The rabid racist Republican Convention occurred this week. I've been reading things here and there and everywhere. And it's become apparent that several "moderate" republicans think that the overt over-the-top racism they are seeing in republican party now just sprang up out of nowhere.
I read a calm, well thought out, article written by a republican a few days ago. When he said the words "self-examination," I thought he was actually going to try to think. But he immediately defended his good white self and his good white friends and his good white family and couldn't imagine anybody really thinking that Ronald Reagan and one bush or another are actually racist -- or no more racist than is ordinary, or not any more imperfect that democrats.
His thoughtfully worded minimization of the white racism sooo clearly exhibited by every Republican that's ever been, including Lincoln if you judge him by today's standards just made me exhausted.
In this calm, thoughtful article he made sure he'd never have to listen to anybody tell him just HOW it is the white racists know which party to go to by saying "the lefties will just say we brought this on ourselves" It hasn't occurred to him to talk to black and brown people as if we have sense, as if they --as white people-- are the ones biased in favor of self.
It hasn't occurred to him that there are VERY FEW hardcore "lefties" among black people because we just vote for the lesser of two evils. Black people, for the most part, aren't biased by a strong dedication to the left. Blacks know there's racism on both sides of the fence. Blacks also know, for the most part, which variety of racism kills black people faster -- the republican variety that never sees any racism even when there are a dozen unarmed black bodies on the ground with a white cop standing each one of them
Just like the civil rights leaders weren't brainwashed by the communists to be dissatisfied with our limited lot in life, black people who are fighting to have Black Lives Matter TOO when police are summoned have not been brainwashed by white democrats.
Black people see democratic racism too. But the pre-Hitler like blather coming out of the republican party is coming out of an overt white racism that has always been there.
Always.
I won't go back and judge Lincoln by today's standards. But I will judge the white people around Lincoln at the time and those who tell Lincoln's white-washed story over and over again today.
The first thing you have to understand about the motivations of Lincoln's northern republicans is that that they were not so much anti-slavery as they were anti-slave power.
Pre-Civil-War, the south was creating raw materials (growing cotton) using slave labor and the north was doing manufacturing of goods (shirts) and didn't need slaves. The free labor (slave power) was making southern democratic white men richer and more powerful than northern republican white men. Furthermore, the House of Representatives is/was based on the population of each state. Though slaves couldn't vote they did count as 3/5s of a person which meant the white southern democrats had more voting power in the House.
Again, the republican party of Lincoln, mostly located in the industrial north was more against "slave power" than it was "slavery"
One of things that Stephen Spielberg got right in the movie "Lincoln" is that the republican abolitionists were considered the extremist fringe in the republican party. The thing Spielberg got VERY wrong was to erase how devoted the majority white northern republicans were to becoming more financially powerful and more politically powerful than the white southerners by removing white southerner's free labor (black slaves).
When you have white privilege, as Spielberg does, you tell the part of the story that makes you and yours look good and feel good. But you do everyone a disservice when you erase the uglier parts of history. You wind up having white people so comfortable with white racism that they don't recognize it when it bites them on the ass from the inside.
I read a calm, well thought out, article written by a republican a few days ago. When he said the words "self-examination," I thought he was actually going to try to think. But he immediately defended his good white self and his good white friends and his good white family and couldn't imagine anybody really thinking that Ronald Reagan and one bush or another are actually racist -- or no more racist than is ordinary, or not any more imperfect that democrats.
His thoughtfully worded minimization of the white racism sooo clearly exhibited by every Republican that's ever been, including Lincoln if you judge him by today's standards just made me exhausted.
In this calm, thoughtful article he made sure he'd never have to listen to anybody tell him just HOW it is the white racists know which party to go to by saying "the lefties will just say we brought this on ourselves" It hasn't occurred to him to talk to black and brown people as if we have sense, as if they --as white people-- are the ones biased in favor of self.
It hasn't occurred to him that there are VERY FEW hardcore "lefties" among black people because we just vote for the lesser of two evils. Black people, for the most part, aren't biased by a strong dedication to the left. Blacks know there's racism on both sides of the fence. Blacks also know, for the most part, which variety of racism kills black people faster -- the republican variety that never sees any racism even when there are a dozen unarmed black bodies on the ground with a white cop standing each one of them
Just like the civil rights leaders weren't brainwashed by the communists to be dissatisfied with our limited lot in life, black people who are fighting to have Black Lives Matter TOO when police are summoned have not been brainwashed by white democrats.
Black people see democratic racism too. But the pre-Hitler like blather coming out of the republican party is coming out of an overt white racism that has always been there.
Always.
I won't go back and judge Lincoln by today's standards. But I will judge the white people around Lincoln at the time and those who tell Lincoln's white-washed story over and over again today.
The first thing you have to understand about the motivations of Lincoln's northern republicans is that that they were not so much anti-slavery as they were anti-slave power.
Pre-Civil-War, the south was creating raw materials (growing cotton) using slave labor and the north was doing manufacturing of goods (shirts) and didn't need slaves. The free labor (slave power) was making southern democratic white men richer and more powerful than northern republican white men. Furthermore, the House of Representatives is/was based on the population of each state. Though slaves couldn't vote they did count as 3/5s of a person which meant the white southern democrats had more voting power in the House.
Again, the republican party of Lincoln, mostly located in the industrial north was more against "slave power" than it was "slavery"
One of things that Stephen Spielberg got right in the movie "Lincoln" is that the republican abolitionists were considered the extremist fringe in the republican party. The thing Spielberg got VERY wrong was to erase how devoted the majority white northern republicans were to becoming more financially powerful and more politically powerful than the white southerners by removing white southerner's free labor (black slaves).
When you have white privilege, as Spielberg does, you tell the part of the story that makes you and yours look good and feel good. But you do everyone a disservice when you erase the uglier parts of history. You wind up having white people so comfortable with white racism that they don't recognize it when it bites them on the ass from the inside.
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