrong with (going to school) and dropping your britches down so far."

Ruffin leads the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, which oversees the UNC system's 16 campuses.

[DoughtyOne]

What bothers me the most about comments like this one, is that it appears on the surface to prove what the true racists of the 19th and 20th centuries said all along, mainly that blacks were too ignorant to conceptualize the deeper issues.

This man's comments are woefully ignorant. They ignore so much that has taken place to stop the violence and unequal treatment of blacks. How can he stand there and say that blacks endured yet nothing was done?

This man does a disservice to his race every time he makes a comment like this. When people of his standing make claims so clearly false and illconcieved, it reflects poorly on the group as a whole. What a shame.

[Helms]

If you ever go to a black funeral, especially lead by a black preacher..beware. The possibility of seeing blame placed upon whites is a disgusting sight indeed.

What with all the drugs, crime, etc., they really have little or no message any longer. Blaming whites is an easy out.

[VMI70]

Sixty-three percent of jail inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 1996, up slightly from 61% in 1989.

Cut and pasted from US DoJ-Bureau of Judicial Statistics. This is the latest year for the numbers on their web site. I would make book that in the last 5 years it has not changed all that much.

FReegards,

[TexKat]

Does Mr. Ruffin's speech appear any where in it's entirity. Or do you only have bits and pieces. If its only what you have posted, then the way I take this, is that Mr. Ruffin is talking to blacks about their conduct, education, and appearance. I see nothing racist about what you have posted in quoting Mr. Ruffin. I see it as constructive criticism of the black human being.

I don't see where he is saying that the white man,put the black man in jail.

I don't see where he said the white man made the black man wear his beltless pants hanging half way off his rear. I don't see anything in what you posted quoting Mr. Ruffin that blames anyone else for anything that the black human being is going through other than the black man himself.

However, Blacks have certainly experienced torture, past and present. And likewise so have whites.

We all might just be able to do alot more for our country if we would only stop pointing fingers back and forth. How can we claim to be united, when we are constantly on the same rag over and over again.

[goldstategop]

Exactly. If I were a law-abiding black American I'd be be embarrassed for my race at this kind of shoddy argument: that being a criminal is somehow a badge of a honor, that getting put behind bars is a civil rights issue right up there with slavery. This guy should really hear himself. The racial con artists aren't really concerned with the state of black America though and the real problem it faces than with how to acquire more perks and preserve their power. And that's what this speech by the University Of North Carolina's Board Of Regents chairman one Ben Ruffin is devoted to.

[ignatz_q]

Sixty-three percent of jail inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 1996, up slightly from 61% in 1989.

Not to play devil's advocate (okay, that's a lie... I love to play devil's advocate...), but the usual charge by people like Mr. Ruffin is that blacks are disproportionately jailed for crimes over their white counterparts. So, as statisitics for backing up the original statement that blacks committed 60% of the crime, inmate population is probably not going to do the trick.

Any other suggestions?

[VMI70]

...I see nothing...

I don't see...

I don't see ...

I don't see...

Open your eyes.

FReegards,

[Jay W]

They're still victims of terrorism, primarily in Africa itself these days. Take just about any country, Liberia, Uganda, Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Zimbabwe and you will find terror galore, not to mention slavery in some of these countries.

[VMI70]

You are absolutely correct. I had a severe brain disconnect while searching for the stat. I'll get back to you if I can find the relevant one.
Sorry.

FReegards,

[onedoug]

"...blacks in America still are not completely free."

Who is? And what does that mean, anyway?

[Amerigomag]

We all might just be able to do alot more for our country if we would only stop pointing fingers back and forth

Is that something like "Why can't we all just learn to get along"?

[genefromjersey]

I think it's time to quote another black man: Thurgood Marshall . " There's no difference between white snakes and black snakes . They both bite . "

[monkeyshine]

"We didn't have all America wanting to help us out."

And you didn't have all of America wanting to help the families of those who died on 9-11, either.

Yet there were many people who fought and gave their lives to enroll black voters, enfranchise them, free them, and more. This type of speech is inflammatory and negates the efforts of those who sacrificed everything they have for the betterment of African Americans. What a shame.

[monkeyshine]

Homicide trends in the U.S. Trends by race

Racial differences exist, with blacks disproportionately represented among homicide victims and offenders

Blacks were 6 times more likely than whites to be murdered in 1999

Blacks were 7 times more likely than whites to commit homicide in 1999

The race distribution of homicide victims and offenders differs by type of homicide

For the years 1976-99 combined -

Black victims are greatly over represented in homicides involving arguments or drugs. Compared with the overall involvement of blacks as victims, blacks are less often the victims of sex-related homicides, homicide by poison and workplace killings.

Race patterns among offenders are similar to those among victims, except that black offenders are involved in a relatively large percentage of felony-murders (nearly six out of ten).

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm

[F.J. Mitchell]

Ruffin is right, Blacks have known terrorism as long as their race has existed-mostly from other blacks. Whites have known terrorism too, ever since Blacks and Whites got together and started sharing continents. Whatever one's race, if they are ever robbed, assaulted, burguralized, murdered, raped or mugged-the odds are heavy that their terrorist dejure will be Black.

Any evil done to Blacks by Whites, is microscopic in comparison to what Blacks, have, are and will ever be doing to other Blacks.

Whites, for many decades have wanted blacks to do well in school and in employment, it is other Blacks who have abused Black achievers for getting good grades and accused them of acting White.

What getting A's and B's has to do with dropping one's britches down so far, must have a meaning known only to Blacks. One thing is sure though, when the crack is visible, the britches need to be pulled up.

[Restorer]

Actually, I have seen such statistics, but darn if I remember where. I'll look around and see what I can find.

I primarily meant my post as irony.

[Michael2001]

""It is harder to stay free than it is sometimes to get free," Ruffin said. Blacks cannot be fully free, he said, "when we represent 12 percent of the population, but 50 percent of the prison inmates.""

And who's at fault for that Ruffin. Stats like that are an indictement of the black community, not the white community.