Plates for Forrest

I came across the article "The South lost-get over it" , its about Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest founded the Ku Klux Klan, prior to The Civil War he was a wealthy cotton planter and a slave trader. The state of Mississippi is considering to honor Forrest with a vanity plate, the request was made by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The author of the article feels Forrest is unworthy of honor due to all the violence towards blacks. He also feels that the South fought The Civil War in defense of slavery and racism and that they need to accept that they lost the war and wants them to stop trying to hold on to it. "It did so first through the expedient of lynch mob violence and Jim Crow laws. Now it clings to discredited 19th century symbols like driftwood, obsessively reworks history trying to make the facts other than what they are." I researched the author of the article Leonard Pitts Jr., he works for the Miami Hearld, is a best selling author and has won a Pulitzer Prize. One of his books is "Becoming Dad, Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood. Mr. Pitts is also black, he recently spoke on February 17th at ongoing tribute to Black History Month "he called for self-examination and critical reasoning about society and race in his lecture titled "The Water in the Glass." After learning a bit of Mr. Pitts, I believe he is well credited in what he speaks of. 

As I was reading the article I understood where Pitts was coming from and completely saw his point how can you "honor" a man who was slave trader and formed a vigilante group whose goal was to harm black people, people who had families who were some one's dad, mom, child just because they were black. I myself do not get how you can hate someone simply because of their race. I also think that when Mr. Pitts says for the South to "get over it", it is hard for them not because of race but due to economics. The Civil War ended slavery yes, but it also killed Forrest's and the South's source of money. Forrest was a cotton planter, slaves were the fuel of his business and as a slave trader, slaves were his business. I don't approve of slavery but place yourself in Forrest's shoes slavery was the norm  it was around before he was born so its what he knew to be okay. The Civil War was fought because  the country's decisions were in favor of the industrial  growth of the North and was not considering the South. Losing the war and their main economic resource was a blow to the South. I am sure the South wouldn't be as poor now had The Civil War turned out differently. I don't think Mr. Pitts would like it if someone said to him "So we had blacks as slaves 150 years ago- get over it" I agree there shouldn't be vanity plates of Nathan Bedford Forrest, he is the founder of a group who have made violent acts towards people. The Civil War and the aftermath the South faced was not all racial it was also economical and i think the South is still enduring the economical fall out of The Civil War.

Mexico's Drug War..America's Guns

There is a proposal for 4 Southwest states to require gun sellers to report any multiple purchases of semiautomatic riffles and other long arms. Currently dealers are required to report when an individual buys 2 or more handguns with in a 5 day period. Mexico's Ambassador to the U.S wants our help to stop the flow of gun trafficking to Mexico. When the arms reach the hands of the drug cartels many lives are loss. Just this week three teenagers were caught in a gunfire while car shopping.

The bodies of two young boys lie next to cars at the site where three teenage boys were shot to death outside of a car dealership.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), an arm of the Justice Department were trying to have this proposal go into effect January 5, but after lobbying campaign by the National Rifle Association, White House budget officials decided to postpone this rule 2 more months. ATF had tried to adopt the rule under a provision of federal rules that allows for expedited procedures in the case of an “emergency.” According to the White House emeregency refers to things like natural disasters, not drug violence. Chris W. Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, in an email, had this to say “Had this measure gone into effect, it would have resulted in a registry of law-abiding gun owners and it would also have placed unnecessary burdens on law-abiding firearms retailers.” Reporting a person's multiple purchase of long rifle could make it easier to find gun traffickers and save lives. The rule isn't thrown out the window but just might take more months to go in effect.

 On Jan 25, in Phoenix 20 people were indicted who were apart of a ring whose goal was to smuggle 700 guns to Mexico for use by drug cartels.

 It is U.S guns being used to kill  in the drug war of Mexico. Though we aren't the ones pulling the trigger it is our weapons being used.Its important for people to read this because Mexico is our neighbor and thousands of people are dying. Men,women and children, many innocent. By pushing to put this rule into effect we can help reduce Mexico's fatal violence and maybe even here in America. 34,000 people have been killed in the cartel drug war over the past several years , but if we take into consideration the unreported deaths, the fatalities would be much higher. 

Mexican police stand near a skull discovered in what is thought to be a large grave in the desert containing the remains of victims of recent drug violence

If we Americans have a way to help this problem on our side of the border by simpling reporting the multiple rifle purchases, why is there delay and even a question whether we should do it. 


original article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41495274/ns/us_news-security/