Re: Don't tell me I'm dreaming
 

I'm trying to remember if there we had any. I mean, there must have been some superficial mention of the civil rights movement in our pitiful history classes, but I don't remember much.

I remember out-of-class arguments with Matt Anderson* who had some "interesting" theories about coming racial conflict, but not really any classroom discussions about race and the differences people experience before college.

Although that's not exactly true. I think we had to write a persuasive paper for 9th grade English and I wrote in favor of affirmative action quotas. No idea where I got that from at the time. I guess we read and must have discussed Too Kill A Mockingbird too.

*If this weren't Minnesota, maybe I'd feel the need to change his real name.

Re: Don't tell me I'm dreaming
 

I had an interesting conversation with one of my kids on race over the weekend. His school was teaching him that one of the great things Lincoln did was push the "with malice toward none and charity toward all" stuff as the war wound down, and that the subsequent reconstruction period was mean-hearted.

I asked if the real tragedy might be the end of reconstruction, the failure to stand by blacks in the south, and the emergence of the Jim Crow south, and said that we should be careful about assuming what Lincoln did was best or that reconstruction was a mistake given how badly the next hundred years turned out in the post-reconstruction south. He was thinking about that.

I asked him to imagine a smart, hardworking kid like himself, who was just freed from slavery in Georgia in 1865, and what his life would be like over the next fifty years, and what would he, in that position, think about reconstruction.

We still have to pick up this conversation, it was just five minutes between other things going on, and I have to get more of his thoughts on it. His first take was to ask a bunch of questions about Jim Crow, which I thought was a great first take.

I know it's bad in America to suggest that Honest Abe may not have been right all the time, but, hey, slavery and slavers still kinda piss me off.

It just keeps comin'
 

http://jezebel.com/hooboy-rachel-dol...cr-1711460097#

TM

Re: Don't tell me I'm dreaming
 

This is not really what I meant. I meant along the lines of a dedicated effort to address racial issues in a way that attempts to give kids the tools to try to make sense of it going forward.

TM

Together they learn to read and write.
 

Yeah. Not for me.

Back to the NYMag article re the Fieldston program, I have a sibling very involved in education, and so I was urged to read it at the time. I forget the specifics, but I remember coming away after reading it thinking that it was a great idea.

And, apropos of nothing, I just love the name "School of Ethical Culture" - I plan to use it as the name of my next team in the punk rock* bowling league.

*And by "punk rock," I mean by Podunkville standards - you know, Nick Lowe & Elvis Costello circa 1977, etc. CBGB? Mudd Club? Bitch, please. I ain't got time for that now.

Re: Don't tell me I'm dreaming
 

Yeah, I know. But I was struggling to find much content that race was even part of, and it's not really there. Although now that I think about it, I think we watched Mississippi Burning in one of those aforementioned pitiful history classes too.

Re: Together they learn to read and write.
 

Oh, yeah, that, which I did not read, but now that you mention "Fieldston," This American Life covered it not too long ago.

Re: Together they learn to read and write.
 

for nb to have posted this truism means this board is beyond hope.

Re: Together they learn to read and write.
 

Thank you. It was really just an excuse to (a) type "The School of Ethical Culture" and (b) throw in a "Life During Wartime" reference inspired by the punk rock street cred discussion.

Best Piece on Dolezal Yet
 

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-pol...RLzTI.facebook

TM

Re: Best Piece on Dolezal Yet
 

I really don't understand her at all. And I'm generally sympathetic to the idea that identity is self-constructed and fluid. I'm also generally sympathetic to the idea that race/ethnicity is a construct. She seems sincere, and I think she believes her own bullshit. At the same time, the willful blindness as to how this isn't OK is really fucking hard to take.

Re: Best Piece on Dolezal Yet
 

When she started talking about how hard it's been for her and how black people who are angry about what she's done don't know her, don't understand what she's been through, and how hard it's been for her, I lost any remaining ounce of sympathy I had for her. Fuck outta here with that bullshit.

And identity may be self-constructed, but racial identity is not. Cultural identity is. I agree that she seems to believe that it's okay for her to "be" black and she clearly wants to be a part of the black community. But for her to answer the question, "Are you black," with the word, "Yes," means she is completely fucking delusional and shows she doesn't understand what it means at all.

This is also a good piece, which does a better job with this than I can: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/op...imes&smtyp=cur

TM

Re: Best Piece on Dolezal Yet
 

Oh, in no way do I condone what she's doing/has done, nor do I think that she's going through something "hard". I have zero sympathy for her, but I was just pointing out that I am more likely to be sympathetic than most.

I sometimes struggle with my own identity, so I'm generally willing to give a listen to others who face the same struggle. In no way, though, does she face a struggle.

Re: But I supported Jesse Jackson for President! Really I did.
 

Wait. Am I in trouble for my avatar?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/politi...me-court-case/ Texas is weird- the state has all this wacky right wing shit going on, like way out there- but it bans Stars and bars? RT please explain?

South Carolina
 

Query: Should white Americans do more to fight racism among whites, teach about racial harmony and equality, and so forth, since white people (especially those who might be inclined to severe forms of racism) tend to listen to and learn from other white people -- their family, pastors, teachers, neighbors, etc. ?

Or should I be asking what color car the shooter in South Carolina drives?

Re: South Carolina
 

In the Wall Street Journal today I read that "[t]oday the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists", so I'm not quite sure I know what you're talking about.

I will note that the color and make of car the shooter was driving was instrumental in his arrest, so that seems pretty relevant here. We should focus on that.

God bless South Carolina.

http://i1.huffpost.com/gen/1120498/i...FLAG-large.jpg

Re: South Carolina
 

I think the fight is ultimately going to have to be near universal. That being the case, Every opportunity for opposition, teaching, or challenge that goes unanswered prolongs the problem. That being said, I am as guilty as many people who like to think of themselves as opposed to racism have simply ignored, or uncomfortably offered up a half-hearted counter. This is even more true since I have moved out of the sheltered, almost-exclusively white enclave I grew up in. I may think some cracker is spewing ignorant bullshit when he or she knows better, but I'm not often willing to take an ass-kicking just to make the point, not to win mind you, but simply raise the issue.

Re: South Carolina
 

Hmmm, challenging shit is hard. But I think we resolve racism in incremental steps by doing so. Each generation being a step closer. In the 20s Italians and Jews were dirt. but things changed, and while I've seen some anti-Itie hate, it was mostly harmless.

Of course that is no consolation to this week's tragedy du jour.

The WSJ story (I didn't read it but I'm assuming it was predictable) was tone deaf, but it is true that the guy being arrested is an improvement compared to the 60s. Of course, police forces themselves are still mega-racist, and to paraphrase Mr. Wolf from PF, "let's not start sucking each others dicks over this pathetic 'improvement.'"

Re: South Carolina
 

I have a moth story on Savannah and a lady wearing the stars and bars.

Re: South Carolina
 

Mr. Wolf quote is priceless.

Re: South Carolina
 

Let rename one of these Fort Colin Powell.

Re: South Carolina
 

We really need to find Bill O'Reilly some black friends.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

how long to the first natural disaster the holy reverends blame on the Supreme court? over/under 1 month I say under- there will be a rush to be the first to point to an incident.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I've already seen today referred to as "another 9/11". What do they need natural disasters for?

On the other hands, good news today for Mormon Polygamists from the Texas Gov!

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Not to be a downer on a good day, but I just saw this and thought it was a pretty remarkable inside view. I'm not even sure how this gets fixed.

Re: South Carolina
 

Why do you hate black people?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

This. And this.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

"So I think we've all learned that NBC and Macy's are just a couple of pushover companies who bend to the first complaints from any old Jose who comes and complains to them. But once I build our gold-plated, impenetrable wall, branded with the TRUMP name and paid for by Mexican maquiladora workers, we won't have to worry any more, Iowa. Who's with me?"

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

the number 1 question is still "why would anyone buy Trump clothing?"

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

This is insane. But please be careful in what you say in response, especially if you are in TCOTU.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I'm with you! (But not for this.)

Separate question: Why does anyone pay attention to the results in these bullshit states anymore? It's no longer true that momentum gained from the first few states means anything. I suppose it fills the gaps in a 24 hour news cycle, but come on. Everyone in the world knows Trump is going nowhere fast.

TM

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Fair point, but given that it took all the way until this election cycle for people to give up on meaninglessness stuff like the Iowa Straw Poll, I think progress in ignoring the excesses of Iowa and NH overall will be, well, glacial. Plus, I think the media has too much fun following this particular clown car.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

http://www.uspresidentialelectionnew...dule-calendar/

Before March 15 there is not a single state caucus/primary that both matters and might be contested in the general election. Does it matter which Dem wins S Carolina? Which Rep wins Mass?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Supposedly it matters for fundraising. I don't know. But the first few primaries will shake out some of the GOP field. Hopefully not before they all destroy themselves pandering to the GOP core in South Carolina.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Stay classy, Scott Brown.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Yeah. But it's much fucking fun watching him implode!!

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I personally would leave
this asshole's remains where they are, and erect a museum on the horrors of his misdeads above them. Perhaps the design could be such that his actual grave would be directly under the WCs.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Germany is wrecking Greece.

eta: Germany is wrecking Europe.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Grexit is starting to seem a lot like Groundhog Day. And doesn't Tsipras bear a bit of a resemblance to the young Bill Murray?