JAMES MADISON QUOTE - 1822

"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."

SCOTTSBORO WEATHER - SUN & MOON RISE

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Shh, We Have Secrets, and if you discuss them we will censor you and ban you from further posting.

 
Censorship of Scottsboro historical information by Scottsboro Face Book Groups, where the name of Scottsboro is utilized and information concerning race relations and questions about public involvement have been posted, then censored, along with the removal of participation in the groups.
 
Pupose of my involvement on the Scottsboro Face Book sites described: 1) To determine the site's purpose and affect on the City of Scottsboro and assess racial attitudes toward minorities, people of color and the poor in Scottsboro, Alabama. 2) To determine the purpose of the Revive Scottsboro site and discover if the City of Scottsboro is involved, who is involved and exactly what are they attempting to revive in Scottsboro.
 
The following stories of historical facts were posted, the end result was censorship and banning of the writer, me, from two sites which pertain to Scottsboro, Alabama and where the political entity's name is utilized.
 
"You know you are from the 'boro, If you remember..."Hugh Otis shooting people because of the color of their skin.  
 
The "two sides of the track" - White Wash Story.
 
Scottsboro Boys Museum opening.
 
Head knocked off of "Old Hickory" on the square by drunk woman, discovered statue made from cement and chicken wire .
 
The study of history and learning from its mistakes.
 
 While posting the above articles I was massively, verbally attacked by site members in what can be called a mob mentality of delusion and hatred, in my opinion as a Department of Defense Race Relation Equal Opportunity Specialist, Retired. 
 
The Story: Censors of local history close ranks and public input on Face Book (FB) Scottsboro History site. Examples: "You know you are from the 'boro, If you remember..." 1) August 16, 2014 Pat Patterson -group administrator - "If you're from Scottsboro, here's a place to see who remembers what... from back in the day. This is intended to be a nostalgic page to allow folks to reminisce. Please, keep it light. No advertising of any kind, no political or religious discussion. Not looking for controversy or debate. Basically, just play nice. This is not intended to be a "historical" account or record. Enjoy!" 2) Pat Patterson, group administrator changed the groups privacy settings from Public to Closed. The group header contains a picture of the old Scottsboro Freight Depot.

 UPDATE - At 12:30 PM August 16, 2014 I have been censored and blocked from the FB "You know you are from the 'boro, If you remember..." Mr. Pat Patterson, site administrator, has been given an opportunity for a press interview, he has declined. Since I have been censored, I take it my postings have also been censored-removed.



These events began with the questioning of the purpose of the "Revive Scottsboro" site and remembering of incidents concerning racial discrimination, murder and the head of Andy Jackson being knocked off by a drunk on the square; which includes the subsequent report that the statuary was intended to be constructed of stone, but it was discovered that it was concrete and chicken wire when Old Hickory was decapitated. Mrs. Ann Chambliss did not agree with the report that "Ole Hickory" was supposed to be made of stone and stated, "... the Historical Association commissioned the Chicken Wire and Cement statue as we could not afford the stone one." Others attempted to "goad" me as to my source, which I would not reveal, except to say, "they are very reliable and have posted on this site."
 
At approximately 2:30 PM today, August 16, 2014 - the site administrator of the "You know you are from the 'boro, If you remember..."  has stated he intends on closing the site. After I asked of him if my postings had been removed as I was removed from posting on the site. He said, "it takes a considerable amount of time to delete 2800 members, one at a time."

 The postings of the "Old Hickory" decapitation event, and the postings regarding historical incidents of racial discrimination and other postings relating to history which did not conform to the Face Book site members idea of history, resulted in numerous personal attacks pointed personally at me and now includes censorship and banning from the site for discussion of historical facts and asking questions about purpose of the sites.

This is not the first time personal attacks have occurred, to include threats of murder, harassing communications and terrorist threats pointed at the Scottsboro Boys Museum, stating - "We will burn it down when you get it built." These threats originated on the anonymous Al.Com Scottsboro Forum. Police reports were filed to include a visit to the District Attorney's office but no action was taken to correct the obvious criminal activity.

The problem are groups utilizing the Scottsboro name and pretending to be either a history site, or a site to "Revive Scottsboro." I was removed from the "Revive Scottsboro" site when I questioned why the city was not involved, why problem solving was not implemented for improvements, and why the group was not inclusive of all citizens. Mrs. Ann Chambliss removed me from that site after she warned, "if there was one more negative comment, you will be removed." There was also a reminder that questioning the group leadership or comments about the "Revive Scottsboro" site would not be tolerated.  The so called negative comment was, why wasn't the city of Scottsboro involved and all of the citizens, since the site involves the revival of the downtown Scottsboro area. 
 

No comments: