Thanks for a wonderfully engaging debate. Also nice to hear from a fellow homegirl - although I had probably already left Orlando by the time Donique was born :) Having begun my early education (we moved to Ohio when I was twelve) in the lousy Orlando school system, (and it got worse later) it's good to hear Donique approach education with such a truly progressive approach.
I liked Charles's suggestion at the end that black history/culture be taught on the weekends, by those within those communities - makes perfect sense to me as the religious education I got came from two years' worth of Saturdays at our church. History is *so* broad it's hard to cover any appreciable time period in a semester or two. Honestly, I think that's where a lot of this socialization stuff should be - gender whatever, racism teachings, etc. I haven't been in school for a very long time but I wonder if any kid ever learns how to read and write their language properly, whether they're getting any education in history, math, science, geography, social studies, etc. You know, what they taught in schools back when parents raised their own kids. Maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that teachers are the new de facto babysitters and parents.
I just saw Glenn contribute to the Cut the Bull podcast yesterday. It was awesome.
As for this one, it was great conversation as usual. It's good to teach children, or students in general, both sides of an argument so they can understand how to make an argument with empirical evidence.
And that comparison with gays and color segregation is something that bothers many black people. But of course, they have to be careful about voicing their opinions in public.
When the latest Black Panther movie hit the theaters, there was no hesitation to point out the concern about a possible lesbian relationship in the film.
The cavalry finally came to my rescue, three years later.
See, my neighborhood was effectively shut down in June 2020 for 2 weeks during the BLM unrest here in West Hollywood — because shutting down a mostly gay neighborhood was the right place to stick it to the man, I guess: "Let's go preach to the choir, school them about what systemic discrimination is. They've had partial equal right for 5 years now. That's enough!" My pharmacy was shuttered, and I was about to get a hip replacement. My list of woes is long and whiny.
So there I am, news helicopters overhead breaking through the earplugs while I'm trying to work. My new lawyer on a slam-dunk court case to collect for unpaid work calls me to review the case. First I have to apologize for the helicopter noise. Then I ask him if there's a legal definition of 'systemic' that I'm not aware of; after 35 years as a professional writer, I know the meaning of a few words, and as far as I can tell, there is no longer systemic racism in America. The question spins into an argument faster than I can make my case. Finally he says, "I can't speak for the Black experience. We need to agree to disagree about this." Click. Two days later, I get a formal letter dropping me as a client.
Three days after that, after taking over our neighborhood for two weeks, BLM boots LA Pride's 50th anniversary parade from honoring them by joining their big finale in Hollywood, cast of a hundred thousand — "they didn't ask properly." So there has to be a separate march call All Black Lives Matter running parallel to the main event. And still nobody objects or questions any of it, but it's okay, we're used to that sort of thing.
You know what, I'm sending this video to those lawyers. Once again, thank you for being you, Dr. Loury.
Reparations and separation! Native Americans are generally doing well with their sovereignty---Indian casinos are generating group wealth. The Native American convicts on my old prison caseload received $10,000. to $20,000. a month from trusts (casino-generated profit).
Black folks went down the wrong path with worthless social integration (begging for white acceptance). MLK was assassinated after strongly advocating for reparations. The black bootlick politicians on both sides of the political spectrum dropped the ball. They're currently self-interest and comforting themselves for death. What is the difference between meritorious manumission Glenn Loury and fish fry South Carolina representative James Clyburn?
“Based on the data from the 2018 US Census cited by Poverty USA, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate among all minority groups. The national poverty rate for Native Americans was 25.4%, while Black or African American poverty rate was 20.8%. Among Hispanics, the national poverty rate was 17.6%. The White population had an 8.1% national poverty rate during the same period.
Updated US Census Bureau data on poverty for 2019 and 2020 does not show Native Americans or Alaska Natives as a specific category, highlighting the continuous lack of information on this part of the US population. We do not know the full extent of their situation, but based on previous data, Native Americans have the highest rate of poverty in the nation.”
One statistic I have just found out about is that Alaskan Native/ Amer. Indian males have the highest suicide rate in the U.S. More than a third of the deaths were for boys and young men 10-24 years old, acc. to the CDC.
Drinking themselves to death, as well as the result of self-destructive behavior due to drinking. Genetic. It's a trope: look up "Ira Hayes" and the song "Drunken Ira Hayes" (he was one of the Marines who hoisted the American flag over Iwo Jima in WWII).
Suicide is a different stat from "died from complications of alcohol abuse," but being drunk does increase the likelihood of suiciding. (Alcohol is both a depressant and a disinhibiting agent). Deaths from complications of alcohol use are also more likely to occur later in life, after many years of steady consumption. It would be interesting to know if there are differences between tribes or living circumstances.
This document states that there are differences among tribes for suicide risk: Alaskan Natives and Apaches are highest. You are right that alcohol is a primary correlate, along with male sex, (which are risk factors for most populations). The prevalence of suicide among young as opposed to middle aged males is what is unusual.
Mental health stats for Native Americans showed high rates of Major Depressive Disorder, which is associated with a suicide rate 20 times greater than average for the overall American population. Again, this does not explain why the suicides are occurring in young men as opposed to older ones, as is typical for white Americans.
Also unusual is a tendency for suicides among Native Americans to occur in "clusters," which is the focus of the above document.
Wasn't Sherman Alexie commenting here recently? Or maybe it was on another one of my Substacks. At any rate, he would certainly have any number of enlightening things to say on the matter.
Europeans created the construct of race to justify their fuckery in the world (mal-distribution of wealth and power to themselves through genocide, billions of acres of free Indian land, abundant free African labor, colonization, and apartheid.
People in the world were previously and primarily divided by the regions they lived in and by religion. The Europeans appropriated gunpowder and navigation from the Chinese and then went on a rampage around the world taking other people's stuff.
Europeans started the concept of scientific racism, creating a hierarchy of the color caste system that's still prevalent throughout the world today ---whites at the top and blacks at the bottom. I've traveled extensively throughout the world and have taken note.
Now, we Have Charles Murray's pseudo-science (The Bell Curve) that has influenced social policies that are not in the best interests of African Americans. IQ hierarchy: German Jews at the top followed by Asians, Europeans, and (Hispanics, Africans, Arabs, etc. at the bottom) according to Murray.
Racism is an economic relationship. It's a competitive relationship between groups for ownership and control of resources for wealth and power. Europeans got a head start after the Portuguese started the [race] to the new world with the blessings of a Catholic pope who was gifted slaves.
Before the Transatlantic slave trade, Europe was in bad shape: plagued by rampant diseases wiping out half its population, extensive poverty/crime, stagnant mercantile economies, lack of resources, and debauchery (priests raping children).
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued a Papal Bull (an official Proclamation or decree by the Pope) - Dum Diversas. Dum Diversas had a disastrous effect on millions of Africans. The Portuguese started the transatlantic slave trade. The Pope gave the Portuguese the "right to invade, search out, capture and subdue all Saracens (Muslims) and pagans (Africans) whatsoever. And other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed. And kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery."
Putting it other words, the Pope gave the right to a Portuguese King, Alphonso, to invade; capture, enslave, and kill in the name of Jesus. Jesus's representative, the pope, was the devil. Europeans perpetuated one of the worst atrocities ever committed in the world by transporting huge numbers of people across the world for enslavement. All Christian dominations originate from the Catholic Church. The first English slave ship was named Jesus.
In the New World, force and violence were used to convert enslaved Africans to Christianity. Slaves' Bibles were specially written for slaves to promote their
submission and servitude.
White supremacy is a religion to which I refuse to subordinate myself, to say the least, to the LGBTQ community which has high-jacked the black civil rights movement. Gays and trans can hide conveniently in and out of the closet. Black folks don't have that luxury.
At the end of the day, racism is a team sport, especially considering the limited resources on this planet. Default isn't a logical response.
Unskilled undocumented Hispanic immigrants with unearned benefits that illegally enter this country are an existential threat to African Americans. Resources are very limited and diminishing.
In his book, " Presumed Alliance: The Unspoken Conflict Between Blacks and Latinos and What It Means for America, the author, Nicolas C. Vaca, disdained a rainbow coalition and presumed alliance with Black Americans...they wanted to compete with Blacks for political and economic power...they felt that by the mere fact that they were more socially acceptable than Blacks in American society...they could gain socioeconomic benefits and become the nation's majority-minority population. Their goal, according to Vaca, was to displace Blacks in every way possible."
Racism? Lol!!!! And White supremacy is a religion. 50% of Hispanics identify as white in this country.
On the white extremist side: The leader of Proud Boys is Afro-Cuban. The leader of the Oath Keepers militia group is half-white and half-Mexican. Fuentes is a noted white nationalist extremist who is half-white and half-Mexican.
The Hispanic Texas shooter who was found with nazi paraphernalia and hate material?
And whites on both sides of the political spectrum use nonblack minority groups or LBGTQ communities to water down the attention to address the benign neglect of black folks. Intersecting vertical issues with horizontal issues harms African Americans.
I find it hard to believe Europeans somehow 'invented' racism. They may have codified it and hierarchized it, but 'racism', i.e., tribalism, has been with us since the beginning of mankind. Being suspicious of Others was an evolutionary necessity for staying safe when you didn't know what others were like. If you didn't have much opportunity to interact with them - or you had and it hadn't gone well - you'd develop an understandable dislike of them.
Regarding others as one's 'inferiors' is unfortunately quite human, and may have *begun* with the degradation of women as equals.
Is “white supremacy” really the right descriptor for the violence and hate of the clearly not “white” individuals? I know everything is white supremacy these days… but maybe, just maybe it’s wanting a strict social hierarchy, fixed roles, having an authoritarian world view? I mean certainly the Arian nation want those things, but I’m sure so do a lot of different types around the world - as long as they get a nice comfy spot at the top.
I suppose, but wanting to be at the top is hardly a white-specifically supremacy thing. Natives fought each other for dominance in the Americas - the Mayans ruled for awhile in Mexico, until the Europeans showed up, the Maori were the scourge of the South Seas & came close to genociding the Moriori until the Europeans showed up, the Iroquois were the scourge of the North American West until the Europeans showed up. And everyone hated the Apaches.
'White supremacy' is much abused by the left these days. It is, strictly speaking, a white belief that white people are superior to all others and should rule over them (to be overly-simplified). White supremacists are racists but not all racists are white supremacists. The phrase has come to mean 'everything antiracists don't like' esp if it's a white person challenging black B.S. To me, white supremacists are the Ku Klux Klan, the Proud Boys, the Trumpanzees and, pretty clearly, Tucker Carlson. I'm not sure I would actually class Donald Trump as one because honestly, I think he'll say whatever will get him the most votes. I'm not sure he's ever really thought anything through and in the end, he'll fuck over everyone for himself, and himself only. So maybe he's the most exclusive, extremist white supremacist ever, LOL.
On May 1, 1865, thousands of newly freed Black people gathered in Charleston, S.C., for what may have been the nation’s first Memorial Day celebration. Attendees held a parade and put flowers on the graves of Union soldiers who had helped liberate them from slavery.
The event took place three weeks after the Civil War surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and two weeks after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It was a remarkable moment in U.S. history — at the nexus of war and peace, destruction and reconstruction, servitude and emancipation.
But the day would not be remembered as the first Memorial Day. In fact, White Southerners made sure that for more than a century, the day wasn’t remembered at all.
It was “a kind of erasure from public memory,” said David Blight, a history professor at Yale University.
46:54 “You can’t undo the changes in mores and such that are very widely advanced. It’s not a matter of law; it’s a matter of social custom.”
The technology and corollary cultural changes that have enabled the success of the LGBTQ movement may eventually lead to population implosion. So the culture may not change but that doesn’t mean that the people who embrace the culture aren’t going to eventually become so few in number that it dies out and/or is replaced by another culture.
Also the young white progressives who Biden and Democrats very much need are likely to know someone who is LGBT and see every identity-based issue through that lens. I first saw Cori Bush introducing Bernie in 2016 and she had clearly learned to use some LGBT-friendly language in order to attract the progressive voters she would need to beat Lacy Clay even if it was not the first priority for her.
What Ms. Rolle is talking about is absolutely in the mainstream of every commentator on African American life who emphasizes resilience and the refusal to be defeated. Trevor Burnard (a respected person who has contributed to the Routledge Encyclopedia of Slavery) even went as far as to say that slavery was not an existential condition but something that some enslaved people could turn to their advantage and some could not. (He principally studies the Caribbean where some Black people had very skilled, responsible jobs as head driver, head (sugar) boiler etc.) So the question of whether slavery was an existential condition even at the time of Dred Scott is in the background here.
As the absolute worst LGBT ally ever I think you can talk about certain narrow ideas of what family is as a common oppression for both groups but this is getting nowhere in the TGS environment.
You'd want to check the survival rates among slaves (enslaved persons?) working sugar plantations on the islands. Using one's skill and smarts to secure a "responsible job" was one of the few means available to survive. If you were a cane cutter, you were a goner—just a matter of time.
Nods emphatically but I think that my point is that those plantations could not have run without the people with responsible jobs. American skilled workers were usually working for people on site that they knew.
Not sure what you mean by your last sentence. Are you saying Americans worked the island sugar plantations? Or making a distinction between slaves in America vs ones in the islands?
Good stuff. As I white women in her mid 50’s when I hear how flippant the word racism is used.. I think to myself .. the real victims of racism have to be “turning over in their graves.” The schools would never dream of intermingling Holocaust with Black history .. but they want to minimize black history by adding LGBTQ .. please I’m still waiting to hear how the LGBTQ people are “marginalized.” If anything Americans are being choked with LGBTQ “rights” talk and the propaganda narrative heard by the left is exhausting. BTW Dave Chappelle speaks a little about this.
Great discussion. Out of the theoretical, down to earth with very good concrete examples. I won’t easily forget Charles Love’s anecdote about his first grader challenging him when asked to flip the light switch on MLK Day. Several creative ideas emerged. More like this, please.
A couple of points really made me think. If ones ethnicity and culture is so important that they send their kids to Saturday school. Why does our government have to do this for only black people?
Also, instead of teaching a separate class for black history and the black "struggle," could we have a history class about So. Korea, Singapore, Iceland, Iranians, Armenians, Jews, Hispanics, or any other of the successful groups that went through extreme hardship, war, butchery, mayhem. Then made a successful life without whining, begging, and looking for the next handout.
Let's teach what it take to be a winner. Rather than the condescending approach, that it's everyone else's fault you failed.
Why should the government have to do this? Howzabout each community agree on what they'll teach the kids on Saturday. Time for communities to put some skin in the education game.
The Saturday classes suggested by Dr. Love would be teaching the truth about American history. The core argument is that you cannot expect white people to teach the full story of Black achievement.
When schools were integrated, that experiment was run. Black principals and teachers were fired and left to create their own institutions. The schools did not think Black teachers could teach white students. “Jim Crow’s Pink Slip” tells that story.
If I’m a tax payer and Conservatives are telling me that my Black child will have limited access to books, I’d prefer a separate system. It worked in the past.
If Conservative control sets up blockades, why would I want my child in that system?
Obviously, the Saturday classes are a recognition that history is not being taught properly. There are resources available to improve the math skills of Black children.
Black home-schooling is increasing, but obviously still small.
Here is the reason given for home schooling
Black home-schoolers said that, along with protecting their children from racial disparities and abuse, they don’t have to worry about their children getting white-washed versions of Black history — or no Black history lessons at all. For home-schoolers like Andrea Thorpe, who runs the 3,700-member African American Homeschool Moms group on Facebook, the practice has been an effective response to the swath of conservative legislation introduced to limit discussions of race in public schools since 2021.
Thorpe said her group is crucial, “especially in this day and time when there’s a rewriting of history and books are being banned. Parents are stepping up and saying, ‘I don’t have any bearing on what will be taught in public schools, but here in our household this is the accurate truth we’re going to teach.’”
This is concerning to me. I read an article once about how Germany so strongly discouraged homeschooling that people were able come to the US seeking asylum. The rationale in Germany was that public schools are essential for proper socialization as a German citizen. It struck a chord with me. I went to college in the Midwest and learned that other places taught a very different history than I learned - even that Plymouth Rock was the first English settlement in America… which of course is untrue.
So here we are in a country and a time where you can basically choose your own reality and you sound like you want to also choose your own history…? That doesn’t sound like an improvement. I’m all for better history, more history, more context, more perspectives.
Thanks for a wonderfully engaging debate. Also nice to hear from a fellow homegirl - although I had probably already left Orlando by the time Donique was born :) Having begun my early education (we moved to Ohio when I was twelve) in the lousy Orlando school system, (and it got worse later) it's good to hear Donique approach education with such a truly progressive approach.
I liked Charles's suggestion at the end that black history/culture be taught on the weekends, by those within those communities - makes perfect sense to me as the religious education I got came from two years' worth of Saturdays at our church. History is *so* broad it's hard to cover any appreciable time period in a semester or two. Honestly, I think that's where a lot of this socialization stuff should be - gender whatever, racism teachings, etc. I haven't been in school for a very long time but I wonder if any kid ever learns how to read and write their language properly, whether they're getting any education in history, math, science, geography, social studies, etc. You know, what they taught in schools back when parents raised their own kids. Maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that teachers are the new de facto babysitters and parents.
How about getting Chris Rufo on the podcast to discuss DEI and CRT?
I enjoyed the discussion. Both Charles and Donique are a breath of fresh air.
I was surprised (disappointed) that there was no mention/discussion of the Woodson Foundation's K-12 black history and character curriculum. https://woodsoncenter.org/wp-content/uploads/Woodson-Center-Curriculum-Downloads-web.pdf
Thanks for the link the Woodson Center curriculum. We ought to have mentioned it.
A great episode! Please invite more guests fighting in the trenches!
I just saw Glenn contribute to the Cut the Bull podcast yesterday. It was awesome.
As for this one, it was great conversation as usual. It's good to teach children, or students in general, both sides of an argument so they can understand how to make an argument with empirical evidence.
And that comparison with gays and color segregation is something that bothers many black people. But of course, they have to be careful about voicing their opinions in public.
When the latest Black Panther movie hit the theaters, there was no hesitation to point out the concern about a possible lesbian relationship in the film.
The cavalry finally came to my rescue, three years later.
See, my neighborhood was effectively shut down in June 2020 for 2 weeks during the BLM unrest here in West Hollywood — because shutting down a mostly gay neighborhood was the right place to stick it to the man, I guess: "Let's go preach to the choir, school them about what systemic discrimination is. They've had partial equal right for 5 years now. That's enough!" My pharmacy was shuttered, and I was about to get a hip replacement. My list of woes is long and whiny.
So there I am, news helicopters overhead breaking through the earplugs while I'm trying to work. My new lawyer on a slam-dunk court case to collect for unpaid work calls me to review the case. First I have to apologize for the helicopter noise. Then I ask him if there's a legal definition of 'systemic' that I'm not aware of; after 35 years as a professional writer, I know the meaning of a few words, and as far as I can tell, there is no longer systemic racism in America. The question spins into an argument faster than I can make my case. Finally he says, "I can't speak for the Black experience. We need to agree to disagree about this." Click. Two days later, I get a formal letter dropping me as a client.
Three days after that, after taking over our neighborhood for two weeks, BLM boots LA Pride's 50th anniversary parade from honoring them by joining their big finale in Hollywood, cast of a hundred thousand — "they didn't ask properly." So there has to be a separate march call All Black Lives Matter running parallel to the main event. And still nobody objects or questions any of it, but it's okay, we're used to that sort of thing.
You know what, I'm sending this video to those lawyers. Once again, thank you for being you, Dr. Loury.
Reparations and separation! Native Americans are generally doing well with their sovereignty---Indian casinos are generating group wealth. The Native American convicts on my old prison caseload received $10,000. to $20,000. a month from trusts (casino-generated profit).
Black folks went down the wrong path with worthless social integration (begging for white acceptance). MLK was assassinated after strongly advocating for reparations. The black bootlick politicians on both sides of the political spectrum dropped the ball. They're currently self-interest and comforting themselves for death. What is the difference between meritorious manumission Glenn Loury and fish fry South Carolina representative James Clyburn?
“Based on the data from the 2018 US Census cited by Poverty USA, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate among all minority groups. The national poverty rate for Native Americans was 25.4%, while Black or African American poverty rate was 20.8%. Among Hispanics, the national poverty rate was 17.6%. The White population had an 8.1% national poverty rate during the same period.
Updated US Census Bureau data on poverty for 2019 and 2020 does not show Native Americans or Alaska Natives as a specific category, highlighting the continuous lack of information on this part of the US population. We do not know the full extent of their situation, but based on previous data, Native Americans have the highest rate of poverty in the nation.”
From https://ncrc.org/racial-wealth-snapshot-native-americans/
One statistic I have just found out about is that Alaskan Native/ Amer. Indian males have the highest suicide rate in the U.S. More than a third of the deaths were for boys and young men 10-24 years old, acc. to the CDC.
Drinking themselves to death, as well as the result of self-destructive behavior due to drinking. Genetic. It's a trope: look up "Ira Hayes" and the song "Drunken Ira Hayes" (he was one of the Marines who hoisted the American flag over Iwo Jima in WWII).
Suicide is a different stat from "died from complications of alcohol abuse," but being drunk does increase the likelihood of suiciding. (Alcohol is both a depressant and a disinhibiting agent). Deaths from complications of alcohol use are also more likely to occur later in life, after many years of steady consumption. It would be interesting to know if there are differences between tribes or living circumstances.
https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma17-5050.pdf
This document states that there are differences among tribes for suicide risk: Alaskan Natives and Apaches are highest. You are right that alcohol is a primary correlate, along with male sex, (which are risk factors for most populations). The prevalence of suicide among young as opposed to middle aged males is what is unusual.
Mental health stats for Native Americans showed high rates of Major Depressive Disorder, which is associated with a suicide rate 20 times greater than average for the overall American population. Again, this does not explain why the suicides are occurring in young men as opposed to older ones, as is typical for white Americans.
Also unusual is a tendency for suicides among Native Americans to occur in "clusters," which is the focus of the above document.
Wasn't Sherman Alexie commenting here recently? Or maybe it was on another one of my Substacks. At any rate, he would certainly have any number of enlightening things to say on the matter.
Europeans created the construct of race to justify their fuckery in the world (mal-distribution of wealth and power to themselves through genocide, billions of acres of free Indian land, abundant free African labor, colonization, and apartheid.
People in the world were previously and primarily divided by the regions they lived in and by religion. The Europeans appropriated gunpowder and navigation from the Chinese and then went on a rampage around the world taking other people's stuff.
Europeans started the concept of scientific racism, creating a hierarchy of the color caste system that's still prevalent throughout the world today ---whites at the top and blacks at the bottom. I've traveled extensively throughout the world and have taken note.
Now, we Have Charles Murray's pseudo-science (The Bell Curve) that has influenced social policies that are not in the best interests of African Americans. IQ hierarchy: German Jews at the top followed by Asians, Europeans, and (Hispanics, Africans, Arabs, etc. at the bottom) according to Murray.
Racism is an economic relationship. It's a competitive relationship between groups for ownership and control of resources for wealth and power. Europeans got a head start after the Portuguese started the [race] to the new world with the blessings of a Catholic pope who was gifted slaves.
Before the Transatlantic slave trade, Europe was in bad shape: plagued by rampant diseases wiping out half its population, extensive poverty/crime, stagnant mercantile economies, lack of resources, and debauchery (priests raping children).
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued a Papal Bull (an official Proclamation or decree by the Pope) - Dum Diversas. Dum Diversas had a disastrous effect on millions of Africans. The Portuguese started the transatlantic slave trade. The Pope gave the Portuguese the "right to invade, search out, capture and subdue all Saracens (Muslims) and pagans (Africans) whatsoever. And other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed. And kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery."
Putting it other words, the Pope gave the right to a Portuguese King, Alphonso, to invade; capture, enslave, and kill in the name of Jesus. Jesus's representative, the pope, was the devil. Europeans perpetuated one of the worst atrocities ever committed in the world by transporting huge numbers of people across the world for enslavement. All Christian dominations originate from the Catholic Church. The first English slave ship was named Jesus.
In the New World, force and violence were used to convert enslaved Africans to Christianity. Slaves' Bibles were specially written for slaves to promote their
submission and servitude.
White supremacy is a religion to which I refuse to subordinate myself, to say the least, to the LGBTQ community which has high-jacked the black civil rights movement. Gays and trans can hide conveniently in and out of the closet. Black folks don't have that luxury.
At the end of the day, racism is a team sport, especially considering the limited resources on this planet. Default isn't a logical response.
Unskilled undocumented Hispanic immigrants with unearned benefits that illegally enter this country are an existential threat to African Americans. Resources are very limited and diminishing.
In his book, " Presumed Alliance: The Unspoken Conflict Between Blacks and Latinos and What It Means for America, the author, Nicolas C. Vaca, disdained a rainbow coalition and presumed alliance with Black Americans...they wanted to compete with Blacks for political and economic power...they felt that by the mere fact that they were more socially acceptable than Blacks in American society...they could gain socioeconomic benefits and become the nation's majority-minority population. Their goal, according to Vaca, was to displace Blacks in every way possible."
Racism? Lol!!!! And White supremacy is a religion. 50% of Hispanics identify as white in this country.
On the white extremist side: The leader of Proud Boys is Afro-Cuban. The leader of the Oath Keepers militia group is half-white and half-Mexican. Fuentes is a noted white nationalist extremist who is half-white and half-Mexican.
The Hispanic Texas shooter who was found with nazi paraphernalia and hate material?
And whites on both sides of the political spectrum use nonblack minority groups or LBGTQ communities to water down the attention to address the benign neglect of black folks. Intersecting vertical issues with horizontal issues harms African Americans.
I find it hard to believe Europeans somehow 'invented' racism. They may have codified it and hierarchized it, but 'racism', i.e., tribalism, has been with us since the beginning of mankind. Being suspicious of Others was an evolutionary necessity for staying safe when you didn't know what others were like. If you didn't have much opportunity to interact with them - or you had and it hadn't gone well - you'd develop an understandable dislike of them.
Regarding others as one's 'inferiors' is unfortunately quite human, and may have *begun* with the degradation of women as equals.
Is “white supremacy” really the right descriptor for the violence and hate of the clearly not “white” individuals? I know everything is white supremacy these days… but maybe, just maybe it’s wanting a strict social hierarchy, fixed roles, having an authoritarian world view? I mean certainly the Arian nation want those things, but I’m sure so do a lot of different types around the world - as long as they get a nice comfy spot at the top.
I suppose, but wanting to be at the top is hardly a white-specifically supremacy thing. Natives fought each other for dominance in the Americas - the Mayans ruled for awhile in Mexico, until the Europeans showed up, the Maori were the scourge of the South Seas & came close to genociding the Moriori until the Europeans showed up, the Iroquois were the scourge of the North American West until the Europeans showed up. And everyone hated the Apaches.
'White supremacy' is much abused by the left these days. It is, strictly speaking, a white belief that white people are superior to all others and should rule over them (to be overly-simplified). White supremacists are racists but not all racists are white supremacists. The phrase has come to mean 'everything antiracists don't like' esp if it's a white person challenging black B.S. To me, white supremacists are the Ku Klux Klan, the Proud Boys, the Trumpanzees and, pretty clearly, Tucker Carlson. I'm not sure I would actually class Donald Trump as one because honestly, I think he'll say whatever will get him the most votes. I'm not sure he's ever really thought anything through and in the end, he'll fuck over everyone for himself, and himself only. So maybe he's the most exclusive, extremist white supremacist ever, LOL.
Origins of Memorial Day
On May 1, 1865, thousands of newly freed Black people gathered in Charleston, S.C., for what may have been the nation’s first Memorial Day celebration. Attendees held a parade and put flowers on the graves of Union soldiers who had helped liberate them from slavery.
The event took place three weeks after the Civil War surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and two weeks after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It was a remarkable moment in U.S. history — at the nexus of war and peace, destruction and reconstruction, servitude and emancipation.
But the day would not be remembered as the first Memorial Day. In fact, White Southerners made sure that for more than a century, the day wasn’t remembered at all.
It was “a kind of erasure from public memory,” said David Blight, a history professor at Yale University.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/05/29/first-memorial-day-black-charleston/
46:54 “You can’t undo the changes in mores and such that are very widely advanced. It’s not a matter of law; it’s a matter of social custom.”
The technology and corollary cultural changes that have enabled the success of the LGBTQ movement may eventually lead to population implosion. So the culture may not change but that doesn’t mean that the people who embrace the culture aren’t going to eventually become so few in number that it dies out and/or is replaced by another culture.
Also the young white progressives who Biden and Democrats very much need are likely to know someone who is LGBT and see every identity-based issue through that lens. I first saw Cori Bush introducing Bernie in 2016 and she had clearly learned to use some LGBT-friendly language in order to attract the progressive voters she would need to beat Lacy Clay even if it was not the first priority for her.
2020, sorry. COVID made it to St. Louis essentially the week after.
What Ms. Rolle is talking about is absolutely in the mainstream of every commentator on African American life who emphasizes resilience and the refusal to be defeated. Trevor Burnard (a respected person who has contributed to the Routledge Encyclopedia of Slavery) even went as far as to say that slavery was not an existential condition but something that some enslaved people could turn to their advantage and some could not. (He principally studies the Caribbean where some Black people had very skilled, responsible jobs as head driver, head (sugar) boiler etc.) So the question of whether slavery was an existential condition even at the time of Dred Scott is in the background here.
As the absolute worst LGBT ally ever I think you can talk about certain narrow ideas of what family is as a common oppression for both groups but this is getting nowhere in the TGS environment.
You'd want to check the survival rates among slaves (enslaved persons?) working sugar plantations on the islands. Using one's skill and smarts to secure a "responsible job" was one of the few means available to survive. If you were a cane cutter, you were a goner—just a matter of time.
Nods emphatically but I think that my point is that those plantations could not have run without the people with responsible jobs. American skilled workers were usually working for people on site that they knew.
Not sure what you mean by your last sentence. Are you saying Americans worked the island sugar plantations? Or making a distinction between slaves in America vs ones in the islands?
The latter
Good stuff. As I white women in her mid 50’s when I hear how flippant the word racism is used.. I think to myself .. the real victims of racism have to be “turning over in their graves.” The schools would never dream of intermingling Holocaust with Black history .. but they want to minimize black history by adding LGBTQ .. please I’m still waiting to hear how the LGBTQ people are “marginalized.” If anything Americans are being choked with LGBTQ “rights” talk and the propaganda narrative heard by the left is exhausting. BTW Dave Chappelle speaks a little about this.
I think one of your concerns is that you no longer have control over the word racist.
Urban renewal was racist
The health care system has biases that could be considered racist
The judicial system has biases that could be considered racist
Racism is not limited to dragging a Black man behind a pickup truck
Can you cite what you think is a flippant use of the word?
Here's some info from the front lines on "book banning" in Florida (Duval County is mostly Jacksonville).
https://www.teamduval.org/2023/02/17/facts-about-library-books-in-duval-county-public-schools/
Great discussion. Out of the theoretical, down to earth with very good concrete examples. I won’t easily forget Charles Love’s anecdote about his first grader challenging him when asked to flip the light switch on MLK Day. Several creative ideas emerged. More like this, please.
I enjoyed the discussion.
A couple of points really made me think. If ones ethnicity and culture is so important that they send their kids to Saturday school. Why does our government have to do this for only black people?
Also, instead of teaching a separate class for black history and the black "struggle," could we have a history class about So. Korea, Singapore, Iceland, Iranians, Armenians, Jews, Hispanics, or any other of the successful groups that went through extreme hardship, war, butchery, mayhem. Then made a successful life without whining, begging, and looking for the next handout.
Let's teach what it take to be a winner. Rather than the condescending approach, that it's everyone else's fault you failed.
Why should the government have to do this? Howzabout each community agree on what they'll teach the kids on Saturday. Time for communities to put some skin in the education game.
Sounds good to me. But some groups won't even feed themselves.
I took Charles Love to be saying that the Black community should organize Saturday classes, not the government.
Yes. Organize your own Saturday classes. Not have a special class for one special group, to be taught in public school.
The Saturday classes suggested by Dr. Love would be teaching the truth about American history. The core argument is that you cannot expect white people to teach the full story of Black achievement.
Then conversely, are we to expect that black people are unable to teach the full story of white achievement?
When schools were integrated, that experiment was run. Black principals and teachers were fired and left to create their own institutions. The schools did not think Black teachers could teach white students. “Jim Crow’s Pink Slip” tells that story.
https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/TCZ/Book%20Reviews%20Collection%202022/July%202022/Jim%20Crow's%20Pink%20Slip-1659381190.pdf
If I’m a tax payer and Conservatives are telling me that my Black child will have limited access to books, I’d prefer a separate system. It worked in the past.
If Conservative control sets up blockades, why would I want my child in that system?
Obviously, the Saturday classes are a recognition that history is not being taught properly. There are resources available to improve the math skills of Black children.
Black home-schooling is increasing, but obviously still small.
Here is the reason given for home schooling
Black home-schoolers said that, along with protecting their children from racial disparities and abuse, they don’t have to worry about their children getting white-washed versions of Black history — or no Black history lessons at all. For home-schoolers like Andrea Thorpe, who runs the 3,700-member African American Homeschool Moms group on Facebook, the practice has been an effective response to the swath of conservative legislation introduced to limit discussions of race in public schools since 2021.
Thorpe said her group is crucial, “especially in this day and time when there’s a rewriting of history and books are being banned. Parents are stepping up and saying, ‘I don’t have any bearing on what will be taught in public schools, but here in our household this is the accurate truth we’re going to teach.’”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-families-are-challenging-educations-status-quo-home-schooling-rcna69027
Waiting patiently for your reply to my 1st question and I have 1 more. Do you believe that black students would be better off in segregated schools?
I did read both of your posted articles.
This is concerning to me. I read an article once about how Germany so strongly discouraged homeschooling that people were able come to the US seeking asylum. The rationale in Germany was that public schools are essential for proper socialization as a German citizen. It struck a chord with me. I went to college in the Midwest and learned that other places taught a very different history than I learned - even that Plymouth Rock was the first English settlement in America… which of course is untrue.
So here we are in a country and a time where you can basically choose your own reality and you sound like you want to also choose your own history…? That doesn’t sound like an improvement. I’m all for better history, more history, more context, more perspectives.