Look, you know me. I oppose both Clinton and Obama and strongly support John Edwards.
But I am sick and tired of two good Democrats and decent human beings being falsely charged with racism: Bill and Hillary Clinton are Not Racists.
Let's learn a little about John Lewis, who endorsed Hillary Clinton. He does not endorse racists.
Born in 1940 outside Troy, Alabama, Lewis grew up on his family's farm and attended segregated public schools. He was introduced to racism at an early age. In 1950 when he was ten years old he went to a library in downtown Troy to check out some books. To his disappointment, he was told by the librarian that the library was "only for whites not for blacks." At that moment, he knew something was seriously wrong and he wanted to do something about it. But little did he know that it would be many years of personal struggle and sacrifice before he would get the changes he and most African Americans desired so much. Much has changed since the 1950s. He announced that on July 5 of last year he was invited back to the library for a book signing ceremony "and they gave me a library card," which he proudly keeps in his wallet.
In December of 1955 at the age of fifteen, Lewis for the first time heard of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Rosa Parks.
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As a college student at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations in protest of segregated lunch counters in Nashville. In the fall of 1959 and the spring of 1960, black and white students under his leadership participated in sit-ins at many restaurants and lunch counters in Nashville. He recalled "while we were sitting there in an orderly, peaceful and nonviolent fashion, people would come up and put lighted cigarettes out on our hair or down our backs, pour hot coffee or hot water down our backs, or pull us off the stools." Although Lewis and other students remained peaceful and orderly during the demonstrations, they were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Following their arrests, Lewis said the sit-in movement spread across the South like a wild fire. Key leaders in the civil rights movement such as Thurgood Marshall, Daisy Bates and Roy Wilkins came to Nashville and the South to inspire Lewis and other students involved in the sit-in.
On May 1, 1961 Lewis came to Washington to take part in the freedom rides, a movement designed to test a Supreme Court decision banning segregation in interstate travel. Seven whites and six blacks participated in the rides which took them from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans. Before leaving they gathered on May 3 at a Chinese restaurant to get something to eat and Lewis recalls that one of the students remarked "...eat well because this may be like The Last Supper." During the freedom rides, Lewis and the other students were met by angry mobs in Birmingham and Montgomery where they were pulled off the bus and severely beaten. They put their lives on the line to integrate waiting rooms at bus stop in interstate travel.
In 1964, Lewis took an active role in organizing voter registration drives and community action programs during the Mississippi Freedom Summer.
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Along with fellow activist Hosea Williams, Lewis led one of the most dramatic nonviolent protest in the civil rights movement. In their quest for voting rights in the south, Lewis and Williams led 525 marchers over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. The marchers were attacked by the Alabama State Troopers and beaten so badly that the event became known as "Bloody Sunday."
Inspired by the event, two days later more than 1000 religious leaders came to Selma and marched peacefully over the same bridge. Later, Lewis along with more than 10,000 marchers returned and marched over the bridge.
A week after "Bloody Sunday," Lewis said President Lyndon Johnson spoke to a joint session of Congress and the nation. Recalling a portion of the President's speech, Lewis said he spoke from his heart in telling the American people "I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. At times history and fate meet in a single place in man's unending search for freedom. So it was more than a century ago at Lexington and Concord. So it was at Appomattox and so it was last week in Selma, Alabama. Setting with Dr. Martin Luther King while viewing the speech on television, Lewis remembered that Dr. King cried as he listened to the speech and as the President invoked over and over "We Shall Overcome."
After the speech, King turned to Lewis and said we will make it from Selma to Montgomery, a march held to focus national attention on the need for voting rights in the south. Dr. King was right. More than 25,000 black and white marchers from all over the country participated in one of the most successful demonstrations in American history. As a result, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965 striking down literacy tests and other discriminatory practices that prevented blacks and other minorities from voting in the South.
Congressman John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader
In 1986, when Fowler ran for the United States Senate, Lewis defeated fellow civil rights leader Julian Bond in the Democratic primary to succeed Fowler in the 5th District. This win was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic, majority-black 5th District. Lewis was the second African-American to represent Georgia in Congress since Reconstruction. Young was the first. Lewis has been re-elected nine times without serious opposition, often with over 70 percent of the vote. He has been unopposed for reelection since 2002.
Since 1991, Lewis has been senior chief deputy whip in the Democratic caucus
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Lewis is, according to the Associated Press, "the first major House figure to suggest impeaching George W. Bush," arguing that the president "deliberately, systematically violated the law" in authorizing the National Security Agency to conduct wiretaps without a warrant. Lewis said: "He is not King, he is president.
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"I have looked at all the candidates, and I believe that Hillary Clinton is the best prepared to lead this country at a time when we are in desperate need of strong leadership," Rep. Lewis said. "She will restore a greater sense of community in America, and reclaim our standing in the world."
"I am proud and deeply honored to have the support of John Lewis, a great American hero," Clinton said. "John helped transform this nation, and his vital role in establishing civil rights for all Americans will never be forgotten."
Rep. Lewis is a civil rights pioneer who has devoted his life to equal rights for all Americans. From his days as a Freedom Rider and the head of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, to his leadership of the "Bloody Sunday" march in Selma, Alabama, Lewis has been one of the most respected figures in the civil rights movement for four decades.
Hillary for Presdient
John Lewis does not endorse racists.
I oppose Hillary Clinton for a lot of reasons. But there comes a time, as Dr. King said, when silence is betrayal:
I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. I join with you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization which has brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: "A time comes when silence is betrayal." That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.
Rev. Martin Luther King, 4 April 1967
I will not stand silent while two good Democrats who have fought their entire lives against racism and for justice are smeared as racists.
And I still support John Edwards and oppose Senator Clinton and will do all I can to elect John Edwards instead of her or Barack Obama. But I will not be silent.