Two Americas

"But I'd like to use a subject from which to speak this afternoon, the Other America.

And I use this subject because there are literally two Americas. One America is beautiful for situation. And, in a sense, this America is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity. This America is the habitat of millions of people who have food and material necessities for their bodies; and culture and education for their minds; and freedom and human dignity for their spirits. In this America, millions of people experience every day the opportunity of having life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all of their dimensions. And in this America millions of young people grow up in the sunlight of opportunity.

But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebulliency of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

In a sense, the greatest tragedy of this other America is what it does to little children. Little children in this other America are forced to grow up with clouds of inferiority forming every day in their little mental skies. As we look at this other America, we see it as an arena of blasted hopes and shattered dreams. Many people of various backgrounds live in this other America. Some are Mexican Americans, some are Puerto Ricans, some are Indians, some happen to be from other groups. Millions of them are Appalachian whites. But probably the largest group in this other America in proportion to its size in the Population is the American Negro."

As always, the words of Dr. King remain as prescient as ever. We see in our nation two Americas.  And I fear the divide has only gotten worse and we are seeing it play out across the country today.  

If we want a prime example, we can look at Kenosha, Wisconsin and the disparity between Jacob Blake and Kyle Rittenhouse.

For those unaware, Jacob Blake is a 29 year old African American man, the subject of the most recent police shooting to draw national attention.  On August 23, 2020, police were called to the scene of a domestic dispute, with a female caller alleging that Blake was not allowed to be on premises and had taken her keys.  According to other witnesses at the scene, Blake pulled up near six or seven women shouting at each other on the sidewalk.  Blake was trying to intervene and had three of his children in the backseat of the car.  Blake did have a warrant out for his arrest in connection with charges of third degree sexual assault, trespassing, and disorderly conduct in connection with domestic abuse.  These charges were filed by the woman who had called 911 on August 23.  According to police, the police were aware of these charges when they arrived at the scene.

When the police arrived, they attempted to subdue Blake.  They say he resisted and two officers used tasers on him.  Police allege he had a knife in his hands, though it was not initially seen, and that he fought forcefully with them.  When these initial methods of subduing Blake failed, an officer drew on Blake and shot at him seven times.  Three times missed, four times hit him in his back.  

Blake has been permanently paralyzed from the shots.  His three children witnessed the whole event. A bystander who recorded the event said Blake had no knife and was not being violent.

The shooting of Jacob Blake led to an eruption of protests across Kenosha, as early as August 24.  By August 26, the officers at the scene were placed on administrative leave.  Investigations into the shooting had begun.

The protests in Kenosha became riotous early.  Looting, fires, physical damage.  The National Guard was deployed on August 24 and a state of emergency was declared.  By August 25, vigilante citizens armed themselves and took to the streets to help "protect" Kenosha.

That brings us to Kyle Rittenhouse.  Rittenhouse is a 17 year old from Antioch, Illinois, twenty miles away from Kenosha.  Rittenhouse is a self-admitted "police admirer," participating in local police cadet programs and supporting Blue Lives Matter.  On August 25, Rittenhouse obtained an AR-15 and traveled to Kenosha to join with the "Kenosha Guard" militia.  It is unknown how the altercations started, though some witnesses have said that it began when Rittenhouse and other armed vigilantes confronted protestors starting a fire.  There is video of Rittenhouse being chased by protestors who are throwing things at him.  He then opens fire and kills one of the protestors, Joseph Rosenbaum.  He then makes a phone call where he is heard saying "I killed someone."  In another video, Rittenhouse is again chased by protestors before tripping.  While he is down, another protestor Anthony Huber, hits him with a skateboard and tries to take his rifle.  Rittenhouse shoots Huber in the chest, killing him.  A third protestor, Gaige Grosskreutz, then rushes toward Rittenhouse, who turns the gun towards him.  Grosskreutz backs off, then at some point, appears to pull a handgun.  He then moves toward Rittenhouse, who fires and hits him in the arm.  

The final video footage has Rittenhouse walking towards the police with the gun strapped around him and hands in the air.  Protestors are yelling at the police that he shot someone, that he killed someone.  They allow him to leave, somewhat appearing to not even acknowledge Rittenhouse.

Two criminals; two very different treatments.

And yes, you read that right - I'm calling Kyle Rittenhouse a criminal.  It was illegal for him to possess that weapon.  He also shot and killed two people, injured another.  Vigilantism is illegal.

Blake injured no one during the altercation that the police were called for, he was paralyzed.  Rittenhouse committed murder, and was allowed to freely leave the scene and state.  He is being charged with murder, but is also receiving enormous support for his defense.  Analysis also suggests that he is most certainly going to be able to successfully plead self-defense, despite placing himself in the situation in the first place (and thus arguably being the initial escalating party).

Beyond the treatment the two have received in the initial incident, we also see the two Americas in the way the two have been treated in the media and in the public conscious since.  Half of America has focused on painting Blake as a hardened criminal who essentially deserved the treatment he received.  This half paints Rittenhouse as a hero, who took the necessary steps to bring law and order back from the unruly protesters. 

The other half of America has pointed to the excessive nature of the police action against Blake, and the unnecessary actions of Rittenhouse.  Why would someone drive twenty miles to another town to protect property that was not their own with a deadly weapon if they didn't have an itch to use it?

That seems to be a point that Conservatives do not understand in this entire social unrest.  A point they continually misstate.  

George Floyd's name, Breona Taylor's name, Jacob Blake's name are not brought up repeatedly to portray them as heroes, as Conservatives like to say.  Their lives as fathers, brothers, sons, mothers, sisters, daughters, husbands, wives, boyfriends, and girlfriends are not brought up to portray them as saints.  

They are discussed to remind us that they are human, not some criminal other.

They are continually mentioned not to lift them up as examples of the people that we admire or promote, but to remind us that they didn't need to be shot.

To remind us that they didn't need to die.

In that context, their past doesn't matter.  They did not deserve to die in that interaction with the police.  It's that simple.

In that context, the Derek Chauvens, the Kyle Rittenhouses of the world cannot be seen as heroic.  They certainly should not be receiving donations through a Christian crowd funding site or receiving praise from elected officials and media personnel.

King closed his speech by confirming his belief that we will close the gap between the two Americas.  He believed it because he recognized a fundamental truth - we need each other.  That neither of the two Americas is sustainable without the other.  "The black man needs the white man to save him from his fear and the white man needs the black man to free him from his guilt.  We are tied together in so many ways, our language, our music, our cultural patterns, our material prosperity, and even our food are an amalgam of black and white."

I pray we see that day.  I pray that we reach the point where we can break through the two Americas into one united state.  Because our trajectory is not sustainable.  And it starts by refusing to buy into the singular narratives each side creates.  By seeking understanding.  By listening.  And hopefully, listening to the right voices.  Because in the long run, oppression will not win.  "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Or to put it another way - it's been a long time coming, but a change is going to come.

One day.

"And I say that if the inexpressible cruelties of slavery couldn't stop us, the opposition that we now face, including the so-called white backlash, will surely fail. We're gonna win our freedom because both the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of the Almighty God are embodied in our echoing demands.

And so I can still sing "We Shall Overcome." We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward Justice. We shall overcome because Carlyle is right, "No lie can live forever." We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right, "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right, "Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne — Yet that scaffold sways the future." With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discourse of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to speed up the day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and live together as brothers and sisters, all over this great nation. That will be a great day, that will be a great tomorrow. In the words of the Scripture, to speak symbolically, that will be the day when the morning stars will sing together and the sons of God will shout for joy."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 1967

Here's Your Sign

When NASCAR tells you the flag is racist, it just might be racist.  To quote Bill Engvall, here's your sign.

Last Wednesday, June 10, 2020, NASCAR officially banned the Confederate Battle Flag from all NASCAR events.

pic.twitter.com/gJkIfVf3Ba

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 10, 2020

This should not come as a surprise to anyone following the sport. In 2015, then CEO and Chairman Brian France referred to the flag as an “offensive and divisive symbol.” He subsequently implemented a program at all racing events in which fans could trade a Confederate flag for an American one.

The ban comes just days after the circuits only African American racer, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, called for the flag’s ouster. Regarding the ban, Wallace would tell Fox News, “Hats off to NASCAR. … It was a huge, a pivotal moment for the sport - a lot of backlash but it creates doors that allow the community to come together as one.”

To CNN - “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to NASCAR to race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”

So, really, it's time to take a hard look at the Confederate Battle Flag and own up to what it really stands for.

First, our understanding of its history is all messed up.  It's not the flag of the Confederacy.  It was a battle flag, not the official flag of the Confederacy as a whole.  The first official flag looked like this:

The Stars and Bars that many in the South are so affectionate for was a square battle flag.  The battle flag was so popular and the official flag was so easily confused with the American flag, it was adopted as a small section of the official flag, the square stars and bars on a white flag.  The full flag that we all know and are discussing now was the CSA Naval Jack, from 1863-1865 or the battle flag of the armies of Northern Virginia or Tennessee.  

Second, it was a flag for a period of the south that only existed for five years.  The Confederacy only existed from 186 through 1865.  Why is that period of five years the one that we want to use to remember the South?  Why of all things have we tied Southern heritage to the Confederate States of America?

The history of the Confederate Naval Jack and the statues and monuments that are being finally torn down reveal a lot about that.  Like the statues and monuments that only started being erected during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era, the Rebel Flag only really resurfaced in America after World War II.  Eighty years after the Civil War.  

The flag was first use in 1948 by Strom Thurmond and the old Dixiecrat Political Party, as a symbol of their "state's rights" campaign.  State's rights to keep from desegregating and integrating the schools.  It then became a symbol of Jim Crow, of separate but equal, of white's only.

The Rebel flag was displayed in front of each school where segregation was attempted.

It has been associated with the Klu Klux Klan.   It's associated with the Nazi Party of America.  It's associated with Neo-Nazis across the globe.  Germany rightly banned the Nazi flag and Nazi paraphernalia after World War II.  So what do Neo-Nazis and other Nazi sympathizers display?  The Rebel flag.

So, again, why are we so insistent on keeping the South associated with it, if it's not for racist purposes?  Why do we view Southern heritage so tied to that flag, unless it is truly a reminder for "blacks to know their place?"

There are so many other things about the South we could celebrate.  How about we remember the 100,000 or so Southerners that fought for the Union army?  How about we celebrate Southerner abolitionists?  Or the great diversity of the South that has always existed?  How come we don't teach about people like Cassius Clay?  The real story of Harriet Tubman?

The South has so much more that can be celebrated. We make better food, we tell better stories, we create great art, we have some of the best music, and we have a lot in our history that should make us proud.

Why are we so insistent on celebrating the parts that should forever shame us?

Minneapolis is Burning

"I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air.  Certain conditions continue to exist in society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots.  But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.  And what is it that America has failed to hear?  It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.  It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met.  And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity.  And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay.  And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again.  Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., interview with Mike Wallace for CBS Reports, September 27, 1966

"Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena.  They may be deplorable, but they are there and should be understood.  Urban riots are a special form of violence.  They are not insurrections.  The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions.  They are mainly intended to shock the white community.  They are a distorted form of social protest.  The looting which is their principal feature serves many functions.  It enables the most enraged and deprived Negro to take hold of consumer goods with the ease the white man does by using his purse.  Often the Negro does not even want what he takes; he wants the experience of taking.  But most of all, alienated from society and knowing that this society cherishes property above people, he is shocking it by abusing property rights.  There are thus elements of emotional catharsis in the violent act.  This may explain why most cities in which riots have occurred have not had a repetition, even though the causative conditions remain.  It is also noteworthy that the amount of physical harm done to white people other than police is infinitesimal and in Detroit whites and Negroes looted in unity.

A profound judgment of today's riots was expressed by Victor Hugo a century ago.  He said, 'If a soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed.  The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness."

The policymakers of the white society have caused the darkness; they create discrimination; they structured slums; and they perpetuate unemployment, ignorance and poverty.  It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes.  They are born of the greater crimes of the white society.  When we ask Negroes to abide by the law, let us also demand that the white man abide by law in the ghettos.  Day-in and day-out he violates welfare laws to deprive the poor of their meager allotments; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations; his police make a mockery of law; and he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provisions for civic services.  The slums are the handiwork of a vicious system of the white society; Negroes live in them but do not make them any more than a prisoner makes a prison.  Let us say boldly that if the violations of law by the white man in the slums over the years were calculated and compared with the law-breaking of a few days of riots, the hardened criminal would be the white man.  These are often difficult things to say but I have come to see more and more that it is necessary to utter the truth in order to deal with the great problems we face in our society."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to the American Psychology Associations annual convention, September 1967

Emphasis mine.

This is why we cannot condemn the riots and the police abuse with the same voice, with the same volume and with the same fervor.  There is no question, the burning of Minneapolis is a tragedy.  It is deplorable.  But to decry it to the same level as the continued injustices that are being perpetrated is to prove that we still have not heard, nor have we learned the lesson.  We continue to allow the narrative to be coopted to focus on tranquility and the status quo.  We observe how many Americans are more concerned with order than with justice.

If we need any more proof that we still have not learned our lesson, look at our President.  His response, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."  This is a direct quote from 1967.  From the Miami Police Chief Walter Headley at the GOP convention in December 1967.  A police chief who enacted some of the most racist police procedures at the time.  Shotguns, dogs, and "stop and frisk tactics."  His great quote, "We don't mind being accused of police brutality.  They haven't seen anything yet."

The phrase was also used by segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace in the 1968 presidential campaign. Wallace notoriously opposed desegregation and supported the policies of "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights movement.  Martin Luther, Jr. called him, "perhaps the most dangerous racist in America today."  

This is who our president quotes.

We still haven't heard them.

We still refuse to hear them.

Thankfully, Dr. King offered us the answer to how we get out of this, how we break the cycle, in the same speech toe he American Psychology Association.

"Thus, it may well be that our world is in dire need of a new organization.  The International Association of Advancement of Creative Maladjustment.  Men and women should be as maladjusted as the prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day, could cry out in words that echo across the centuries, 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream;' or as maladjusted as Abraham Lincoln, who in the midst of his vacillations finally came to see that this nation could not survive half slave and half free; or as maladjusted as Thomas Jefferson, who in the midst of an age amazingly adjusted to slavery, could scratch across the pages of history, words lifted to cosmic proportions, 'We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.  That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. And among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'  And through such creative maladjustment, we may be able to emerge from the bleak and desolate midnight of man's inhumanity to man, into the bright and glittering daybreak of freedom and justice.

I have not lost hope.  I must confess that these have been very difficult days for me personally.  And these have been difficult days for every civil rights leader, for every lover of justice and peace."

If only we would listen this time.

Existing While Black

We recently watched the movie Just Mercy as a family.  It tells the true story of Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard educated lawyer who travels to Alabama to found the Equal Justice Initiative, a program to help fight for poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation.  Much of his work takes the form of appeals for death row inmates, including Walter "Johnny D" McMillian.  McMillian was an African American man convicted of the 1986 murder of a white woman, Ronda Morrison.  When Stevenson studies McMillian's case, he discovers that the entirety of his conviction hangs on the word of another convicted felon, who traded his testimony for a lighter sentence.  All evidence favorable to McMillian was excluded, including several eye witness testimonies that confirmed that McMillian could not have been involved.  The testimonies were excluded because the witnesses were black.  McMillian was convicted because he had "looked like a criminal" in his mug shot.  And so there is no mistake, he was wrongfully convicted.

He was guilty of existing while black.

Stevenson is also African-American.  The film depicts other instances of Stevenson suffering for existing while black.  He is forced to strip naked before visiting his clients in the prison, something no other attorneys are required to do.  He is pulled over by the cops while driving.  They offer no reason for the stop, but threaten him at gunpoint.  Guilty of the crime of driving while black.

"Driving while black" is the usual way this crime is referenced.  It refers to the tendency of African Americans to be pulled over for no apparent reason.  The thought is the very fact that an African American is driving that type of car, in that neighborhood, at that time of day, and so on and so on, is inherently suspicious.  "Driving while black."

We're seeing that the list of suspicious activities and crimes that African Americans can be stopped for, questioned about, convicted of, and killed for is rapidly increasing.

• Relaxing at home while black- Bothem Jean, Atatiana Jefferson
• Asking for help after a car crash while black - Jonathan Ferrell, Renisha McBride
• Having a cellphone while black - Stephon Clark
• Leaving a party to get to safety while black - Jordan Edwards
• Playing loud music while black- Jordan Davis
• Selling CDs while black - Alton Sterling
• Sleeping while black - Aiyana Jones (7! years old)
• Walking from the corner store while black - Mike Brown
• Playing cops and robbers as kids while black - Tamir Rice
• Going to church while black - The Charleston 9: Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson
• Walking home with Skittles while black, wearing a hoodie while black- Trayvon Martin
• Holding a hair brush, leaving our own bachelor party while black - Sean Bell
• Partying on New Years while black - Oscar Grant
• Getting a traffic ticket while black - Sandra Bland
• Lawfully carrying a weapon while black - Philando Castile
• Having car problems while black - Corey Jones
• Shopping at Wal-Mart while black - John Crawford
• Walking with grandfather while black - Clifford Glover (10 years old)
• Decorating for a party while black - Claude Reese
• Asking a cop a question while black - Randolph Evans
• Cashing a check while black - Yvonne Smallwood
• Taking out wallet while black - Amadou Diallo
• Running while black - Walter Scott
• Breathing while black - Eric Garner
• Having a past while black - Freddie Gray

Now we can add:

• Jogging while black - Ahmaud Arbery
• Sleeping while black - Breonna Taylor 
• Defending home from invaders who killed girlfriend while black - Kenneth Walker
• Asking someone to obey the law while black - Christian Cooper
• Buying groceries while black - George Floyd

In each of the instances above, the person was viewed as inherently more suspicious, more dangerous because they were black.  And in each instance, they were met with an inappropriate response at best and an excessive use of force against them at worst, whether that be calling the cops and lying about their behavior, or being shot, choked, beaten, murdered.

Look at each of the recent cases.  Ahmaud Arbery was a 25 year old who jogged for exercise.  He was shot by an ex-police officer, who along with his son and neighbor, planned and filmed an altercation with Arbery, because they were convinced he was guilty of a couple of theft and trespassing in their area.  Arbery was killed in cold blood, and the only reason the killers were even charged is that the video of the incident surfaced and spread wide.  That took two months.  Before that, the local police department and the District Attorney were not even going to charge the former police officer.

Breonna Taylor was a 26 year old EMT in Louisville, Kentucky.  On the front lines of the Covid-19 epidemic.  She was shot eight times by the police as part of a no-knock raid.  The police had the wrong apartment.  The person the police wanted was in custody before they ever approached Taylor's apartment.  The police burst in without a knock, without announcing who they were.  Taylor and Kenneth Walker, her boyfriend, woke up and called the 9-1-1 to get the cops to come for what they thought was a break in.  The irony.  Walker took his lawfully owned gun and allegedly shot first on what he thought were intruders.  At that point, officers outside the home opened fire, blindly spraying bullets into the resident with a total disregard for human life.    The effects of the bullet fire could be seen on the apartment next door as well.

Walker was arrested for first degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer.  His only goal, his crime was to protect his girlfriend and his home.  And he was jailed for it because of a police mistake.  Because they believed they were in "significant, imminent danger."  He was initially only released because of Covid-19 concerns.  The charges against him have now been dropped.

Christian Cooper's story is thankfully less deadly, but no less concerning.  Christian Cooper is a former Marvel editor, current biomedical editor at Health Science Communications, and avid bird watcher.  He was walking in Central Park and saw a woman who did not have her dog on a leash, in an area where a leash is required.  He politely asked her to leash her dog.  She refused, and proceeded to call the cops on him telling them "an African American man is threatening my life."  Thankfully, he had the incident recorded, so the police could charge the appropriate violator.

George Floyd is the latest tragedy.  The police were called regarding a man suspected of forgery - passing a counterfeit $20 bill.  When they arrived, the saw Floyd sitting on his car, thought he matched the description, and "believed he was under the influence."  They ordered him out of the car and according to the police report he resisted.  Three officers pinned him down, and got him handcuffed.  They supposedly noted he was in physical distress and called for an ambulance.  The video footage from a bystander revealed that one of the police officers was pressing his knee into Floyd's neck.  Floyd is heard saying "I can't breathe," and "Please, I can't breathe."  Even after Floyd stops moving, the office continues to press his knee into Floyd's neck.  When the ambulance arrives, Floyd is of course already dead.  We've only seen bystander footage, the bodycam footage has not been seen.  Another death, all for $20.

There is so much to talk about in this it's hard to know where to begin.  We could talk about the militarization of our police.  When we arm them to the teeth like they are heading into Fallujah in the middle of the War on Terror, it's not surprising they want to use that gear.  When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  When you have military weapons, everything looks like a war.  

We could talk about the fetishization of our police force.  The overboard "Blue Lives Matter" campaigns. The unquestioning loyalty among Conservative circles.  A broad community enabling the next point.

We could talk about the lack of accountability- it's notable these incidents only capture our attention because there is a video or an outcry.  The tendency for them to circle the wagons and protect their own.  How difficult it is to prosecute an officer, even with egregious misconduct.  We desperately have the need to hold police accountable at a civilian level. 

We can talk about the fact that no-knock raids should be unconstitutional in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

At the end of the day, though, the issue keeps coming down to us seeing African-Americans as more threatening.  Inherently more dangerous.  This applies to all of us.  Not just the police, not jus those in power.  How there is an inherent bias for us as Americans to see those with darker skin as less of a person and more of a liability.  

Just look at the difference in police response to anti-lockdown protestors and the protestors of Floyd's murder.  The anti-lockdown protestors were carrying assault rifles around police, screaming in their faces and the police largely took it.  The protestors of Floyd's murder have been met with riot gear, rubber bullets, tear gas.  Why?  Well, we can only assume it's because the anti-lockdown protestors were largely white and the protestors now are largely black. 

I know some now will point to the looting and the rioting among the protestor's in Minneapolis as evidence enough for the police's response.  But it seems to pose a chicken and egg conundrum - does the police response perpetuate the looting and rioting?  Are we seeing that we really view the world as James Baldwin said?  "When white men rise up against oppression, they are heroes: when black men rise, they have reverted to their native savagery."  Baldwin's summation was a condemnation of how we treat the races differently.  Is it now supposed to be the status quo?

I don't mean to be reductivist, but it's hard to see any other differences.

Think about it.  What got more outcry among your particular circle - Kaepernick taking a knee in protest or the knee on George Floyd's throat?

It would seem there is still plenty of reason for Kaepernick to be kneeling.

As I've searched on this topic, I've stumbled across a few African American voices who have articulated that they feel like America still views them as 3/5 of a person and it's hard to disagree.  When will we break through this cycle of bias?  When will we stop judging danger by the color of a person's skin?  

When will we get angry enough to fix things?  When will our anger rise to levels that we have seen expressed from being on quarantine?  When will we be outraged about the right things?

When will we let African Americans be free to exist while black in America, with no fear of danger, no fear of police, no fear of harm, just because of the color of their skin?

When can existing while black be a good thing?

When we get to know each other better.

We get it as kids, we've got to do better as adults.  After the Ahmuad Arbery murder came out and there was a call for a Run With Ahmaud on the celebration of his birthday, we participated in that 2.23 mile run.  Jamie and Avalyn ran, I walked Jude in my arms or on my shoulders the whole way.  Jamie asked Avalyn why people do such hateful things.  Avalyn replied, " I think some people just don't like other people because they're black or they think that they are better but I really think it's because they just don't understand that we're all special to God.  We all get happy.  We all get sad and angry.  We're all loved by God."  

Your mouth to God's ears baby girl.

Our Racist in Chief

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

....it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

“Not since Woodrow Wilson showed ‘Birth of a Nation’ in the White House has an American president been so flagrant in his racial messaging as this one.”  Chris Matthews

As if we needed a series of tweets that summed up the worst of America.  Leave it to our President to give us one.   A tweet displaying the racism, misogyny, xenophobia, Islamophobia, nativism, and fear mongering that has been unleashed to the nth degree in our current political climate.

For context, Trump is referring Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts.  All are women of color.  All are rising Representatives and all are on the more extreme side of the Democratic party. 

However, despite Trump’s indication, only Ilan Omar is an immigrant, whose family entered the United States in 1992 as refugees, fleeing the civil war in Somalia.  Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx.  Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit.  And Ayanna Presley was born in Chicago.  So their original countries "whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world?"  That's us, the good old United States.

Let's even give Trump the benefit of the doubt.  If we prescribe the best of intentions to Trump, does he really not know where these now prominent newsworthy representatives are from.  Is it really better if this is just from his ignorance?  Shouldn't we expect more of the president.

This goes beyond even dog whistle politics. Dog whistle refers to the practice of using code words and phrases to mean one thing to the general population, but to have an additional, different, more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.  In particular, it has been used to refer to coded, racist language.  As explained by former Republican Party strategist Lee Atwater regarding the Southern Strategy, “You start out in 1954 by saying ‘Ni**er, ni**er, ni**er.’  By 1968, you can’t say ‘ni**er’ - that hurts you.  Backfires.  So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff.  You’re getting so abstract by now, you’re talking about cutting taxes.  And all these things that you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites.  And subconsciously maybe that is part of it.  I’m not saying that.  But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other.  You follow me - because obviously sitting around saying, ‘We want to cut this,’ is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ’Ni**er, ni**er.’" 

Trump's been accused of dog-whistle language before.  "There are good people on both sides."  Yeah, those Neo-Nazis are real good people.  

But here, we've blown way past that.  We've gone from the abstract to the blunt.  We've gone from the dog whistle to a megaphone. 

This is out and out blatant racism.  "Go back where you came from?"  Really?!?  That's a slur that has been used for decades against people who look different.  People of color.  People of different religions.  

This should offend and anger every American citizen.  Regardless of how you feel about the politics of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, and Presley, they are all American citizens, and duly elected representatives of their districts.  Our President should be treating them accordingly.  With the respect their offices afford.  And every Senator and Representative, Republican and Democrat alike, should be calling out Trump for this tweet.

The Republican party has instead had several members circle the wagons.  Marc Short, Vice President Pence’s Chief of Staff said Mr. Trump was “not racist” because Mr. Trump as an “Asian woman of color in his cabinet.”  Ah, the old “I have a black friend” response.

Lindsey Graham at least did suggest the president should aim higher, but had to inject that Omar and her allies are “anti-American” politicians who “hate our country.”  “We all know that [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and this crowd are a bunch of communists, they’re anti-Semitic…we don’t need to know anything about them personally, just talk their policies.”

Representative Andy Harris went as a far as to say the president’s comments were clearly not racist.  “They’re obviously not racist.  When anyone disagrees with anyone now the default is to call them a racist and this is no exception.”  He tried to even further explain “He could have meant go back to the district they came from - to the neighborhood they came from."

Trump for his part has doubled down on his comments, just now suggesting that the four should just leave America.

We will never be a Socialist or Communist Country. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE! It is your choice, and your choice alone. This is about love for America. Certain people HATE our Country....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019

I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but I continually find myself here.  Where is the bottom anymore?  How far down can we keep digging?

I'm not up for another five years of this.  I pray for wiser heads to finally prevail.

We Have a Long Way to Go

As if we needed proof.

We've recently seen both open and explicit reminders and subtle and quiet reminders of how far we have to come regarding addressing racism, racial discrimination, and bias.  

First, much attention has been drawn to Spike Lee's Oscar acceptance speech, with some, including our President, referring to it as racist.

Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019

Here's the text of Spike's acceptance speech (included below).  I'm having trouble finding the racism in there.

"The word today is “irony.” The date, the 24th. The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History month. The year, 2019. The year, 1619. History. Her story. 1619. 2019. 400 years.

Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother, Zimmie Shelton Retha, who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of Social Security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me “Spikie-poo” — she put me through Morehouse College and NYU grad film. NYU!

Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there."

What I see is a reminder of our uncomfortable history and a call to action.  It's not racist to disagree with the President.  It's not racist to say that Trump is on the wrong side of history. There are people of all races who think that.

It is ironic that a President who has trouble identifying actual racists believes Spike Lee to be one.  And also ironic that a President known for having issues with a teleprompter calls out Spike for reading from his notes.

I mean, I get it.  Spike's style is in your face. It's real.  It's visceral.  But that's his point.  BlacKkKlansman, his opus presented last year, opens with bookends of films within the film.  It opens with a long tracking shot from Gone With the Wind revealing the Confederate wounded, showing our twisted vision of a grand noble Dixie.  A Technicolor dream of the Old South.  In the middle, it slips in clips of The Birth of a Nation, a problematic  silent epic that on one hand cemented films legacy, but also was blatant propaganda for the Klu Klux Klan.  It ends with the reality of the live footage of the Charlottesville marches.  All gut punches that remind us of what we've been through and where we are.  How much this truly racist strain is among us.

But his speech Sunday night?  That's a good speech and a relatively restrained Spike.  I shudder how people calling him racist would react to his movies.

Plus, props to him for trying to walkout when Green Book was announced for Best Picture.  I'd have thrown my hands up too.

As a further reminder of how far we still have to go in more insidious ways, New York City, as of February 18, 2019, just passed an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on hair or hairstyle.  Specifically, the guidelines mention the right to maintain "natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state."  Workplace bans on any of these specific types of hairstyles would disproportionately affect minorities, specifically African Americans.  And they are surprisingly common.

As the article states, the guidelines are based on an argument that hairstyle is inherent to one's race and can be closely associated with racial, ethnic, or cultural identity, therefor deserving protection under the city's human rights laws.  This is currently something that is protected only at a local level.  There is no legal precedent in federal court for the protection of hair.  Last spring, the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Catastrophe Management Solutions (2013, Alabama), in which a black woman, Chastity Jones, had her job offer at an insurance company rescinded after she refused to cut off her dreadlocks.  The lower courts had ruled that the company's actions did not constitute racial discrimination.

This is tied to the idea of "good hair" - visibly loosely curled, wavy, and/or straight hair as opposed to tightly coiled hair.  The idea that somehow one style of hair is better than the other.  That natural hair is not desired.

I mean think about it.  It's 2019 and we have to forcibly remind people that others should be allowed to wear their hair as it naturally comes out of their heads!

We've made great strides, no question.  But we've got a long way to go.  And we really need to stamp out some fires that are coming back that we thought we put out long ago.

Quickly.

Why We Fight

Between 1942 and 1945,the United States made a series of seven films entitled Why We Fight.  They were propaganda films to justify to United States soldiers the American presence in World War II and to persuade the American public to support the war efforts.  All seven of the films represented the best Hollywood had to offer.  Frank Capra directed, Walt Disney Studios animated segments, and Walter Huston and other radio stars narrated.  All came together because they recognized the power of film.  The power of an image.

Every so often, we get reminders of the fight we are up against.  The reminder of the evil that is still out in the world.  And there are are the defining images that bring this reality into focus.

We have one such image now.  This picture is not a colorized photo from Nazi Germany.  It's not from the 1930s or 1940s.  This was a photo taken in Draketown, Georgia.  Last weekend.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/22/06/4B6A753100000578-0-image-a-85_1524375201471.jpg

There is something festering in our country and it cannot be ignored.  This is why we continue to fight.