‘Commentary’ Archives
The Fateful Day in Duluth: June 15, 1920
BY HOWARD McQUITTER II On June 15th, 1920, three young African American boys””Elias Clayton, 19 years old; Elmer Jackson, 19 years old; Isaac McGhie, 20 years old””working for the John Robinson Circus were lynched by a white mob. Postcard of the 1920 Duluth lynching: Two of the victims are still hanging while the third is laid on the ground. Photo: Wikipedia False accusations of rape of a white woman of nineteen years old by six African American men spread throughout Duluth. Although a physician found no physical evidence of rape, it didn”™t matter because the white mob (estimated between 10 and 15 thousand) was determined to lynch the three boys already in jail. The mob was able to break into and nab Clayton, Jackson, and McGhie and the mob tried to break into a more fortified part of the jail where more Black men were jailed, but were not successful. While the mob was in a frenzy, other African Americans who unfortunately may have been in the way [...]
Movie Corner: “Lord of the Flies” (1990)
By HOWARD McQUITTER II Did you ever wonder what you would do if you had to fend for yourself after a holocaust and the survivors around you, whether you know them or not, are strangers? Similar to that question is what”™s going on today with the pandemic coronavirus where “normal” human encounters are truncated as if in clouds of uncertainty---social distancing, wearing masks, sometimes wearing gloves, confining ourselves to home or apartment, maybe daily watching the dreary stories of Covid cases and deaths on CNN. In these times where coronavirus faces you in its unseen and mysterious form wondering if that sneeze near you will infect you or the doctor or nurse hands on patients with coronavirus may turn up postive. In “Lord of the Flies,” schoolboys escape a place crash in the ocean making it to an island. Ralph (Balthazar Getty) quickly goes into survivor mode by giving each boy an assignment. Shortly after each boy is assigned a duty, a [...]
Something I Said: Corona Crisis Increasing Domestic Abuse
By DWIGHT HOBBES Remembering: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz didn”™t grant license to physically, emotionally and mentally terrorize, issuing the order to stay home when you don”™t have to be outdoors. Cowards, of course, consider this a gift dropped in their laps and, accordingly, the National Domestic Violence Hotline logged no less than 951 calls for help between March 10 and 24 alone. Close quarters, it goes without saying, contribute to conflict in normal circumstances. People simply get on one another”™s nerves when they”™ve been cooped up too long. Crazy as true love can get, reasonably sane couples manage to drive each other nuts and not come to blows. It”™s not even a strange idea that this widespread disaster might make them all the more mindful of how rare strong, healthy relationship is. It is not, by any means, a time to drag out a knee-jerk think-tank rationalization regularly leaned on to clinically assess [...]
