AmeriKKKa

[Seabass]

So to summarize, the Republicans want to keep monuments to racism up, and tear down the actual teaching of this nation's racist history. All while trying to stop black people from voting and protesting.

And I get shit for calling the GOP evil.

[Seabass]

Republicans don't want this sort of thing taught in schools because it upends the foundational myth that American conservatism is built upon: the deep-rooted belief that people with dark skin are inherently inferior and therefore any attempt to reduce wealth inequality is really a transfer of wealth from industrious, productive white people to non-contributing black people.

Memorial Day marks the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, when the thriving African American neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma — known as "Black Wall Street" — was burned to the ground by a white mob. An estimated 300 African Americans were killed and over 1,000 injured. Whites in Tulsa actively suppressed the truth, and African Americans were intimidated into silence. But efforts to restore the horrific event to its rightful place in U.S. history are having an impact. Survivors testified last week before Congress, calling for reparations. President Biden is set to visit Tulsa on Tuesday. We speak with documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, whose new film premiering this weekend explores how Black residents sought out freedom in Oklahoma and built a thriving community in Greenwood, and how it was all destroyed over two days of horrific violence. Nelson notes many African Americans migrated westward after the Civil War "to start a new life" with dignity. "Greenwood was one of over 100 African American communities in the West," he says. "Greenwood was the biggest and the baddest of those communities."

[L'Emmerdeur]

That was the largest, but there were a number of similar incidents in that era. American history tells the story. Conveniently for those who are in denial, ignorance of history is the norm.

***

The National Football League (American football, natch) says it will try being a bit less systematically racist. Progress--it IS the 21st century after all.

'NFL pledges to halt "race-norming," review Black claims'

The NFL on Wednesday pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive function — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias.

The practice made it harder for Black retirees to show a deficit and qualify for an award. The standards were created in the 1990s in hopes of offering more appropriate treatment to dementia patients, but critics faulted the way they were used to determine payouts in the NFL concussion case.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after a pair of Black players filed a civil rights lawsuit over the practice, medical experts raised concerns and a group of NFL families last month dropped 50,000 petitions at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia — where the lawsuit had been thrown out by the judge overseeing the settlement.

Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody later took the unusual step of asking for a report on the issue. Black retirees hope it will include a breakdown of the nearly $800 million in payouts so far by race. They fear the data will never come to light.

“Words are cheap. Let’s see what they do,” said former Washington running back Ken Jenkins, whose wife Amy Lewis led the petition drive on behalf of NFL friends struggling with cognitive problems. Jenkins, an insurance executive, has so far been spared.

[Cunt]

The fascists in Portland seem to be up to their old shenanigans.
https://nypost.com/2021/06/03/author-an ... -portland/

“I call on the Portland Police and federal authorities to act on this before Antifa operatives hiding behind their masks succeed in murdering an American journalist on their watch.

“And I call on journalists and all those who believe in the First Amendment to join me in standing against the tyranny of those who use violence to terrorize, silence and suppress the truth,” he said.

[Joe]

Well, you sow the wind and you reap the whirlwind. Violence against the media is up in the US, whether at the BLM or the Capital protests, and President Trump is a big part of that.

When President Donald J. Trump initially minimized the danger of the COVID-19 virus in the first two months of 2020, he attacked news media reporting about the growing threat and his administration’s slow response. “Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible,” the president tweeted on February 26, implying that MSNBC is allied with the Democratic Party.

On March 8, after more press reports about shortcomings in the administration’s response, Trump tweeted, “The Fake News Media is doing everything possible to make us look bad. Sad!” The next day, after the Dow Jones Index lost 2,014 points, or 7.79 percent, of its value, the president also blamed it on “fake news.” In a March 18 tweet, Trump insisted, “I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously” and “the Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false.” At contentious White House COVID-19 press briefings on March 19 and 20, he again angrily attacked the news media, saying that “the press is very dishonest” in its reporting on his handling of the crisis and that journalists “truly do hurt our country.”

It was all typical of the Trump presidency’s unprecedented hostility toward the press. Trump has habitually attacked the news media in rallies, responses to reporters’ questions, and many hundreds of tweets. He has repeatedly called the press “fake news,” “the enemy of the people,” “dishonest,” “corrupt,” “low life reporters,” “bad people,” “human scum” and “some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.” As Trump told Leslie Stahl of CBS News shortly after he was elected president in 2016, he has been trying to destroy the credibility of the news media’s reporting about him.

“I believe that President Trump is engaged in the most direct sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said at a Society of Professional Journalists press freedom event in Washington on December 11, 2019. “He has done everything he can to undercut the media, to try and delegitimize us, and I think his purpose is clear: to raise doubts, when we report critically about him and his administration, that we can be trusted.”

In response to Trump’s steady stream of verbal attacks, members of the press were regularly booed at Trump rallies, and reporters named in his tweets have been repeatedly harassed online. There also have been credible threats to news organizations, with CNN frequently targeted.

[L'Emmerdeur]

When presented with an example of systemic racism, the best thing to do is try to change the subject, eh?

Pathetic, but predictable.

Meanwhile, back in Middle America with the good ol' American Legion ...

'Veteran's mic cut when he speaks of Black people's role in Memorial Day creation'

What at first blush appeared to be a short audio malfunction at Monday's Memorial Day ceremony in Markillie Cemetery turned out to be anything but.

A ceremony organizer turned off the microphone when the event's keynote speaker, retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter, began sharing a story about freed Black slaves honoring deceased soldiers shortly after the end of the Civil War.

The microphone was turned down for about two minutes in the middle of Kemter's 11-minute speech during the event hosted by the Hudson American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464. ...

Cindy Suchan, who chairs the Memorial Day parade committee and is president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, said it was either her or Jim Garrison, adjutant of American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464, who turned down the audio. When pressed, she would not say who specifically did it.

Suchan said organizers wanted this part excluded because it “was not relevant to our program for the day," and added the “theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans.”

Kemter said he wanted to use his speech to share the history of the origin of Memorial Day. Afterward, he noted, he received "numerous compliments" from attendees who told him “it was nice to hear the history.”

“It was well-received,” Kemter said, adding many people told him, “I never knew that.”

He expressed disappointment with the event organizers' actions.

“I find it interesting that [the American Legion] … would take it upon themselves to censor my speech and deny me my First Amendment right to [freedom of] speech,” Kemter said. “… This is not the same country I fought for.”

Kemter, a 1962 Hudson High School graduate, said he was trained as a combat medic, was in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1995, and served in the Persian Gulf War.

In the days leading up to the ceremony, Suchan said she reviewed Kemter’s speech and asked him to remove certain portions.

“We asked him to modify his speech, and he chose not to do that,” said Suchan.

Suchan declined to say which part she wanted excluded, but confirmed the two minutes when Kemter’s microphone was turned off were part of what she asked him to exclude. During those two minutes, Kemter is heard discussing how former slaves and freed Black men shortly after the Civil War exhumed the remains of more than 200 Union soldiers who died in battle in Charleston and gave them “a proper burial.”

About three days before the ceremony, Kemter said, he was emailed by an event organizer (whom he declined to name) asking him to remove a part of his speech dealing with Black Americans’ role in an early Memorial Day-type of ceremony. Kemter declined to share why the organizer asked him to remove this part, but said he asked the organizer to specify what portions they wanted to have excluded.

When he received an email back from the organizer Sunday evening, the message stated that the parts to be removed were highlighted. Kemter said he did not see any text highlighted — and with the ceremony less than 24 hours away, he did not reply again.

"I didn't have time to sit down and rewrite another speech," Kemter said.

Kemter said he showed the text of the speech to a Hudson public official, who advised him to leave the speech intact.

At a certain point in Kemter’s speech, Suchan said she asked A.J. Stokes, the event’s audio engineer, to turn off Kemter’s microphone. She said Stokes refused to do it himself, but pointed to the knob that controlled the microphone.

Stokes confirmed his refusal and that he did point to the knob. He said it was Garrison who turned down the audio and then turned it back up a short time later.

When reached by phone Wednesday, Garrison declined to say whether he turned down the microphone and said he had "nothing to add" regarding the situation.

Stokes said Suchan and Garrison were both “very adamant” about turning off Kemter’s microphone.

“That was very improper,” Stokes said. “I would’ve never done something like that.”

He said he was “very upset” about what happened and hoped he was not being blamed. Suchan emphasized that Stokes was "totally blameless."

He noted he’s handled the sound engineering for the event since the late 1960s and has his own company, Stokes Sound & Video Inc.

After the ceremony, Stokes said he apologized to Kemter about the loss in audio, but also told him, “I had nothing to do with that. Cindy and Jim were the ones that turned your microphone off.”

When his microphone was turned down, Kemter said, he thought there was a problem with the equipment. After the event, Stokes “told me it was not a malfunction.”

Kemter said he did not speak with Suchan or Garrison after the ceremony.

The American Legion has developed a reputation since at least the 60s for being a focus of jingoism.

[Joe]

That was the largest, but there were a number of similar incidents in that era. American history tells the story. Conveniently for those who are in denial, ignorance of history is the norm.

***

The National Football League (American football, natch) says it will try being a bit less systematically racist. Progress--it IS the 21st century after all.

'NFL pledges to halt "race-norming," review Black claims'

The NFL on Wednesday pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive function — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias.

The practice made it harder for Black retirees to show a deficit and qualify for an award. The standards were created in the 1990s in hopes of offering more appropriate treatment to dementia patients, but critics faulted the way they were used to determine payouts in the NFL concussion case.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after a pair of Black players filed a civil rights lawsuit over the practice, medical experts raised concerns and a group of NFL families last month dropped 50,000 petitions at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia — where the lawsuit had been thrown out by the judge overseeing the settlement.

Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody later took the unusual step of asking for a report on the issue. Black retirees hope it will include a breakdown of the nearly $800 million in payouts so far by race. They fear the data will never come to light.

“Words are cheap. Let’s see what they do,” said former Washington running back Ken Jenkins, whose wife Amy Lewis led the petition drive on behalf of NFL friends struggling with cognitive problems. Jenkins, an insurance executive, has so far been spared.

I wish I could say I was surprised by the NFL doing this, but they have been dragging their feet for years on player brain injuries. Racial discrimination for profit is a new low, even for them.

I'll mention this the next time I'm asked why I don't watch football games.

[Seabass]

[Seabass]

https://twitter.com/Mike_Pence/status/1 ... 3571113988

[Svartalf]

Say, is mr pence a practitioner of systemic mendacity?

[Brian Peacock]

https://twitter.com/Mike_Pence/status/1 ... 3571113988

Guess he's just thrown his hat into the ring for the presidency then.

[JimC]

You could not get a better expression of the fantasy that is American exceptionalism...

[Svartalf]

Fantasy? my foot. That statement is a total denial of well known historical realities.

[Brian Peacock]

The Right's narrative here is that institutions and organisations cannot be racist because we have laws forbidding them from discriminating. Therefore only individuals are racist, which makes racism a personal issue, not one for institutions or organisations to address.

It's a tidy point of view, but it ignores both the historic/cultural attitudes upon which institutions and organisations have been founded and administered, and the fact that the operation of institutions and organisations depends on individuals, from the top down, making decision within a particular procedural, historical, cultural, social, political, and economic context.

[Hermit]

Fantasy? my foot. That statement is a total denial of well known historical realities.

That would make it a fantasy. It's one most people on the right of the political spectrum cling to.