Racial Violence

60th Anniversary Of Birmingham Church Bombing Which Killed Four Black Girls! :(

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The 60th Anniversary of the Birmingham, Alabama Church Bombing which killed four young black girls is being commemorated at a time when Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and many other Republicans, are trying to deny the truth of African American history.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former Alabama Democratic Senator Doug Jones, who successfully prosecuted Ku Klux Klansmen four decades later who did the dastardly deed, commemorated the horrid events, and made clear that the truth and the reality of history cannot be suppressed because some people might feel disturbed.

Alabama was a center of racial violence and bloodshed six decades ago, and even now, the state legislature has refused to create legitimate congressional and state legislative districts to reflect that 28 percent of the state is black, and the federal courts have intervened.

Sadly, for much of the South, the old South of pre civil rights days has reared its ugly head again, with the difference being that in the past it was a segregationist Democratic South, and now it is a biased, racist Republican South!

The fight for civil rights and teaching of the truth of the past is a battle that cannot be abandoned, and must be pursued without pause!

21 States Are Mounting Efforts Restricting Education On Racism, Bias, Contributions Of Specific Racial Or Ethnic Groups!

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It is extremely alarming that at least 21 states, and counting, are mounting efforts to restrict education on Racism, Bias, and Contributions of specific racial or ethnic groups in the teaching of American history (Social Studies) in public schools at all levels. This is occurring in Republican governed states.

This includes the Southern and Border States of Arkansas, Florida Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.

It also includes the Midwestern states of Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, and South Dakota.

It also includes the Western states of Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Utah, and the New England states of New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

At the same time, at least 9 states are working to expand education on Racism, Bias, and Contributions of specific racial and ethnic groups, including the Northeastern states of Connecticut, Delaware, and New Jersey; the Midwestern states of Illinois and Minnesota; and the Western states of Colorado, Washington, Wyoming, and California.

To forbid truthful discussion of Slavery; Jim Crow Segregation Laws; Racial Violence Against African Americans; Mass Murder of Native Americans; Anti Hispanic and Anti Asian discrimination; and Discrimination Against Women is promoting a Big Lie, that none of this happened, and continues to be a reality!

Truth and Facts matter, and to promote Right Wing propaganda is outrageous, and makes the job of teachers of History and Social Studies an impossible position!

Dangerous Trend: Young White Males In Teens, 20s, 30s, Joining White Supremacist Groups: What Does It Tell Us About American Society?

Ronald 9 Comments

The shocking demonstration of racial violence and hatred this past week at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville demonstrates a dangerous trend.

To witness the scenes of hundreds of young white males in their teens, 20s, and 30s coming to Virginia, drawn there by white supremacy and white nationalism, and being associate4 with the Ku Klux Klan, neo Nazi and neo Confederate groups, was totally stunning.

It reminded one of Nazi Germany, and among the organizers and provocateurs were David Duke, Richard Spencer, Jared Taylor, and Jason Kessler, all right wing extremists who are antisemites, racists, nativists, and misogynists.

All of this was encouraged by the racist, nativist, miosogynistic, homophobia, and tones of antisemitism in the Donald Trump Presidential campaign, and his initial response to the tragedy was a disgrace, claiming that all sides were responsible for the horrendous violence, including the death of a wonderful young woman, Heather Heyer.

It was sickening to see right wing extremists attack Heather Heyer after her death for being single in her 30s and being overweight, a truly obscene display of how many of this ilk look at women in a very misogynistic and sexist manner.

Trump won the Presidency with a large white supremacist following in key locations, and his Alt Right aides Stephen Bannon and Stephen Miller remaining on his staff as one writes this is a cancer on the Trump Presidency, and another good reason to force him out of office as soon as possible, as he is a disgrace to the office he holds.

But meanwhile, what does one do about these young men with criminal intentions? How were they brought up to hate this much by their own families? This is a true sickness in our society, which portends large amounts of bloodshed and violence over the coming years. For sure, we must insist that the full measure of the law be applied against everyone who uses white nationalism and white supremacy as their mantra.

And it is good that Texas A & M prevents a similar rally in September, and the same should happen with the University of Florida, as this is not the First Amendment in play, but simply pure racial and antisemitic hatred, out to provoke violence and bloodshed.

Trump’s sudden meltdown this afternoon, attacking the victims of the white supremacists and equating both sides in the demonstrations as equals, led White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly to hang his head in shame and shock, as he realized Trump had become totally unhinged. This is further proof of just how mentally ill, and lacking in ethics and morality our President is, and he must be forced out of office for the good of the nation!

The Republican Party must, for its historical record and its dignity, stop pretending that what Trump says and does has no impact on them or the nation. They must show courage and moral authority, or else the GOP is dead!

Donald Trump Promoting Long Term Racism And Nativism In Children: What A Tumultuous Future For America!

Ronald 23 Comments

The saddest and most tragic effect of the Donald Trump candidacy for President is how he is promoting long term racism and nativism in children, which guarantees a long term tumultuous future for American race relations.

White children are taunting their Hispanic-Latino and Muslim school mates,that they will be deported and barred from America, and that is cannon fodder for the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups to recruit teenagers and young men and women in their 20s to incite racial violence and persecution over the long haul.

A third grade boy in North Carolina has written, as part of a class assignment, to Donald Trump, deploring his racism, nativism, and other prejudiced statements, that harm children, and shows a very perceptive young man who is ashamed of what Trump is doing as an adult, who is supposed to be a role model, but is anything but that.

It is infuriating that Trump accused Cokie Roberts, the PBS journalist formerly with ABC News,  who was on Morning Joe this morning, of being “nasty”, by bringing up the effect Trump is having on children.  And for Trump to claim he has not “heard” or “seen” that, is aggravating, as just because he, personally, has not heard or seen it, is just an indication of how ignorant he is, and his attempt to deny reality as a result!

Trump is already damaging America in a long term manner, long after he leaves the scene, and that is a sin beyond redemption!

150th Anniversary Of New York City Draft Riots: A Disgraceful Moment In NYC History!

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150 years ago, starting on July 13 and raging until July 16, New York City saw the worst rioting that had ever occurred up to that time, in the third year of the Civil War, due to the passing of a draft law by the US government, requiring the first ever military draft for all able boded men, unless they were wealthy enough to pay the government $300 to avoid service.

The Irish immigrants in New York City, among the poorest of all ethnic groups in the city, who could not afford the $300 fee, rioted and burned and destroyed, and sadly, set about to kill and lynch African Americans living in the city, blaming them for the Civil War.

At least eleven black men were lynched, but estimates go much higher, and the total loss of life is estimated as being at least 120 but potentially more, with at least 100 blacks being murdered in total.

At least 2,000 people were wounded, and possibly more, and property damage would be estimated in modern terms as at least $75 million. The film GANGS OF NEW YORK portrayed these events in a very dramatic way, and estimated much higher numbers of killed and wounded, and even higher property damage.

Blacks were forced to leave their residences by their landlords, afraid of bloodshed and property damage, and many left the city forever, and never returned, relocating elsewhere!

This was a horrible example of racial violence that has stained the history of New York City, and now, at the 150th anniversary of these terrible events, it becomes clear that racial harmony, racial justice, racial equality has NOT made as much progress as one would like to believe!

A Day To Celebrate Promotion Of Human Rights: 150th Anniversary Of Emancipation Proclamation!

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Today marks the most momentous day in all of American history, regarding the promotion of human rights! It is the 150th anniversary of the issuance by President Abraham Lincoln of the Emancipation Proclamation!

Lincoln had issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, five days after the bloody Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in the Civil War. His entire cabinet was opposed to what he did, and had doubts about the final issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation 100 days later.

But Abraham Lincoln had the guts, the courage, the conviction that ending slavery was an essential part of the advancement of American democracy, and would help promote the victory of the Union forces over the Confederacy.

Lincoln knew that the Emancipation Proclamation was only a pledge to end slavery, and that the only true way to bring it about was military victory, and the passage two years later of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, an event excellently portrayed in the movie LINCOLN, with Daniel Day-Lewis portraying the events leading to the passage of that amendment by the House of Representatives.

Slavery’s end did not mean an easy time or adjustment for African Americans or the nation, as racial violence and discrimination would be a sad part of the future, but it was a necessary step forward on the march of human rights, including later passage of the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, the 26th Amendment, the various Civil Rights Acts (1866, 1875, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1968), and significant Supreme Court decisions on civil rights of women, minorities, labor, young people, and gays and lesbians.

The march of time has been toward the granting of greater human rights, but it all began with Lincoln’s courageous gamble, 150 years ago today, and for that, as so much else, all Americans should salute him today!

And it is inspiring to see massive lines at the National Archives in Washington, DC, as the Emancipation Proclamation is on view for a limited time to celebrate the event, but with the need to preserve a document which is in fragile condition after a century and a half of existence.

What Lincoln did in 1863 is connected to the whole long range story of American history, the expansion of human rights for all, and this is what draws foreigners to wish to come to America, the land of liberty and opportunity!