Selma Times-Journal

Posted on July 22 at 4:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Mr. Duke has it all wrong. People are not against the work of moving Selma forward toward a 'beloved community'. We are just against an outside organization coming into our community and continually putting us down. I will be the first to admit that Selma has its problems, what community doesn't? But in Selma we are a stubborn and proud community and do not take kindly to outsiders in any capacity - especially ones who continually put us down and tell us we are racists.

The Topix site does not promote "hate" as Mr. Duke claims. Inquiring minds want to know. The Freedom Foundation entered into Selma under the guise of being open as well as wanting to help Selma or as Mr. Duke has stated, "Save Selma". Selma may not have the greatest race relations, but as someone who has lived in this community my entire life, relations with any Selmian is becoming strained - due in large part to Mr. Duke and the Freedom Foundation.

I am not posting this from hate, but out of observance. Churches, Civic organizations, groups and schools have all become divided in recent months. Because of this problem, people have taken to the internet to ask questions about this organization. I believe they have every right to ask such questions. As with any site on the internet, there are some questionable posts, but to refer to the informative site as "hate speech" is something I cannot agree with or stand behind.

By this logic, then all internet sites, message boards, and forums are hate speech. There is always one bad apple who will come along and spoil the bunch. But to take the steps to harass and try and shut down the site is pure wrong. I do know for a fact that many of the members of the Freedom Foundation come from a Marketing background. I am assuming that at some point during their education they learned about the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech. People have the right to say how they feel openly without having to deal with persecution. No one on the website has openly come out with threats, but yet people are continually being harrassed about their posting and some are even threatened with legal action.

Since when is speaking your mind a criminal act. I don't like onions. I think they smell horrible and make your breath smell worse. I am concerned about my friends who eat onions. I am scared that they could potentially get sick from the onions. Onions like to take over the flavor of certain foods. My comments on onions are no different than those made about the Freedom Foundation on the Topix forum. Now should I be sued by onion farmers for expressing my opinion?

On SCLC and The Freedom Foundation join forces