A moving story about a repentant former Klan member who attacked Congressman John Lewis nearly half a decade ago. They came together in Washington to bind the wounds created by the irrational bigotry that prevailed not that long ago.
westysays...

what a retard exploited by bigotry and recisum only to then be exploited by religion. what a fool a foolish fool at least he is no longer a racist fool. well actual probably is still a racist but not to black people.

Aniatariosays...

I respectfully disagree Westy, this man's bigotry was probably a result of indoctrination and outside influences during his upbringing and early adult life. What he partook in was the norm for his time. it takes a great deal of courage to owe up to ones mistakes and to ask forgiveness for ones tresspasses.

As for being exploited by Relgion, I really don't see it that way. I've seen plenty of people find peace in their lives due to the comfort and security of the Church. Religion played a major role in the fall of segregation and racism in America, lets not forget that Dr. Martin Luther himself lead his movement with religious influences, he was a Baptist minister afterall.

8972says...

It must take a lot out of a person to harbor hatred. I would not credit religion for this mans coming to terms with what is/should be an obvious realization, and that is that people are PEOPLE, regardless of their ethnic background. It must be a tremendous burden to let go of, and for that, I applaud him. May this be an example to those who still hold hatred in their hearts.

videosiftbannedmesays...

>> ^Aniatario:
I respectfully disagree Westy, this man's bigotry was probably a result of indoctrination and outside influences during his upbringing and early adult life. What he partook in was the norm for his time. it takes a great deal of courage to owe up to ones mistakes and to ask forgiveness for ones tresspasses.


QFT

10362says...

religion didn't play a major role in the fall of segregation at all, it was the changing of peoples mindsets and therefore a complete shift in the zeitgeist that brought down the fall. martin luther just happened to be a bible basher. i bet there is not a shred of evidence linking actual organised religion and the bible, to the downfall of segregation.
he lead the movement with religious influences, but peoples minds were changed because their conciousness was raised on how ridiculous segregation was.

also this guys reason is shit, being scared to go to hell, so thats why hes not a racist? well, that's not a good reason to not do something. if that's his reason, he clearly still doesn't know then why its ACTUALLY bad to be a racist and why its wrong on so many levels.

also, he says 'i didn't vote for obama, but i'm happy he's there'.
well......he obviously isn't, because he didn't vote for him.


he shouldn't be applauded at all - a satisfactory ending to this video should have been that that john lewis bloke got to beat HIM up. Then they would have been even, he would have got a taste of what it's like to be on the receiving end.



this man is clearly very simple and swayed by simple things. He was obviously a natural idiot in the first place to be a racist, there was of course a large minority of people back in the 1960's who weren't racist, just like there are a large minority of atheists in america today, so you can't blame it on 'lack of knowledge'.
he is also clearly influenced by ideology, unable to change his points of view due to his own retardness, voting for mccain instead of obama - judging by his accent he's probably from the southern republican states. if you had any common sense at all you'd have voted for obama in the election. (unless you were rich and greedy in which case you had good reason to vote for mccain - this guy is, i presume, in neither of these catergories)

in conclusion this guy is an idiot and should be shot.

gwiz665says...

People change their minds, people owning up to their actions have my respect. Realizing that something you did was wrong is a good thing, because you've grown as a person.

Going from wrong to wrong is just too bad, but still religion is better than hatred (even if there often is an overlap).

Aniatariosays...

Not a shred of evidence? Come now, Dr, Martin Luther referenced to religion countless times in his speeches. His very style of public-speaking was reminiscent of any baptist minister's sermon. In fact, King's dedication to non-violent resistance was due to the influence of another extremely religious figure, Mahatma Ghandi.

Like it or not King appealed to several popular teachings and values which can be attributed to religion. Both Hindu and Christian infact. I'm not saying religion was the sole purpose behind the downfall of segregation but it certainly played its part.

As for the former KKK member, to be honest I saw genuine sympathy behind the man's eyes, not fear. If it's not enough for a former white supremacist to publicly apologize on national TV and hug a black man whom he formerly assaulted then I honestly have no idea what is.

siftbotsays...

Tags for this video have been changed from 'kkk, racist, civil rights, police, john lewis' to 'kkk, racist, civil rights, police, john lewis, protests, usa, mlk, 60s, 00s, reunion' - edited by Eklek

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