I am finding it increasingly difficult, if not damn near impossible, to have civil conversation about difficult topics these days, and in light of recent events, that is putting the point mildly.
I am white. I am female and 74 y.o. many of my friends have no malice towards POC and wish them good, safe, productive lives. I find in my world, the ones that feel this way have always had the equality gene.
But, I know many more, friends (some ex), neighbors, and associates with common interest who are racists. Usually, they have been this way all their lives. Sometimes racism was an undercurrent, but now due to the racist environment of our country they feel free to express their racism loudly and to play the victim.
I grew up honoring MLK, his ideas, and his philosophy. I am color blind mostly 100% of the time. It hurts me to see blacks, hispanics. Native Americans, and other ethnicities treated less than, by so called white Americans. Everyone in this country should have equal opportunity under the law.
Thank you Eddie for your article. I perk up everytime I see you on TV and your writing. I find your intelligence, delivery, Andra kindness refreshing.
We are in a "valley" phase right now, but soon I hope we are going back up that hill to the shining city on the peak.
Beautiful article, perfectly said. In my book, anyone who disparages Mehdi Hassan is the problem and is the one who should leave the country. I'm tired of these racists thinking it's ok to turn people's upside down and having the singular goal of making America nothing but a white nation. I will fight to my last breath to see that the exquisite diversity of our nation flourishes and is taught to the generations coming up. Our children need to be steeped in the richness of different cultures and races, it's how they learn to be better human beings and stewards of our history. It's how we strengthen our society to actually achieve that more perfect union our founding fathers had hoped for us.
I hope your mother is doing well, I've been less active online for a while and am not up to date on current events with my cherished authors here.....may she be blessed and happy, may her health be restored. Many thanks for your deep and thoughtful articles. 🙏💙🕊️
This country was founded on racism. There will always be racists. But now Chump took the lid off the trash can,and made it acceptable to speak that racism out loud. By denying our history, non-white people are delegitimized. All minority people are delegitimized. Now they can say that all people that don't conform to their ideological sphere don't belong here. Our constitution will need a major rewrite when these criminals are removed from power.
I am white, female and Jewish and 83 years old. I’ve lived long enough to watch this country struggle with racism, antisemitism, homophobia and general dislike of „the other“. We tried to convince ourselves that we had made great strides since the 60‘s. I knew antisemitism was a part of our society along with racism, and I have been happy to see that African Americans have become part of the middle class, buying homes in formerly all-white suburbia, able to send their children to college.
Then Trump came along and said out loud all the racist and derogatory thoughts. It unleashed the negative undercurrent in our society. And then Oct 7 2023 made it ok to be antisemitic and equate American Jews with Israel‘s right wing policies, many of which Jews in the diaspora and Israel find abhorrent.
But as we struggle with this belief in part of our society that the Republic should be white and mostly Christian, we must also deal with the economic policies of the last 50years which excluded a large, disgruntled segment of our white citizens many of whom were delighted to hear Trump‘s bigoted speechifying.
Founding documents, laws, precedents set in lawsuits like Brown v. board of Education, the landmark civil rights laws passed by President Lyndon Johnson, affirmative action, thousands of acts of voter suppression of the right of minority voters to participate in our elections, Reconstruction, the vile Jim Crow era engaged in to negate post-Civil War Reconstruction, over 4,000 lynchings of black American citizens, Rosewood, Florida massacre, the murderous rampage and destruction of “Black Wall Street” in Missouri—all these things, good or bad, are embedded parts of our national history. They cannot be REMOVED, whitewashed, prettied-up or denied! The positive accomplishments we celebrate and understand they carry unquestionable authority and precedent! Let it be understood the majority of us will NEVER allow a return to the shameful eras of our past! And in our democracy, flawed as it has been—the will of the majority RULES! These positive accomplishments, won after much bloodshed and death and “lost causers” clinging to abominations like slavery, are THE LAW, enforced by our Rule of Law—and no Donald Trump, Stonewall Jackson, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, George Wallace will EVER drag us back to those flawed past eras! Not even our momentarily corrupted six members of the Supreme Court will succeed in enshrining racism, discrimination or an unfettered executive branch drunk with monopolized partisan power! This temporary abuse will be ENDED abruptly with the 2026 mid-term elections, and the damage by an amoral cult corrected! This attempt to burn down 250 years of striving to realize our highest ideals has failed, thanks to the decency of a MAJORITY of American citizens and newcomers who aspire to American citizenship! Our power is with the people, always!
i think we all need to honestly confront this imperative dilemma ... people sometimes throw out the words "inflection point" ... we are TRULY at a very real inflection point ... your pertinent question is -- not just HOW do we get to the other side, but -- WHAT IS the other side to this madness that has become the "united" states of america, as the answer to this has yet to be determined ...
in some ways, i actually think the maga movement has been necessary because it has openly revealed the dark underbelly of america's racism & white supremacist foundation ... PERHAPS -- & i'm not totally sure about this myself, just -- PERHAPS we, as a country, NEEDED this maga movement so that we can get to the other side of this ...
HOW ???
i believe the answer is transparently clear ... i honestly believe that only a REVOLUTION can cathartically transcend us to the other side ... in my heart of hearts, i am a RESOLUTE PACIFIST ... in line with the world views of mahatma gandhi, dr martin luther king jr & others, i sincerely HOPE that we can lead a totally PEACEFUL REVOLUTION ...
the alarming reality, though, is that maga in no way, shape or form want a PEACEFUL revolution; they -- in their bones -- DESIRE the violence ... where does that leave us ??? ... in a deeply dark place ... anddddd ... we, as a country, have found ourselves in this deeply dark place before -- it is, after all, our very own inception ...
there is no denying that we will get to the other side of this ... only, what will other side be ??? ... that will ultimately be up to us ... either way, i hope that we are all prepared because a revolution is inevitable ... may our better angels & our guardian angels propel us to an actually more just & equal union where everyone is FREE & where we can transform ALL of the fear & hate into LOVE ...
Well, you're right. But, I feel like you had a moment. Everything you said was on point. But also remember, there are people out there doing the right thing - fighting hard for what is right. "If we are going to make it to the other side of our troubles, we are going to have to stop dancing around what we are seeing, hearing, and feeling. Greedy racists are running wild." Yes. But there are also people like Gavin Newsom and JD Pritzker and all of those who marched in NoKings Day. I know, I know, I'm not trying to be pollyanna about it, but there are MORE OF US than them. What we really need to do is focus on everyone who is on the right side of all of this and keep them (and ourselves engaged). Then, those that are FAFO - like the farmers who are finally getting clue - don't demonize these folk for the mistake they made of voting for him (No matter how large a mistake that is) but instead bring them in the fold. Look, I know you know this. But, no one is lying to themselves about what is happening. I'm not confused by it at all. Yes. Trying to make American White again is the point. Since day one. But that doesn't mean it's going to happen. Greedy racists are running wild for sure - but there are others who are doing their part too. Reed Hastings of Netflix - just gave monies to support the redistricting plan here in California to fight back on Texas is a good example. Look... I think the fight needs to get louder and maybe a little dirtier. What I mean by that is -- we are overwhelmed DAILY with a million horrible things this administration is doing and it's getting tiresome. A firehose of crap on a daily basis - it's overwhelming. It's by design! And yes, it feels like we're not getting anywhere -- I don't need to debate DEI or the word WOKE today. I don't need to fix all of it. I need to do what I CAN do TODAY. And I don't need to speak HONESTLY to anyone who is clueless and in denial. It is not a one-for-one kinda deal. Here's the thing -- The greedy racists who are running wild - they know exactly what they are doing. That's who we focus on. Not the cult followers. Not the people who are blinding walking by. When they trip and hits their head and figure it out -- ie. farmers -- then we scoop'em up and let'em join in. But right now -- we all need to focus. Support organizations that know what's going on. Another example, I have an "executive membership" to Costco and I have never been in one EXCEPT to get the ID card. Use our power however we can in our current lives to walk on through. But don't lose hope friend. Don't waste your time on the liars. On the racist greedy folk. I know, I know, they are causing great harm and it's scary AF, but keep building the foundation. Keep with the people we know are fighting right by our side. And never lose faith. Never ever lose faith. Our families, our ancestors have been through a similar if not a worse battle... we got this. We do. We have to. There is NO option for the alternative. Period.
Were Sodom and Gomorrah not judged and destroyed for the sins and amorality of the people? So is one’s judgement of a person or group of people who live in opposition to the Biblical truths and teachings wrong?I do judge people who are rascist, greedy and corrupt, and consider them as evil.
trouble is , as the example in northern island proved, that when that land was in trouble, it was protestants against catholics, northerners against southerners , black against white...all the little biting bits of human nature come to the fore, when your family is struggling to put food on the table...once the EU started its injections of cash into Ireland to revitalize it,it boomed...and within that wealth bubble, nobody had time for those emotions....they only come out[mainly] ,when the human condition is stressed...and america is stressed to the max right now :(
I truly believe that as a country, we won't ever be great until we face the hard truth about our past, our present, and our future as all of these are intertwined.
Lawrence rebroadcast tonight some words from Rachel Maddow. There's not one answer but many and we all have to do our part and that will look different for each of us. We must believe right will prevail I think or we will give up too soon. We do need to see ourselves differently together. Please keep saying that. How we get there I don't think any of us are real clear.
Bit we also must be realistic that some will never come along. I was raised by many and to conserve my energy and stop trying to convert them I've had to separate from them.
I think we have to look at anything from our past that reminds us of what worked before. Also look to the writings of people like Bishop Tutu who also saw this kind of trouble and refused to stop loving his enemies.
Politically we must focus first on getting enough like minded legislators to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and make it as strong as possible, reform SCOTUS so it sticks and fix the redistricting situation. And immigration reform. Those are paramount although other things will need to be done. We cannot abide black and brown folk being disenfranchised.
But after that it's going to take time to educate our way out of this. And by that I mean mano a mano. Three years ago I moved to a more progressive church. They are good with LGBTQ community. But we are a white enclave at 94% and they regularly disappoint me that they just cannot connect the dots when it comes to racial issues.
On the other hand I'm still involved with a couple groups at a more conservative church. We've been together long enough that I can speak my mind and give them my views and they will accept what I have to say. Many of them have moved closer to my way of seeing the world. It takes time and presence consistently to see that kind of movement.
It's not easy moving away from notions you were raised with. I sometimes see your Dad in you.😊 We just have to find a way to make the effort and remember grace when we are challenged. Harder than it sounds.
I have a bad case of FOMO and I sense you do too. When you're in front of the fire hose all day like I am, where we are can feel catastrophic. And you never take time off. That may be something you can do for yourself and others.
I am white. I am female and 74 y.o. many of my friends have no malice towards POC and wish them good, safe, productive lives. I find in my world, the ones that feel this way have always had the equality gene.
But, I know many more, friends (some ex), neighbors, and associates with common interest who are racists. Usually, they have been this way all their lives. Sometimes racism was an undercurrent, but now due to the racist environment of our country they feel free to express their racism loudly and to play the victim.
I grew up honoring MLK, his ideas, and his philosophy. I am color blind mostly 100% of the time. It hurts me to see blacks, hispanics. Native Americans, and other ethnicities treated less than, by so called white Americans. Everyone in this country should have equal opportunity under the law.
Thank you Eddie for your article. I perk up everytime I see you on TV and your writing. I find your intelligence, delivery, Andra kindness refreshing.
We are in a "valley" phase right now, but soon I hope we are going back up that hill to the shining city on the peak.
Beautiful article, perfectly said. In my book, anyone who disparages Mehdi Hassan is the problem and is the one who should leave the country. I'm tired of these racists thinking it's ok to turn people's upside down and having the singular goal of making America nothing but a white nation. I will fight to my last breath to see that the exquisite diversity of our nation flourishes and is taught to the generations coming up. Our children need to be steeped in the richness of different cultures and races, it's how they learn to be better human beings and stewards of our history. It's how we strengthen our society to actually achieve that more perfect union our founding fathers had hoped for us.
I hope your mother is doing well, I've been less active online for a while and am not up to date on current events with my cherished authors here.....may she be blessed and happy, may her health be restored. Many thanks for your deep and thoughtful articles. 🙏💙🕊️
This country was founded on racism. There will always be racists. But now Chump took the lid off the trash can,and made it acceptable to speak that racism out loud. By denying our history, non-white people are delegitimized. All minority people are delegitimized. Now they can say that all people that don't conform to their ideological sphere don't belong here. Our constitution will need a major rewrite when these criminals are removed from power.
I am white, female and Jewish and 83 years old. I’ve lived long enough to watch this country struggle with racism, antisemitism, homophobia and general dislike of „the other“. We tried to convince ourselves that we had made great strides since the 60‘s. I knew antisemitism was a part of our society along with racism, and I have been happy to see that African Americans have become part of the middle class, buying homes in formerly all-white suburbia, able to send their children to college.
Then Trump came along and said out loud all the racist and derogatory thoughts. It unleashed the negative undercurrent in our society. And then Oct 7 2023 made it ok to be antisemitic and equate American Jews with Israel‘s right wing policies, many of which Jews in the diaspora and Israel find abhorrent.
But as we struggle with this belief in part of our society that the Republic should be white and mostly Christian, we must also deal with the economic policies of the last 50years which excluded a large, disgruntled segment of our white citizens many of whom were delighted to hear Trump‘s bigoted speechifying.
Thank you for this eloquent, thought-provoking essay.
Founding documents, laws, precedents set in lawsuits like Brown v. board of Education, the landmark civil rights laws passed by President Lyndon Johnson, affirmative action, thousands of acts of voter suppression of the right of minority voters to participate in our elections, Reconstruction, the vile Jim Crow era engaged in to negate post-Civil War Reconstruction, over 4,000 lynchings of black American citizens, Rosewood, Florida massacre, the murderous rampage and destruction of “Black Wall Street” in Missouri—all these things, good or bad, are embedded parts of our national history. They cannot be REMOVED, whitewashed, prettied-up or denied! The positive accomplishments we celebrate and understand they carry unquestionable authority and precedent! Let it be understood the majority of us will NEVER allow a return to the shameful eras of our past! And in our democracy, flawed as it has been—the will of the majority RULES! These positive accomplishments, won after much bloodshed and death and “lost causers” clinging to abominations like slavery, are THE LAW, enforced by our Rule of Law—and no Donald Trump, Stonewall Jackson, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, George Wallace will EVER drag us back to those flawed past eras! Not even our momentarily corrupted six members of the Supreme Court will succeed in enshrining racism, discrimination or an unfettered executive branch drunk with monopolized partisan power! This temporary abuse will be ENDED abruptly with the 2026 mid-term elections, and the damage by an amoral cult corrected! This attempt to burn down 250 years of striving to realize our highest ideals has failed, thanks to the decency of a MAJORITY of American citizens and newcomers who aspire to American citizenship! Our power is with the people, always!
i think we all need to honestly confront this imperative dilemma ... people sometimes throw out the words "inflection point" ... we are TRULY at a very real inflection point ... your pertinent question is -- not just HOW do we get to the other side, but -- WHAT IS the other side to this madness that has become the "united" states of america, as the answer to this has yet to be determined ...
in some ways, i actually think the maga movement has been necessary because it has openly revealed the dark underbelly of america's racism & white supremacist foundation ... PERHAPS -- & i'm not totally sure about this myself, just -- PERHAPS we, as a country, NEEDED this maga movement so that we can get to the other side of this ...
HOW ???
i believe the answer is transparently clear ... i honestly believe that only a REVOLUTION can cathartically transcend us to the other side ... in my heart of hearts, i am a RESOLUTE PACIFIST ... in line with the world views of mahatma gandhi, dr martin luther king jr & others, i sincerely HOPE that we can lead a totally PEACEFUL REVOLUTION ...
the alarming reality, though, is that maga in no way, shape or form want a PEACEFUL revolution; they -- in their bones -- DESIRE the violence ... where does that leave us ??? ... in a deeply dark place ... anddddd ... we, as a country, have found ourselves in this deeply dark place before -- it is, after all, our very own inception ...
there is no denying that we will get to the other side of this ... only, what will other side be ??? ... that will ultimately be up to us ... either way, i hope that we are all prepared because a revolution is inevitable ... may our better angels & our guardian angels propel us to an actually more just & equal union where everyone is FREE & where we can transform ALL of the fear & hate into LOVE ...
Well, you're right. But, I feel like you had a moment. Everything you said was on point. But also remember, there are people out there doing the right thing - fighting hard for what is right. "If we are going to make it to the other side of our troubles, we are going to have to stop dancing around what we are seeing, hearing, and feeling. Greedy racists are running wild." Yes. But there are also people like Gavin Newsom and JD Pritzker and all of those who marched in NoKings Day. I know, I know, I'm not trying to be pollyanna about it, but there are MORE OF US than them. What we really need to do is focus on everyone who is on the right side of all of this and keep them (and ourselves engaged). Then, those that are FAFO - like the farmers who are finally getting clue - don't demonize these folk for the mistake they made of voting for him (No matter how large a mistake that is) but instead bring them in the fold. Look, I know you know this. But, no one is lying to themselves about what is happening. I'm not confused by it at all. Yes. Trying to make American White again is the point. Since day one. But that doesn't mean it's going to happen. Greedy racists are running wild for sure - but there are others who are doing their part too. Reed Hastings of Netflix - just gave monies to support the redistricting plan here in California to fight back on Texas is a good example. Look... I think the fight needs to get louder and maybe a little dirtier. What I mean by that is -- we are overwhelmed DAILY with a million horrible things this administration is doing and it's getting tiresome. A firehose of crap on a daily basis - it's overwhelming. It's by design! And yes, it feels like we're not getting anywhere -- I don't need to debate DEI or the word WOKE today. I don't need to fix all of it. I need to do what I CAN do TODAY. And I don't need to speak HONESTLY to anyone who is clueless and in denial. It is not a one-for-one kinda deal. Here's the thing -- The greedy racists who are running wild - they know exactly what they are doing. That's who we focus on. Not the cult followers. Not the people who are blinding walking by. When they trip and hits their head and figure it out -- ie. farmers -- then we scoop'em up and let'em join in. But right now -- we all need to focus. Support organizations that know what's going on. Another example, I have an "executive membership" to Costco and I have never been in one EXCEPT to get the ID card. Use our power however we can in our current lives to walk on through. But don't lose hope friend. Don't waste your time on the liars. On the racist greedy folk. I know, I know, they are causing great harm and it's scary AF, but keep building the foundation. Keep with the people we know are fighting right by our side. And never lose faith. Never ever lose faith. Our families, our ancestors have been through a similar if not a worse battle... we got this. We do. We have to. There is NO option for the alternative. Period.
Were Sodom and Gomorrah not judged and destroyed for the sins and amorality of the people? So is one’s judgement of a person or group of people who live in opposition to the Biblical truths and teachings wrong?I do judge people who are rascist, greedy and corrupt, and consider them as evil.
trouble is , as the example in northern island proved, that when that land was in trouble, it was protestants against catholics, northerners against southerners , black against white...all the little biting bits of human nature come to the fore, when your family is struggling to put food on the table...once the EU started its injections of cash into Ireland to revitalize it,it boomed...and within that wealth bubble, nobody had time for those emotions....they only come out[mainly] ,when the human condition is stressed...and america is stressed to the max right now :(
Great essay, Dr. Glaude!
I truly believe that as a country, we won't ever be great until we face the hard truth about our past, our present, and our future as all of these are intertwined.
Lawrence rebroadcast tonight some words from Rachel Maddow. There's not one answer but many and we all have to do our part and that will look different for each of us. We must believe right will prevail I think or we will give up too soon. We do need to see ourselves differently together. Please keep saying that. How we get there I don't think any of us are real clear.
Bit we also must be realistic that some will never come along. I was raised by many and to conserve my energy and stop trying to convert them I've had to separate from them.
I think we have to look at anything from our past that reminds us of what worked before. Also look to the writings of people like Bishop Tutu who also saw this kind of trouble and refused to stop loving his enemies.
Politically we must focus first on getting enough like minded legislators to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and make it as strong as possible, reform SCOTUS so it sticks and fix the redistricting situation. And immigration reform. Those are paramount although other things will need to be done. We cannot abide black and brown folk being disenfranchised.
But after that it's going to take time to educate our way out of this. And by that I mean mano a mano. Three years ago I moved to a more progressive church. They are good with LGBTQ community. But we are a white enclave at 94% and they regularly disappoint me that they just cannot connect the dots when it comes to racial issues.
On the other hand I'm still involved with a couple groups at a more conservative church. We've been together long enough that I can speak my mind and give them my views and they will accept what I have to say. Many of them have moved closer to my way of seeing the world. It takes time and presence consistently to see that kind of movement.
It's not easy moving away from notions you were raised with. I sometimes see your Dad in you.😊 We just have to find a way to make the effort and remember grace when we are challenged. Harder than it sounds.
I have a bad case of FOMO and I sense you do too. When you're in front of the fire hose all day like I am, where we are can feel catastrophic. And you never take time off. That may be something you can do for yourself and others.