Yes. And while we're at it, let's not lose sight of the fact that this administration similarly discriminates against women, Jews, Muslims, gay, differently abled, and (apparently) well educated non-Republicans, as well as people of conscience across the board. Trump&Co may have replaced lynchings with ICE killings and deportations, and pogroms with digital hate campaigns, but they have continued to elevate the status and power of rich white Christian males by walking over the bones of the rest of us.
Being female, differently abled, and elderly, I'm always fighting the "potted plant syndrome". Staying informed and engaged, and swimming against the stream, seems like the best way to stay alive, and not merely exist on the shelf with the philodendron.
That’s why I joined SeniorsTakingAction.org. They have a terrific Wed zoom speaker series that will start up again mid-September. I also write postcards with them. Being with other engaged people, even through zoom, helps keep me motivated and moving forward. It’s a great group to work with.
My strategy exactly! I work with a group in the retirement community where I live, and on social justice projects of my church. I work on Zoom, wishing I could show up in person, but you do what you can. In this season, that has meant (so far) writing 90 GOTV postcards and becoming an "email-pal" to my Senators and Congressperson. They are already on "my" side of the issues, but they need to know they're supported and appreciated.
That’s exciting. Seniors Taking Action has also developed a WeTheSeniors.org that functions as an umbrella group to bring together senior groups across the nation to amplify our voices. Please check it out if this seems like something your group might find interesting 😊
Well, old as I am I might be coming to resemble a potted plant-- or maybe just a cotton plant--but I am also loud, and strong, and determined to overcome. Sounds like you are, too. 👍
David, oh, it is all of the above! These whiny white boys think they are sooo brilliant, smarter than all the rest of us, and think they are proving it every day. In reality, they are simply proving their cruelty, inhumanity, plagiarism of others' warped ideas, and their inability to help anyone but themselves.
The puzzle that has caught me since I was a kid is, "why do people vote and act against their own interests, and on a regular basis? Expecting someone to act in a different way after one has been betrayed by them, is just nuts, but we see it all the time. I know blaming others for one's own actions is powerful, but we should be able to realize that people don't change unless a major event happens in their life, a revelation of some kind. Those are pretty uncommon. If a politician has screwed the people over, then lies to them that he will support them and stand with them, warning bells should go off and folks should be able to say "no, not again" and mean it!
the topic is not new. A British book from 1968, Angels in Marble, examined the working class vote for the Conservative party - not as horrific as Trump, but very much not supportive of the interests of such voters.
"he original attendees, Obama recalled, “were not there in search of some abstract ideal. They were there seeking jobs as well as justice — not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity.” This is the key objective of the march. However, economic opportunity will require quaity education, a hard work for everyone. Those who march must realize that what they ask for also entails their hard work in return.
Have faith as the slow changes keep coming. Remember that this same ‘war’ has been around throughout history. Sadly, it still rears it’s very ugly head in permissive political, economic, and social environments.
White America needs to be reminded that every black American who traveled from the south to march on Washington 63 years ago could not sit in the front of the bus, use the restroom on the bus or eat in the diners along the route because it was illegal because of Jim Crow laws that SCOTUS upheld as constitutional in Plessy v. Ferguson. Why was anyone surprised after the same Court decided Dred Scott as it did. SCOTUS has seldom been an honorable body.
Never forget that both Muck and Peter Thiel grew up in South Africa during Apartheid. They firmly believe in racism. Neither believes in inclusive democracy. The one key person I cannot understand is Stephen Miller whose grandparents fled the holocaust. Of course, I can't understand Netanyahu either. Who would want to recreate the conditions that were so wrong when Hitler did it? Why become a clone of the oppressor?
Netanyahu to me is just a smarter version of Donald Trump: obsessed with his own power, glory, ands well-being. I think Stephen Miller is just a bad seed.
But very very very few. And the Black politicians are all about self-enrichment, because the GOP is eager to reward Black faces to "prove" they aren't racist.
Here you go again with your obsession with Jews and Israel. There is nothing in Jen's article that would lead a non-obsessed person to bring up Netanyahu. But you can't help yourself. Many of despise Bibi. But we can control ourselves and not bring him up when the topic at hand has nothing to do with Israel.
Threads often develop from the original language. So do we outlaw any reference to Netanyahu when a civil rights issue is being discussed? No one brought Israel up.
It's a free speech country, so far. Netanyahu has nothing to do with the civil rights of the US. Why bring him up? How about the civil rights of millions of people around the world? Why only Israel?
I think Americans object more to Netanyahu because America is funding his atrocities. We give money to other countries but nowhere near what we give to Israel, and so I think Americans are more critical of Netanyahu. Believe me, I think the worst of our president too, Marilyn.
This concerted program to disenfranchise black, brown, immigrant Americans, and women has been described as The NeoConfederacy and deserves to called for what it is. It is using the tools of fascism and Jim Crow to drive a pluralistic society back 170 years. It is going to take determination and fortitude - and in some cases - bravery to walk past tRump's intimidators to vote. This election is an all-hands-on-deck moment, People
You took the words out of my mouth. As a woman and a long-time resister, twice in the past week I have learned that I don’t exist. Frum apparently wrote an article saying essentially that the resistance doesn’t exist and Project 2025 says women are nothing more than vessels. I’m here to prove them both wrong.
Thanks to all. The Civil War never ended. Here’s the latest version, run by a corrupt Republican (this time) government, one of the worst Supreme Courts in American history, Trump’s oligarchs and Vladimir Putin.
That was such a powerful message and testament to what these wonderful organizations do for humanity. Thank you Jen for shining the light on these organizations and what they have all done in the past , present and future!
This is about humanity. Dr. King was always fighting for blacks in America, but he knew that every other color was suffering as well. If we have one shred of conscience or decency, this is our job, our flight, our place and our moment to take a stand and Love Forward.
One of the buttons I bought and wear says "The only Thing Stronger Than Hate Is Love" . Dr. King and John Lewis among others showed us that. We must believe it.
I recommend reading the US Constitution at least once per year, especially the list of Amendments. I don't see any exceptions in the Fourth Amendment. Claiming otherwise is like claiming that the law of gravity only applies if you notice that you are standing on thin air like Wylie Coyote:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Where does it create exceptions for non-citizens or people who the government asserts are non-citizens? Warrants are issued by the Judicial branch, not the executive branch. Trial judges are in the Judicial branch. That which is in the executive branch are administrative procedures, not judicial procedures. The executive branch doesn't get to issue warrants or hold trials.
The 14th Amendment attempts to sharpen and clarify applicability of constitutional protections. There is but one exception for those who cannot be arrested and convicted of a crime.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive ANY PERSON of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (Note: a person present here illegally is still a person.)
This applies to the states what already applies to the federal government.
Of course the 14th also says any elected official who participates in an insurrection or gives aid and comfort to insurrectionists cannot serve. But here we are. I blame Mitch for that.
I should also mention solidarity with the intent of the fifth amendment:
"NO PERSON shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall ANY PERSON be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
I note that it does not restrict itself to citizens. I understand that this amendment only applies to Federal caselaw until broadened by the 14th Amendment applied due process all the way through State and Local law. (I wonder if due process rights apply to HOAs.) As soon as illegal entry into this country elevates above misdemeanor and becomes an "infamous" crime (felony), due process applies.
Been to so many important marches in DC over the years starting in 1969 when fellow organized and permitted protestors marched around the White House against the Viet Nam War. In 1970, was in law school a few blocks away and it became ground zero thereafter.
I was 16, a kid in D.C., and I was at Dr. King's march, when we had a Reflecting Pool that was full of water. It and the mission of the march were both clear.
Was a college junior on Spring Break at home in Wilmington, DE when Dr King was assassinated. Riding with friends and stopped by DE State Police roadblock near my home at the north and south sides of town because of downtown riots.
Was on a high school film crew on Arlington Memorial Bridge when the John F. Kennedy funeral cortege passed to carry him to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.
We have truly had some experiences in our personal histories.
Because of the gridlock on then Shirley Highway (now 395), in order to get to 9am law classes at GWU, would cut through Arlington Cemetery in the early 1970’s when the cassons were quite active. It was quite humbling, since as a senior in college, the mandatory draft lottery had just started. They went to 240 that year and I had DE NATL GUARD JAG coverage. One of my apt roommates in Alex served 2 years in the jungle carrying a machine gun. Man, he had some stories.
My national lottery number hit the same as my residence hall room number in the spring of 1970. It coincided with spring break at my college in Illinois. Testing and pre-induction physical was at Ft. Holibird, Maryland, which I understand is now decommissioned.
Unfortunately, white men were thinking about themselves. Back in January 2017, a local union leader in the predominantly white male construction trades spoke to our Democratic women's group debunking the entire media-constructed idea that Trump's win was about "economic anxiety." He told us that guys in his union making six figures voted for Trump because of what he called "soft racism." What he meant was, they didn't necessarily hate Black people (or women or Latinos), they just didn't want to have to compete against them for their jobs and risk finding themselves against someone of a different color who was more skilled or a harder worker. They wanted the freedom to be mediocre without consequences.
So many of us predicted this would happen. The sad thing is that many Black men did not listen to what their leaders were telling them. Or even what Black women were saying. We are in this situation because people were fooled by a conman, and they refused to look at what he had done in the past, not only to Black's, Jews, Muslims, Latinos and women, and said...'well, he won't do that to me'. They are past the finding out phase. So what do they plan to do now?
78% of Black men voted for Kamala Harris. 78% isn’t enough to save their reputation as a group for knowing who to believe in. If they had voted like Black women (92%), would we be where we are today? I don’t know the answer to that but the numbers disincline me to lay this at their door. 78% is a very high number, though not as high as it’s been. What percent of white voters voting for Harris would have offset that loss? Many more white voters were fooled than Black voters. And they are now finding out what they have to lose. I hope this shows up in their voting.
Thank you, I am sick and tired of people blaming black men for the election of Trump. The vast majority of them voted for Harris and the majority of the electorate is white. Stop demanding that black people only are responsible for saving our democracy.
Bluebird, you are right. Plus, many voters of all races were convinced by bad actors on social media that “your vote doesn’t matter” and so way too many people simply did not vote. We need to change that.
"We march to defend civil rights, because attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion are attempts to roll back access, opportunity, and representation."
Spot-on as usual, Jen. High-profile organizations such as the WNBA should lead by example and allow Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White to join the league. If the WNBA refuses, I recommend that the Contrarian's own Norm Eisen file a lawsuit against the organization on our behalf and offer to represent Enes and Royce in court.
Everyone should read this book: "Dying of Whiteness" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_of_Whiteness) It illustrates the deep brain washing of Ignorant, isolated White people in the US and how they have been vaccinated against logic and reason. The Trump reign of terror is the culmination of the Fascist campaign that was initiated after 1963 and the civil rights and voting rights acts. The Heritage Foundation (founded in 1973) organized the Fascists while Liberals retreated to their Kumbaya sing-alongs & love-fests. And again the Progressives & Moderates are re-assembling the Democratic circular firing squad.
Would you like to share what Democrats could be doing when they hold no power in any branch of the government? I'm sure they'd love input from a genius like you to share things they haven't thought of yet.
Ben Franklin: "We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately". For me there are no differences within the Democratic Party that would deter me from voting or prompt me to vote for a MAGA candidate. I have Democratic friends who are fighting over the Palestinian issue & the Ukraine War issue.
There are, and have always been, one-issue voters. What it would take to convince these people that it has been decades of Republican policy that allowed the Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Palestine situations to coalesce borders on incalcuable.
Yes. The leaders of what was once the Republican Party (now MAGA Fascist) know how to keep their people in line at voting time and win more than they should. In 1968 & 72 the Dems were divided over Vietnam. In 80 it was gas prices and the Iranian US embassy take-over, In 2000 it was (IMO) Environmental policy differences & Bill Clinton's sleazy sex life behavior that splashed onto Al Gore. I'm a Democrat but am regularly bummed about how easily the Fascists divide us.
The Republicans have also thrown around bumper-sticker fear mongering: They'll take your guns" (hasn't happened). "They'll take your jobs" (no good evidence). There is always a nebulous 'they' to fear.
I read that book last year when I won it from a blogger I follow. It's powerful and sad. I'm not sure that it's primarily about brainwashing though. and it definitely isn't about "isolated white people." (The people in it aren't "isolated") It's definitely about racism though. It's about how white people are willing to court the consequences of terrible policies if they think someone "undeserving" is the primary beneficiary of better policies, without clear understanding that they themselves are the ones most impacted by policies such as lack of access to health care (Tennessee), bad schools (Kansas) or weak gun safety laws (Missouri).
The latter of the three sections is really powerful. The book opens at a support meeting for grieving families who've lost someone to suicide. It talks about how, after gun laws were loosened in Missouri, gun suicides among white men skyrocketed while not budging among Black men. Suicides in fact make up the largest number of guns deaths in the U.S., exacerbated by availability, while people delude themselves into thinking guns will protect their homes from Black "invaders." The call is coming from inside the house.
Another research-based book, *The Wages of Whiteness*, chronicles how groups like the Irish and Italians (among others) were initially socially classified as Black, and how demonizing Black people elevated those Irish/Italian/etc to Whiteness. So, the various oppressed cultural groups united in order to buy into the imagined riches of Whiteness. And those same fools are buying into their imagined richness today, all while dying of poverty inflicted by the wealthier Whites who will never accept nor elevate them.
I hope the Democrats have a team of staffers keeping track of all of the reactionary moves Don the Con has made, and (from my keyboard to The Lord's eyes) when a Dem wins the White House, those bright young interns spend the time from election day to inauguration day drafting up a massive flurry of executive orders revoking pretty much everything Don the Con has done. And if the SCROTUS knocks any of them down, the President should make like Andrew Jackson and ignore their verdict (or as he was alleged to say "The Justices have rendered their decision. Now let them enforce it"
Later in his life, Dr. King expanded from civil rights for minorities to advocating for poor people. He recognized that the rich and powerful distracted poor and working class black AND white people by setting them against each other, so they wouldn't notice that the local landlord is robbing BOTH OF THEM blind. There's an apocryphal story about a conversation between the local landlord and the poor/working class white person in which the landlord said "you mind the (N-word) and I'll mind the money!
Lyndon Johnson understood this very well when, during the 1960 Presidential campaign he said to a very young Bill Moyers:
Here's how it works. If you tell the lowest white man (sic) that he's still better than the best colored (sic) man, he won't notice that you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him someone to look down on and he'll empty his pockets for you!
Keep Googling. The hero was a famous US Olympic miler who was shot down with his crew in the Pacific, but captured and interred by the Japanese forces.
Yes. And while we're at it, let's not lose sight of the fact that this administration similarly discriminates against women, Jews, Muslims, gay, differently abled, and (apparently) well educated non-Republicans, as well as people of conscience across the board. Trump&Co may have replaced lynchings with ICE killings and deportations, and pogroms with digital hate campaigns, but they have continued to elevate the status and power of rich white Christian males by walking over the bones of the rest of us.
You nailed it. But we are not potted plants and we must fight back louder and stronger.
Being female, differently abled, and elderly, I'm always fighting the "potted plant syndrome". Staying informed and engaged, and swimming against the stream, seems like the best way to stay alive, and not merely exist on the shelf with the philodendron.
That’s why I joined SeniorsTakingAction.org. They have a terrific Wed zoom speaker series that will start up again mid-September. I also write postcards with them. Being with other engaged people, even through zoom, helps keep me motivated and moving forward. It’s a great group to work with.
My strategy exactly! I work with a group in the retirement community where I live, and on social justice projects of my church. I work on Zoom, wishing I could show up in person, but you do what you can. In this season, that has meant (so far) writing 90 GOTV postcards and becoming an "email-pal" to my Senators and Congressperson. They are already on "my" side of the issues, but they need to know they're supported and appreciated.
That’s exciting. Seniors Taking Action has also developed a WeTheSeniors.org that functions as an umbrella group to bring together senior groups across the nation to amplify our voices. Please check it out if this seems like something your group might find interesting 😊
Sharon, me too! I'm with you on that one, literally!
Well, old as I am I might be coming to resemble a potted plant-- or maybe just a cotton plant--but I am also loud, and strong, and determined to overcome. Sounds like you are, too. 👍
And that inequality affects many white families as well. It isn't a race war as much as it is a class war.
It's both.
David, oh, it is all of the above! These whiny white boys think they are sooo brilliant, smarter than all the rest of us, and think they are proving it every day. In reality, they are simply proving their cruelty, inhumanity, plagiarism of others' warped ideas, and their inability to help anyone but themselves.
The puzzle that has caught me since I was a kid is, "why do people vote and act against their own interests, and on a regular basis? Expecting someone to act in a different way after one has been betrayed by them, is just nuts, but we see it all the time. I know blaming others for one's own actions is powerful, but we should be able to realize that people don't change unless a major event happens in their life, a revelation of some kind. Those are pretty uncommon. If a politician has screwed the people over, then lies to them that he will support them and stand with them, warning bells should go off and folks should be able to say "no, not again" and mean it!
the topic is not new. A British book from 1968, Angels in Marble, examined the working class vote for the Conservative party - not as horrific as Trump, but very much not supportive of the interests of such voters.
https://books.google.ca/books/about/Angels_in_marble.html?id=XNg3AAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
John, I am going to look for that book!
"he original attendees, Obama recalled, “were not there in search of some abstract ideal. They were there seeking jobs as well as justice — not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity.” This is the key objective of the march. However, economic opportunity will require quaity education, a hard work for everyone. Those who march must realize that what they ask for also entails their hard work in return.
👍
Always appropriate mantra: NEVER AGAIN!!
Been around for thousands of years and humanity still struggling with those negative controlling forces.
except here it's still ??
Have faith as the slow changes keep coming. Remember that this same ‘war’ has been around throughout history. Sadly, it still rears it’s very ugly head in permissive political, economic, and social environments.
Exactly!
White America needs to be reminded that every black American who traveled from the south to march on Washington 63 years ago could not sit in the front of the bus, use the restroom on the bus or eat in the diners along the route because it was illegal because of Jim Crow laws that SCOTUS upheld as constitutional in Plessy v. Ferguson. Why was anyone surprised after the same Court decided Dred Scott as it did. SCOTUS has seldom been an honorable body.
Never forget that both Muck and Peter Thiel grew up in South Africa during Apartheid. They firmly believe in racism. Neither believes in inclusive democracy. The one key person I cannot understand is Stephen Miller whose grandparents fled the holocaust. Of course, I can't understand Netanyahu either. Who would want to recreate the conditions that were so wrong when Hitler did it? Why become a clone of the oppressor?
Netanyahu to me is just a smarter version of Donald Trump: obsessed with his own power, glory, ands well-being. I think Stephen Miller is just a bad seed.
same reason there are black republicans
But very very very few. And the Black politicians are all about self-enrichment, because the GOP is eager to reward Black faces to "prove" they aren't racist.
my point exactly
Here you go again with your obsession with Jews and Israel. There is nothing in Jen's article that would lead a non-obsessed person to bring up Netanyahu. But you can't help yourself. Many of despise Bibi. But we can control ourselves and not bring him up when the topic at hand has nothing to do with Israel.
Threads often develop from the original language. So do we outlaw any reference to Netanyahu when a civil rights issue is being discussed? No one brought Israel up.
It's a free speech country, so far. Netanyahu has nothing to do with the civil rights of the US. Why bring him up? How about the civil rights of millions of people around the world? Why only Israel?
I think Americans object more to Netanyahu because America is funding his atrocities. We give money to other countries but nowhere near what we give to Israel, and so I think Americans are more critical of Netanyahu. Believe me, I think the worst of our president too, Marilyn.
This concerted program to disenfranchise black, brown, immigrant Americans, and women has been described as The NeoConfederacy and deserves to called for what it is. It is using the tools of fascism and Jim Crow to drive a pluralistic society back 170 years. It is going to take determination and fortitude - and in some cases - bravery to walk past tRump's intimidators to vote. This election is an all-hands-on-deck moment, People
You took the words out of my mouth. As a woman and a long-time resister, twice in the past week I have learned that I don’t exist. Frum apparently wrote an article saying essentially that the resistance doesn’t exist and Project 2025 says women are nothing more than vessels. I’m here to prove them both wrong.
Please, keep fighting and don't give up. Every bit of resistance helps!
As Joyce Vance put is so succinctly, “Giving Up is Unforgivable .” I loved that book.
It is quite literally a movement to take America back to Dred Scott days.
Respectfully, you could turn that on them by being a vessel of change and a vessel of (small d) democratic values.
Sounds like a plan😊🙏👍
Thanks to all. The Civil War never ended. Here’s the latest version, run by a corrupt Republican (this time) government, one of the worst Supreme Courts in American history, Trump’s oligarchs and Vladimir Putin.
That was such a powerful message and testament to what these wonderful organizations do for humanity. Thank you Jen for shining the light on these organizations and what they have all done in the past , present and future!
This is about humanity. Dr. King was always fighting for blacks in America, but he knew that every other color was suffering as well. If we have one shred of conscience or decency, this is our job, our flight, our place and our moment to take a stand and Love Forward.
One of the buttons I bought and wear says "The only Thing Stronger Than Hate Is Love" . Dr. King and John Lewis among others showed us that. We must believe it.
I do, and I'm with you. Thank you!
I recommend reading the US Constitution at least once per year, especially the list of Amendments. I don't see any exceptions in the Fourth Amendment. Claiming otherwise is like claiming that the law of gravity only applies if you notice that you are standing on thin air like Wylie Coyote:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Where does it create exceptions for non-citizens or people who the government asserts are non-citizens? Warrants are issued by the Judicial branch, not the executive branch. Trial judges are in the Judicial branch. That which is in the executive branch are administrative procedures, not judicial procedures. The executive branch doesn't get to issue warrants or hold trials.
The 14th Amendment attempts to sharpen and clarify applicability of constitutional protections. There is but one exception for those who cannot be arrested and convicted of a crime.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive ANY PERSON of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (Note: a person present here illegally is still a person.)
This applies to the states what already applies to the federal government.
Of course the 14th also says any elected official who participates in an insurrection or gives aid and comfort to insurrectionists cannot serve. But here we are. I blame Mitch for that.
This should be called the McConnell Court.
I should also mention solidarity with the intent of the fifth amendment:
"NO PERSON shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall ANY PERSON be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
I note that it does not restrict itself to citizens. I understand that this amendment only applies to Federal caselaw until broadened by the 14th Amendment applied due process all the way through State and Local law. (I wonder if due process rights apply to HOAs.) As soon as illegal entry into this country elevates above misdemeanor and becomes an "infamous" crime (felony), due process applies.
Thank you Jennifer. A powerful morning column. Hope you are doing well.
Been to so many important marches in DC over the years starting in 1969 when fellow organized and permitted protestors marched around the White House against the Viet Nam War. In 1970, was in law school a few blocks away and it became ground zero thereafter.
I was 16, a kid in D.C., and I was at Dr. King's march, when we had a Reflecting Pool that was full of water. It and the mission of the march were both clear.
How fortunate you clearly were.
Was a college junior on Spring Break at home in Wilmington, DE when Dr King was assassinated. Riding with friends and stopped by DE State Police roadblock near my home at the north and south sides of town because of downtown riots.
Was on a high school film crew on Arlington Memorial Bridge when the John F. Kennedy funeral cortege passed to carry him to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.
We have truly had some experiences in our personal histories.
Because of the gridlock on then Shirley Highway (now 395), in order to get to 9am law classes at GWU, would cut through Arlington Cemetery in the early 1970’s when the cassons were quite active. It was quite humbling, since as a senior in college, the mandatory draft lottery had just started. They went to 240 that year and I had DE NATL GUARD JAG coverage. One of my apt roommates in Alex served 2 years in the jungle carrying a machine gun. Man, he had some stories.
My national lottery number hit the same as my residence hall room number in the spring of 1970. It coincided with spring break at my college in Illinois. Testing and pre-induction physical was at Ft. Holibird, Maryland, which I understand is now decommissioned.
I believe we’re at ground zero again. Hold fast.
We as a people need to start thinking about the people who we elect into power in the United States.
We, the people, are responsible for the disaster America finds itself in now.
Unfortunately, white men were thinking about themselves. Back in January 2017, a local union leader in the predominantly white male construction trades spoke to our Democratic women's group debunking the entire media-constructed idea that Trump's win was about "economic anxiety." He told us that guys in his union making six figures voted for Trump because of what he called "soft racism." What he meant was, they didn't necessarily hate Black people (or women or Latinos), they just didn't want to have to compete against them for their jobs and risk finding themselves against someone of a different color who was more skilled or a harder worker. They wanted the freedom to be mediocre without consequences.
"freedom to be mediocre without consequences"-that's a great, insightful line! That's a good way of phrasing it for those men who think that way.
So many of us predicted this would happen. The sad thing is that many Black men did not listen to what their leaders were telling them. Or even what Black women were saying. We are in this situation because people were fooled by a conman, and they refused to look at what he had done in the past, not only to Black's, Jews, Muslims, Latinos and women, and said...'well, he won't do that to me'. They are past the finding out phase. So what do they plan to do now?
78% of Black men voted for Kamala Harris. 78% isn’t enough to save their reputation as a group for knowing who to believe in. If they had voted like Black women (92%), would we be where we are today? I don’t know the answer to that but the numbers disincline me to lay this at their door. 78% is a very high number, though not as high as it’s been. What percent of white voters voting for Harris would have offset that loss? Many more white voters were fooled than Black voters. And they are now finding out what they have to lose. I hope this shows up in their voting.
Thank you, I am sick and tired of people blaming black men for the election of Trump. The vast majority of them voted for Harris and the majority of the electorate is white. Stop demanding that black people only are responsible for saving our democracy.
Bluebird, you are right. Plus, many voters of all races were convinced by bad actors on social media that “your vote doesn’t matter” and so way too many people simply did not vote. We need to change that.
"We march to defend civil rights, because attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion are attempts to roll back access, opportunity, and representation."
Spot-on as usual, Jen. High-profile organizations such as the WNBA should lead by example and allow Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White to join the league. If the WNBA refuses, I recommend that the Contrarian's own Norm Eisen file a lawsuit against the organization on our behalf and offer to represent Enes and Royce in court.
Everyone should read this book: "Dying of Whiteness" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_of_Whiteness) It illustrates the deep brain washing of Ignorant, isolated White people in the US and how they have been vaccinated against logic and reason. The Trump reign of terror is the culmination of the Fascist campaign that was initiated after 1963 and the civil rights and voting rights acts. The Heritage Foundation (founded in 1973) organized the Fascists while Liberals retreated to their Kumbaya sing-alongs & love-fests. And again the Progressives & Moderates are re-assembling the Democratic circular firing squad.
Democrats are certainly doing a lot of nothing.
Would you like to share what Democrats could be doing when they hold no power in any branch of the government? I'm sure they'd love input from a genius like you to share things they haven't thought of yet.
Ben Franklin: "We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately". For me there are no differences within the Democratic Party that would deter me from voting or prompt me to vote for a MAGA candidate. I have Democratic friends who are fighting over the Palestinian issue & the Ukraine War issue.
There are, and have always been, one-issue voters. What it would take to convince these people that it has been decades of Republican policy that allowed the Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Palestine situations to coalesce borders on incalcuable.
Yes. The leaders of what was once the Republican Party (now MAGA Fascist) know how to keep their people in line at voting time and win more than they should. In 1968 & 72 the Dems were divided over Vietnam. In 80 it was gas prices and the Iranian US embassy take-over, In 2000 it was (IMO) Environmental policy differences & Bill Clinton's sleazy sex life behavior that splashed onto Al Gore. I'm a Democrat but am regularly bummed about how easily the Fascists divide us.
The Republicans have also thrown around bumper-sticker fear mongering: They'll take your guns" (hasn't happened). "They'll take your jobs" (no good evidence). There is always a nebulous 'they' to fear.
Why post a comment that tens of thousands of others have posted? Maybe you are not a friend of liberal thinking?
I read that book last year when I won it from a blogger I follow. It's powerful and sad. I'm not sure that it's primarily about brainwashing though. and it definitely isn't about "isolated white people." (The people in it aren't "isolated") It's definitely about racism though. It's about how white people are willing to court the consequences of terrible policies if they think someone "undeserving" is the primary beneficiary of better policies, without clear understanding that they themselves are the ones most impacted by policies such as lack of access to health care (Tennessee), bad schools (Kansas) or weak gun safety laws (Missouri).
The latter of the three sections is really powerful. The book opens at a support meeting for grieving families who've lost someone to suicide. It talks about how, after gun laws were loosened in Missouri, gun suicides among white men skyrocketed while not budging among Black men. Suicides in fact make up the largest number of guns deaths in the U.S., exacerbated by availability, while people delude themselves into thinking guns will protect their homes from Black "invaders." The call is coming from inside the house.
I didn't mean they are geographically isolated. However, they did seems to be isolated in an information/fact bubble.
Another research-based book, *The Wages of Whiteness*, chronicles how groups like the Irish and Italians (among others) were initially socially classified as Black, and how demonizing Black people elevated those Irish/Italian/etc to Whiteness. So, the various oppressed cultural groups united in order to buy into the imagined riches of Whiteness. And those same fools are buying into their imagined richness today, all while dying of poverty inflicted by the wealthier Whites who will never accept nor elevate them.
We ALL need to learn how to march to protect and resecure our civil rights NOW.
I hope the Democrats have a team of staffers keeping track of all of the reactionary moves Don the Con has made, and (from my keyboard to The Lord's eyes) when a Dem wins the White House, those bright young interns spend the time from election day to inauguration day drafting up a massive flurry of executive orders revoking pretty much everything Don the Con has done. And if the SCROTUS knocks any of them down, the President should make like Andrew Jackson and ignore their verdict (or as he was alleged to say "The Justices have rendered their decision. Now let them enforce it"
Later in his life, Dr. King expanded from civil rights for minorities to advocating for poor people. He recognized that the rich and powerful distracted poor and working class black AND white people by setting them against each other, so they wouldn't notice that the local landlord is robbing BOTH OF THEM blind. There's an apocryphal story about a conversation between the local landlord and the poor/working class white person in which the landlord said "you mind the (N-word) and I'll mind the money!
Lyndon Johnson understood this very well when, during the 1960 Presidential campaign he said to a very young Bill Moyers:
Here's how it works. If you tell the lowest white man (sic) that he's still better than the best colored (sic) man, he won't notice that you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him someone to look down on and he'll empty his pockets for you!
Undaunted!
Great book & movie. Laura H lived in Cleveland Park when she wrote her fine books.
??? All I can find is a romance novel called "Laura The Undaunted."
Use author Laura Hildebrand I believe is the correct spelling. Also use ‘book’ & ‘movie’
Keep Googling. The hero was a famous US Olympic miler who was shot down with his crew in the Pacific, but captured and interred by the Japanese forces.
I"m getting a wild array of hits on this. "Undaunted" simply isn't enough information to find anything.