newsobserver.com projects - John Hope Franklin - Comments

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

BothSidesNow — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:27:31 -0400

I didn't agree with many of Clinton's policies, but some of these comments are nonsense. What the President did was commendable and these kids will remember it forever.

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

Gosh — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:50:08 -0400

Submitted by mike27513 on June 11, 2009 - 3:47pm.

Just what we need - A Disgraced Impeached Failed Ex-President in the Triangle.

Somehow, I bet he's still more popular in the world than you are in your apartment complex Mike.

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

mike27513 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:47:10 -0400

Just what we need - A Disgraced Impeached Failed Ex-President in the Triangle.

Kind of complements the NC State Democrat crooks : Ex -Gov Easley, Mary, NCSU hacks on the verge of being fired.

Don't we just love the cult of personality.

He's a GREAT role model!

Re: Clinton forgets credit card

fhblack — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:46:07 -0400

Slow news day, huh?

Re: Clinton forgets credit card

rightwing — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:21:51 -0400

I heard Hillary put him on an allowance, but taking away his credit cards, thats just cruel. The the secret service have to pay for the lap dances at Pure Gold as well?

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

judys442 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:31:07 -0400

How nice of him to accommodate the students!

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

Gosh — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:12:35 -0400

Did he tap his foot in a Men's Room?

Not sure what you Republicans are giggling about.

If Former President Bush or Carter was in my restaurant, I'd get a photo too.

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

walshaw — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:07:24 -0400

Probably in town to advise UNC leadership on the best way to take cover!

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

henrye — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:54:57 -0400

It seems to me that Hilliray will be a candidate again in 2012,with the tradition of the Clinton loyality

Re: Clinton surprises Leesville grads

PACK_MIKE77 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:27:17 -0400

Looking for a future Monica Lewinsky?

Re: Quick Hits

cdtew — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:38:06 -0400

Has the NC 10th Amendment Bill been mentioned?

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2009&BillID=H849

Re: John Hope Franklin on Obama's win

Isaac136 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:08:17 -0500

Grayj, You're joking, right? This is you making a funny.

Ha Ha Ha. Ok, I'll play along.

EXCELLENT POINT, GrayJ! Good think you honed in on this note and highlighted the er . . . um . . WRONGNESS of Professor Franklin's statement.

I expect we'll see some magazine articles, maybe a masters thesis or two, being developed to expand upon your observation that Professor Franklin is not suited to make this observation and that the observation itself is deeply, deeply flawed.

You know, some folks might think you're a complete idiot for weighing in this way, but I, for one, want to thank you for having the guts to stand up and point out this . . . um . . .

Oh dear. I'm sorry, I forgot what you thought your point was.

Re: John Hope Franklin on Obama's win

GrayJ — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:20:22 -0500

"one of the most historic, if not the most historic moment in the history of this country"
So a History professor claims that this event has more historic significance than the Declaration of Independence, the signing of the Bill of Rights, the Civil War, abolition of slavery, Pearl Harbor, dropping of the atomic bomb, Vietnam war, 9/11.

Sure this is historically significant, but I think a History professor (not to mention a Eminent Historian) must look at this event objectively. Maybe a Sociology or African American Studies professor could claim this, but I don't see how a historian could claim this to be the most historic moment in our nation's long and rich history.

Re: John Hope Franklin's childhood game

Proctor — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:24:16 -0400

John Hope Franklin is to civil rights what Mozart is to classical music: he just sounds so up-to-date, relevant and contemporary.

In the beginning of his academic journey through North Carolina and the South in the 1930s and 1940s, Dr. Franklin followed a course of a scholastic character which would parallel the journey of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the arena of political and theological activity in the 1950s and 1960s: both successfully challenged the American system of education, government and justice to make good on its fundamental core promises and commitments to all of the country's people.

In Dr. Franklin's case, among other "in-the-field" achievements, he let the administrators of North Carolina's Department of Archives and History know politely but firmly that even in a time of segregation, he needed and expected full access to all historical records and source materials pertinent to his thorough research as an academic historian. Just by going about his work as a young historian in a conscientious and determined manner, he became a catalyst for the movement toward equality in public education by the very nature of the actual day-to-day scholarly investigations which were necessary for his academic missions ranging from extended historical research to teaching and writing.

When one views the impressive accumulation of his books and other scholarly and historical writings and publications, one can see that John Hope Franklin, while he didn't advocate "putting the cart before the horse," still wanted to make sure that the horse didn't go galloping on down the road without the cart appropriately hitched up. He wasn't about to acquiesce in seeing the state government and education establishment of North Carolina or any other in the Union simply head off to some remote corner or faraway destination while leaving the public behind--the very people who as citizens are to be served by government and education in this country.

So from Dr. Franklin's life and work emerges an inspiring example of both idealism and workmanship as the mechanic might view it for visionary political leaders to emulate, and here this writer's own interpretation may not be quite satisfactory to the views of some advocates of "change": at some point, you have to try to make our own legal and constitutional system of American republican democracy work more equitably and effectively, in its day-to-day operations, for all the people in this country. You can't just "detour around it" forever as "outsiders" who aren't concerned about making things work better "on the inside"--in the departments, classrooms and workplaces of government, education and employment.

Dr. Franklin could have been content to write his books and see them distributed only to the perimeters of American society as they were delineated in the first two thirds of the 20th Century. But he wouldn't settle for that because, like John Adams at the dawning of the American Revolution, Franklin saw the very idea and understanding of a constitutionally and legally integrated Nation as an important objective and result to be pursued even before the actual process had even been played out "in the field" and on the stage of U.S. jurisprudence, higher education and federal-state governmental relations.

Look at the most recent years of Dr. Franklin's life and career as a working historian, and you see the abundance of academic rewards and acclaim justly bestowed upon a highly respected teacher and author for great works and accomplishments. But look at the way in which John Hope Franklin prompted and when necessary cajoled the gatekeepers of government and education to "open wide the doors" to equality of opportunity, as the Rev. Jesse Jackson phrased it in his presidential campaigns in the 1980s, and you will see the true path of the reformer and the advocate for justice for all, for this quest was indispensable to his daily working life as an academic historian.

So the challenge of matching up the loftier philosophicals goals and even dreams of social, economic and educational opportunity with the actual personal and occupational exigencies of day-to-day working life for the American people remains a challenging endeavor worthy of the best talents and abilities of those who seek to lead this country. Those who are designing and testing political campaign vehicles for realizing these objectives would do well to glance in John Hope Franklin's direction because after winning his race one lap at a time, he has already reached a fitting and well-earned parking spot right on Victory Lane.

David Proctor McKnight

Re: John Hope Franklin backs Obama

FFC1304 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:41:14 -0400

This is ALL BULL shite!

Franklin supports a mooslim racist for Presidunce and a scummy trial loiwyer for Lt. Gov...Who CARES WHAT he thinks?

WE DONT NEED EITHER ONE!!! EVER!