As of July 2nd 2020 –
More than 80 Confederate monuments have come down from public land since the Charleston, S.C., church shooting in 2015, more than a third of them since George Floyd was killed in police custody May 25, 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/confederate-monuments/
You may want to have a look at my blog (of 13 Jan. 2018) –
https://worldfamilytrading.com/the-costliness-of-our-materialism/
for some comments about the Great War of Ideas … and the nature / source of our racism.
I happened across a video last night. I didn’t expect to watch the whole thing … but I did.
It’s excellent –
(The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States [1 hr 40 min] Jeffery Robinson, the ACLU’s top racial justice expert, discusses the dark history of Confederate symbols across the country and outlines what we can do to learn from our past and combat systemic racism.)
[I’ll add a bio about Mr. Robinson at the end of this essay]
Robinson says – that we do not know our history … because it has been stolen from us. Rewritten. Withheld. (On purpose)
He does a great job of supporting his contentions by making use of graphics that he shows on the screen in the (big) lecture hall that he’s in [about 2 years ago]. He’s a highly experienced trial lawyer.
He works hard not to alienate anyone; yet he is straightforward and has great common sense.
He spends considerable time supporting his notion that the South fought the Civil War (mainly) to preserve Slavery (their great economic advantage – free labor. [Follow the money!] and the money, in this case – was HUGE).
He says that (numerous … hundreds of) Confederate Monuments were NOT erected by people who fought in the Civil War, but much later. Many of them around 1900 (and a little after) … and again in the 40’s. And he explains what was HAPPENING in America at those times – which made people who still cling to white supremacy & slavery – WANT to do something to promote their long-cherished ideals.
(Birth of a Movement | ‘The Clansman’ | PBS [1 min.])
The Clansman was (first) a novel … then a stage play … then a (silent, black & white) movie; and ALL were very popular.
(The Birth of a Nation (1915) aka The Clansman – Ku Klux Klan Propaganda Film [3 hrs. 13 min])
Robinson acknowledges that the removal of the Confederate monuments (all of which commemorate and honor the doctrines of White Supremacy and the ‘right’ to own other Human Beings as chattel) will NOT solve many of our problems. But it might help us to begin to be honest about what (this part of) the Great War of Ideas … is really about. It could help us begin to reclaim our (true) history. It’s an opportunity for us to begin to deal with our own darkness.
If you will listen to his presentation, I’m betting that you will find it worthwhile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://www.aclu.org/bio/jeffery-robinson –
JEFFERY ROBINSON
Deputy Legal Director and Director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality
Jeffery Robinson is a deputy legal director and the director of the ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality, which houses the organization’s work on criminal justice, racial justice, and reform issues. Since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1981, Jeff has three decades of experience working on these issues. For seven years, he represented indigent clients in state court at The Defender Association and then in federal court at the Federal Public Defender’s Office, both in Seattle. In 1988, Jeff began a 27-year private practice at the Seattle firm of Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender, where he represented a broad range of clients in local, state, and federal courts on charges ranging from shoplifting to securities fraud and first degree murder. He has tried over 200 criminal cases to verdict and has tried more than a dozen civil cases representing plaintiffs suing corporate and government entities. Jeff was one of the original members of the John Adams Project and worked on the behalf of one of five men held at Guantanamo Bay charged with carrying out the 9/11 attacks.
In addition to being a nationally recognized trial attorney, Jeff is also a respected teacher of trial advocacy. He is a faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, and has lectured on trial skills all over the United States. He has also spoken nationally to diverse audiences on the role of race in the criminal justice system. He is past president of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a life member and past member of the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Jeff is also an elected fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
JEFFERY ‘S BLOG POSTS
It’s Time To Tell the Truth About the Confederacy and its Symbols
JULY 3, 2020
The Time for Thoughts and Prayers is Over
JUNE 3, 2020
America, It Is Time to Talk About Reparations
MAY 22, 2020
Honoring Black History Month Means Respecting the Foundation That it Stands On
FEBRUARY 24, 2020
Tulsa’s Troubling Past is Not Far Removed from Its Present
JANUARY 6, 2020
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(James Baldwin & Nikki Giovanni
[1 hr. 56 min])
~~~~~
(Racism in Mississippi and America – Jeff Robinson)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If You Are Over Staying Woke”
Water
the plants. Drink
plenty of water.
Don’t hear
the news. Get
bored. Complain
about the weather.
Keep a corkscrew
in your purse.
Swipe right
sometimes.
Don’t smile
unless you want
to. Sleep in.
Don’t see the news.
Remember what
the world is like
for white people.
Listen to
cricket songs.
Floss. Take pills.
Keep an
empty mind.
When you are
hungover
do not say
I’m never drinking
again. Be honest
when you’re up
to it. Otherwise
drink water
lie to yourself
turn off the news
burn the papers
skip the funerals
take pills
laugh at dumb shit
fuck people you
don’t care about
use the crockpot
use the juicer
use the smoothie maker
drink water
from the sky
don’t think
too much about the sky
don’t think about water
skip the funerals
close your eyes
whenever possible
When you toast
look everyone in the eyes
Never punctuate
the President
Write the news
Turn
into water
Water
the fire escape
Burn the paper
Crumble the letters
Instead of
hyacinths pick
hydrangeas
Water the hydrangeas
Wilt the news
White the hydrangeas
Drink the white
Waterfall the
cricket songs
Keep a song mind
Don’t smile
Don’t wilt
funeral
funeral
– Morgan Parker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Whitey on the Moon”
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey’s on the moon)
I can’t pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Ten years from now I’ll be paying still.
(while Whitey’s on the moon)
The man just upped my rent last night.
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
I wonder why he’s upping me?
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon?)
I wuz already paying him fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes taking my whole damn check,
Junkies making me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is going up,
An’ as if all that shit wasn’t enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arm began to swell.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Was all that money I made last year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain’t no money here?
(Hmm! Whitey’s on the moon)
Y’know I just about had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I’ll send these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)
– Gil Scott-Heron