John Hope Franklin on Cross Burnings: "No Surprise"

We're a little late in posting it, but the Raleigh News & Observer ran a good story on Sunday about how Durham is grappling with the cross burnings in the city two weeks ago. The piece quotes the legendary historian (and ocassional contributor to Southern Exposure) John Hope Franklin, who makes a point similar to the one we made at Facing South:

Renowned historian and Durham resident John Hope Franklin, who led President Clinton's race commission, said he has found all the shock about the cross burnings disconcerting and a little disingenuous. School resegregation, substandard housing and a discriminatory death penalty are also forms of "violent racism," said Franklin, who is black.

"It comes to no surprise to me that the ragtag hoodlum elements would do this, because the more responsible elements of society sit by and do nothing until something like this happens and then wring hands and say this is terrible," Franklin said Friday. "It's so much easier to put the blame on a bunch of hoodlums than to assume some of the responsibility themselves."