“That Conversation about Race” category archive
Race to the Super Bowl 0
I gather that some old white men are clutching their pearls while having the vapors over the Super Bowl half-time show, sort of like the lady in the Masterpiece Mystery theme.
They should grow up already.
(Video below the fold in case it autoplays.)
Gut Out the Vote 0
I’m so old that I can remember when North Carolina was considered the beacon of progress for the “New South.” We have latterly seen since that since 1865 there is not and has never been a “New South,” and there has been damned little progress.
“The Other” 0
A black man goes undercover in the Trump campaign and reports on what he observed.
Cowboy Cosplay, It Must Be the Hats Dept. 0
I was living in the Philadelphia area when the MOVE assault took place. Had I happened to look out ny bedroom windows that day, I would have seen the smoke from the fire that eventually wiped out a city block, dispossessing not only MOVE, but also its neighbors.
Instead, while West Philly burned, I sat in my easy chair reading a book while listening to music.
Here’s a nugget from Jone’s piece; follow the link for the full article.
Solomon Jones look back and sees similarities between MOVE and the Bundy Bund, plus one glaring difference:
Let me be clear. That wouldn’t happen if they were anything other than white men in cowboy hats.
(snip)
Compare their story with the tale of MOVE, a black naturalist group whose yearslong conflict with law enforcement in Philadelphia ended in fiery tragedy.
The Candidates Debate 0
Elon James White, Imani Ghandi, and Aaron James Freeman comment on the Democratic debate and the superficial discussion of #blacklivesmatter.
“A Nation of Immigrants” 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., speaking of Nikki Haley’s delusional response to the State of the Union address, in which she said, “When you’ve got immigrants who are coming here legally, we’ve never in the history of this country passed any laws or done anything based on race or religion.” Here’s a list from his article:
The Naturalization Act of 1790, which extended citizenship to “any alien, being a free white person … “?
Or the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, whose title and intent are self-explanatory?
Or the Immigration Act of 1917, which banned immigrants from East Asia and the Pacific?
Or Ozawa v. U.S., the 1922 Supreme Court decision which declared that Japanese immigrants could not be naturalized?
Or U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind, the 1923 high court ruling which said people from India – like Haley’s parents – could not become naturalized citizens?
One more time: The history of American immigration laws is a narrative of canonizing racism, and the lies Americans tell themselves does not change that. The willingness of Americans to gainsay their history, though, says much about the human desire capacity for denying reality.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Steven M asks a question:
“The core population” — is that what white supremacists are calling themselves these days?
Follow the link for context.
“Like an Invisible Plastic Shield” 0
One of the things about privilege is that those who have it don’t notice it.
Making a Hashtag of It 0
Elie Mystal comments on the Mall of America’s attempt to prevent a #BlackLivesMatters protest. A snippet (emphasis added):
And Mall of America certainly can’t ban black people from coming into it. They can’t restrict the activity of protesting until, at the very least, people actually start doing it. Otherwise you are just banning black people for something they might do, which is pretty damn racist.
Of course, Mall of America doesn’t want to ban black people. Black people can spend money too! They just don’t want black people to voice… anything of substance inside the mall, or disrupt other people’s attempts to spend money in the mall.
The concept that a mall is private space is morally, if not legally, flawed. In many communities, malls are for all practical purposes the downtowns of yesteryear, at least in the relatively few places where they have not yet been supplanted by big boxes. They want to be seen as public spaces, with shops and restaurants and recreation sometimes even exhibits of various types, as long as the public remains docile and compliant. Otherwise, otherwise.
And now for the rest of the story.
America’s First Ponzi Scheme 0
It predated Charles Ponzi by a couple of centuries. (The interview starts at about the 30-minute mark.)
If you don’t have time to listen now, bookmark or download it for listening later, but be sure to listen.
Now You See It, Now You Don’t 0
Another great moment in out of sight, out of mind.