Uncomfortable Truths: Critical Race Theory

Uncomfortable Truths: Critical Race Theory

by C. A. Matthews

This is the third and last article in this series highlighting Black History Month. (You can read the first article here and the second here.) I decided to save the most controversial topic for last.

What is Critical Race Theory exactly? Here's a definition from Britannica.com:

Critical Race Theory (CRT), intellectual and social movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that racism is inherent in the law and legal institutions of the United States insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans. Critical race theorists are generally dedicated to applying their understanding of the institutional or structural nature of racism to the concrete (if distant) goal of eliminating all race-based and other unjust hierarchies.

Why is Critical Race Theory controversial at all? I suppose most persons currently in power (i.e., wealthy white males) consider reparations a non-issue because they know they'll never utter a word for it, and they assume no legislation will ever be passed concerning it. But the very idea of discussing how our white-dominated society continues to treats people from various racial, ethnic, gender identities, and religious groups in an abhorrent fashion makes the powerful feel uncomfortable. And they can't allow others to make them uncomfortable--that's for them to do to the rest of us and how we're supposed to feel.

For example, what if teachers started conversations with grade school children on the topic of the horrors of slavery for enslaved Africans? Speaking frankly on the subject could open the white status quo up to criticism and blame. No longer would the kindly, white grandfather stereotype be seen as benign or  generous. No, quite the opposite. He'd be painted in an entirely different light, a much more sinister and selfish light.

Those in power can't stand having their image tarnished. They long to be seen as Santa Claus, not Captain Hook. But once the whole sordid truth of American history is revealed, there's no way to get that cat back into the bag. Children will cast a critical eye at every action powerful whites make from now on and will become sensitive to the consequences of these actions. Are the people in power acting fairly? Are they hurting others? What group(s) do those being hurt belong to? What benefits do the wealthy whites gain from hurting others unlike themselves?

Encouraging empathy, a sense of fairness, and a love for the rule of law aren't the kinds of traits white employers would like instilled in their potential wage slaves. The next thing you know, these enlightened youth will grow up to start their own unions and protest for human rights, such as the right to health care and due process in a court of law. 

Think about it from the oligarchs' point of view. Black, white, brown, red, yellow, and purple people shouldn't be able to organize and work together toward common goals of equality and justice. They'll get ideas… Ideas that all human beings are created equal. And what would happen to the status quo then? 

Hierarchies are created to keep those in power on top of the heap and those stuck below subjected to the whims of the upper classes. Equality and justice only muddy the waters and allow the classes to mingle. There's no more cheap prison labor if you can't lock up African American males on petty drug misdemeanor charges. The top tier hates anything cutting into their profits.

Let's be honest. The only people who are against teaching unvarnished and uncensored American history are those who fear they'll lose their ancestors' ill-gotten gains when the ugly truth is revealed. And outright racists. And those who fall into both categories.

The only true controversy I see brewing here is why we've allowed these racist oligarchs to rule over us for this long and what method is best to put them away for the good of all humankind.

Related links:

Confronting Right Wing Attacks on Racial Justice Teaching https://popularresistance.org/confronting-right-wing-attacks-on-racial-justice-teaching/

Real CRT: The Whiteness of Organizations (podcast) https://open.spotify.com/episode/2zOcsy5yc8bITg2BQP5sbk

Whitewashing 101: How To Rewrite Black History  (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3uvcydrxYk&t=1s  

College Faculty Are Fighting Back Against State Bills on Critical Race Theory  https://www.rsn.org/001/college-faculty-are-fighting-back-against-state-bills-on-critical-race-theory.html 

A Century Ago Mississippi's Senate Voted to Send All the State's Black People Back to Africa https://www.rsn.org/001/a-century-ago-mississippis-senate-voted-to-send-all-the-states-black-people-to-africa.html 

A Persecuted Father Deported to Haiti Fights to Reunite with His Family in US   https://truthout.org/articles/a-persecuted-father-deported-to-haiti-fights-to-reunite-with-his-family-in-us/

Seen on Twitter:

So Kim potter only gets 2 years in prison, I seen black people who sold an ounce of drugs get 10 or 15 years and they didn't kill anyone but she gets 2, you really think justice was really served here?

— Marc. (@MARCANDERSONNWO) February 19, 2022

 

Marvin Guy has been in jail for 7 years without even being convicted of anything. During a No knock warrant he shot back trying to defend himself. Charges need to be dropped. Get involved here: https://t.co/1wBzWkBXbA

— Pepper Oceanna Lewis (@PepperOceanna) February 15, 2022

*** 

The reports are sickening: Black migrants tortured by U.S. immigration officers and forced to sign their own deportation orders. Some were beaten, others choked.

This is not an isolated incident. The U.S. immigration system is incredibly racist. Black immigrants are six times more likely to experience being in solitary confinement than immigrants in general, and are disproportionately more likely to be detained and deported.

Especially sad is that so many Black immigrants are eligible to be freed from this cruelty simply by paying a bond. But many can’t afford it, and that’s where we can help. 

Donate to the Black Immigrants Bail Fund to help pay bonds, hire lawyers, and help them reach their goal of $200,000 to get people to safety TODAY.

DoNate NOW

The Black Immigrants Bail Fund was created in July of 2021 by the Haitian Bridge Alliance and the African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs as a way to combat these unjust circumstances. 

So far, they have aided over 173 detainees and given over $2.6 million in bond requests to free Black migrants.

This Black History Month, your donation can help supercharge the work of the Black Immigrants Bail Fund and get Black migrants out of horrific conditions.

Your donation will pay bonds that keep loved ones locked up and hire lawyers to represent their cases in immigration court. will you give in any amount right now to help families stuck in detention centers?

DoNate NOW

What our immigration system has done to Black families seeking safety is gut-wrenching and wrong. Our fight isn’t over until we can welcome every family with dignity and compassion in the U.S.

 

In Solidarity,

Erin Mazursky | Organizing Director
Families Belong Together

 ***

The number of people seeking safety and left to suffer in detention has skyrocketed to *20,000* since Biden took office.

It gets worse: the government is expanding programs that criminalize families through hyper-surveillance tactics like home curfews and ankle monitors.

These cruel and unnecessary Trump-era policies are issues the Biden administration should be ending, not expanding, if they’re going to live up to their promise of treating families with dignity and respect – and there is a crystal clear alternative to cruelty.

Instead of spending millions on keeping detention centers open, launching house arrest programs, and even robot border patrol dogs, the Biden administration can choose Communities over Cages by investing in caseworkers, lawyers, and community programs that actually help people fleeing danger. 

Let’s make it unequivocal that our community completely rejects any Trump-era immigration policies, and urge President Biden to choose Communities Not Cages in order to welcome people with dignity and respect now?

take action

The Biden administration promised on their campaign trail to immediately end the detention of families, stop the expansion of programs that criminalize families seeking safety, and create *real* solutions to welcoming people with dignity. It’s time for them to keep that promise.

We cannot be a country that meets families seeking safety with handcuffs and ankle monitors. We have to make the choice to welcome women, children, and families with efficient and timely processing, care, and most importantly, compassion.

Let’s make sure that Biden keeps his promise to reform the system with caseworkers, lawyers, and community-based solutions, not expanding detention, by flooding his team with calls from across the country in support of Community Not Cages.

Add your name to pressure the Biden administration to stop detaining families and welcome people seeking safety with dignity and compassion instead.

take action

We need the government to end the inhumanity of detention centers and the criminalization of families seeking safety. Doing this would get us so much closer to opening up legal pathways for people seeking safety rather than completely shutting them down. It’s time we live up to who we can be as a country. 

 

Thanks for all you do,

Erin Mazursky, Organizing Director
Families Belong Together

 *** 

In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...

Zonta’s world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist fighters) take action?

Available now: https://www.extasybooks.com/Where-the-Bodies-Lie

A great tale of how love, cooperation, and socialism will ultimately save us all. -- Redd Phlagg

 

No War But Class War

 

No War But Class War

by C. A. Matthews

Bourgeoisie:  (in Marxist thought) the ruling class of the two basic classes of capitalist society, consisting of capitalists, manufacturers, bankers, and other employers. The bourgeoisie owns the most important of the means of production, through which it exploits the working class  --The Free Dictionary

It's a funny word, but it's been receiving a lot more airtime lately. Is it because Americans are becoming more sensitive to income inequality, or is it because they themselves are suffering deprivations due to the pandemic? Either way, more people are openly discussing what they find unfair or unjust in our society and aren't afraid to use either bourgeoisie or the "C word."

No, not that "C word"--although often a discussion of communism comes after the mention of this particular C word. (And not that C word, either, for those who have their minds in the gutter.) The word I'm referring to is simply "class." And before you go off on a rant about how America is a "class-less society," let me ask you one question:

Where did you go to high school?

I learned the awesome power of this particular question when I lived in St. Louis, Missouri. Here's the scenario: You're introduced to someone in a conversation and then about nine times out of ten in the St. Louis area you are then asked, "So, where did you attend high school?" I found it an odd question as an adult long since graduated from high school, but I'm friendly so I shared the name of the high school I attended in Ohio. This threw the conversation for a loop usually, and I often got cross looks or simply ignored for the rest of the evening. But all too soon I learned why they asked me, a total stranger, this question, and why the answer was vitally important for the questioner to ask.

Americans tend to dress and speak alike no matter where or how they grew up. I'm not talking about regional dialects or accents. I'm talking about how difficult it is to tell what side of town a fellow American comes from if they dress similarly and use similar terminology to yours. So, we have to figure out another way to discover what "C word" another American belongs to without seeming too obvious. In St. Louis, it's as easy as asking which high school you went to since this gives the questioner the neighborhood you grew up in (true of both public and parochial schools there) and the approximate value of the home you grew up in, and, therefore, how much money your parents made to support your family.

Of course, if you admit to attending a working class area high school, you might be shunned by those who attended schools in wealthier neighborhoods. That is the true power of the question. It helps separate Americans by class in a relatively quick and painless way. You didn't attend the "right" high school? Then the questioner knows that you're probably not going to fit in well with their bridge club or even know what golf is, let alone how to play it. For recent immigrants and people of color this question is a double insult, as the wealthier high schools are almost certainly populated with a majority of white, native-born students.

Please don't get hot under the collar when I tell you that America displays just as many classes as a Downtown Abbey episode. We all know it's true. Americans don't like to think of themselves as snobs, but we act as human as the rest of the world, and we like to put our inferiors in their place. We've just agreed among ourselves to pretend that we're not capable of such vulgarities as class consciousness.

American might be unique in the fact that here there is such a thing as poor snobs as well as rich snobs here. I know because I am one. My favorite tale of how I first realized how much of a poor snob I was comes from my high school days. (Funny how secondary education keeps popping up, isn't it? Possibly this is where most of us first learn how we're "different" from the others who go on from there to attend Ivy League schools and drive luxury cars.)

There was only one high school in our city, one large public high school. This lead to some interesting interactions among students. I remember talking to a classmate at the end of an English class about where we were both planning on working in the summer. Most kids from our side of town worked part-time in the school year and full-time in the summer months. It's how we were able to afford new shoes, winter coats, and save up for college or trade school. 

Anyway, a third classmate entered our conversation and said something along the lines of, "Oh, I don't know what I'm doing this summer, too. Should I go to horse riding school or tennis camp?" The first classmate and I exchanged knowing glances of the variety of, "Yeah, wouldn't it be nice if the summer months were actually a time to have fun and go on vacations, right?"  We then returned to discussing the benefits of working at the local ice cream shack versus looking for more underpaid big chain fast food work located closer to the highway.

It was then that I realized how much I hated rich people--not necessarily my well-to-do classmate since she was a nice enough person, but how this idea of class kept us separated and how it kept working people from ever enjoying a life that our rich classmate took for granted that everyone else in our high school enjoyed.

Had she ever been to our side of town? Possibly not. Why would she leave her side? She had everything she needed on her wealthier side of town and could go out of town to the big city whenever she or her parents wanted to go. Working class kids just had to make do with what we had and stay put. That was our lot in life. End of story.

I take some hope in the fact that more and more Americans seem free to talk about class and income inequality and the lack of universal health care for all in 2021, but we still have a ways to go. We still need to discuss what concrete steps we're willing to take to destroy this system that condemns those without what our society calls "wealth" to a life of poverty, hunger, possible homelessness, and an early preventable death. If the founders were willing to risk it all for the "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" why aren't we?

"No war but class war" says the bumper sticker slogan. I think that's what it's going to take--an all out assault against the institutions that propagate the evil capitalistic class system in this country and the world. Voting out the corrupt billionaire supporters has proved impossible. The Citizens United ruling has taken away our voices since money is speech according to it. We will never be able to outspend the billionaires and their lackeys. We'll have to outsmart and out-fight them in the streets.

In other words, it's time for the pitchforks, folks. 

We can't keep pulling our punches. Speak out, speak loudly, and never give in to those who say it's not a fight worth winning. It is. Our planet is dying because of capitalism. We don't need to maintain the classes to survive. The system is killing us all. We need each other without these artificial divides.

All is not lost for the rich according to this short video--they can be taught to empathize! https://youtu.be/Pg5QFOuMoN8

***

 

Over 300,000 immigrants were deported in Biden’s first 100 days — a rate of deportations higher than any period under the openly anti-immigrant Donald Trump or under the “Deporter-in-Chief,” Barack
Obama.

The deportation machine of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues unabated. ICE and CBP defied Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations.
Predictably, these agencies targeted Black and Latino immigrants for deportation.

Biden partially rescinded Trump’s “Return to Mexico" policy for asylum seekers, but only for Latin Americans. Reflecting the longstanding anti-Black racism of US immigration policies, Haitians and Africans were excluded.

Black people have been flown by ICE without due process of their asylum requests to countries like Haiti, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the political violence means they may face death.

More Haitians were deported to Haiti in Biden’s first 100 days than in the last year of the Trump administration.

Biden has the legal authority to bring ICE and CBP into compliance with the law and his administration’s policies. These rogue agencies’ unions and members campaigned in uniform for Trump in open defiance the Hatch Act. ICE and CBP must be dismantled and replaced with a new agency that will uphold the law.

But Biden shows no appetite for that fight.

Instead, Biden submitted a moderate immigration bill to Congress on his first day in office, the U.S. Citizenship Act, which would leave ICE and CBP in place. It would provide immigrants in the U.S. before
2021 with a path to legal status and, after eight years, to citizenship. But it reinforces the racial biases in the criminal justice and national security systems toward Black, Latino, Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern,
and South Asian people, who remain targeted for criminal and national security surveillance, discrimination, and arrest that would render them ineligible for legal status and citizenship.

In any case, if the Democrats in the U.S. Senate don’t eliminate the filibuster, no immigration reform will happen. 800,000 Dreamers and more than 20 million undocumented immigrants will continue to live
their lives in constant fear of deportation.

Meanwhile, Biden has continued Trump's "Title 42" public health authority to immediately expel people seeking asylum without due process.

The only exception is allowing the entry of unaccompanied minors, tens of thousands of whom are now stuck in some 200 facilities across two dozen states. Most of these detentions centers are unlicensed and riddled with neglect, abuse, covid, lice, and failure to help connect children with their families or vetted care providers.

While Biden has said he will not build more border wall, his administration is in the courts pursuing eminent domain proceedings that were initiated by the Trump administration against landowners at the border where more wall could be built.

Nor has Biden stopped the policy of co-opting local police into federal immigration enforcement, which has made racial profiling worse and undermined the trust and cooperation of immigrant communities
with local police in solving crimes.

The rule-or-ruin intransigence of the Republicans make them irrelevant to immigration reform—or any other reform. The Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and presidency are negotiating with themselves. They may try to blame the Republicans, but it is the Democrats who could but will not eliminate the filibuster by a simple majority vote in the Senate.

That is why we need the Green Party now more than ever.

We are working to help Greens build that alternative and advance the agenda we advocated during the presidential campaign, from immigration reform and student debt relief to Medicare for All and the Ecosocialist Green New Deal.

Please help us carry on this fight for justice, peace, and the environment with a donation today!

In Solidarity,

Howie Hawkins

***

A federal judge just compared a military-style assault weapon to a Swiss Army knife – and then struck down California’s decades-long assault weapons ban.

This shouldn’t even have to be said, but an AR-15 is not the same as a Swiss Army Knife. These deadly weapons of war do not belong in the hands of civilians.

Ban Assault Weapons >>

In Parkland, an assault weapon was used to shoot and kill 17 people, not a knife. In Las Vegas, an assault weapon was used to shoot and kill 61 people, not a knife. In Newtown, an assault weapon was used to shoot and kill 28 people – including children, not a knife.

We are talking about weapons of war that are designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Banning assault weapons keeps Americans safe and saves lives – and this gun lobby-backed ruling means we have to work harder than ever to do it. Brady is fighting tooth and nail to support efforts to overturn this ruling and reinstate the federal ban on assault weapons and we need you with us:

Will you add your name to our petition to demand an assault weapons ban and help us show Congress that this is what the majority of Americans want?

Ban Assault Weapons >>

An military-style assault weapon is far deadlier than a Swiss Army knife. Full stop. Thank you for taking action to ban these weapons of war. Kris Brown Brady President

 

The Disease (And The Cure?)

 

 The Disease (And The Cure?)

A blog post told entirely in memes

Related Links:

The Rich Gain Billions While Workers Are At Food Banks https://youtu.be/seJ_xh5sEXU 

The Trump/Biden Effect and the Fascist Tide https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/marxs-immiseration-thesis-the-trump-biden-effect-and-the-fascist-tide

Pelosi Now Backs Stimulus Deal Half the Size of What the White House Offered Before Election  https://www.newsweek.com/pelosi-now-backs-stimulus-deal-half-size-what-white-house-offered-before-election-1551890

One Third of Biden's Pentagon Transition Team Hails from Organizations Financed by the Weapons Industry https://inthesetimes.com/article/joe-biden-department-of-defense-pentagon-transition-team-weapons-industry-military

How Biden Helped Create The Student Debt Problem He Now Promises to Fix https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/02/joe-biden-student-loan-debt-2005-act-2020

***

Don't Let Them Silence Us! Make It Matter!

If you agree that we can't just sit back, fall asleep, and let the neolibs/neocons destroy our country, our lives, and the planet, then please consider making a donation to keep The Revolution Continues going.  Donate at the Paypal.me link below. Thank you and Power to the People!

http://paypal.me/camatthews 

***

 

From March For Our Lives:

Thanks to BIPOC organizers, activists on the ground, and supporters like you, we helped drive the largest youth voter turnout in HISTORY. 

During the 2020 Gun Safety Forum, Kamala Harris' advice for us was to not ask for permission to lead -- so we won't. We've more than earned our seat at the table, and now it's time for the Biden-Harris administration to follow through on their promises to center the voices of survivors and advocates.

We just made our first set of demands public and want to share our plans with you. We're calling on President-elect Biden to create two new positions that will respond to the urgent needs of the young people who got them elected.

• A National Director of Gun Violence Prevention, who will report directly to the President and will lead a committee tasked with recommending survivor-centered reforms that reflect what gun violence has become in this country -- a public health crisis that disproportionately affects our most vulnerable populations. The Director should be tasked with empowering federal agencies that have been weakened by the NRA and the gun lobby -- like the ATF, CDC, and more. And they should oversee a $1B investment in funding for research and community-based gun violence prevention programming.
• A Director of Youth Engagement, preferably a member of Gen-Z, who will sit on the Domestic Policy Council and advise the President and senior officials on issues that are affecting young folks across the country.

Our voices make the difference, and we deserve to have a direct hand in the policies that affect us. You can read more about our positions in CNN.

This is just the beginning. With the right people in place, we can enact life-saving policies. Our goal has always been to end gun violence in this country. We said that we would hold the new administration accountable, and that's exactly what we plan to do. 

It's time to get to work. 

Thanks for all your support,

Eve Levenson
Policy & Government Affairs Manager
March For Our Lives