The company is just getting too damn BIG* in my view….
“If you’re Amazon, the perspective is what’s the potential for Prime membership, what is the potential for advertising,” said Brian Yarbrough, a senior analyst at Edward Jones.
In addition to paying Amazon $119 a year or $13 a month for free shipping and other perks — notably access to the Prime Video streaming service — households with Prime memberships typically spend $3,000 a year on Amazon. That is more than twice what households without the membership spend, according to Morgan Stanley. About 200 million people pay for Prime memberships.
“As Prime Video turns 10, over 175 million Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the past year, and streaming hours are up more than 70 percent year over year,” Mr. Bezos said last month when Amazon reported quarterly earnings.
In buying MGM, Amazon is bolstering Prime Video at a time when the biggest old-line studios are becoming less willing to license their libraries to outside streaming services; Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Pictures must now supply corporate siblings like HBO Max, Disney+ and Paramount+….
…
Completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approval. On Wednesday, Representative Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado and a senior member of the House antitrust subcommittee, said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” by the acquisition and noted Amazon’s pandemic-fueled growth spurt.
Completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approval. On Wednesday, Representative Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado and a senior member of the House antitrust subcommittee, said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” by the acquisition and noted Amazon’s pandemic-fueled growth spurt….
*Amazon.com, Inc. (/ˈæməzɒn/ AM-ə-zon) is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It is one of the Big Five companies in the U.S. information technology industry, along with Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. The company has been referred to as “one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world”, as well as the world’s most valuable brand.
….
Amazon is known for its disruption of well-established industries through technological innovation and mass scale. It is the world’s largest online marketplace, AI assistant provider, live-streaming platform and cloud computing platform as measured by revenue and market capitalization. Amazon is the largest Internet company by revenue in the world. It is the second largest private employer in the United States and one of the world’s most valuable companies. As of 2020, Amazon has the highest global brand valuation.…
image….LogoMyWay
jamesb says
New Open Thread is HERE!
Keith says
At least 20 Republican Senators refused to meet with Capitol Hill Officer Brian Sicknick’s mother. He died trying to defend them and they couldn’t even see her.
Cowards!
jamesb says
Indeed…….
The dept has seen a double digit increase in departures….
Not a good feeling to know the people who pay your salary don’t give a shit about U….
And worst?
Don’t have ur back when u saved their asses…
My Name Is Jack says
According to his girlfriend,Sicknick was a Republican who voted for Trump.
Not only was she upset by the Republicans lack of action,she was also upset that His family never heard from Trump.
jamesb says
I’ve been saying here repeatedly
THE GUY IS ONE WAY……
You kiss HIS ASS…..
He takes your money and he keeps walking
Leaving a trail of shit in his wake…
My Name Is Jack says
I’m unaware of anyone here who disagrees with that.
jamesb says
No kool-aid drinkers here
jamesb says
Nevada to Offer Public Option for Health Insurance
Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Nevada looks set to become the second state in the nation to enact a ‘public option’ health insurance plan after Gov. Steve Sisolak said he intends to put his signature to state Democrats’ signature health care legislation.”
jamesb says
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced his candidacy for Texas attorney general on Wednesday….
Link…
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Stepping behind the celebrated lectern of Ted Cruz and Ken Paxson.
jamesb says
Morning people….
My Name Is Jack says
ExconMobil shareholders ,in a rebuke to CEO Darren Woods, have elected two independent climate activists to the company Board .Shardholders were expressing their upset over the company’s addressing climate change issues and its lagging economic performance.
jamesb says
How many board members all together?
jamesb says
Answer to my Exxon/Mobil Board question…
12….
So all the noise is about only 2?
Zreebs says
Two is actually a lot. I would suspect that most Corporate boards don’t have ANY self-declared activists on the Board. And the Board shouldn’t require an activist on it to address environmental or social issues because doing so is good business sense as both employees and the public at large care about these issues, and so it shouldn’t need an activist.
Anyway, congrats to ExxonMobile. The future of energy is not fossil fuels, and so of course a board of an energy company should be looking to the future. They were neglecting their duty if they weren’t doing so.
My Name Is Jack says
James is a big supporter of the oil companies and his motto is essentially,
“Drill,drill,drill.”
He pays lip service to climate change problems but then opposes any positive effort to alleviate the problem.
All the business sites see this as a major setback for the old guard at ExconMobil, the type of corporate shills that James supports(he,in the past, has referred to such as “talent”).However ,what do these sites know?They need to join the hundreds here who daily seek out the business acumen of a self described keen observer of the political world who Im sure he would tell you he his hands similarly on the pulse of corporate America.
All in all in this as so many other matters he takes a very Republican like attitude ,while incongruously calling them all sorts of names here.No surprise to me I might add .
Zreebs says
drill drill drill sounds like a variation of Michael Steele’s Drill baby drill theme at the 2008 GOP Convention
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Two is actually a much better number than one, once you think about it. For example, if they agree, then the activists know that they can get at least one second for their motions, which the others then have to discuss even if they reject them.
jamesb says
He, he, he…..
Hey Jack?
BP IS STILL in business, Right?
jamesb says
Morning People….
jamesb says
Those retirement funds still paying if they have that stock?
jamesb says
Z?
If you think Oil companies and Countries are NOT gonna put up a fight going forward you ARE dreaming….
There is gonna be a place for fossil fuels , including coal for a long…LONG time….
I have solar panels on my home….
They are gonna put wind farms off of Long Island…
But this things are just small steps…..
jamesb says
Garcetti to Be Ambassador to India
President Biden will nominate Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) as U.S. ambassador to India, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Politicalwire
Zreebs says
Oil companies are now investing in developingalternative sources of energy on their own because it doesn’t take a futurist to recognize what is happening to the planet now, and what the effect of geopolitical forces will result in.
Democratic Socialist Dave says
No point in being the next Kodak, Polaroid or Smith-Corona.
jamesb says
Which is what they should be doing agree Z….
Zreebs says
You are likely all going to be jealous, but I will be vacationing this long holiday weekend in Dubuque Iowa.
jamesb says
🙄
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Funny, Zreebs, but when two DSA members were competing for the same seat on the Providence City Council, I remarked that an old-fashioned democratic-centralist Bolshevik party (e.g. the CPUSA or the SWP) would never allow such wasteful and destructive competition, but tell each comrade without the possibility of refusal which (different) seat to contest, just as “if the Party tells you that it needs you to drop everything to be a carpenter in Dubuque, then without the slightest hesitation, you’ll be a carpenter in Dubuque.”
Also reminds me of when a drinking buddy of mine who worked for the Republican governor of Rhode Island (Lincoln Almond) had to attend an out-of-town conference in mid-August, he had to visit balmy St. Louis. But then Scott can tell us whether August in St Louis is in fact as unbearable as August in Washington, DC, Chicago or southern New England.
Zreebs says
My f
Zreebs says
My first vacation day in Dubuque was a little bit of a disappointment. Lots of rain. Mostly just relaxed in the Jacuzzi and indoor pool. Tomorrow the real fun starts. Hopefully Dubuque will prove to be vacation that matches its reputation. Still it is hard to imagine that this will be a weekend trip to remember for my lifetime. Going to the aquarium tomorrow morning.
jamesb says
Morning people….
I ‘ve been busy….
We have some of that rain Z….
Supposed to be around for the entire weekend…..
Zreebs says
Finished my extended weekend in Dubuque, but I had to go to the emergency room when I got back. They discovered a tumor on my brain, and I am having it removed tomorrow.. I’ll Learn more tomorrow.
jamesb says
Damn!
Wishing U the Best!
Good Luck
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Very sorry to hear that, Zreebs. Hope things turn out for the best.
[And don’t blame hanging around with us for causing any brain problems. ;–).]
Zreebs says
Thank you for your best wishes. Of course, none of you can be blamed for any physical health issue I might have A couple of you may contribute to mental stress, but that is a decision I knowingly make wheneverI post or respond to a post,so I have to accept the consequences and I can’t and won’t blame any of you – including the person I would be most tempted to blame! I wonder whom that would be?
Scott P says
Best wishes Zreebs
My Name Is Jack says
Hope things turn out ok.
Zreebs says
Well if I start making posts that are even less coherent than my prior posts, you can assume that things didn’t turn out that well! Hopefully, I won’t need chemo, but it is very possible.
jamesb says
Lets be hopeful and have ‘faith’ in GOOD NEWS for ya Z…..
Zreebs says
Thanks James.
jamesb says
Nothing wrong with thinking positive!
CG says
Best wishes.
My Name Is Jack says
Dr. Anthony Fauci has long been the target of the Trump Republicans for no particular rational reason except this weird hatred they reserve for certain people.
Now he has a new antagonist,the Chinese government,angered over his support for investigating whether Covid escaped from a Chinese lab in Wuhan.
Whatever reservations I have about Fauci are far outweighed by the old axiom,you can know a man by his enemies.
Anyone who can excite the wrath of the Republican Party and China?Cant be too bad!
jamesb says
He has a security detail for a while
His family also….
He may be over exposed….
But he has done the country a pretty damn good favor….
Zreebs says
A lifetime of providing service
jamesb says
Yup…..
jamesb says
Josh Lederman
@JoshNBCNews
.
@NBCNews
confirms the following Biden picks for US ambassadors:
– Rahm Emanuel to Japan
– Eric Garcetti to India
– Nicholas Burns to China
– Tom Nides to Israel
Reporting with
@carolelee
@albamonica
@kwelkernbc
(Link)
jamesb says
Morning All….
jamesb says
If i’m reading it right?
Netanyahu is out…..?
Democratic Socialist Dave says
…QAnon, an outlandish and ever-evolving conspiracy theory spread by some of Trump’s most ardent followers, has significant traction with a segment of the public — particularly Republicans and Americans who consume news from far-right sources.
Those are the findings of a poll released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core, which found that 15% of Americans say they think that the levers of power are controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles, a core belief of QAnon supporters. The same share said it was true that “American patriots may have to resort to violence” to depose the pedophiles and restore the country’s rightful order.
And fully 20% of respondents said that they thought a biblical-scale storm would soon sweep away these evil elites and “restore the rightful leaders.”
“These are words I never thought I would write into a poll question, or have the need to, but here we are,” Robby Jones, founder of PRRI, said in an interview.
The teams behind the poll determined that 14% of Americans fall into the category of “QAnon believers,” composed of those who agreed with the statements in all three questions. Among Republicans only, that rises to roughly 1 in 4. (Twelve percent of independents and 7% of Democrats were categorized as QAnon believers.)
But the analysts went a level further: They created a category labeled “QAnon doubters” to include respondents who had said they “mostly disagreed” with the outlandish statements, but didn’t reject them outright. Another 55% of Republicans fell into this more ambivalent category.
Which means that just 1 in 5 Republicans fully rejected the premises of the QAnon conspiracy theory. For Democrats, 58% were flat-out QAnon rejecters.
Jones said he was struck by the prevalence of QAnon’s adherents. Overlaying the share of poll respondents who expressed belief in its core principles over the country’s total population, “that’s more than 30 million people,” he said.
“Thinking about QAnon, if it were a religion, it would be as big as all white evangelical Protestants, or all white mainline Protestants,” he added. “So it lines up there with a major religious group.”
He also noted the correlation between belief in QAnon’s fictions and the conviction that armed conflict would be necessary. “It’s one thing to say that most Americans laugh off these outlandish beliefs, but when you take into consideration that these beliefs are linked to a kind of apocalyptic thinking and violence, then it becomes something quite different,” he said….
https://news.yahoo.com/qanon-now-popular-u-major-121514464.html [From The New York Times]
jamesb says
Good news Z…..
Just heard from SE….
He’s doing fine….
Say’s he’s gonna try to make his way back here…..
Zreebs says
Comrade Dave and I will welcome SE’s participation in the pdog squad coalition.
jamesb says
I’ll be happy to have him back also
My Name Is Jack says
I found this interesting.According to the Quinnipiac Poll on May 2,57% believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases,while 37% believe it should be illegal in all or most cases.
The same question 17 years ago,in May,2004 found that 55% believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases ,while 40% believed it should be illegal in all or most cases.
In other words, there has been an insignificant statistical movement on the issue over the past 17 years.
My Name Is Jack says
In contrast ,legalization of Marijuana has seen a fairly dramatic change.
In the Gallup Poll in 2000,only 31% favored legalization with 64% opposing such.In October of 2020,the numbers were almost reversed with 68% favoring legalization and 32% opposed.
My Name Is Jack says
B.J Thomas ,who had many hits over a career of over 50 tears ,has passed away at the age of 78 from lung cancer
“Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”
RIP
Zreebs says
Also passing away was former Utah jazz Center Mark Eaton. A decade ago my cousin used to have a huge crush on him to the point of soliciting his autographed photo.
jamesb says
Afternoon All…..
jamesb says
It appears Bibi Netanyahu is out of a job….
jamesb says
Morning all
Democratic Socialist Dave says
The Texas Democratic leader who called Senator Tim Scott an “oreo” has resigned in response to mounting pressure from state officials on both sides of the aisle.
“I am deeply and sincerely sorry for my inappropriate and hurtful use of racist term I used to describe Sen. Tim Scott on my personal Facebook page. It was insensitive, and I have embarrassed myself and my party by its use,” Lamar County Democratic Party Chairman Gary O’Connor told the Washington Examiner Tuesday.
“As a result, I feel compelled to offer my resignation as chair of the Lamar County Democratic Party for consideration by the County Executive Committee,” O’Connor said.
After Scott delivered the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s joint address to Congress, O’Connor labeled the senator an “Oreo”, referring to a black individual who is perceived as displaying characteristics of a white person.
“I had hoped that Scott might show some common sense, but it seems clear he is little more than an oreo with no real principles,” the Texas Democrat commented….
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/texas-democrat-resigns-after-calling-tim-scott-an-oreo/
Democratic Socialist Dave says
James, your USA Today newsfeed sidebar leads more and more often to paywall-blocked stories. Maybe it’s worth considering going back to Reuters, if they don’t also have a substantial paywall.
jamesb says
Let me know about the WashPost Feed…
Democratic Socialist Dave says
All I know is that I’ve personally hit my free limit on the WashPost feed, and would have to subscribe to see any more.
[So for me, a summary of WashPost story links wouldn’t do much good. And, as you’ve no doubt found already, The Wall St. J. is ringed with firewalls.]
Perhaps the BBC or maybe the CBC might work, although U.S. politics (the central topic here) is not really their speciality.
jamesb says
Ok DSD….
I’ll try another one later
jamesb says
Afternoon all
Scott P says
Democrats win big in special Congressional election in New Mexico’s 1st district.
It’s a D+9 district. Democrat Melanie Stansbury’s victory margin is over 25 pts.
jamesb says
Pope Francis Moves to Treat Sex Abuse as a Crime
Pope Francis signed into the Code of Canon Law a clause that deals directly with sex abuse by priests — though he never actually mentions it by name, the Vatican News reports.
The AP reports this is the first time Catholic Church law has recognized how sexual predators “groom” their victims based on power imbalances to build relationships that eventually lead to sexual abuse.
Scott P says
Sen Kevin Cramer of North Dakota says he’d like to see his Republican Party “get it’s smile back”.
So you are saying screaming a lie about a stolen election, fixation on making the lives of trans people as miserable as possible and ranting about Dr. Seuss doesn’t exude happiness?
Whodathunkit??
jamesb says
Cramer?
All they gotta do is wake the fuck up?
jamesb says
Morning people….
jamesb says
F Lee Bailey has passed…
jamesb says
Former President Barack Obama believes President Biden is “finishing the job” of his administration, he revealed in a new interview.
The 44th commander-in-chief made the comments in an interview this week with “The Ezra Klein Show,” a New York Times podcast, after being asked if he believed policy could persuade people to vote differently in this politically charged era.
“I think that what we’re seeing now, is Joe and the administration are essentially finishing the job. And I think it’ll be an interesting test,” Obama explained….
More…
jamesb says
Morning All….
jamesb says
FBI starting to go after ransomeware….
FBI Director Christopher Wray in a new interview compared the national security threat posed by ransomware to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as the U.S. government and the private sector continue to grapple with a series of debilitating cyberattacks.
“There are a lot of parallels, there’s a lot of importance, and a lot of focus by us on disruption and prevention,” Wray told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. ”There’s a shared responsibility, not just across government agencies but across the private sector and even the average American.”…
More…
jamesb says
CNN Feed now DSD….
Let me know if u have any issues
jamesb says
I keep saying ‘gun control’ is just NOT AMERICAN….
Federal Judge Overturns California’s 3-Decade-Old Assault Weapons Ban
The judge said the ban was a “failed experiment.” California’s governor called the ruling “a direct threat to public safety.”
NY Times
My Name Is Jack says
Oh so now you’re claiming that all gun control measures are “not American.”
In the past you claimed to be for “some” gun control actions.
Good Republican position there James.
I always enjoy when your “inner Republican “ comes out.
jamesb says
Jack?
This country HAS a gun culture
NO ONE is gonna stop people from obtaining them
The piece above notes that stays come from gun purchases data…
That people have done….
And STILL gone ahead made their purvhasr
The judge in the above comment on ‘assault rifles’ resides Blue California…..
I could use the regional thing
But u can probably get a gun if u try in any Blue state if u look hard enough.. ..
It’s just who we are as a nation…..
The mass shooting are immaterial to the whole thing….
They just are part of wood work unfortunately..
My Name Is Jack says
That’s pretty much the Republican position.
Let’s hear more about your “inner Republican “ self.
Further, your hypocrisy shows again with your “unfortunately “ remark.
You in fact,enthusiastically support Guns with no restrictions whatsoever.Howevet, since most posters here do support reasonable regulations thereof?You hypocritically occasionally “act” as if you do.
Typical of the likes of you.
Keith says
I agree with Jack, our host becomes more Republican by the day.
jamesb says
NO…..
I point to the reality of some things….
And as i said ti Z?
I have ‘fairh’
BTW?
I hope Z is alright…..
jamesb says
Of course Jack reverts to the ‘Tepublican’ thing when he has trouble sometimes with the reality of certain thongs
It’s ok…
It how we roll here
My Name Is Jack says
Yes all the posters here have thorough knowledge about you and “reality.”
jamesb says
Love Ya Jack!
jamesb says
And Jack?
Speaking of the GOP?
You pay ur DNC membership annual fee?
I did…..
I would think Keith has
Anyone elsr?
Zreebs says
The tumor they removed from my brain was almost the size of an orange. The surgeon said they got over 90% of it. Now chemo and radiation therapy awaits. After the surgery I look like Frankenstein, except that the screws they put in my head are made out of titanium. I was discharged yesterday. I’m scared.
My Name Is Jack says
Sorry to hear about all this Zreebs
Try to keep positive .Know that might be difficult .
I know we will all be thinking of you and wishing you the best.
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Good luck, Zreebs, and as swift and as easy recovery as possible.
jamesb says
Ok Z……
Ur out…..
Go slow…..
Get some rest….
Smell the roses….
Bless ya
jamesb says
Hey Z?
SE wants to know if he could contact u on line….
Zreebs says
Of course he can.
jamesb says
Ok Z….
jamesb says
Morning People…..
jamesb says
It’s 93 degrees were i’m at….
jamesb says
New thread and a post on Trump’s inability to get past being a ‘loser’ later…
And of course Joe Manchin being?
Well…..
Joe Manchin!
jamesb says
Mattie Parker declared victory Saturday as the next mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, keeping it one of America’s biggest cities with a GOP mayor.
The 37-year-old Parker was in a runoff with Deborah Peoples, a former Democratic county chairwoman who would have been the city’s first Black mayor. Peoples conceded defeat as Parker had more than 53% of the vote with ballots still being counted….
More…
jamesb says
Amazon is trying to be EVERYWHERE….
Amazon’s massive cloud-computing unit is aggressively recruiting U.S. government officials as it pushes to make itself essential to branches such as the military and the intelligence community, a POLITICO analysis has found.
Since 2018, Amazon Web Services has hired at least 66 former government officials with acquisition, procurement or technology adoption experience, most hired directly away from government posts and more than half of them from the Defense Department. That’s a small portion of AWS’ tens of thousands of employees, but a particularly key group to its federal business. Other AWS hires have come from departments including Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury and Veterans Affairs….
More…
Keith says
Just saw this news.
You will beat this.
My nephew just went through the same type of operation.
It’s scary but it can be beaten.
We need you around. We
Scott P says
I can’t imagine what you are going through Zreebs–but just know we all have your back. As Keith said, it’s scary but you’ll beat it!
jamesb says
Faith and Positivity…..
Democratic Socialist Dave says
A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the Security of a free State, the Right of the people to keep and bear assault weapons shall not be infringed.
jamesb says
You got it DSD….
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Nearly 60 percent of workers in Greater Boston want their employer to require vaccinations in the workplace, according to a survey by Eagle Hill Consulting.
The survey, conducted from May 12 to May 17 and published Thursday, asked more than 530 workers across various industries about their sentiment toward COVID-19 vaccines, returning to work, and safety protocols. The results show that many remain hesitant about being around co-workers after more than a year of working from home or following strict safety protocols in the workplace. Of the respondents that said they want their employer to require vaccinations, most said employees should be asked to provide proof….
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/04/business/nearly-60-percent-boston-workers-want-their-employer-require-covid-vaccinations-survey-shows/
jamesb says
Gonna be tough going back to ‘normal’ DSD….
Democratic Socialist Dave says
A Veteran Tried to Credit Black Americans on Memorial Day. His Mic Got Muted.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter was speaking at an American Legion service in Hudson, Ohio, on Monday when he was intentionally silenced.
By Neil Vigdor
The New York Times
June 3, 2021
A little more than four minutes into Barnard Kemter’s speech at a Memorial Day service organized by the American Legion post in Hudson, Ohio, an unusual thing happened: His microphone was silenced.
Mr. Kemter, 77, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served in the Persian Gulf war, had been crediting formerly enslaved Black Americans with being among the first to pay tribute to the nation’s fallen soldiers after the Civil War when his audio cut out on Monday.
Soon after, he said in an interview on Thursday, he learned that he had been intentionally muted by the event’s organizers, who disapproved of his message.
“Like anyone else, I figured it was a technical difficulty,” said Mr. Kemter, who tapped the microphone to see if it was on and continued his speech to a few hundred people with his unamplified voice.
One of the organizers of the event, James Garrison, resigned as a post officer, the commander of the American Legion Department of Ohio, Roger Friend, said in a statement on Facebook on Friday.
The statement added that the Hudson American Legion post had been suspended, pending its permanent closure.
“The American Legion Department of Ohio does not hold space for members, veterans, or families of veterans who believe that censoring Black history is acceptable behavior,” the statement said….
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/us/american-legion-ohio-mic-cut-speech.html
¶ This is the part of Lt. Col. Kemter’s speech that was cut off by one of the organizers (now resigned) after the audio engineer refused to do so:
Several towns and cities across America claim to have observed their own earlier versions of Memorial Day or ‘Decoration Day’ as early as 1866. (The earlier name is derived from the fact that decorating graves was and remains a central activity of Memorial Day.) But it wasn’t until a remarkable discovery in a dusty Harvard University archive [in] the late 1990s that historians learned about a Memorial Day commemoration organized by a group of freed black slaves less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865.
But in recent years the origins of how and where Decoration Day began has sparked lively debate among historians, with some, including Yale historian David Blight, asserting the holiday is rooted in a moving ceremony held by freed slaves on May 1, 1865, at the tattered remnants of a Confederate prison camp at Charleston’s Washington Race Course and Jockey Club – today known as Hampton Park. The ceremony is believed to have included a parade of as many as 10,000 people, including 3,000 Black schoolchildren singing the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body’ while carrying armfuls of flowers to decorate the graves.
More importantly than whether Charleston’s Decoration Day was the first, is the attention Charleston’s Black community paid to the nearly 260 Union troops who died at the site. For two weeks prior to the ceremony, former slaves and Black workmen exhumed the soldiers’ remains from a hastily dug mass grave behind the racetrack’s grandstand and gave each soldier a proper burial. They also constructed a fence to protect the site with an archway at the entrance that read “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
The dead prisoners of war at the racetrack must have seemed especially worthy of honor to the former slaves. Just as the former slaves had, the dead prisoners had suffered imprisonment and mistreatment while held captive by white southerners.
Not surprisingly, many white southerners who had supported the Confederacy, including a large swath of white Charlestonians, did not feel compelled to spend a day decorating the graves of their former enemies. It was often the African American southerners who perpetuated the holiday in the years immediately following the Civil War.
African Americans across the South clearly helped shape the ceremony in its early years. Without African Americans, the ceremonies would have had far fewer in attendance in many areas, thus making the holiday less significant.
My generation grew up listening to the famous radio personality Paul Harvey. Paul would say at the end of his broadcast, “And now you know the rest of the story.” And now you know the rest of the story about the origin of Memorial Day.
The Akron Beacon-Journal
jamesb says
Props to the man for not forgeting racism in America’s past..
And no matter whar Pence tries to sell?
Yes
Racism IS ALIVE and on going in this country
His comments are part of the problem
Scott P says
Glad to hear the American Legion took action on that chapter.
I’ve volunteered at my local American Legion and it’s a very welcoming place. Of course only those who have served can be official members but their events have always been open to all in our diverse community.
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Jack, was it big news in your home town of Charleston when it was learned that she was the site of the first Decoration Day (organized by colored troops and workmen in May 1865, between Appomattox and the last Confederate surrender)?
See above.
I noted the reference to 3,000 black schoolchildren singing “John Brown’s Body” as they carried flowers to decorate the graves of Union prisoners-of-war, since several slave states such as Georgia made it a criminal offense to teach slaves how to read and write? Black schoolchildren would have been an oxymoron.
The Lost Cause/Birth of a Nation myth (see Mitchell, Margaret and Griffith, David Wark) claimed that Negroes did no better after Emancipation than before and that Reconstruction was a tragedy for both races.
My Name Is Jack says
It has stirred interest.The local newspaper runs articles about it every Memorial Day and there is interest in including the story in the new International Museum of African American History being constructed on the waterfront.
As I understand it what happened was that after the Confederates evacuated the city ,most of the Whites left with them .The freed slaves remained and they went to the old Racetrack which the Confederates had turned into a POW camp where over 200 Union soldiers died and were dumped into a mass grave.The freedmen dug up the bodies and reinterred them in single graves near the racetrack
Around 10000 participated in the celebration supposedly.When the Whites returned the event receded into history but the story was passed down through word of mouth in the Black community and was later researched by an historian who published details of the story.
The remnants of the old racetrack survive and the area is now known as Hampton Park .Ive been the there often and have walked the old racetrack .
The bodies of the Union soldiers were later reinterred at a military cemetery in Beaufort S.C. which is on the coast about 50 miles south of Charleston.
As for Reconstruction?It was no more corrupt than S.C. government before or after.It should have lasted another 20 years or so.
jamesb says
Morning everybody…..
jamesb says
SE says Hi
He’s teal busy , but hopes to get bak here for a bit…..
He joins us in wishing the best for Z.,,.
Democratic Socialist Dave says
What Amazon Web Services is doing — hiring or contracting with former federal employees — has been standard practice for defense contractors for decades.
This also holds out promise to current military and civilian employees that they might have a comfortable or interesting job waiting once they leave federal service (sometimes starting after a compulsory, conflict-of-interest, pause of two years or five years). Senior military officers can be especially anxious about this when facing a 20-year limit on their military careers.
James knows better than I how many wasteful and inoperable defense projects have magically received DoD approval or survived DoD audits.
jamesb says
True…..
My worry is that Amazon Is getting too damn BIG…..
Most people do NOT know that Amazon has sever contacts with the government….
They don’t just do package deliveries….