After losing the Civil War, apologists for the Confederacy explained that the South didn’t secede frpm the United States over slavery, but to protect “States’ Rights.” Sure — the right to own other human beings. A TED-Ed video by Karen L. Cox.
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A teenaged white supremicist has murdered 10 people in a supermarket in Buffalo, NY. He was able to legally purchase an assault-style firearm despite earlier threats to commit such acts. There have been 202 mass shootings in the United States so far this year. And it’s only May.
More:
“The victims: What we know about those killed, injured in Tops shooting,” Buffalo News
“The Buffalo Shooter Isn’t a ‘Lone Wolf.’ He’s a Mainstream Republican,” Talia Lavin, Rolling Stone
“Scrutiny of Republicans who embrace ‘great replacement theory’ after Buffalo massacre,” Richard Luscombe, The Guardian
“White Power, White Violence,” Kathleen Belew, The Atlantic
“Conservative media is familiar with Buffalo suspect’s alleged ‘theory,’” Paul Farhi, Washington Post
“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion
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New! A Hotline for Racists, invented by Niecy Nash. A New York Times opinion piece.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, two months after Japan bombied Pearl Harbor. It empowered the US army to incarcerate 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II.
In March 1942 the government created a new department, the War Relocation Authority, and hired photographers to document “resettlement” and life in the “relocation” camps, possibly to complement the work of the WRA’s Community Analysis Section. One of those photographers was Dorothea Lange, who had documented dustbowl migrants and other rural Americans for the Farm Security Administration. The WRA photographs were surpressed until 1972.
A Vox video by Coleman Lowndes.
More:
Dorothea Lange’s WRA photos at the University of California
Dorothea Lange’s WRA photos at the US National Archives
Japanese American incarceration
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DC’s NFL team shed its long-held racist name and adopted a place-holder generic name, Washington Football Team, in July 2020. It announced a new permanent name today, February 2nd, suggesting the team would be called the Washington Groundhogs. Alas, the new name is the Washington Commanders.
It’s not “Commandos,” since NFL players really should wear undies. It could have been Salamanders, since the mediocre team is owned by lizardman Dan Snyder, but no. The new logo seems to be a sort of stenciled W, since the Nats already have the cool curly one. There’s also some sort of goofy crest.
Anyway, football fans in the DC area have seven months, until the start of the 2022 season, to practice saying “How ’bout them ‘Mandos?” Probably while shaking their heads.
More:
“Washington Football Team announces Commanders as new NFL nickname,” Steve Gardner, USA Today
“Like It Or Not, the Washington Commanders Are Officially Here,” Kelyn Soong, Washington City Paper
“Washington Has A New NFL Team Name: The Commanders,” Elliot C. Williams, DCist
“Washington Commanders Is an Appropriately Boring Name,” Benjamin Hart, New York Magazine
“The Commanders name lands ‘with a thud’ for some Washington fans,” Andrew Golden, Washington Post
Updates:
“Experts Aren’t Wowed by New Commanders Branding,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian
“On Capitol Hill, ex-Washington NFL employees levy new harassment claims against Daniel Snyder,” Liz Clarke, Washington Post
“The Best (and Worst) Reactions to the Washington Football Team’s New Name,” Lauren Mccaffrey and Anna Spiegel, Washingtonian
“The Rebrand Is the Least Bad Thing About the Washington Commanders,” Matt Terl, Washington City Paper
Related:
“Washington Commanders investigating sexual harassment allegation against owner,” Chloe Folmar, The Hill
“NFL says it will control investigation into Commanders owner Dan Snyder, not the team,” Jonathan Franklin, NPR News
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Image (“WFT NFL Uniform”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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While the rest of the nation observes the Lunar New Year and Black History Month, the Commonwealth of Virginia celebrates White Fragility Month by urging parents to inform on educators who teach the actual history of the United States, which, of course, included centuries of Black enslavement, legally enforced racial segregation, and disinvestment.
Two weeks ago, as Republican Glenn Youngkin moved into the Virginia Governor’s Mansion, built by enslaved laborers in 1813, he signed a stack of executive orders, including the Orwellian “rat on teacher” edict. “Negative” books are being removed from Virginia school libraries. Maybe book bonfires will be part of the state’s 2022 high school pep rallies. Go team.
Like-minded update:
“Glenn Youngkin’s No-Guilt History of Virginia for Fragile White People,” Dana Milbank, Washington Post
More:
“Where Things Stand: Trolls Flood Youngkin’s Teacher-Reporting Tip Line, As They Should,” Nicole Lafond, TalkingPointsMemo
“‘It’s Jim Crow, it’s not reform’: Concerns raised over Virginia governor’s new ‘divisive’ learning tip line,” Jim Dowding, WAVY-TV
“A GOP proposal targeting ‘negative’ U.S. history is cause for renewed alarm,” Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Updated:
“Youngkin Rescinds Racial Equity Resources For Schools,” Margaret Barthel, DCist
Related:
“Glenn Youngkin didn’t mind if some kids got an anti-racist education: His own,” Dana Milbank, Washington Post
“From slavery to socialism, new legislation restricts what teachers can discuss,” Terry Gross, NPR
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DC’s NFL team, having shed its long-held racist name and become the generic Washington Football Team, will announce its new name on February 2nd, which suggests the team will be know as the Washington Groundhogs.
Other name candidates include the Commanders, Admirals, Armada, Brigade, Sentinels, Defenders, Red Hogs, Presidents and “Washington Football Team.” If only they could replace Dan Snyder with a generic “Washington Football Team Owner.”
Related:
“Washington Football Team Awaits a New Name, But the Mediocrity Remains,” Matt Terl, Washington City Paper
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Image (“New DC NFL Uniform”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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After World War I, anti-Black school curriculums, newspapers and film helped instigate racial violence in Chicago and Washington DC.
More:
“How racist propaganda inspired riots in America’s biggest cities,” Bayeté Ross Smith and Jimmie Briggs, The Guardian
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The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended Chinese immigration to the U.S. and blocked Chinese immigrants from citizenship. Robert Chang explains in this TED-Ed video, directed by Mohammad Babakoohi and Yijia Cao.
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The airlift of endangered Afghan refugees from Taliban-controlled Kabul is hampered by a lengthy and convoluted visa process, which had a backlog of 20,000 applicants before the fall of the corrupt Karzai government. In 2018 the Pentagon urged the Trump administration to expedite Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan nationals who had assisted US and NATO forces, but this was denied.
Olivia Troye, homeland security and counterterrorism advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, says all efforts to fast-track Afghan visas were sabotaged by Stephen Miller, racist and Islamophobe-In-Residence at the Trump White House. This was confirmed by Elizabeth Neumann, a former senior DNS official. Matt Zeller, Afghanistan combat veteran and former CIA officer, says Stephen Miller “should be held accountable for war crimes” for his refugee visa obstruction.
More:
“Pence aide blames Stephen Miller for ‘devastating’ visa system for Afghans,” Maureen Groppe, USA Today
“Stephen Miller peddled ‘racist hysteria about Afghanistan’ and gummed up refugee process: Ex-Pence adviser,” Raw Story
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