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Seeking repentance for lifetime of racism

post #1 of 63
4/5/09 at 3:31am
Thread Starter 
I'm more than a little mixed on this story. If I were in this man's past, I don't think I would be one of the one's to accept his apology. I may be looking at it all wrong. Maybe it's because he reminds me of distant relatives I never visit and would just like to forget, or maybe it's because he's the opposite of everything I've ever taken a stand on.

I don't see the courage other people seem to see. I see a man who's only courage ever was from his conviction of hate and the people who enabled him. And now, he's alone and he's scared. And I see that merely as Karma. His life was his own doing, and he isn't changing anything now for the benefit of his many victims, or mankind at all. It's yet more pure selfishness, and I just don't see it as being the responsibility of his victims to play his silly little "last minute reprieve" game.

http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/4/4/56979
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post #2 of 63
4/5/09 at 8:00am
It sounds as if he's "repenting" because he's afraid he'll burn in hell for his wrongdoing, not because he's gained any insight into the immorality of his deeds. That's analalogous to a defendant expressing remorse in the hopes of getting a lighter sentence.
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post #3 of 63
4/5/09 at 8:10am
Stories like this anger me. He should be hailed a hero by nobody. There is no need to make his terrible pointless life public.


“All I can say is that it has bothered me for years,†Wilson says. “And I found out there is no way I could be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks.â€

Clearly he is 'god-fearing' and is old and about to die. Don't make people who you tortured relive it for your own pathetic conscience. Clearly though, this man hasn't changed or he would repent in private, or in church or whatever. Not to the entire world.

‘It was sport’

This bothers me the most. Clearly if any form of cruelty is ever 'sport' to you, you were never a good person. I don't care how you were brought up or when. It's like people who get their jollys of hurting helpless animals, nothing you can do can ever make up for it. So just be quiet and don't make us think about what you did, or re-bring up the past for people you hurt for no good reason.
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post #4 of 63
4/5/09 at 9:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lmunsie View Post
“All I can say is that it has bothered me for years,†Wilson says. “And I found out there is no way I could be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks.â€

Clearly he is 'god-fearing' and is old and about to die.
If it bothered him for years, why did he wait so long to try to redeem himself? Oh yeah, he's afraid to burn in hell. Apologies are cheap, and IMHO, actions speak louder than words. I wouldn't accept his apology.
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post #5 of 63
4/5/09 at 9:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momofmany View Post
If it bothered him for years, why did he wait so long to try to redeem himself? Oh yeah, he's afraid to burn in hell. Apologies are cheap, and IMHO, actions speak louder than words. I wouldn't accept his apology.
I couldn't agree more. I'm not a good person because I'm god-fearing and I don't apologize or do things because I think it's right religiously (regardless of my religious views). I'm a good person because I feel like we are all equal and I would never want to hurt anybody intentionally or otherwise. Sorry guy; damage is done.
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post #6 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:03am
I wouldn't worry to much about it Skippy.

This man's motives are known to God. If it is honest repentance he will be forgiven, if it isn't then he won't. It's simple.
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post #7 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I wouldn't worry to much about it Skippy.

This man's motives are known to God. If is is honest repentance he will be forgiven, if it isn't then he won't. It's simple.
That will make absolutely no difference at all to all the people he's wronged, hurt and terrorized. When criminals get old, all you have are old criminals, and that's exactly what's happened here.
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post #8 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
That will make absolutely no difference at all to all the people he's wronged, hurt and terrorized. When criminals get old, all you have are old criminals, and that's exactly what's happened here.
How do you know,
Quote:
That will make absolutely no difference at all to all the people he's wronged, hurt and terrorized.
Do you know them all? Do you know any of them?
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post #9 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
How do you know,
Do you know them all? Do you know any of them?
I just know
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post #10 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:22am
I'm torn on this as well, but one of my problems is I can see both sides. Yes, he did horrific things that wouldn't be accepted in these times. But, they were done in the 60's where a LOT of people did horrific things. I think a lot of his ideas had to do with the time. Is that an excuse? No. Could that be a reason? I think so.

If you read your history, there WAS a time when african americans weren't considered equal. And that is the time frame we are talking about. It wasn't just the one person in the story, it was a way of thinking at the time.

Maybe he really IS sorry for the way he treated other human beings. Can't we give him the benefit of doubt? And the only people he has to apologize to is the people he wronged, not the whole world so why are we judging him?
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post #11 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
I just know
Ahhh, so you are the "Official Spokesman" of all the people this man has wronged. I see.

Forgiveness is a wonderful thing.
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post #12 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
Ahhh, so you are the "Official Spokesman" of all the people this man has wronged. I see.
No, it's just that's apparently the standard answer in faith based discussion. No facts, no rational, no evidence, simply, "I just know".
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post #13 of 63
4/5/09 at 10:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by calico2222 View Post
I'm torn on this as well, but one of my problems is I can see both sides. Yes, he did horrific things that wouldn't be accepted in these times. But, they were done in the 60's where a LOT of people did horrific things. I think a lot of his ideas had to do with the time. Is that an excuse? No. Could that be a reason? I think so.

If you read your history, there WAS a time when african americans weren't considered equal. And that is the time frame we are talking about. It wasn't just the one person in the story, it was a way of thinking at the time.

Maybe he really IS sorry for the way he treated other human beings. Can't we give him the benefit of doubt? And the only people he has to apologize to is the people he wronged, not the whole world so why are we judging him?
According to the article, his "hobby" lasted well into the 1980's. I've seen the type. There is no doubt one, perhaps two generations behind him that are exactly the way he was in the 60's, and they learned it from him and his compatriots. Perhaps his victims can forgive him, but the poison he leaves behind will affect others for years to come.
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post #14 of 63
4/5/09 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
According to the article, his "hobby" lasted well into the 1980's. I've seen the type. There is no doubt one, perhaps two generations behind him that are exactly the way he was in the 60's, and they learned it from him and his compatriots. Perhaps his victims can forgive him, but the poison he leaves behind will affect others for years to come.
I read the article, and I also know the type, believe me. There is no "excuse" for what he did in the past. It actually makes me sick, BUT if he is truely sorry for what he did, and if his victims are willing to fogive him, why shouldn't we? I really doubt his actions affected someone else living 2000 miles away. You can't put the blame of a "mind frame" on one person.
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post #15 of 63
4/5/09 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
That will make absolutely no difference at all to all the people he's wronged, hurt and terrorized. .
Maybe you do know, Mike, but that's not what the story says:

Quote:
And so Wilson has spent recent months apologizing to “the people I had trouble with.†He has embraced black men his own age, at the same lunch counter where once they were denied service and hauled off to jail.

Wilson has carried his apology into black churches where he has unburdened it in prayer.

And he has taken it to Washington, to the office of Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta, the civil rights leader whose face Wilson smashed at the Greyhound bus station during the famed Freedom Rides 48 years ago.

The apologies have won headlines and praise. Strangers, black and white, have hailed him as a hero.
While I agree with much of what's been said in this thread, I think in some ways it's been carried further than is warranted by the information available in this story. If his former victims are fine with it, and according to the story at least some of them are, I think we should withhold judgment about his motives. Maybe his motives are good, maybe they're selfish. Condemning good actions based on a presumption of base motives is premature. How do we know unless we get inside his mind? Judgments should be reserved to judgments of behavior. Let God judge the motives. He can judge BOTH behavior and motives and only He knows whether this guy is sincere. If he's not, he'll get what he's got coming to him for the past in his life.

By and large, repentance is a good thing.
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post #16 of 63
4/5/09 at 2:41pm
Regardless of who forgives him or not, I don't think anybody who hurts another living person (or any living thing for that matter) for 'sport' is a sound human being.

His direct quote was that it was 'sport' for him.

Even if he thought less of these people, too act on it in a manner that causes physical harm is unforgiveable, I don't think you can change from being that kind of person.

How did this really become public anyways???? I mean this shouldn't be news. If he was truly sorry he should have quietly gone to the families or whatever and apologized in a more respectful and non-public way.
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post #17 of 63
4/5/09 at 2:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lmunsie View Post
How did this really become public anyways???? I mean this shouldn't be news. If he was truly sorry he should have quietly gone to the families or whatever and apologized in a more respectful and non-public way.
Yes, that's an excellent point and I agree 100% and by posting it here we just make it even more public.
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post #18 of 63
4/5/09 at 4:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lmunsie View Post
Regardless of who forgives him or not, I don't think anybody who hurts another living person (or any living thing for that matter) for 'sport' is a sound human being.

His direct quote was that it was 'sport' for him.

Even if he thought less of these people, too act on it in a manner that causes physical harm is unforgiveable, I don't think you can change from being that kind of person.

How did this really become public anyways???? I mean this shouldn't be news. If he was truly sorry he should have quietly gone to the families or whatever and apologized in a more respectful and non-public way.
Nothing is unforgivable, NOTHING.

And I am shocked at the people that are saying they could not forgive. That is just keeping the hate alive and well. I thought we all want the same thing, for the hate to stop.
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post #19 of 63
4/5/09 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
Nothing is unforgivable, NOTHING.

And I am shocked at the people that are saying they could not forgive. That is just keeping the hate alive and well. I thought we all want the same thing, for the hate to stop.
I can't agree that nothing is unforgivable. What this man did aside, things have been done to people in my family that I can never forgive the perpetrator for. I don't hate the people that did it either, but I will never ever forgive them.

So I don't think forgiveness and hate go hand in hand.

Anyways, thats just IMO and I don't want to hijack the point of this thread.
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post #20 of 63
4/5/09 at 5:14pm
Thread Starter 
Here is a more in depth article on the subject, which goes deeper into the reactions of some of his victims.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/..._man_s_apology

It became news because one of the young men he attacked during the civil rights era has since become a Congressman, and he traveled to Washington to offer an apology.

I see a vast difference between hate and forgiveness myself. Most of his victims forgave him long ago, in their own minds and hearts, so very much to their credit. All he is doing is begging for confirmation of that for his own peace of mind, and not one of them owes him that.

The victims seem to have all made peace within themselves. If he can't do that for himself as well, then he should just have to play the hand he dealt himself.
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post #21 of 63
4/5/09 at 5:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
Here is a more in depth article on the subject, which goes deeper into the reactions of some of his victims.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/..._man_s_apology

It became news because one of the young men he attacked during the civil rights era has since become a Congressman, and he traveled to Washington to offer an apology.

I see a vast difference between hate and forgiveness myself. Most of his victims forgave him long ago, in their own minds and hearts, so very much to their credit. All he is doing is begging for confirmation of that for his own peace of mind, and not one of them owes him that.

The victims seem to have all made peace within themselves. If he can't do that for himself as well, then he should just have to play the hand he dealt himself.
well said!
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post #22 of 63
4/5/09 at 5:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
Here is a more in depth article on the subject, which goes deeper into the reactions of some of his victims.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/..._man_s_apology

It became news because one of the young men he attacked during the civil rights era has since become a Congressman, and he traveled to Washington to offer an apology.

I see a vast difference between hate and forgiveness myself. Most of his victims forgave him long ago, in their own minds and hearts, so very much to their credit. All he is doing is begging for confirmation of that for his own peace of mind, and not one of them owes him that.

The victims seem to have all made peace within themselves. If he can't do that for himself as well, then he should just have to play the hand he dealt himself.
Do you know the victims personally that you can say with such certainty that,
Quote:
Most of his victims forgave him long ago, in their own minds and hearts
and
Quote:
The victims seem to have all made peace within themselves.
All I see is a guy trying to make amends, and doing it in a public way and people are not willing to accept that, even on this forum. I find that sad.
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post #23 of 63
4/5/09 at 5:41pm
Having only read the original article, one thought crossed my mind.

From the article:
Quote:
Wilson has a pale face, thin white hair and small pursed lips that rarely smile. He doesn’t care what people think of him and bluntly declares, “I might like you one day and not the next.â€
I wonder if that statement applies to his racist attitude as well.
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post #24 of 63
4/5/09 at 6:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
Do you know the victims personally that you can say with such certainty that,

and


All I see is a guy trying to make amends, and doing it in a public way and people are not willing to accept that, even on this forum. I find that sad.
Those very things I stated were in the second article linked in the quote you replied to just now. The second article also pretty much removes doubt that he is not making amends, he is running scared and seeking only his own peace of mind.
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post #25 of 63
4/5/09 at 6:39pm
Running scared of what?
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post #26 of 63
4/5/09 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
The darkest recesses of his own mind, apparently. He has created a hell for himself in his own mind, and now he's perfectly content to drag all the people he's wronged into it with him as long as it helps him cope.
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post #27 of 63
4/6/09 at 6:52am
This reminds me very much of the prisoners that find God while in prison - sure they do!

He's looking for people to absolve him of his sins and I would think that even for you religious folks you would see that only God can do that.
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post #28 of 63
4/6/09 at 8:37am
I agree Linda, only God can do that. But I think he is doing the right thing to humble himself in a public way.

Skippy, there is no way you can legitimately speak for all the people this man has wronged, no way. I don't care what the article says, it does not speak for all the people he has wronged.

And you certainly cannot speak for this man's motives, even though you have been, through this entire thread.
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post #29 of 63
4/6/09 at 8:49am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I agree Linda, only God can do that. But I think he is doing the right thing to humble himself in a public way.

Skippy, there is no way you can legitimately speak for all the people this man has wronged, no way. I don't care what the article says, it does not speak for all the people he has wronged.

And you certainly cannot speak for this man's motives, even though you have been, through this entire thread.
I can only quote the victims that submitted to the article, and have. But my point is still that this man has no respect for his victims, and even now continues to subject them to his selfishness in his desperate attempt to outrun or hide from whatever personal demons he has. And, I certainly can speak for his motives with as much conviction as others can speak for the motives of politicians based on the snippets they read about them.
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post #30 of 63
4/6/09 at 11:51am
Whatever you say Skippy. Actions speak louder than words, my mama always says.
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