Maybe, just maybe, if our coalition / constituencies voted more, we would get more of what we want done. Crazy, i know.
16 Likes
As most here know, Iâm not an HRC supporter. Having said that, I think she did well with these people and held her own. The very big problem I have with BLM is that they use ambush tactics to try to get their point across and then claim they were victorious for getting their issues noticed. I think she initially tried to do a scripted answer, they pushed her buttons a little too hard and she got a lot more real. Was nice to see.
@Doremus_Jessup I, too, was wondering where the CBC is in all this? If theyâve put out some sort of statement, then I missed it. Has BLM even requested a sit down with the CBC or are they considered to be âsell outâ Blacks?
2 Likes
If I could recommend that 100x, I would. Excellent point.
I donât know about the rest of your comment, but there is a part of your comment I agree with. I too watched that segment last night.
The guy seemed to contradict himself. He expressed frustration with Bill Clintonâs policies of taking away seed money and other forms of dedicated funding for low-income housing, and putting it into building more prisons in showing he was tough on crime. The misappropriation was the beginning that led to mass black incarceration that no one can dispute. The private prison system that relies on profit to fill their beds, that Republicans all seem to advocate for, has only made this problem worse. However, Iâm not sure the wife of a sitting President is to blame for what her husbandâs policies were at the time, though I understand why she is put in the position of answering for them by those that want serious changes in policy. In any case, the guy was upset that this money needed to be redirected back to black communities instead of a constant divestment where low-income and affordable housing continues to be hard to come by. It begins with basic security and an actual home to call oneâs own. It is part of a necessary solutionâŚand I agree with the BLM representative on this. Priorities by the candidates matter.
The problem I have is that there seemed to be an attack on Bernie Sanders and even Hillary to some extent for even bringing up economic solutions and policy solutions to the problems some BLM members identify, like the one this guy suggested. So that leaves me utterly confused. It has to be part of the solutionâŚand I heard this BLM representative come up with this idea as well, in this respect.
Hillary Clinton, though looking a bit defensive in her body language, was correct that policies matter, that allocations of resources matter, that structural and systemic changes must occur, and changing hearts without actually changing policies is a recipe for disaster down the road. Hearts will hopefully followâŚbut not for the most racist and already privileged among us. There will still be those who fear that by giving something to improve the lives of those less privileged, automatically means they stand to lose a part of their privilege. That ridiculous belief runs deep within much of white America and the white power structure in this country, in which black folks have taken the brunt of this attitude for way too long. So economic justice is an important area to address and should not be discounted.
On that note, Bernie Sanders had it right as well. If BLM wanted him to acknowledge that racism exists and that there is inherent unfairness in the system, Mission Accomplished, I guessâŚBut, they would have been better off approaching him in a way to better educate him on those issues, with the sensitivity and deep concern it deserves, mono e mono, as they attempted to do with Hillary, instead of confronting him in a somewhat humiliating or shaming fashion. If they would like him to be more empathetic and willing to come to their defense and promote their ideas, he should be given the opportunity to address those concerns with them in a serious sit-down manner on the issues.
Grandstanding is one form of positive disruption, in order to be heard, and as all successful movements employ from time to time. But there are other ways as well, with those that should and could be oneâs natural allies in a fight for equal justice. And both Bernie and Hillary I suspect would be those natural allies in addressing these issuesâŚat least I would hope so.
6 Likes
Please keep in mind that seven years ago, these young people thought we were entering a postracial era. They were probably raised in households in which they were given as many advantages as their parents could afford. They were the ones who would admonish their parents at the dinner table to stop living in the past. These are the young people who showed up in schools self-assured, smart, and eager. At some point (AP classes, college), they started experiencing the microaggressions. Theyâre now going through an awakening (I went through this with my Millennials.)
At some point, theyâll realize that white folks donât give a hoot. They donât have to care and they wonât. And then theyâll be forced to move to phases 2, 3, and 4: educating people to vote and run for local and state offices, tutoring and job training for ex-offenders, teaching SAT prep classes, startups/entrepreneurships in city neighborhoods, and massive, extensive mentoring/job training for these young brothers who are erasing themselves from the equation.
But for the time being let them figure it out.
2 Likes
Bill Mahrerâs dialogue with Talib Kweli concerning BLM was interesting on that note. They do a little back and forth, but Kweli was basically saying that the NAACP wasnât all that relevant anymore.
Of course, he isnât an official spokesperson for BLMâŚbut then, who is?
I think the visual here is of a privileged white woman lecturing black people on what they need to do.
Whether she is right or not, the lecturing doesnât come across well.
I wish they had sat down for this discussion.
1 Like
Sanders is meeting with Black Lives Matters leaders later this week. The two women who interrupted his speech at the Social Security / Medicare rally in Seattle do not represent the mainstream of the BLM movement.
1 Like
So no white people care? I realize I have been blind to the institutionalized killing. But I care very much and I think to get the changes needed white people have to see and care. Because, as you know, itâs damn hard to change things without a lot of people caring and there are so many more white people.
Iâm a boomer. I have cared about racism since I was 5 years old and saw a small child spoken to very unkindly because of his race. I knew we still have so much to do but I am ashamed to admit I did not realize how many people are being murdered by the police.
6 Likes
I donât know where you live eve, but on my local nightly newsâŚfor most of my life, systematic racism has been right in front of my nose whenever a murder, rape or some other heinous crime is shown on TV as the face of a black person almost every fucking night. Youâd think white people didnât commit crimes if you ever watched the local news in Michigan. And white-collar crime? Fuggetaboutit!
Iâve seen this shit on the east side of my state and the west side of my state. It used to be insidious, but now its deliberate âin your faceâ decisions being made in newsrooms all across this country. Iâve been aware of this selective crap reporting most of my lifeâŚand Iâm white. The only addition to this montage of crime stories is the face of Hispanics being selected to have their mugshots thrown up on the screen. Oh, and Iâm a boomer too.
2 Likes
Clive Bundy hates both, so thereâs thatâŚ
1 Like
AndâŚshe actively listens. She listens to the person speaking to her as if they are the only person in the room. No other candidate even comes close to that kind of listening.
7 Likes
I have been very aware of systematic racism all of my life. I have been very aware that our criminal justice system is vastly and tragically racist. And that there is much, much more institutionalized racism than what happens in the justice system. I got to see some of it very up close and personal years ago when I worked for an all black company (except me).
The part I didnât realize until more recently is the extent of police murders. Itâs not that I didnât think it happens. That it happens at all is horrific. I didnât know it happens so much and so often everywhere in this country. And I am very embarrassed to admit that. I should have realized it long ago.
1 Like
Iâve bookmarked this article from The Guardian for moments like this.
For better or worse this is pretty much exactly what Iâd expect to hear from Obama candidly as well
3 Likes
Sheâs right. You can change some heart, but racist republicans need to be dragged into the future and the only way to do that is to force them with legislation.
2 Likes
Seems because Obama wasnât able to right every wrong laid at his feet,nothing of substance has been done lately?
Would we like it if it went farther? Obviously.
Was that possible with unified republican obstruction? No.
So not voting is the answer? Letting republicans go forward with their BS? Let them redistrict a permanent white majority?
Thatâs just stupid.
10 Likes
Has anyone here read Primary Colors?
There is a scene in which the Bill figure and the Hillary figure had just toured a really remarkable school with the director (a woman Bill then had sex with), and theyâre discussing it around a table. âBillâ argues that the director is just such an incredible educator and thatâs why the school is a success. The narrator responds that she was âan ordinary educrat.â Hillaryâs then says that canât count on finding super heroes anyway - whatâs important are getting policies and systems in place.
I was reminded of that scene by Hillaryâs argument in the video. Thatâs all. You may all now return to shrieking at each other about Bernie Sanders.
Thereâs such a thing as division of labor in politics.
No, we donât need the publicity-stunt experts of BLM to draft white papers. There are smart, knowledgeable people all over Washington who can do a much better job of that, because thatâs what they do.
What a protest movement can do is agenda-setting. They can draw attention to a set of issues and motivate the political leadership to order those policy wonks to draw up the white papers, and then to implement their recommendations.
3 Likes
Ditto on Hillaryâs body language; she is not a naturally sympatico politician.
1 Like