Tag: racism

A conservative explains why he changed his mind about racism in the US

AlterNet logoConservative writer David French published a powerful essay this week with The Dispatch that gave a fascinating glimpse into how and why he has changed his mind about racism in the United States.

French, who previously wrote for the National Review, is a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump, but he isn’t quite the MSNBC-style Never Trump figure that has become common these days. He vehemently defended the nomination and appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s argued in favor of voting for the Republican lawmakers that enable Trump in 2018, even while he advocates voting against the president. He remains sharply critical of Democrats and much of the progressive worldview.

All of which is to say he’s not a conservative in name only. He’s a true believer. But when it comes to racism, he thinks his ideological compatriots have it badly wrong. Continue reading.

White men mocked George Floyd’s death at a protest. Now a corrections officer in the group has been suspended.

Washington Post logoAs a peaceful Black Lives Matter march made its way through Franklin Township, N.J., the group protesting against police brutality and systemic racism walked past a white man kneeling on the neck of another white man in a mocking reenactment of George Floyd’s death.

The men were part of a group of white counterprotesters with flags supporting President Trump and “Blue Lives Matter” that barked, “Black lives matter to no one,” and “Police lives matter,” at those marching on Monday to remember Floyd, the unarmed black man whose death after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes has sparked widespread protests.

“This is what happens when you don’t comply with the cops!” yelled the man who was kneeling on the other man’s neck, according to a video shared to social media. “Comply with the cops and this wouldn’t have happened! He didn’t comply!” (Floyd did indeed comply with police, according to the criminal complaint filed against the officers.) Continue reading.

Virginia Man Who Drove Truck Into Protest Says He’s A White Supremacist: Prosecutor

Harry H. Rogers was arrested on several charges, including assault and battery, after driving through a crowd of anti-racism protesters.

A Virginia man who drove his pickup truck into a crowd of anti-racism protesters on Sunday is a self-described white supremacist, prosecutors said Monday.

Harry H. Rogers, 36, has been arrested and charged with assault and battery, attempted malicious wounding and felony vandalism after witnesses in Richmond said he drove onto a median, revved his engine and drove into a crowd of protesters.

One person was injured during the incident. The victim was evaluated at the scene and refused further treatment, Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said in a statement issued Monday. Continue reading.

Militarization has fostered a policing culture that sets up protesters as ‘the enemy’

The unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd after being pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officerhas left parts of U.S. cities looking like a battle zone.

Night after night, angry protesters have taken to the street. So too have police officers dressed in full riot gear and backed by an arsenal that any small military force would be proud of: armored vehicles, military-grade aircraft, rubber and wooden bullets, stun grenades, sound cannons and tear gas canisters.

The militarization of police departments has been a feature of U.S. domestic law enforcement since the 9/11 attacks. What is clear from the latest round of protest and response, is that despite efforts to promote de-escalation as a policy, police culture appears to be stuck in an “us vs. them” mentality. Continue reading.

On The Trail: Trump didn’t create these crises, but they are getting worse

The Hill logoSince he rode down an escalator at Trump Tower five years ago this month, President Trump has been at the hub of the American consciousness, driving the news with policies and actions that enrage half the country and fire up his base.

Now, five months before voters decide whether to give him a second term, it is Trump who finds himself off balance, beset by two crises that are not of his own making.

Donald Trump did not create the coronavirus. Donald Trump did not create the structural racism that has plagued the country since before its founding. Continue reading.

Here’s the data that shows Americans who rage against political correctness are the most xenophobic — and most likely to vote Trump

AlterNet logoAdmittedly, Trump’s initial references to “the Chinese Virus” earlier in March seemed rather ad-hoc. Though clearly xenophobic in context and implication, it seemed that Trump was casually parroting the language of other far-Right commentators like Charlie Kirk. Within the past week, however, Trump has ramped up his labeling campaign, often going out of his way to refer to COVID-19 as “the Chinese Virus” in Twitter storms and White House press briefings.

Two key strategies likely drive Trump’s efforts here. Both involve distracting Americans from his own administration’s failings at dealing with the coronavirus earlier on. The first is simply to blame China, laying responsibility for America’s situation solely at their feet. The fact that a Chinese propaganda director recently suggested the virus may have originated with American soldiers who brought it to China provided the perfect (and tacitly justifiable) motivation for Trump to remind the world forcefully and repeatedly where the virus originated.

The second factor also involves distraction from Trump’s failings, but one in which “China” is only incidental. They are merely a stand-in for all “dangerous outsiders.” By repeatedly and brazenly referring to “the Chinese Virus,” and provoking a media backlash against the xenophobic implications of his language, Trump wishes to remind his base who our internal threats are: politically correct liberals who care more about defending foreigners than they do the American people. Continue reading.

How the coronavirus has exposed the religious right’s racism

AlterNet logoOn March 10, President Trump retweeted a post from conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who referred to the coronavirus (COVID-19) as the “China Virus.“ Kirk also exclaimed in his tweet, “Now, more than ever, we need the wall…the US stands a chance if we can get control of our borders.” Trump retweeted this and added the comment, “Going up fast. We need the wall more than ever!”

At first blush, this exchange might seem like the garden-variety white nationalist xenophobia characteristic of Trump or many of his influential supporters. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and GOP House Representative Kevin McCarthy, in fact, have both insisted on continuing to call the disease the “Chinese Coronavirus.” But Trump’s retweet, and where it originates, helps shed light not only on the Right’s brazen xenophobia, but on the link between America’s supposed religious heritage and fears of ethnic pollution.

Charlie Kirk is co-founder of Liberty University’s Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty. The Falkirk Center is described by Liberty’s newspaper as a “modern think tank set to renew and defend God-given freedoms and Christian principles throughout American politics and culture.” Continue reading.

Racist Fox News host blames Chinese people for coronavirus: ‘They eat raw bats and snakes’

AlterNet logoFox News’ Jesse Watters went after his favorite target Monday night: Chinese people. As host of the The Five, a show on which the cumulative intelligence of the panel adds up to the number 5, Watters used the coronavirus as a jumping-off point to demand an apology from China. For what? For the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 disease. Watters is probably best known for his “Watters World” segments, during which he walks around making fun of people, and more specifically for the wildly racist episode in which he made fun of Chinese people in Chinatown, in a man-on-the-street sort of performance. On Monday night’s show, after the panel brought up Trump’s handling of public health concerns stemming from COVID19, Watters showed off some of his trademark racist humor.

Watters says, “I would just like to ask the Chinese for a formal apology. This coronavirus originated in China, and I have not heard one word from the Chinese. A simple ‘I am sorry’ would do.”

At this point, there is literally only one person laughing, while the rest look off into the studio, probably at a producer they know.  Continue reading.

Far-right group warning of Islamist infiltration to hold banquet at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club

Washington Post logoA far-right group that believes Islamists are infiltrating the U.S. government will hold a banquet Saturday night at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, according to a permit issued for the event.

The group, the Center for Security Policy, has also spread the false idea that former president Barack Obama is a Muslim and alleged that mainstream Muslim organizations in the United States are secretly agents of anti-American jihad.

The group has rented a ballroom for Saturday at Trump’s club in Palm Beach, Fla., for its annual Freedom Flame Award Dinner. The 200-person event, named after the group’s flaming-torch symbol, previously was held in New York City and Washington.

View the complete November 22 article by David A. Fahrenthold on The Washington Post website here.