One person has died at Charlottesville, where white nationalists have gathered in a “Unite the Right” demonstration, protesting the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.
It is hard to believe that there is so much hatred and bigotry concentrated in one place in 2017. We knew it existed but until now, it dared not show its ugly face so boldly.
Despite Trump’s efforts to denounce the violence, he is the hero of the white nationalists, aka “alt-right,” aka neo-Nazis.
David Duke is there, the dean of the loathsome KKK, openly praising Trump as the man who freed the haters to openly express their hate.
Thanks to those who bravely challenged the Deplorables.
We must be constantly on guard to prevent the peddlars of bigotry and hatred from polluting our society, our civil discourse, our future. It is indeed alarming to realize that Trump has encouraged them again and again–challenging President Obama’s birthplace, refusing to disown David Duke’s endorsement, appointing people to the Cabinet who disdain the enforcement of civil rights.
H.G. Wells long ago wrote that “civilization is more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” On a day like today, it seems that catastrophe is leading the race.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Our new government is founded upon exactly [this] idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.” (Alexander Stephens, Confederate VP) This is what Robert E Lee fought for. This Neo-Confederate/Nazi’s own this legacy of hatred and discrimination. Lee’s statue belongs in a museum, a battlefield, a cemetery….not in a pubic place. He tried to overthrow our government. The ultimate desecration of the US Flag is associating it with Nazi and Confederate flags…
Well stated, chuck! Thanks!
While I agree that Lee fought to maintain a slavery status quo, and while I do not oppose the removal of monument to the lost cause that cover the south, I would hasten to add that he fought against a foe that was just as racist as he was. Consider the racially charged busing controversy in Boston in the 70s and the prevalence of antisemitism and anti-eastern European sentiment that produced the immigration quotas of the 20s.
We all own the legacy of hatred. We all must work to put it aside.
We can take down Lee and Stonewall Jackson, but I suggest we erect their statues in cities all across the United States to remind us of how much our history is that of racism. There used to be private schools in the north where Italians and Jews need not apply.
Time for humble pie. There is enough racism to go around. Let us rid ourselves of it with sacrificial love.
True, but there were abolitionists that fought on the side of the Union. Northern opinion on emancipation and especially equality was decidedly mixed, but the Confederacy was organized fully around white supremacy. Your point about our national racist history is well taken—New England Textile mills prepared under slavery, for example—but there is no equivalence.
It goes further back than the 20’s . The Chinese were banned from 1882 to 1943 . Those here already sent home if the were not citizens yet.
well that’s true. and it goes back to the cave man /woman days. and the early days of written language…. one author I really appreciate calls it “Ancient Domination Systems” (plus you have to add the psychological variables of the fallibility of human beings)
Many years ago I visited a place underground, in Oregon, where Chinese men were working. I know some were doing laundry work. They were not permitted to go above ground. The US government passed a law forbidding Chinese women to come into the country. These men were not allowed to leave.
Life was very sad for them. The US has a history of lots of discrimination.
To the contrary. An equivalence may be found in the eugenics movement that found ethnic inferiority in both poor white and black southerners. Progressives like Theodore Roosevelt carried a dreadful backpack filled with racial bias, but gave us things like the National Parks to be proud of. Humans are a strange mixture of good and bad. So were southern slaveholders.
doesn’t it involve how we define the “us” in this statement? “but gave us things “
“We all own the legacy of hatred. We all must work to put it aside.”
I can’t agree at all with the first sentence. I thoroughly agree with the second!
Jean: I just feel we are, as humans, incapable of always being good or evil. When we lose sight of this, we commit errors of judgement that we never saw coming.
Duane: are we not all succeptible to error?
One (Confederate) society aspired to a perpetual caste system. The other, though fought with virulent racism, could evolve over time.
carolmalaysia, that story remains to be told to the fullest, & I hope it will be.
Roy,
Yes, we are all susceptible to error. But it is not my “error” nor many others. I have not participated nor condoned any of those actions and sentiments you have given. I have condemned them since I was old enough to begin to understand those injustices.
It is a false idea to blame those alive today, those who refused/refuse to participate in that “legacy”. Falsehoods as such have no place in honest discourse in addressing those many concerns you rightly describe and deplore.
There is/was no shortage of racism in this nation. I used to work for the US Census Bureau. “Irish” and “Italians” used to be listed as separate races!
Charles,
I don’t believe that Irish and Italians were listed as separate races when you worked for the Census. In Russia today, Jews have “Jew” stamped on their passport. Did you know that?
Ahhh, here it comes!
Trump just put out a toothless condemnation — toothless because he makes the “equivalency” argument that “many sides” are at fault in this situation.
PARAPHRASE:
All of the “many sides” involved have both their good, noble aspects and their bad, ignoble aspects, so it’s important to remember that. When analyzing David Duke and his crowd, for example, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Duke and Co. have their good points just as those opposing him have their bad points.
So I condemn all sides when it comes to violence, but acknowledge that hey don’t forget that there’s also good in all the different sides.
Here’s some coverage of that:
https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/8/12/16138982/trump-charlottesville-false-equivalency
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
VOX:
“In short, there aren’t multiple morally equivalent sides here. There’s one side — white supremacists — that has long oppressed all other groups of people. Their protests aim to ensure that oppression continues, even if it means using violence. The people counterprotesting, on the other hand, are trying to end that oppression.
“So while it’s true that both sides participated in the brawls seen throughout the protests, one side — in a country that supposedly values equality — has the much stronger case by actively working against the hate, bigotry, and violence that the white supremacist side is actively trying to perpetuate.
“But Trump won’t acknowledge any of that. Asked to clarify his remarks, a White House official said, ‘
” ‘The President was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counter protesters today.’
“Trump is deliberately NOT calling out the white supremacists who led to the unrest in Charlottesville.”
Actually I am glad Trump came out w/something mealy-mouthed, & side-stepped his usual impulse to increase division. 2017 is not a great time to re-fight the Civil War. The South already has its back to the wall economically– the sort of environment guaranteed to heat up tribal divisions fighting for a piece of the dwindling pie. Better to thread the needle among warring factions: this is what Lincoln & post-Civil War presidents did in order to maintain national unity, rather than to adopt crushing scorched-earth policies to punish the traitorous secessionists. It’s OK to chide white supremacists, but not a good time to trot out prissy progressive slogans that paint all Southerners as moral degenerates.
” Lincoln & post-Civil War presidents did in order to maintain national unity, rather than to adopt crushing scorched-earth policies to punish the traitorous secessionists.” I guess you have never heard George Will on this subject. He should stick to baseball.
I won’t repeat it here (ad nauseam) but we had some discussions about Gingrich and his particular brand of anti-semitism in the 80s….
“Trump just put out a toothless condemnation — toothless because he makes the “equivalency” argument that “many sides” are at fault in this situation.” you didn’t see my comment on trump’s 3rd grade level of development — it is in (I repeat). Games People Play (there is also a book Games Children Play). and the game is “let’s you and him fight’. Is that what you. mean by equivalency? you give trump way too much credit. That’s why I think someone else is writing this stuff and handing it to him.
Jean Haverhill, I am a relative neophyte [autodidact] on American historical analysis, & would appreciate more detail!
I didn’t mean to imply I could do much in analysis…. my background was more in developmental learning, special education.. I taught psychology courses but in the Counseling, Rehab & Special Ed program as adjunct. Reading history is my hobby so I have no claims to offer there ; I’ve commented here before on Black Earth, Bloodlands (by Timothy Snyder) and I’ve reported here that some of the best discussions I’ve ever had were with AP history teachers at national conferences. We had a Center for Founding Documents at BU during the Bicentennial and programs under Ted Kennedy’s auspices but those have pretty much gone by the boards (federal funding was called “earmarks” and rescinded). If I was claiming to be something other than I am , I apologize. History is just my love– like the books on Reagan, Nixon, etc by. Rick Perlstein (you will find excellent descriptions of the racism is Boston and desegregation in his writing –New England was never free of that motivation although we had John Greenleaf Whittier and Lucy Larcom writing here in the City where I live very early — change takes a long time). I have truly tried to struggle through Niall Fergusson’s books : one on World War I armaments and then two others but it is difficult for me to follow him other than he liked Margaret Thatcher. If I offended you I apologize. You will find others here much more astute than my limited understandings of history.
Jean H, you didn’t offend me, that was a straight request for more info & you gave me some! :-). Don’t be so modest, you are one of the scholars here.
So AWFUL and very SAD.
bethree5
Not mealy-mouthed response, an a–kissing response.
Two groups Trump will never confront the white supremacist base and the Russians .
Well stated, Diane! Thank you for a sensible and calming post!
for those who are parents , grandparents, or who guide youth … I would like to recall the Kent State situation. There is a theme going through the internet that says we must use love… I say we also need caution. There were young women on the campus at Kent State who were putting daisies into the guns of the National Guard. Then on a following day, the guns were turned against the students . Please caution your youth that when they are participating they should not think of this as a Woodstock Love in. Many people will criticize me for writing this I know… but the actual case has been written some who reported this truth. at the time … be cautious in your rally and your approach when there are loaded guns. And in today’s society we have that condition everywhere. Bettelheim was one of the authors from the past who would be very realistic. I can’t name one today but I will try to follow. Now, please don’t condemn me that I said “not to rally”… I am saying there need to be clear boundaries and we have to guide youth in that understanding because so many of the conventional boundaries in the social contract are out of control. jean e. sanders. please direct all your ire at me and not at Diane
No condemnation from me–the neo-Nazi crowd was heavily armed. Good place to stay away from
but our youth feel they cannot stay away; that is the energy we love in them and the passion. They need clear guidance … John Lewis talks about the training he had to have in order to pursue the goals of his life when it was the Civil Rights era and a recent book on ACT UP gives a decades long struggle of the context and the scenes and the back and forth — we need to advance the learning on the important concerns to protect our kids and grandkids
Jean, my husband (then my boyfriend) and I were active in the anti-Vietnam War protests, and believe me, when Kent State happened, we were all thinking “That could have been any of us.”
None of us engaged in any kind of violence, just peaceful protests.
But when we had the so-called forces of “law and order” killing protesters, abusing them………..
And oh, BTW, look back at what the Civil Rights activists had to go through. They were abused, they were arrested, they were killed.
I would be inclined to caution our youth, but to be brutally frank, I am tempted to say “Arm yourselves. They’re armed, and you need to protect yourself, too.”
I know, this may freak some people out, but we are armed, ourselves. Shotguns, a rifle, and a legally registered handgun. We have no intention of going out and shooting these neo-Nazis, but if they start something with us, we will respond.
Rest assured there would be instant gun control the Day the left shows up at a rally locked and loaded . See Huey Newton ,California legislature . So I get it it was an open carry state. I suspect that the other items from brass Knuckles to Clubs and knives. Were probably illegal . To some degree this was a total intentional police failure . You would not have wanted to be on the opposite side of the State at an Occupy demonstration . Hundreds of fully armed NYPD with hundreds more waiting to be brought in. And probably thousands more on call waiting to be called in at a moments notice.
Zorba,
I can’t agree with you on being armed in these situations. Non-violence is the key. Look at the DAPL indigenous protests. They enforced a strict no weapons policy when confronted with the state violence and false arrests. They have won the public relations gig through a lot of streaming video and other means of reaching out to the world.
That is what ultimately works!
To do justice to those who were slain by the KKK, white nationalist, slave owners, etc. . . , we owe it to them to seek non-violent solutions to this hideous problem.
Duane, I did say that we have no intention of going out and shooting those neo-Nazis. Sorry if I gave the impression that we should show up armed at their protests. But we should be armed in our homes in case they come after us. And if I owned a small store, I would have a (legal, registered) gun in the store.
We won’t be the first to shoot, but if they attack us, we will respond. We won’t bare our throats and wait for the knives.
DESwacker, totally agree. Gandhi & MLK passive civil disobedience achieved many political goals. And killed Kent State protestors are forever remembered in the context of those who put flowers in the gun muzzles.
I had the opportunity to meet with several faculty at Kent State who were determined to help Kent State and generations of new students understand what happened there.
Laura Davis, now professor emerita of English at Kent State was a freshman on campus during the 1970 events. She became the founding director of Kent State’s May 4 Visitors Center, coordinated and co-led the creation of an audio-guided walking tour of the May 4 historic site that was dedicated during the 40th anniversary.
She also co-taught the university’s “May 4 course.” Davis was one of the four co-authors of the application to add the May 4, 1970 site to the National Register of Historic Places, which was (finally) approved in February 2010.
I recommend the reflections and unanswered questions about the history of that moment.
This is also to say that there was a painful but determined and long-standing effort to keep a historical record of events and interrogate what happened any why. Most records are now in digital format, thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. http://www.kent.edu/may-4-1970
I wonder what record will be preserved in memory, interrogated, and learned from today’s unfolding tragedy and flimsy comments from the Trump.
thank you; I was on the campus at BU and it was a shock wave that went through every campus. My friend was getting her doctorate that year at BU and graduation was cancelled; the deans and faculty held informal , small home ceremonies. Probably the experience is right up there with Pearl Harbor, the assassination of a Kennedy (either one), the 9/11 attacks, the slaughter at Sandy Hook etc…. at least for me… perhaps not for others
Thanks, Laura. I read this when it came through our local library; it sets the political context for what happened.
Title: 67 shots : Kent State and the end of American innocence
Author: Means, Howard B., author.
Physical Description: vii, 261 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Production / Publication Information: Boston, MA : Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group, [2016]
Contents: Prologue: May 4, 1970: South Vietnam — “We have to say ‘f — ‘ everywhere” — Burn, baby burn — Night of the helicopters — Danse macabre — Blood like a river — Once to every man and nation — “They’ve shot the pigs!” — “Oh, my God! They’ve killed the guardsmen!” — An unfortunate incident — Blind justice — Plan B — Paradise lost.
Summary: “Using recently available oral histories from participants, Howard Means examines the Kent State shooting and the tumultuous era that reverberates still.”–NoveList.
Just to add my own memory (Cornell campus, 5/4/70). We were on the march in early afternooon, in response to multiple colleges calling for a 5/4/70 demonstration to protest the 4/30 news that Nixon had expanded the VN war into Cambodia. It was a fairly big protest down the campus artery that traversed the admin bldgs. Could have been bigger, but it was a poor time to be doing that, just days before final papers were due & exams to be held that would determine whether we graduated [I was class of ’70]. The lead truck-drawn wagon that held our main SDS activists suddenly blared out from a gerry-rigged PA system “they’ve killed 4 protestors at Kent State”. The protest ballooned as that news hit the airwaves, & continued for days.
I remember the news as a dagger to the heart. I’d already lost my hs bf & another close friend to VN draft/ combat. And days before, a sorority sis learned her fiancé had drawn #8 in the [then-new] draft lottery. We’d imagined our campus protests were in a bubble: democratically-protected speech. Not that we trusted a govt that sent its young as cannon-fodder to a remote war w/o political/ historical justification. But the Kent State killings pushed the envelope, establishing a new low. Now it was OK to kill the kids on home turf.
this is a very powerful statement; would it be all right if I coped it out to share with some teacher friends here? You have described the experiences with coherence and style. I rely on someone like Rick Perlstein to put the words on my experiences (I may have lived through it but I didn’t process it)…. whereas you have in a profound way that you can convey to others.
Wow thanks Jean, & of course you may copy it to friends. I have to make a correction, tho: I remembered that the lottery drawing was in winter, not ‘just a few days before’. The point was: graduation was in one month and four days. Receipt of that diploma meant her unlucky fiancé, whose birthday made him # 8 out 365, would soon be drafted.
I suppose adding more about my bf’s death gilds the lily, but it still makes me so sad and mad I want to share it. Winter of soph yr, I could tell from his letters he was going thro a bout of depression, his handwriting literally started sliding downward off the page. He stopped going to classes and flunked out. Death sentence. He was in boot camp by summer and died in Viet Nam the following summer.
two of my friends would like to know more about this… is it all right if I copy your post? or should I paraphrase.
Of course, copy or paraphrase as suits
What Could the folks at Washington and Lee University have been Thinking??
Will
Sent from my iPad
>
a person in my family suffers from PTSD and it is taking the form of schizophrenia or paranoid delusions/psychosis. I had to stop accepting his emails because he would say these delusional things. Trump is a psychotic with paranoid delusions. When a person is “bipolar” or “borderline”. they go in and out of the psychotic aspects and lose touch with reality.
Trump gets great satisfaction in saying things that will incite others to violence and then he uses that for further justification of his delusions when he sees the behaviors acted out by his followers. Fortunately, the person in my family is not functioning well enough to carry out any of the things that are spoken or that he writes in emails or copies from the websites of the alt-right– but he writes about how they have a “general” that will lead them to do these things. I don’t think they really have a “general ” but when you see so many ex-marines in the Oval Office it feeds the paranoid delusions and the cycle reverberates.
I had a son like that, & he (like your relative & probably most w/bipolar or other mental illness causing psychotic breaks from reality) was hampered both by depression & by mostly lucid periods from acting on such delusions. I see no reason to associate Trump & his ex-Marine Oval Office staff w/such stuff, tho I’ll grant their public remarks feed paranoia. So, absolutely granted, Trump & Co’s loose talk & remarks calculated to stir the pot are unhealthy to the national mood.
Maybe you didn’t intend to suggest this, but I am turned off by all commentary questioning Trump’s lack of mental stability. That line of thought seems to me designed to engender sympathy & understanding– similar to talk of Trump’s ‘lack of political experience’. Whatever those lacks may be, they caused people to vote for him, & he’s the dog that caught the bus he was barking at. At the age of 70. So if the folks that voted for him did that because they wanted a leader in their own image– equally unstable & inexperienced– now they have to live w/him, w/o excuses.
Beth,
I wish only his followers had to live with him.
We all do.
“That line of thought seems to me designed to engender sympathy & understanding–”
on the contrary — it is not to build sympathy for him but to say to the responsible parties (senate, republican leadership, those in the house who should start impeachment — anyone “IN CHARGE” — get him the hell out of there. He is a delusional psychotic. GRANTED the diagnosis doesn’t much matter it is the equifinality of what behaviors are produced and the dangers of having him in that role in the Oval Office as his mind deteriorates further (the hippocampus shrinks and the blood flow in the aging brain is shut down so that the frontal lobes for judgment and rational thinking are shut off). I am definitely NOT building sympathy for him at all. It was comforting for me to read that two of the people “in charge” agreed they would not be out of the country at the same time. That is what is called for. (remember I am not an M.D. and my background /training was special ed/rehabilitation/ counseling/school psychology etc but I have more experience than the nitwits in the communications office that keep lying for him and covering up his lies).
” It was comforting for me to read that two of the people “in charge” agreed they would not be out of the country at the same time. ”
………
Are you saying there’s some comfort in the thought that Pence and tRump wouldn’t be out of the country at the same time. (I read that they don’t take the same elevator at the same time.)
Pence is a religious fanatic who loves cutting all sorts of social programs [get rid of those handouts to the lazy poor], destroy the rights of gay people to marry, increase vouchers and charters, and definitely work to undo Roe vs Wade.
I doubt that you are in favor of either of these two. How much does Pence know about the administration’s involvement in Russian affairs? I’d like to see the whole administration and cabinet gone. Beautiful wish, isn’t it?
Of course what happens when Ryan is next? Total destruction.
no, I was not referring to Pence and Trump…. I was referring to the other men who are surrounding Pence and Trump and know that there is a serous problem in the lack of leadership. Two of them have been cited in the press and I think they were looking out for us by watching carefully as to what is going on in the Oval Office. Could be just a rumor however.
From your mouth to God’s ears. Like Jack Reacher, those generals on his staff should keep a roll of duct tape in pocket at all times. Anything big goes own internationally, first move should be to tape him to his chair. & save a piece for his mouth.
Repellent actions. That said, I think it’s time for us to really think hard about the American identity. We should vigorously reject the jingoistic, racist alt-right model. But it seems to me that what the Left offers is rather vague, abstract, insubstantial, hard-to-sink-one-teeth into. I grew up on the melting-pot metaphor. That’s a powerful image of something concrete. But the Left now deems that unacceptable. And I remember LORE being transmitted in elementary school –about Washington and Lincoln, for example. The substitution of “Presidents’ Day” for Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays is a shift from concrete to abstract. And NCLB/Common Core discounts the value of content, further eroding any concrete lore being transmitted. The Left negates a lot of what traditionally formed the content of American identity –often with good reason. But it seems to me we need to offer something meaty and soul-satisfying to replace what’s been rejected. Something we all can buy into and foster a sense of real national togetherness. I think this is what a lot of people crave. Our failure to provide this clear American identity may be what’s leading some to revert to whiteness as an identity.
The American identity is ever evolving as it responds to various cultures that are all components of being American. Most foreigners that come here become acculturated sometimes very quickly, and many of them retain some of their some of their own traditions as part of their identity. As an ESL teacher I tried to be as welcoming as possible, and I always allowed students to share their culture with the rest of us. We had an international festival in my district, and my students always eagerly participated in dances or songs from their home country. I think it is important that young people feel proud of who they are.
I guess in a historic sense our laws and many of our traditions come from England which also sadly has a tradition of racism. Some people in the south refer to the Civil War as the war against Northern Aggression. If people are still in denial about the Civil War, they are out of touch.
Europe is facing an immigration crisis of its own. Muslims, especially religious ones, have a harder time assimilating, and some countries like France have enacted laws against the wearing of head scarves in public schools.
“England which also sadly has a tradition of racism. ”
NIal Fergusson spoke of Obama as “Felix the cat” or something like that during the elections about t8 years ago… I don’t think Fergusson was aware of the implications of that description…
in my usual arrogance, I tried to disabuse Niall of his attitudes towards President Obama
…… (I’m so arrogant I don’t even know how to spell Niall’s name properly)…
I love Marion Anderson’s vocals in “Snoopy Cat”. a metaphor we often used with the youngest of children to help them to understand the implications ; even young children can build a sense of justice. The teachers here in our local group often refer to “you have to be carefully taught” from South Pacific. My friend at BU did her doctoral dissertation on moral development in deaf and aphasia children. Why is it trump is lacking in language development, cognitive development AND moral development?
“The Left negates a lot of what traditionally formed the content of American identity –often with good reason.”
No, not for good reason!
‘“To Kill A Mockingbird” remains banned in many classrooms and public libraries around the country and the world today,’– per a 2/29/16 pbs article.
I want to hope that’s not about the Left [it’s probably perpetrated by Southern conservatives]– but it could easily be. We need to face that ‘political correctness’ is a leftist creation that, in its oblivious do-gooder attempt to make everybody feel that their ethnic identity is ‘just as good as’ everybody else’s, is promoting a purposeful blindness to historical/ cultural reality. It won’t be long before far-left meets far-right, if we persist in this flawed attempt to round everybody up into some kumbayah epiphany.
“When I despair, I recall that truth and love have always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and, for a time, they may succeed. But in the end, they always fall. Think of it: always. -Gandhi
In my lifetime I have witnessed:
-The dismantling of the Berlin Wall
-The election of a biracial President
-The Supreme Court’s decision that adults can marry whomever they choose
-The proliferation of Title XI in women’s sports
-A women’s professional basketball league
-Programs like AVID, Puente, EAOP, and other support programs designed to assist first-generation and low-income students to get them to college and then support them while they are there.
-My daughters and I could choose from any career we wanted; my grandmother had only four to choose from: teacher, secretary, nurse, or homemaker.
-A recent female graduate of a high school in my district received an academic & athletic (soccer) combined full-ride scholarship to a military college.
-My school district will be requiring an Ethnic Studies course to graduate in 4 years.
Alas, progress does not always travel in an upward trajectory! And I agree with you, Diane, I am deeply concerned. But I also know that progress will win in the end. I just wish it would hurry up!
“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress a people who are not afraid anymore.” -Cesar Chavez
I will never lose my vision. And I will never give up the fight.
I really appreciate this comment. Thank you for that reminder. Such important encouragement at this sad time.
I was in an inter-racial marriage. I am grateful to the visionaries, who pushed through the case of Loving v. Virginia, and ended the ban on inter-racial marriage.
Progress comes, not as fast as we all would wish. But change is inevitable.
“We live in a world, in which the only constant is change” – Heraclitus, Greek philosopher, 4th cent. BC
“Donald Trump said on Saturday that there is “no place for this kind of violence in America” as reports from a rally in Charlottesville, Va., depicted violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters”. He will fan the flames, he is like the arsonist who hangs around to watch the damage. You cannot trust this statement because his mental status borders on psychotic…
Someone else might have written this statement. When trump supposedly used the word “Beleaguered” in his tweets last week I figured someone else told him what to write because that is a 5th or 6th grade word above trump’s vocabulary level. trump’s level of speech is what is called “telegraphic”. (me great; me strong; me important; you will have great health care). or he uses echolalia repetition of something he just heard on the TV…. This is first grade or even below… meaning he has slipped back through the developmental stages of cognition and language based on the current diagnosis at the age of 70+
He even used the word “egregious.”
“Major mistake, huge, one I won’t repeat again!”
Cowards, pure and simple (minded).
agreed
… the president said he condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.”
“We have to respect each other, ideally we have to love each other,” he said.”
……….
Just how hypocritical can this ignorant, biased, misogynistic, hate filled, narcissistic ‘Leader’ with great intuition get?
The people involved in this tragedy must be white. Trump only responds when the victims are whites. Browns, blacks and Muslims when attacked are false news items put out by the liberal media.
you cannot even trust his definition of “love”. or if he has a concept of love you cannot trust the fact that he is clearly stating anything other than his own need to “light the fire and watch it burn”… that is what I am meaning by “psychotic” out of touch with reality in the world of truthfulness as you and I know it.
Just how hypocritical can this ignorant, biased, misogynistic, hate filled, narcissistic ‘Leader’ with great intuition get?
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
” President Trump called for Americans to “come together.”
He used similar words in his victory speech in the wee hours of Nov. 9, even as white supremacists began to celebrate.”
The problem is that Trump’s words are hollow.” this is how Southern Poverty Law Center describes it.
Actually, who was helping tRump? The word “egregious’ is well above his vocabulary level. Do his aides have to come up with this stuff?
yes, if you have noticed this past week .. they are doing press conferece/press release after everything “trump was joking”. “trump didn’t really mean that”. so they are covering up with different words every statement he makes. Some else wrote this…. you are correct about egregious — not being in his vocabulary if you gave him a vocabulary test
Yesterday Trump insisted he wasn’t joking when he thanked Putin for expelling 60% of the Embassy staff. He stood next to Tillerson.
Putin must have the goods on him
“I would be inclined to caution our youth, but to be brutally frank, I am tempted to say “Arm yourselves. They’re armed, and you need to protect yourself, too.”
This kind of dialogue has to continue within the community where we live; the confluence of guns, mental illness, and easy access to opioids or other drugs being misused is piling up the numbers of deaths through violence. I have lost friends through this in the past. My secretary’s sister was murdered by her husband when she went to a “safe home” for women and he had the children in the car when he shot and killed her. The politicians seem to say that they can find the people with mental illness through better background checks; I think we need to see the overlap of the access to drugs, the easy access to guns , and the occurrences of mental illness.
One of the District Attorneys (Middlesex County) in MA reported to us that youth who have adverse effects in their early lives, are the most prone to abuse the drugs if they are male when they get older (that doesn’t excuse the females because the opioid death rates are climbing in women up through the age of 35)………………………….. We need more of this kind of information from the law enforcement and the research hospitals on Public Health — and that means resources and funds .$$$$ exactly what trump cuts and the NRA will deny.
Southern Poverty Law Center:
…Neo-Nazi David Duke, the former Klan leader who endorsed Trump during his campaign, had this to say about the deadly violence in Charlottesville:
“This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”
Duke’s words reflect the views of a white nationalist movement that sees Trump as its champion…
…………..
How sick is this country getting? Are our values being trampled down this badly? Hopefully, this is just a blip in time that will be forgotten. I can’t wait for this to end.
I am afraid the Nation has been sic for quite some time . If 37 % are still with Trump at this point, it tells you all you have to know . Deplorable was a description that fit well. It is not economics , it is not a matter of education . Its not Fox News telling them a bunch of lies . They know Fox is full of $hit . They tune to Fox just to hear what they want to hear,.If they heard anything different they would tune it out. They thrive on the hate . You could tell them about the fake news Uranium deal or the phony story of voter fraud or any other of the phony stories they would shake their head have no counter argument but a week later you would hear the claim again.
The hope lies in the fact that the 63 % who do not support the disgrace in the White House . The 63 % who are younger , rise up and confront the 37%. And regain political power. .
. .
sick / edit
Andrew Cuomo loves charter schools he really detests public school teachers. Could it be that he hates us because NYSUT didn’t endorse him and because the charter crowd lavishes campaign cash on him. Seems like his contributors make out nicely.
Bidder says NY chose Andrew Cuomo donor for Republic contract
August 12, 2017 By Michael Gormley michael.gormley@newsday.com
The state selected an affiliate of Talon Air, The state selected an affiliate of Talon Air, an aeronautical company headquartered in Farmingdale, for the contract to develop five parcels of land at Republic Airport. Talon, its principals and their relatives have donated $200,000 to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo since 2009. A Talon hangar at the airport, Oct. 26, 2015. (Credit: Kevin P Coughlin)
ALBANY — The decision by the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to choose a campaign contributor to the governor for a $50 million development contract at Republic Airport in Farmingdale has generated opposition from a rival bidder, local civic groups and state Sen. Phil Boyle, who represents the district.
The losing bidder, a development consortium called LI Cleantech, filed a formal complaint May 10 with the state Department of Transportation and the state comptroller’s office.
The complaint came after the state selected an affiliate of Talon Air, an aeronautical company headquartered in Farmingdale, for the contract to develop five parcels of land. Talon, its principals and their relatives have donated $200,000 to Cuomo since 2009.
This thread from Twitter connects many disparate dots into a coherent pattern. It’s not reassuring, but it’s quite valuable framing.
It seems I may have linked to the wrong post. McKew has posted a 40 tweet thread that ties together all those who support Trump – evangelists, alt-rights,the NRA. She then connects the dots to Russian efforts to undermine our alliances with Europe.
Perhaps this is a better link:
Here are the last 3 tweets in the thread. They make sense to me.
The Washington Post editorial board says this is what Trump should have said:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-charlottesville/2017/08/12/9f1ffec6-7fa4-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html
He blamed “many sides.”
He could not bring himself to say that the KKK, the alt-right, and white nationalists created havoc and violence. They are his people. They are his base.
Trump babbled in the face of a national tragedy:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-babbles-in-the-face-of-tragedy/2017/08/12/a27211ba-7fbb-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html
One of the difficult but primary duties of the modern presidency is to speak for the nation in times of tragedy. A space shuttle explodes. An elementary school is attacked. The twin towers come down in a heap of ash and twisted steel. It falls to the president to express something of the nation’s soul — grief for the lost, sympathy for the suffering, moral clarity in the midst of confusion, confidence in the unknowable purposes of God. Not every president does this equally well. But none have been incapable. Until Donald Trump. Trump’s reaction to events in Charlottesville was alternately trite (“come together as one”), infantile (“very, very sad”) and meaningless (“we want to study it”). “There are so many great things happening in our country,” he said, on a day when racial violence took a life. At one level, this is the natural result of defining authenticity as spontaneity. Trump and his people did not believe the moment worthy of rhetorical craft, worthy of serious thought. The president is confident that his lazy musings are equal to history. They are not. They are babble in the face of tragedy. They are an embarrassment and disservice to the country. The president’s remarks also represent a failure of historical imagination. The flash point in Charlottesville was the history of the Civil War. Cities around the country are struggling with the carved-stone legacy of past battles and leaders. The oppression and trauma that led to Appomattox did not end there. Ghosts still deploy on these battlefields. And the casualties continue. But Trump could offer no context for this latest conflict. No inspiring ideals from the author of the Declaration of Independence, who called Charlottesville home. No healing words from the president who was killed by a white supremacist. By his flat, foolish utterance, Trump proved once again that he has no place in the company of these leaders. Ultimately this was not merely the failure of rhetoric or context, but of moral judgment. The president could not bring himself initially to directly acknowledge the victims or distinguish between the instigators and the dead. He could not focus on the provocations of the side marching under a Nazi flag. Is this because he did not want to repudiate some of his strongest supporters? This would indicate that Trump views loyalty to himself as mitigation for nearly any crime or prejudice. Or is the president truly convinced of the moral equivalence of the sides in Charlottesville? This is to diagnose an ethical sickness for which there is no cure. There is no denying that Trump has used dehumanization — refugees are “animals,” Mexican migrants are “rapists,” Muslims are threats — as a political tool. And there is no denying that hateful political rhetoric can give permission for prejudice. “It acts as a psychological lubricant,” says David Livingstone Smith, “dissolving our inhibitions and inflaming destructive passions. As such, it empowers us to perform acts that would, under normal circumstances, be unthinkable.” If great words can heal and inspire, base words can corrupt. Trump has been delivering the poison of prejudice in small but increasing doses. In Charlottesville, the effect became fully evident. And the president had no intention of decisively repudiating his work.
Well said, Diane. My immediate reaction was, thank god he didn’t fan the flames of division [like he usually does]. But this was a key event, & a real leader would have chosen this time to make a strong statement which set a national tone.
I looked at this; only 20% of the people use twitter; I am a “never twitter” except for the fact that I respect Christine so I took a look. To me, it is a grieving process that has to occur when someone is killed or murdered. A friend colleague posted that it was an IWW person who died. I can’t go into twitter looking for cynicism today….. I prefer the way that SPLC connects the dots with thoughtful approach. To me , twitter is like riding down the highway and someone just slaps a bumper sticker in the window and drives off .. like a hit and run… doesn’t stay long enough to have a conversation or even listen…. I only looked because I admire Christine so much.
Thanks, Jean, for your kind opinion of me. I’m a rather recent convert to Twitter; like you I was skeptical that reliable information would be available in such a constrainted format. But, depending on who you follow, I would say that it is quite easy to remain well informed and to read multiple viewpoints from responsible commenters.
thanks; I often see your posts in MA newspapers… I believe in the Lowell Sun?
I added a better link to my comment above, but I see it’s gone to moderation – I know WordPress has been making life difficult for our Diane of late.
Sorry about that, Christine. WP has a mind of its own
After reading ‘Strangers in Their Own Land’, Americans should engage in dialog before doing things like removing Confederate Memorials. While I am not saying we should glorify racism or a society fighting to protect slavery but seek to understand why some people want the memorials to stay. One of the major things fueling the rise of Trump is ordinary, decent people believe cultural elites are pushing their agenda while at the same time belittling the culture of God, family, and heritage. Now these people are fighting back by voting for a Donald Trump or even going so far is joining violent, racist, white supremacy groups. They feel Washington and the educated elite are no longer listening to those who only want to live their lives and earn a decent living through hard work and faith. They also believe others should do the same and wait their turn, which will come through hard work. This is Nixon’s “Silent Majority” no longer being silent.
These Confederate memorials are certainly an affront to African-Americans. I think there already has been enough discussion concerning these Confederate statues. These memorials exalt and glorify a cruel system of slavery in which the slaves were not even permitted to learn how to read in addition to all the other horrors visited upon the slaves. Anyone who joins a white supremacist group has made a conscious decision to be a bigot and hate monger.
After studying the Constitution, American history, talking to people and having read voraciously my whole life, I find your argument to be hollow, which is the most diplomatic term I finally settled upon. We are told by these people, and by extension, you, that we must honor their history and heritage. Yet those who make those arguments have little knowledge of history or heritage. They have one extremely myopic take on it, one that suits their preconceptions and prejudices. They call for a least common denominator interpretation of “history and heritage.”
To illustrate the absurdity of your argument, let’s use the same logic and apply it to Nazi Germany. Would you make the same claims if there were monuments and memorials in public spaces for Hitler, Goebbels, Heydrich, Himmler, Goering, Mengele, or the other countless fellow travelers, big and small? Should we “seek to understand why some people” would “want the memorials to stay” or be built? Would that “belittl[e their] culture of God, family, and heritage”? Or should we just have accepted them? And has the fact that there are not monuments and memorials lessened in any way the history of them or their deeds? Try typing the names above in an Amazon search and let me know if I’m wrong.
The types of memorial and monuments we need are those that honor the history of those whose voices were silenced and exterminated. In Germany there is a public artistic movement called Stolpersteine (http://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/) that does just that. There are no monuments or memorials to the slaves who made Confederate society function; to the slaves who built Mt. Vernon, the White House, Monticello, or the many structures for which they were responsible. Slave culture has given this nation its greatest cultural legacies—music, literature, cuisine, athletics, and much, much more. Where is the outrage about the lack of their monuments and memorials? It didn’t prevent Jeff Sessions’ parents from naming their son after the president of the, as Abraham Lincoln characterized it, the so-called Confederacy or the person who ordered the first shot fired on Fort Sumter.
History is the only legacy that the losing sides of history deserve. Rather than glorify our mistakes, we should, as the late Sen. Dale Bumpers once said, be getting copies of Jame McPherson’s “Battle Cry of Freedom” in every citizen’s hands and have a national lesson and dialogue about the reality of those times and its legacy. I doubt we’d be having inane arguments about obsolete memorials or having people killed and maimed over their existence.
And lastly, can we finally stop characterizing these elements of our society as deserving of our patience and understanding because they “only want to live their lives and earn a decent living through hard work and faith”? Who the hell doesn’t? Are people who are educated about the creed of this nation and live it every day and liberal, moderate, or conservative and disagree with their narrow worldview less hard working and decent?
We are drawn to Diane Ravitch’s site because we fundamentally believe that education is the most important institution that keeps this country free. We see what happens when it is attacked and denigrated. That is why we care and seek information to make our nation better. The argument you have made says that we should throw our hands up and dumb down our society to placate its most uninformed citizens—ones whose misconceptions are rooted in bigotry and an inflated sense of superiority. It reveals that America First is a pointless slogan that its followers interpret as “Some Americans First.” That is something we should never accept—as you seem resigned to do—and we must oppose it every day.
GregB, excellent response, and I agree with you.
Don’t get me wron, I have a certain amount of sympathy for those who may not be doing as well economically as, perhaps, their parents were, and who think that their God is being belittled, but if their God cannot exist except for the marginalization and disenfranchisement of those “not like them,” those of different color, different sexual orientation, different beliefs, then I’m sorry, but that “God” is not much of a god.
And I have no sympathy for their whining about the removal of monuments to traitors who lost their treasonous war. They are all just lucky that Lincoln didn’t have all the Southern leaders and high officers taken out and executed as traitors. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why he did not do so, and agree with and admire him for it. But he would have been well within the Constitution to have executed those traitors.
If this is their “heritage,” and they think it needs to be memorialized with statues and such, too bad for them. Let them put up statues on their own private property, not public land that is being paid for by the taxes of all citizens, including those black citizens whose ancestors were enslaved and abused by the individuals depicted by those statues.
Yes, education is indeed key. And if we dumb it down to placate the small-minded bigots, then this country is lost.
Thank you, Zorba, my friend!
I am saddened and heartbroken and sick about this. My thoughts and prayers go to the families of the victims.
This MUST STOP NOW. I cannot believe we are a supposedly “developed” country. How could people vote for that orange slimeball, knowing that he supports these terrible people and ideas???
I find it odd that in Virginia they’re looking to delete the memory of Robert E Lee. Granted, the Confederacy he defended stood behind outrageously racist statements such as that quoted by first-poster Chuck, but: (a) are we looking to delete history in some sort of paroxysm of political correctness? (b) one of the reasons that Lee is revered is that he chose to surrender in a manner & timing which would preserve country unity & preclude a Reign-of-Terror-style aftermath, & (c) both Lincoln & A Johnson chose to flex to such statements as Confederate-leader statues in opposition to the ‘Radical Republicans’ whose recommended scorched-earth ‘string up the traitors’ policies would have extended division & undermined national unity in the aftermath of the Civil War.
I believe that the effort is not to destroy these public monuments but to put them in museums and provide educational materials. The effort is not to “delete history” but to stop the continuing display in public spaces as if giving these symbols heroic status.
Well, OK, that makes sense.
well I have more reverence (I will never) Lincoln because he did not want to have a “French Revolution” style in the U.S. as the legacy of a Civil War. When the C.W. was coming to a close he said, “we should give them back their horses” (meaning the southern service men)…. I will have to go into my library study to look up the source for this information. My trump card goes with Lincoln for having the better judgment
http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/22/reviews/010422.22byrdlt.html. I need to fix a typo. reverence/revere. erase the word never
Beth, they are not looking to delete the memory of Robert E. Lee, but as Laura says, to place these statues and monuments in museums, with appropriate educational materials.
How would you feel if you were black, and your ancestors were kept as slaves? To have not only Lee memorialized, who if he had won, would have resulted in your ancestorshaving to suffer the yoke of slavery for many years afterwards, but to also be expected to have some of your tax dollars going to maintain this statue?
How would you feel as a Jew in Germany if there was a public monument to Adolf Hitler? And you not only had to look at it, but support it with your tax dollars?
Have some compassion for the descendants of slavery, for pity’s sake. Think of them.
Beth, no one is keeping the legacy of Lee and the so-called Confederacy out of history books. This is not about censorship. It is about what kind of people we choose to be moving forward.
DESPICABLE president non-statement:
“Mr. Trump ignored a question from a reporter as to what he would say to white supremacists who voiced support for him Saturday.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-gov-terry-mcauliffe-to-white-nationalists-in-charlottesville-go-home/
MORE DESPICABLE ag statement focusing on the president:
“We stand united behind the President in condemning the violence in Charlottesville and any message of hate and intolerance,”
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/sessions-jeff-sessions-charlottesville-virginia/2017/08/12/id/807320/
Leadership:
Governor Terry McAuliffe calls out the neo-nazis and white supremicists and telling them to go home – no place for you.
Why isn’t every congressperson and governor outraged at the national electeds’ blinders and catering to their base?
Thank goodness for teachers who will engage students in critical thinking, evidence based research, learning history, and informed opinion making going back to school next week.
Yes, I also believe Gov. McAuliffe (spelling?). is a good example of leadership…. Also, the Mayor of Charlottesville. I believe he was at a Governor’s Conference and he spoke out from there before all this happened. Did you see the bio for the Mayor? I was impressed. I do trust the Governor and the Mayor and they are closer to the decisions; I do not trust trump or sessions .
The Mayor of Charlottes Ville was at the Mayor’s conference when this started brewing; this came through from Axios and I was so impressed I copied it and sent it to our local City Mayor (someone whom I respect a great deal.). This wasn’t specifically the Mayor of Charlottesville but I’m sure he was in on this conversation.
“Faced with persistent problems, they [mayors] have no choice but to attack a lot of things a dysfunctional federal government can’t or won’t.
This includes global warming, homeland security and the exploding opioid crisis — three things better attacked broadly at the federal level.
Some of the nation’s leading mayors told me that they’re giving up on Washington for many of their needs. This has forced new creativity,”
“I see no reason to associate Trump & his ex-Marine Oval Office staff w/such stuff,”
you are right ; I was referring to this man’s delusional mind because he is an ex-marine and his fantasy is that there is a “general” who will lead them and they were going to take over the White House when Obama was there; so maybe he saw on tv that a general was in the Oval Office now and in his delusional world he created more fictional stuff… you and I don’t have that delusion and it is hard to fathom. I should have pointed out the delusional part in the man’s thinking..
So now I have to be more honest and hope my family is not reading here. This is my sister’s boy and his dad died just after Korea so I don’t know what kind of implications that has for his psyche — maybe he has some delusion about pursuing his dad and thinks he is in the White House? (except his dad never made a rank beyond the lowest level) He was the oldest boy when his dad died and there were 5 other younger children that my sister raised pretty much alone. When the father died my brother and I drove two of the boys out to CA to live with an uncle they had never met and their mom joined them with the other 4 children about 4 or 5 months later.
One of his younger brothers is also an ex-marine and he is so different in personality .. they are pretty much worlds apart. So you could say there is a genetic variable that differed; or you could look at birth order in the family…. There were certainly adverse effects in their childhood for all of the children.. This man when he was young, the marines wanted to help him and he would have been in training to serve at Arlington Cemetery or some other role but he opted out. He and I have long conversations when we walk the dogs and we talk about John Kerry or some male figure he can idenitfy with (never really knowing his father). Problem is I live near Boston and he is in Seattle so they are rare conversations.
Still another brother (now remember they grew up with only a mom in the home) had a son who went to “prison boot camp” because he was in a group of teens and the gun he was holding (that another teen brought) fired and killed a girl in their group. They were all skipping school, the police knew it was a teenage hangout… what the drugs were in that scene I don’t know. This brother died of AIDS . Sad tales but since you opened up about your life I thought it was appropriate. We need to share the stories if it helps us in guiding the youth in our schools or within our care.
The string of heartfelt comments here is an exchange you should be proud of, Diane. Thanks for your forum here. In the above posts there are suggestions ranging from outrage at Trump to defense (or at least apologetics) of people who voted for him. Responses were strong but not disrespectful. This does not happen without your hard work. We all appreciate it. The evidence is our presence.
“to defense (or at least apologetics) of people who voted for him.”
Careful Roy.
I see no defense nor apologetics here. Please point them out. Nor do I understand how you can say “of people who voted for him” as I don’t remember (certainly not that my memory is perfect at all) anyone who has commented on this post who said they voted for The Idiot T.
Here is a video from the NYT of the riots. How horrible to have this type of hatred become so bold. It is no longer something that should be kept in back rooms behind closed doors.
…….
I thought this coverage of what tRump had to say is worth reading. He actually takes the time to point out what a great job he is doing. Notice that he exited before allowing the press to ask questions. He isn’t smart enough to reply intelligently to journalists.
………
Trump Refuses to Condemn Act of “Domestic Terrorism” Committed by His Supporter in Charlottesville
By David Boddiger, Splinter News
13 August 17
Whether or not President Trump is a straight-up racist or simply doesn’t want to alienate his white supremacist base no longer matters. Because his response to Saturday’s domestic terrorist attack that killed at least one person and injured 19 others leaves no doubt about which side he is on.
Trump had the chance to at least pretend to be presidential by leading the nation during one of its darkest moments—although it is a moment he personally helped to create. But instead of strongly denouncing the racism, bigotry, hate, and awful violence of Saturday’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA, by directly assigning blame, the president—perhaps the single most powerful politician in the world—used vague, coded language that white supremacists can now use to claim victory.
With a nation in shock, the president of the United States used his moment in front of the cameras to praise himself and mention the name of President Barack Obama, a man he once disgracefully claimed was not born in the U.S.
It was a disturbing press conference that highlighted a horrible day.
Speaking at a pre-arranged press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, where Trump is still on a “working vacation,” the president stated the following before exiting without fielding strong questions from the press:
We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America.
What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.
I just got off the phone with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and we agree that the hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now. We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection, really, and I say this so strongly, true affection for each other.
Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record, just absolute record employment. We have unemployment the lowest it’s been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country, Foxconn and car companies and so many others. They’re coming back to our country. We’re renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker. We have so many incredible things happening in our country, so when I watch Charlottesville, to me it’s very, very sad.
I want to salute the great work of the state and local police in Virginia. Incredible people. Law enforcement, incredible people. And also the National Guard. They’ve really been working smart and working hard. They’ve been doing a terrific job.
Federal authorities are also providing tremendous support to the governor. He thanked me for that. And we are here to provide whatever other assistance is needed. We are ready, willing and able.
Above all else, we must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion, or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our God. We love our flag. We’re proud of our country. We’re proud of who we are. So, we want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville, and we want to study it. And we want to see what we’re doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen.
My administration is restoring the sacred bonds of loyalty between this nation and its citizens, but our citizens must also restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between one another. We must love each other, respect each other, and cherish our history and our future together—so important. We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other. [Couldn’t copy Tweets.]
As this last tweet points out, Trump has never hesitated to condemn violence abroad that he attributes to “radical Muslims,” yet neither he nor anyone in his inner circle will condemn radical, domestic, white terrorism happening right here, on U.S. soil, right now.
Thanks for the message, Diane. I needed it today.
Who could argue that hatred and evil based on racism are as old as humankind? It is found everywhere on earth, in every country, in every corner. So for those of us who are discouraged, outraged and overwhelmed wondering how could it possibly be in this day and age that we are In this place- again? I’ve been thinking about what I can do because I feel so powerless. Of course, I will stand against this ignorance and hatred every chance I get. But what else can I do to live a life that stands against this?
We need to bring the opposite spirit to the places where we live. And we need to express love and kindness and generosity of spirit in anyway that we can to as many as we can. Whoever it is that “rubs you the wrong way” or gets your “back up against the wall” (maybe it’s your teenager or maybe it’s that opinionated neighbor who is the polar opposite of you politically ) because of their beliefs or religion or political opinions or lifestyle, perhaps we can actually change and rewrite the script that is our response to those who are different. How about trying this response- “I never thought of it that way.”
What happened in Charlottesville makes me want to crawl into a hole and hide from this crazy, frightening world. Instead I am going to do everything that I can in my tiny little corner of the world to bring light. Starting with my family and moving out from there.
Jesus said it very simply. Love your neighbor. Then he was asked “Who is my neighbor?” He answered with the story of the good Samaritan, but the gist is “Everyone is your neighbor – especially those who are not like you.” And that is the opposite of racism.
By living in a state of peace, kindness, generosity, love and tolerance, we send a message to all around us, not the least of whom are the children in our realm of influence. And we become part of the healing process. By the life we live, we teach.
“If we are to teach real peace in this world, we will have to begin with the children.” Ghandi
I believe that love of one’s neighbor is the only way that the world can come to complete peace. We are a war-loving nation and have destroyed too many in the quest for world dominance through war machines that are destroying more than helping.
We cannot kill our way to peace. It is only through love that we can bring about the type of place that is going to make life a good reality for everyone.
Writing this down here instead of up reply, in hopes you’ll better see this.
GregB: outstanding, well-said comments at 5:02 PM. Your last paragraph perfectly describes the purpose of this blog & what we all must do. Yes, WE can.
Thank you! The comments and insights of yours and so many of the regular contributors—and Diane, of course—help me to keep my sanity (or what’s left of it).
Sadly, two brave state police officers were killed in a helicopter crash, on the day of the incident. Every 40 hours, a police officer is killed in the line of duty.
Hey, Charles,
It was sad that two police officers died in the line of duty, trying to control the fascists and Nazis.
A fascist murdered a fine young woman. You forgot to mention that.
Diane, don’t even expect Chuckie to mention that.
Two officers and a young woman dead because of this fiasco. It’s clear where the blame lies. Mr. Trump has emboldened these white supremacists with his nonstop anti-immigrant rhetoric, which we heard most recently when he endorsed the ironically named RAISE Act. Trump made the claim that immigrants take low-wage jobs from American workers. Economists call the argument that Trump makes the “lump of labor fallacy.” The truth is, and this is well known by economists, that immigration INCREASES the number of jobs across the board, and especially the number of jobs for low-skill American workers. There are two reasons for this: 1. Immigrants don’t simply draw wages. They get haircuts and buy groceries and cars like everyone else. That’s one way in which they, like everyone else, create demand and so create jobs. 2. Immigrants start businesses–including ones that hire low-skill American citizen workers–at far higher rates than do non-immigrant citizens, and these businesses create jobs. Here: a couple links:
http://www.businessinsider.com/immigrants-create-jobs-for-local-workers-2015-6
http://www.budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2017/8/8/the-raise-act-effect-on-economic-growth-and-jobs
AND business creation is highest among immigrants with a high-school education or less–the very group that the RAISE Act would exclude.
Thanks, Bob. In my part of New York, immigrants do the work that few native-born Americans are willing to do –in agriculture, restaurants, and hotels. The dirty jobs, the hard ones.
NEWS! Trump said at a news inference that he does not approve of neo-Nazis and KKK. Amazing that a president in 2017 would need to say this.
Exactly. And that’s another thing that studies have consistently found. Low-skill immigrants–the folks who would be excluded by the “RAISE” Act, take jobs that others won’t. Right now, due to Trumps crackdown, crops are going unpicked in parts of California because of a severe labor shortage.
Yes, Trump finally got around to making this statement after taking a great deal of heat over the past two days over his initial statement and his omission of condemnation of the particular perpetrators.
when someone sits in that chair in the Oval Office and surrounds himself with similar types, can I call that “state-sanctioned terrorism?”
Trump also FREQUENTLY makes references to violence and crime committed by immigrants. Again, his argument completely twists the facts. Crime rates among both legal and illegal immigrants are FAR LOWER than for the general population in the United States. But bigots never let facts stand in their way.
What made the Orange IDIOT change his tune? It’s a little bit late, don’t you think? Doubt that he really changed his mind. What caused this turnaround.
………….
This just came out on NPR:
Almost 48 hours after racist violence engulfed Charlottesville, Va., President Trump called out white nationalist groups by name. Trump’s remarks on Monday following criticism that his initial statement about the clash of protesters did not condemn racist groups specifically.
“Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” the president said from the White House.
Trump began his remarks talking about his economic accomplishments and plans for trade negotiations before turning his attention to the events over the weekend in Virginia and expressing sympathy for the three people who were killed. Heather Heyer, 32, died after a car rammed into a group of counter protesters. Two Virginia State Troopers, Pilot Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, died when their helicopter that was patrolling the event crashed.
Trump said that the Department of Justice had opened a civil rights investigation into the car attack.
“To anyone who acted criminally at this weekend’s racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered,” the president said…