“That Conversation about Race” category archive
Birds of a Feather 0
Farron points out that the Republican Party is reaping what it sowed.
And it is endangering all of us.
Pursuing a Purity of Paleness 0
Will Bunch minces no words in describing Donald Trump’s policy towards immigrants, at least, towards immigrants who aren’t from Norway. A nugget:
The United Nations defines ethnic cleansing as “rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove from a given area persons of another ethnic or religious group.” It’s hard to look at the big picture of Trump’s policies on refugees and harsh immigration enforcement and not conclude the goal is to make America more ethnically homogeneous.
In a harsh, realpolitick sense, Trump’s policies may be the only last-gasp long-term survival policy for his Republican Party, which has shown itself each election cycle to be increasing older and more white even as it’s held onto Congress and regained the White House. But immigration brutality is also the policy most guaranteed to earn the continued political gratitude of the conservative base that elected him.
Propagating Propaganda To Perpetuate Privilege 0
The Roanoke Times explores how the Commonwealth of Virginia slanted textbooks to whitewash–you will pardon the expression–slavery. A snippet:
Springston’s story says: “Lawmakers thought that requiring schoolteachers to promote the Byrd organization’s view of history would set students straight and keep teachers from spreading socialist or communist ideas.” Ironically, that’s no different than what the Bolsheviks did when they instituted communism in the Soviet Union — they taught students a different version of history.
(snip)
On the website Politichicks, Eichelman writes: “One former commission member admitted to me that the goal of the seventh grade book was to ‘make every seventh-grader aspire to the colonnaded mansion; and if he can’t get there, make him happy in the cabin.’
These were the textbooks I had when I was in school. I realized by the time I graduated high school that they were–er–slanted (perhaps that’s why I chose to get my degree in history with a focus on U. S. Southern–as a rebellion against the attempt to indoctrinate me in bigotry).
On the Beach 0
My local rag looks back to a time in the recent past, when black folks weren’t allowed on a beach. Here’s a bit; follow the for the rest, and, all the while, remember that there are those amongst us who would happily return to recreate those times.
(snip)
A year later, most of Bright’s beach buildings were consumed in a mysterious fire. The Guide reported that it was likely set by disgruntled whites. The story also said the arsonists were probably among those who appeared at a zoning meeting and shut down African Americans’ requests to rebuild.
Trumpling a Promise (Updated) 1
Borderline Disorder, Republican Family Values Dept. 0
Psychologists Rosalind Barnett and Caryl Rivers consider the likely psychological effects of the party of mean for the sake of mean’s sadistic policy of ripping children from their parents. They discuss three in particular:
- The first whammy: Learned helplessness.
- The second whammy: Lack of attachment.
- The Third Whammy: Mistrust over Trust.
Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each one.
American Heritage 0
Tony Norman reminds us that the past is not even past.
Suffer the Children 0
Remember this while you grill your Fourth of July burgers: Here are your tax dollars at work.