As a 70 year old white woman, I do not want to live in a white Stepford society. I crave the diversity and richness of a multicultural community. Based on equality and inclusion with justice for all, healthcare and freedom from want for all. We have the resources to make this dream a reality! I wonder if we Americans have the will to make it a reality?
Frederick Douglass. 1894. And we are still at it. This ghastly image: "In old times, when a little white child lost his temper, he was given a little whip and told to go and whip “Jim” or “Sal” and thus regained his temper. The same is true today on a larger scale.” And it's universal. Scapegoating is what every would-be tyrant today uses and it still seems to work. So we're in a race against ourselves. Will we wake up in time? Will enough of us wake up? Will we finally overcome?
"If we are to get at the heart of what ails this nation today, we have to stop scapegoating others and uproot the sentiments that make that scapegoating possible. ...
"In old times, when a little white child lost his temper, he was given a little whip and told to go and whip “Jim” or “Sal” and thus regained his temper. The same is true today on a larger scale.”
What an appalling image, and yet we do indeed see it playing out all around us - to this day.
This is so true. Nothing has changed, America has a very long list of scapegoats, the natives, the blacks, the communists, the Vietnamese, the arabs, the muslims just to name a few
The "comforting illusion" that you rightly name is also the "selective naivety" that James Baldwin names in The Evidence of Things Not Seen, which means that this "illusion" or "mental state" is curated and chosen to justify the use of evil to secure their fantasy of white supremacy. And, while I wonder if fact can ever penetrate or dismantle this "comforting Illusion," I understand that we have a human duty to continue bombarding the facade with steel truth.
I would say that for the Republican Party, American cities contain a large number of communities to pick on, and that should be something the Democrats use to unite their coalition.
I hope people begin thinking about what America's election map and policy agenda would look like without the urban base. They deserve credit for standing with peaceful resistance in the face of militarized forces custom built to attack and occupy them.
I’m watching The American Revolution. So far I’m on Britain’s side!! Americans have never wanted to pay any tax, and they were armed and land- grabbing
As a 70 year old white woman, I do not want to live in a white Stepford society. I crave the diversity and richness of a multicultural community. Based on equality and inclusion with justice for all, healthcare and freedom from want for all. We have the resources to make this dream a reality! I wonder if we Americans have the will to make it a reality?
Frederick Douglass. 1894. And we are still at it. This ghastly image: "In old times, when a little white child lost his temper, he was given a little whip and told to go and whip “Jim” or “Sal” and thus regained his temper. The same is true today on a larger scale.” And it's universal. Scapegoating is what every would-be tyrant today uses and it still seems to work. So we're in a race against ourselves. Will we wake up in time? Will enough of us wake up? Will we finally overcome?
"If we are to get at the heart of what ails this nation today, we have to stop scapegoating others and uproot the sentiments that make that scapegoating possible. ...
That’s the real bogeyman."
"In old times, when a little white child lost his temper, he was given a little whip and told to go and whip “Jim” or “Sal” and thus regained his temper. The same is true today on a larger scale.”
What an appalling image, and yet we do indeed see it playing out all around us - to this day.
What a powerful message! You are so correct, and I am sad and humiliated that this is where we are today.
This is so true. Nothing has changed, America has a very long list of scapegoats, the natives, the blacks, the communists, the Vietnamese, the arabs, the muslims just to name a few
Deeply disturbing and horrifyingly accurate.
The "comforting illusion" that you rightly name is also the "selective naivety" that James Baldwin names in The Evidence of Things Not Seen, which means that this "illusion" or "mental state" is curated and chosen to justify the use of evil to secure their fantasy of white supremacy. And, while I wonder if fact can ever penetrate or dismantle this "comforting Illusion," I understand that we have a human duty to continue bombarding the facade with steel truth.
This country was built on racism and it's again been allowed to thrive to distract and agitate the masses.
This is a great piece.
Thank you.
I would say that for the Republican Party, American cities contain a large number of communities to pick on, and that should be something the Democrats use to unite their coalition.
I hope people begin thinking about what America's election map and policy agenda would look like without the urban base. They deserve credit for standing with peaceful resistance in the face of militarized forces custom built to attack and occupy them.
I’m watching The American Revolution. So far I’m on Britain’s side!! Americans have never wanted to pay any tax, and they were armed and land- grabbing