“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
— Frederick Douglass (ca. 1818 — 1895), a speech on the twenty-fourth anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. (April 1886)
This year, descendents of Frederick Douglass read his powerful 1852 Independence Day speech “What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?”
Related:
“How Black Lives Matter transformed the Fourth of July,” Peniel Joseph, CNN
“How Black Americans Co-opted the Fourth of July,” Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily
Top image (“Frederick Douglass, July 4, 2020” after an 1856 Ambrotype in the National Portrait Gallery) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Conservative operatives have been using the courts to chip away at Affirmative Action for decades now. In the latest assault, a right-wing lawyer is using Asian-American students as stalking horses to attack Harvard’s admission practices. A Vox video.
“It dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like … in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil.”
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Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-rAB
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“… Yamiche Alcindor, a reporter for the PBS Newshour of Haitian descent, attempted to ask the president about the support he’s drawn from white nationalist groups.
‘On the campaign trail, you called yourself a nationalist. Some people saw that as emboldening white nationalists,’ Alcindor said, in a preamble to her question. But before she could get the rest out, Trump interrupted her.
‘I don’t know why you’d say that. That’s such a racist question,’ he said.
Alcindor tried to continue, saying that ‘some people are now saying that the Republican Party is supporting white nationalists because of your rhetoric.’ But once again Trump interrupted her — and accused her of being the real racist:
I don’t believe it. Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African Americans? That’s a racist question … You know what? I love our country, I do. You have nationalists, and you have globalists … to say that, what you said, is so insulting to me. It’s a very terrible thing that you said.
— “Watch Trump shout down a black reporter asking him about racism,” Zack Beauchamp, Vox (read it in full)
Prepare for a fresh barrage of so-called “reverse racism” charges from the privileged white men of the Administration, the Freedom Caucus, and the Trump-packed courts. “Reverse racism” claims are also a hallmark of, you know, White Nationalism.
More:
“Trump said it is ‘racist’ to ask him about his nationalism. Here’s why it’s necessary.” Eugene Scott, Washington Post
“Trump draws rebukes for scolding female reporters of color,” Rebecca Morin, Politico
“‘What a stupid question’: Trump demeans three black female reporters in three days,” Paul Farhi, Washington Post
“Trump calls Baltimore native April Ryan a ‘loser,’ threatens to revoke press credentials,” Brittany Britto, Baltimore Sun
“I’m a black woman. Trump loves insulting people like me.” April Ryan, Washington Post
“Trump’s insults toward black reporters, candidates echo ‘historic playbooks’ used against African Americans, critics say,” David Nakamura, Washington Post
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Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-srU
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When Starbucks closed 8,000 stores on May 29th to give 175,000 employees racial bias education, one element was a short film by Stanley Nelson, The Story of Access:
But remedying racial injustice doesn’t seem to be why Mr. Trump pardoned Jack Johnson. He did it because celebrity pal Sylvester Stallone asked him to, and because Mr. Johnson was “a truly legendary boxing champion, legendary athlete, and a person that, when people got to know him, they really liked him,” said the president. A flamboyant, womanizing, larger-than-life celebrity? Donald Trump can certainly relate to that.
“Trump’s pardon of Jack Johnson is not insignificant. But caring about racial injustice in 2018 would be more meaningful.” Eugene Scott, Washington Post
Video: Celebrity Jack Johnson conducts an unidentified jazz band, 1929. Alternate takes here.
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Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-ryA
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“White Privilege Glasses,” produced by 31 Lengths for the Chicago Theological Seminary. Cast: Michael Ford (he got the glasses), Nathaniel Ryan, Cherie Malone.
This is a short, mild introduction to this subject for white folks, but it has caused furor in the conservative blogosphere.
NotionsCapital 