JCB, This is my last response in this thread, I'll be away from the board for a while. After the holiday I'll be in Honduras for a week, so with a few parting shots I agree to disagree for now.

Terms like 'systemic barrier' annoy the daylights out of me. Nice and vague, bet it's hard to come up with concrete examples. Don's example sounds more like the kind of barrier you find these days.

The whites in Mr. Wright's church are probably in there to apologize for being white. Maybe instead of an offering, they get charged a reparation fee. Too bad it's way up there in Chicago, or I'd stop by and bask in the love.

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Really? Tell me more about this church I know intimately and you know nothing about. My source is an uncle who goes there and told me of a black couple being told, after the service, that there was a church "that would be more to their liking" in a different part of town. Don't try to split hairs. Try to remember that.
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First it's churches across MS (downright systemic), now it's only one you know about. Instead of cross burning thugs, somebody made a nasty comment to a black couple, so now black people aren't allowed to attend this church. Right. Good example. Horrifying. Think the whites ever hear any nasty comments in Mr. Wright's church? Funny how you make this church in MS big and bad, but Mr Wright's is just some obscure little church with a small following.

Don't tell me not to split hairs, then split hairs yourself, it makes it too easy for me. Try hard to remember that.

Maybe when you get a chance you could tell me exactly how we address the prevalent white racism problem you say exists in America. We already have anti discrimination laws out the wazoo, what's the next step? Make it law that people have to like each other? Force people to attend systemic barrier training? Revoke the citizenship of every white person living south of the Mason/Dixon line? Make saying the N word a felony unless you're black? Elect Obama?

BTW, I got shut out on Barren yesterday afternoon, and y'all all sound like "typical white people" to me.