Yes, we as free, responsible citizens must actively work to remember history accurately, and can only do so with the help of responsible intellectual leaders like Dr. Heather--thank you.
Yes, we as free, responsible citizens must actively work to remember history accurately, and can only do so with the help of responsible intellectual leaders like Dr. Heather--thank you.
'Thousands queue to see the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3' (WAPO) excerpts
'For the second year, thousands of people marked Juneteenth by queuing outside the National Archive’s East Side Rotunda Gallery to catch a glimpse of the rarely exhibited Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3., which informed enslaved Black people in Texas of their freedom in 1865, and gave rise to the holiday.'
'Two of the most influential documents that discuss the freedom of enslaved Black people in the United States are so fragile that the National Archives normally keeps them in a high-security climate-controlled vault with limited light for preservation. But that could change soon. On Saturday, Colleen Shogan, the Archivist of the United States, announced a plan to display the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3 permanently.'
'To celebrate Juneteenth weekend, the National Archives is displaying the original Emancipation Proclamation documents for 3 days only.'
“It’s critically important because it’s an addition to the Charters of Freedom and helps us tell a much more comprehensive story,” she said. “It’s important for all Americans to see a reflection of themselves in American History.”
'Inside the East Side Rotunda, Beth Short, 45 and Laura Short, 44, stood with their daughter Ada, 7, peering over the Emancipation Proclamation, which was enclosed in a glass climate-controlled case with a wooden base. The Shorts pointed to parts of the document while Ada’s curious wide eyes followed along.'
'Ada asked about the importance of Juneteenth. Her parents explained it the best way she could comprehend. Beth Short said later that it is key for children to learn history during their foundational years even if the conversation is uncomfortable in the current polarized political climate.'
“There have been struggles of equality and continued struggles that are present and it’s connected. If we don’t have those conversations, we’re just going to repeat them,” Short said.
'Garrett Osumah, 47, stood behind his small young sons as they gazed over General Order No. 3, which was enclosed in a glass case. Even before they got to the Archives, Osumah said, he had given his sons a pop quiz on the documents and the history of slavery during their 22-mile ride from their home in Fairfax.'
'As a Black father, Osumah said he chooses to educate rather than shield his sons from racism in America. He believes his sons need to know how slavery started, how early Americans built a system to perpetuate it despite declarations of equality and freedom, and how that history relates to the present.'
“We have three young Black men,” he said. “They need to understand that these things happened in the world and it’s not just back in the 1800s. These types of things are happening now.” (WAPO) See gifted link below.
This old white guy WOKE up this morning. Started the coffee. Leashed Sophie. As we headed out for her "constitutional" I grabbed the Stars and Stripes. We are flying the flag in solidarity and support for our brothers and sisters.
Sadly, the revelations of the investigation in Minneapolis would probably reveal similar results in many other American cities.
That being said, how can we still be fighting this fight 150+ years later? Why have we allowed it? Why isn't every bigoted politician and preacher shouted down into the holes they crawled out of? Why so little shaming? How long will this take?
Of course. Much work for all of us to do. Perhaps if enough of us get upset and we have that Blue Trifecta next year and if we shout/shut down our own local bigots the world can resume the progress.
If you are not familiar with the names of excellent grassroots and several civil rights organizations that many activist citizens belong to, Elly listed a few good ones today. Let us know if you'd like some guidance. There are quite a number of subscribers so engaged. I suggest that you contact Ellie, she's very knowledgeable.
Ellie has been on my radar for some time. She does wonderful stuff. A good guide.
I am gathering my resources around the "youth vote". There are several groups that are working on voter registration of young people. turnup.us is one that I support.
Younger people mostly support diversity and eschew the MAGA madness. They will tip the scales.
Thanks for the info. I just signed on. We have a lot of work to do here in KY. We have a Governor’s race this year. Gov Beshear is the only blue in our state and he saved so many lives during Covid. We have got to get him re-elected.
The States Project Giving Circle inspired by HCR, Tending to Democracy (data research to maximize effectiveness of our donor dollars for state legislature races):
I don't believe there should be a blue Trifecta. We need bipartisan representation, that is how our Republic began and will survive. That being said the other party does not have to be Republican, it can be independents. I am in total favor of a third party. BTW the Republican party was a third party when it became a party in 1854.
I agree. As long as that party isn't an Oligarch funded scam like No Labels.
A center right truly "conservative" (original meaning) party that believed in patriotism, the rule of law (for everyone) and a regulated capitalism would be a healthy counter balance.
I speak as one who is a fan of the Nordic blend of social support and a thriving private enterprise (which excludes health care, education and incarceration).
May the GQP go the way of the Whigs and the Know Nothings!
I agree that two parties who can work in a bipartisan manner is best. However, right now, we have only the D party working for ordinary people. The Rs are the party of death and are interested only in power, money, and their big donors; No Labels is a Trojan Horse. Realistically, given our system, which is not a parliamentarian system, third parties act only as spoilers. With the party of death as it is now constituted, that is, trying to destroy democracy among other things, we cannot afford the siren call of a third party. My next-door neighbor, a former R pol, is now an independent because he can't stand what the Rs have become and he votes mainly for Ds. Since the last redistricting, we are now stuck with Rs as both senator and rep in the Oregon legislature. Both are awful, but the rep is totally off the wall. Think of every crazy thing that has come out of the mouths of Rs and you have him.
What is happening in the state legislatures is so important. Other local groups such as school boards and county supervision respond to GOP efforts to remake local politics in their favor and agenda.
I think within the Independent voter profile there are left and right leaning people. The voting demographics in 2023 In 2023, 25% of people identified as Democrat, 25% as Republican and 49% Independent.Apr 17, 2023, The independent voter out numbers the two major parties. That doesn't mean that they are all left or right leaning they are voters who are tired of the existing 2 party system.
Disagree with your conclusion. I think it indicates flexibility and a desire to vote based on individual candidates rather than one party’s ideology. I don’t see it as rejecting the current system, but staying within the system which allows for freedom of choice.
Actually, it's both. I just read something about this. Most independent voters actully do identify with one party or the other. There isn't enough two-party fatigue to do more than merely ruin presidential elections by sabotage.
Actually, it is not rejecting a party but including a new party. As independent voter sout number both Democrats and Republicans, we should have an option for the independent voter.
Blue Trifecta doesn't mean no Republicans, it means control of house, senate and executive. It will require Republicans votes in both house and senate to be effective for the American people. It will mean killing off the filibuster and reforming the court. I have lived in the UK and have a son and his family in Canada. A third, and 4th etc party works there but it is a different form of government.
I don't want to go back to 1854. There will be some form of reformed Republican party I hope, we do need those voices but they have to have some policy base and not just blow smoke and talk garbage.
I think now to speak of a Republican presence in either house of Congress is a mistake. The Republican party has become so debased that even the name "Republican" is a term of debasement. They all have to go, down to the state and local levels. Anyone who identifies him/herself as Republican is associating themself with a debased entity, like running for office under the Ku Klux Klan label.
I with you 100 %. I am 78, it is such a change in my life. I spent the first 18 years in DuPage County, Illinois, at that time the most Republican county in Illinois. My father was a chief election judge while I was in high school but dad left the Republicans when Reagan was elected. He had had enough.
Not many countries have “welcomed,” (after much gnashing of teeth) so many diverse peoples from all over the world. That we did gave us a special challenge to live up to the words on the Statue of Liberty. We have fallen short. If we took advantage of the strengths of our diverse population, we could truly be the beacon on the hill for the world.
we have to work with what we have, but we have allowed much too much immigration, and that's a big part of what brought us trump (immigration was his signature issue). In the mid-'90s, Barbara Jordan, the Black Texas Democrat who made her name during Watergate, on the Judiciary Committee, ran a commission on immigration reform under Pres Clinton. She recommended cutting legal immigration to around half of what it was then, and strict enforcement of immigration laws--part of the impetus being that big biz uses mass immigration as a way to maintain an oversupply of cheap labor, which keeps wages down.
Had Jordan's recommendations been followed, trump would never have occupied the White House.
Did not know that. Loved Jordan, she was Texas’ best. Repubs will never cooperate on immigration. It’s the albatross they can hang around Dems necks forever. Totally forgetting that it was Reagan who gave amnesty to so many. I felt that that one fact made the problem worse. We need comprehensive reform, multifaceted, and sensible, or scrub the Statue of Liberty’s message.
Actually, we're the ones who are not cooperating with the GOP on immigration. I like to say that just as the GOP is in denial about global warming, the Democratic party is in denial about immigration. (Despite that, I still think Biden is the best President of my lifetime and that he's terrific on everything except immigration.) There was a bill in the House in the last several months that would have established a national, mandatory E-Verify. In case you're not familiar with E-Verify, it's a system which verifies people when they apply for a job to make sure they are legally here. It's good for both American workers, and for legal immigrant workers. It did not pass the House because so many Democrats voted against it, including my otherwise good congresswoman, Katherine Clark.
And at this point, our country is way overpopulated. If every person on Earth consumed at the average rate for Americans, it would take four Earths to support the world, according to people who study sustainability. Immigrants come here so that they can consume like Americans. The average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise threefold after arrival. In the 60 odd years since I was 10, the number of creatures of all sorts has declined by half or more--insects, which are often the bottom of the food chain, birds, frogs, reptiles and amphibians generally, as virgin land (which holds tremendous amounts of carbon that gets loose as carbon dioxide when developed) has been turned into sprawl.
Between 1990-2020, we added 40 million immigrants, on top of 40 million in native increase, which is equivalent to 4 New York states. The Census Bureau projects another ~65 million immigrants and 7 million in native increase over the next 40 years. From a quality of life point of view, certain things inevitably get worse with increasing population--traffic, noise, the distance to places where one can walk around in nature.
This notion that we can admit everyone who wants to come here is an American Exceptionalism of the left. No we can't! It was obvious to me at age 9 that allowing the population to keep growing would be a disaster. And if the population had stopped growing when I was 9 (1962-63) we'd be a lot better off with respect to global warming, as we are the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita GH emissions, and 188 million produce far less emissions than 335 million.
Finally, think of the initiative that a lot of people who come here have. Imagine what their countries could be like if they stayed home and worked to better their conditions.
Oh, and, big biz GOPers, such as Reagan, like mass immigration because it keeps wages down. In 1980, meat packers were Black, and they made good middle class wages, having organized for six decades. By that decade's end, meat packers were mostly immigrant, earning barely above minimum wage under atrocious conditions where maimings were common. The same thing happened in other trades and low/no-skilled work. The wages had been pretty good generally since immigration had been quite low since 1924.
I recommend the book, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias and Depression of Black Wealth. Companies would send boats to Europe in the 1800s to bring back white workers so they could fire their Black workers. The book is highly readable, as the author had been an environmental journalist for three decades. It's also solid, going through the academic economic literature (296) footnotes, and also quoting Black leaders, beginning with Frederick Douglass, whose sons were downwardly mobile because of mass immigration, quoting from Black periodicals, from the author's journalism, and Jordan's commission on immigration reform. It's $14 on Amazon, and may or may not be available at local bookstores where you are.
Bill, your questions mirror mine. The reaction to George Floyd's murder had given me hope. The formation of the Black Panthers and the racial riots of the 60s, and poems such as Marvin X's "Burn Baby Burn" were a direct response to a history of Blacks being oppressed by Whites. I distinctly remember understanding and empathizing with the Black's anger but also fearing it. The Black's response to Floyd's murder was different--a collective wave of hurt. I was heartened that Whites responded with sympathy. But not all Whites. The "far-right Republicans," for example, who voted against Juneteenth last year, citing divisiveness, should be called out for who they really are--racist pigs....
Because sadly there are too many racists in the country. I have never in my long life understood how one's skin color can cause so much upset. Is there a _first_ person in our history that declared such a fear of non white people? Where does this hatred come from?
Well slaves have been around for a long long time. For centuries most slaves were a result of conquest, race, color, sex etc was not really a factor except if you were a slave your child would be a slave. My understanding is that the Portuguese sailors and traders came up with the concept of race and that Black people should therefore be slaves. There are others on this forum which likely have much better data than I do.
Many, many white USians think they are fighting for the soul of America. They believe that soul is white and Christian. They do not see themselves as bigots. Shaming is not going to work.
But the Bible isn't internally consistent, especially if what Christians know as the Old Testament is included. (No surprise there: it contains many books written by many authors over a considerable period of time.) In the 1850s, Southern preachers used biblical passages to justify slavery at the same time anti-slavery preachers were using other biblical passages to support abolition. I don't understand how believing Christians can support someone like Trump, but somehow they justify it for themselves.
None of the REAL Christians (those who follow Christ's Way) can understand so-called Christians' support of trump....
Regardless of the Bible's historical evolution, one of its foundational messages is that Jesus abhorred hypocrisy and what I can't understand is how these people read the Bible and can't see what they're doing. I guess we're shaking our heads at the same thing. Jesus explained it best: "Those who have eyes can't see and those who have ears can't hear."
Amen amen amen. And those who only see what they want to see will see nothing else. Many of us have a hard time seeing anything that makes us uncomfortable. (Quite a lot of that going on these days . . . )
Why? The same sense of superiority exist today as it did during the slave era. It was accepted knowledge that slaves were an inferior "breed" of humans, and therefore an easy rationalization/justification for maintaining slavery. Human insecurity seems to need to feel superior to those who they think are inferior and or in someway a threat. My sense is that it is this deep insecurity that lies at the heart of all the systemic racism that was been put in place over these many years.
Very simple, Bill. Because the people and the states who were traitors to America, who tried to rip the country to pieces, suffered no consequences after they lost the Civil War. Imagine Germany allowing the Nazi flag to fly or monuments to Hitler to be erected. No trials for treason. No one went to prison for insurrection. They were given reparations instead! Plantation owners were given $300 (about $5,597 in today’s money) for every enslaved person. Since, the South learned that it’s not only fine to continue to worship a way of life that is dependent on the enslavement and murder of people because of the color of their skin, but that the very existence of Black people was (and is) the source of all their problems since. America not only learned this, we have supported it for these 150+ years.
And then years later they erected statues of their traitorous generals. The truth is that the leaders of the Confederacy should have suffered the same consequences as the Nazis. It's easy to second guess history. Maybe it's not fair. But celebrating Lee for decades? Really? At the very least, the leaders of this treason should have been imprisoned for life.
Instead ...the bigoted Politician and a lot of preachers are the shouters....of twisted lies, poisoned darts, prelims to their next assault, and the incessant fictional storytelling.
Here in WV at our wonderful Vandalia Fest we have ‘A Liars Contest’ . Entree #1 wearing the MAGA hat and lips moving J. Q.(ANON) Republican...
Do we just ignore, take the oxygen from them, focus on real issues...GET WHAT’S NEEDED DONE ?
Because the facts presented , the majority of hands raised in AYES (what J.Q.Public wants) , history telling their promise hasn’t and won’t work, people jailed by the train carsfull/fired for NOT following insanity or NOW telling under oath what that insanity detailed ...
I truly see the tide coming in , a deep blue ocean , cleaning up/kicking out/rid of/
Yes, Deborah, thank you for repeating Colleen Shogan's, the Archivist of the United States, quote about Americans seeing themselves as part of the history that is theirs. Just what DeSantis and his gang want to continue to deprive us of -- and how long has that been going on?! FOR CENTURIES!
Another way to say this, given our penchant and reliance upon national polls and national statistics, is that our group, our demographic is in the disaggregate, not the aggregate of all of the metrics. The well-being of my group, my tribe, if we might, is what matters, is that reflection, my truth. If we are below average means something different than if we are above the average. But, if there is no metric/reflection of my group or tribe or meaningful demographic, do we even exist, least of all have a standard against which to be proud of, to pass on to the next generation?
Fred, can you explain your post somewhat more. 'Our group', how do you define it? What is the source of your data? Age/race/education? ___Your post is making a important point or points, but it is too vague for me to understand.
Our group could be White, college educated, Evangelical, males or Black, single mothers, paraprofessional or inner-city small business owners, third-generation Cuban American, with adolescents, and investment portfolios or college educated, Black men, living in rural states, working multiple jobs to stay afloat or .... almost any other combination of demographics (or attitudes or political leanings). A meaningful group of similar if not like people who may be included in one of the national polls (e.g., Marquette, CBS/NPR political leanings) or surveys (e.g., US Census, Health Surveys) intended to capture some set of important information from a representative sample of Americans. Any legitimate sample must be either truly random or clearly representative of any of those traits the survey/poll is gather the data from (e.g., gender identified, education, political leaning, voting patterns) or demographics (e.g., geography, ) and of sufficient size to provide trustworthy information. But, the information is mostly for the aggregate. With some exceptions where the sample obtained (versus the intended representation when telephone or other voluntary responses are sought), few disaggregate analyses will provide meaningful reflections of the traits or attitude for subgroups. Does the sample actually include people like me (my tribe, our group) and can I see how I look as part of that subgroup? If I were do pull out the responses from people like me, will I know something different? If my subgroup wants to see how we are improving or changing in someway important to me (e.g., shared opinions, economic gains, safety, employment, family health) are there enough of us (or any of us) to portray? Are there ANY samples or surveys or polls conducted (rigorously, of course) among people like me that would be relevant. I am pretty sure that most of us (the aggregate) look at poll and survey findings and ask How is this representative of me, my tribe, my subgroup? and likely don't see themselves captured in the telling of stories. So, if I don't see myself reflected in the data, how am I to gauge my group's or my standing on issues or measure of important (e.g., safety, equity, health, wealth, employment, education, standing, quality of life)? Am I even included in your discussion and projections? I still am at-one with my subgroup, our group, the one (or more) that I live and grow or fade and get left behind. I am not the aggregate mean, but the variance, the disaggregate subgroup with important meaning and needs to be measured and represented and focused upon as we examine how well or how not we have improved. Sometimes the subgroup must study themselves in order to engage in a meaningful discussion or Where are we? and How do we get our share of this prosperity?
Fred, I'm lost in your analysis and believe that you took time to carefully explain it to me. I have done solid research as a lay person, assistant, associate producer and producer of public affairs programing for both public tv and commercial tv stations/ It may be that individual polls, the basis on which each was created and an understanding of samples used would be the route necessary for me to understand your point. Thank you for your effort.
Fred, my first thought after reading your response was 'What a dear.' You are generous by nature. When I tried to figure out your point of view earlier, it occurred to me that you probably used a branch of mathematics in your work that I was unfamiliar with. It also may be that as the years go by, you are not as fluent explaining the strengths and weaknesses of formulas used to assess various groups of the population.
Whatever the proof in the pudding, Fred, we have a good deal of respect for one another, and this exchange is proof of that.
HCR, subscribers like you, Lynell, our brothers and sisters. models of courage in the past, at this very moment and the younger ones teaching us a lesson or two, keep democracy marching on -- no matter what!
We should each and all celebrate this day of freedom .
Those who have issues with persons of color have an opportunity to reevaluate past and current prejudices. It is an opportunity for each and all to overcome those wrong thoughts and attitudes that separate us.
It is an opportunity to come together in love and hope and peace. It is an opportunity for us to evaluate ways we can demonstrate respect....ways we each and all can encourage one another.
“How we remember our history matters.” Gratitude Professor, and Fern and all who post and read History and understand we continue to live History every day. The fact that the “United”States of America continues to battle, debate and legislate for Freedom and to enforce the Constitution is more than troubling. Yet the possibility, yes, possibility, that our votes can count and our voices can be heard, gives hope that battles fought for freedom then and now were and are worth the losses and gains and must continue.
If I could watch WWII as a 7-11 year-old, others that age can learn the truths of American history. My father showed me a photo of a Polish child who looked just like me standing alone beside a blackened stick (?burnt sapling) in a field of rubble. The photo was, I believe, in the Richmond, Virginia evening paper, probably early September, 1939. (I have tried unsuccessfully to find it online.)
The Professor provides much more than trustworthy information including the link to the original National Archives` Junteenth military order followed by her signature historical context -- in this case of the absolutely necessary Constitutional Amendments & still necessary enforcement of those Amendments in Minneapolis & elsewhere in 2023.
“Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.” From Tom Toro, The New Yorker. Sad to say
“plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” Perhaps this has been said here many times. I like to think there is progress, but in the face of recent behavior, I wonder. Is it Groundhog Day? No, it is Juneteenth. So let’s celebrate what we have.
Our history must be remembered - and not with parts of it omitted or “white-washed” or covered-over nor glossed-over and yes, it must be factually accurate!!!
Juneteenth wasn't the end, just as July 4 wasn't the beginning. "How we remember our history matters," and the ongoing academic falsification of the meaning of the Declaration of Independence is like a KKK cross tattooed on our minds.
There were still slaves after Juneteenth, in Kentucky and Delaware.
The Declaration of Independence was Part 2, following the original anti-Lockean independence resolution of May 15 (written by John Adams), which instructed the "total suppression" of royal government:
"How we remember our history matters."
Yes, we as free, responsible citizens must actively work to remember history accurately, and can only do so with the help of responsible intellectual leaders like Dr. Heather--thank you.
'Thousands queue to see the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3' (WAPO) excerpts
'For the second year, thousands of people marked Juneteenth by queuing outside the National Archive’s East Side Rotunda Gallery to catch a glimpse of the rarely exhibited Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3., which informed enslaved Black people in Texas of their freedom in 1865, and gave rise to the holiday.'
'Two of the most influential documents that discuss the freedom of enslaved Black people in the United States are so fragile that the National Archives normally keeps them in a high-security climate-controlled vault with limited light for preservation. But that could change soon. On Saturday, Colleen Shogan, the Archivist of the United States, announced a plan to display the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3 permanently.'
'To celebrate Juneteenth weekend, the National Archives is displaying the original Emancipation Proclamation documents for 3 days only.'
“It’s critically important because it’s an addition to the Charters of Freedom and helps us tell a much more comprehensive story,” she said. “It’s important for all Americans to see a reflection of themselves in American History.”
'Inside the East Side Rotunda, Beth Short, 45 and Laura Short, 44, stood with their daughter Ada, 7, peering over the Emancipation Proclamation, which was enclosed in a glass climate-controlled case with a wooden base. The Shorts pointed to parts of the document while Ada’s curious wide eyes followed along.'
'Ada asked about the importance of Juneteenth. Her parents explained it the best way she could comprehend. Beth Short said later that it is key for children to learn history during their foundational years even if the conversation is uncomfortable in the current polarized political climate.'
“There have been struggles of equality and continued struggles that are present and it’s connected. If we don’t have those conversations, we’re just going to repeat them,” Short said.
'Garrett Osumah, 47, stood behind his small young sons as they gazed over General Order No. 3, which was enclosed in a glass case. Even before they got to the Archives, Osumah said, he had given his sons a pop quiz on the documents and the history of slavery during their 22-mile ride from their home in Fairfax.'
'As a Black father, Osumah said he chooses to educate rather than shield his sons from racism in America. He believes his sons need to know how slavery started, how early Americans built a system to perpetuate it despite declarations of equality and freedom, and how that history relates to the present.'
“We have three young Black men,” he said. “They need to understand that these things happened in the world and it’s not just back in the 1800s. These types of things are happening now.” (WAPO) See gifted link below.
https://wapo.st/3CAvVzL
Excellent post, Fern.
This old white guy WOKE up this morning. Started the coffee. Leashed Sophie. As we headed out for her "constitutional" I grabbed the Stars and Stripes. We are flying the flag in solidarity and support for our brothers and sisters.
Sadly, the revelations of the investigation in Minneapolis would probably reveal similar results in many other American cities.
That being said, how can we still be fighting this fight 150+ years later? Why have we allowed it? Why isn't every bigoted politician and preacher shouted down into the holes they crawled out of? Why so little shaming? How long will this take?
Equality: it's the job of the American people; We the People, the citizens of this country, and it has been our job for centuries.
Of course. Much work for all of us to do. Perhaps if enough of us get upset and we have that Blue Trifecta next year and if we shout/shut down our own local bigots the world can resume the progress.
If you are not familiar with the names of excellent grassroots and several civil rights organizations that many activist citizens belong to, Elly listed a few good ones today. Let us know if you'd like some guidance. There are quite a number of subscribers so engaged. I suggest that you contact Ellie, she's very knowledgeable.
Thanks, Fern.
Ellie has been on my radar for some time. She does wonderful stuff. A good guide.
I am gathering my resources around the "youth vote". There are several groups that are working on voter registration of young people. turnup.us is one that I support.
Younger people mostly support diversity and eschew the MAGA madness. They will tip the scales.
Thanks for the info. I just signed on. We have a lot of work to do here in KY. We have a Governor’s race this year. Gov Beshear is the only blue in our state and he saved so many lives during Covid. We have got to get him re-elected.
Thank you, Fern. Here's a copy-paste of my post earlier in today's comments:
Yes, support voter registration:
League of Women Voters:
https://www.lwv.org/
Voters of Tomorrow (Gen Z):
https://votersoftomorrow.org/
Yes, run for something or support the candidates who do: https://runforsomething.net/
The States Project Giving Circle inspired by HCR, Tending to Democracy (data research to maximize effectiveness of our donor dollars for state legislature races):
https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/Tending-to-Democracy
And as David Pepper writes, how can each of us scale up our footprints for saving democracy: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Democracy-Users-Manual-American/dp/1662938217/?crid=1ZKAPFPJUMB99&&&sprefix=saving+democracy%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1 (or actually, check it out with your favorite bookseller!)
I don't believe there should be a blue Trifecta. We need bipartisan representation, that is how our Republic began and will survive. That being said the other party does not have to be Republican, it can be independents. I am in total favor of a third party. BTW the Republican party was a third party when it became a party in 1854.
I agree. As long as that party isn't an Oligarch funded scam like No Labels.
A center right truly "conservative" (original meaning) party that believed in patriotism, the rule of law (for everyone) and a regulated capitalism would be a healthy counter balance.
I speak as one who is a fan of the Nordic blend of social support and a thriving private enterprise (which excludes health care, education and incarceration).
May the GQP go the way of the Whigs and the Know Nothings!
I agree that two parties who can work in a bipartisan manner is best. However, right now, we have only the D party working for ordinary people. The Rs are the party of death and are interested only in power, money, and their big donors; No Labels is a Trojan Horse. Realistically, given our system, which is not a parliamentarian system, third parties act only as spoilers. With the party of death as it is now constituted, that is, trying to destroy democracy among other things, we cannot afford the siren call of a third party. My next-door neighbor, a former R pol, is now an independent because he can't stand what the Rs have become and he votes mainly for Ds. Since the last redistricting, we are now stuck with Rs as both senator and rep in the Oregon legislature. Both are awful, but the rep is totally off the wall. Think of every crazy thing that has come out of the mouths of Rs and you have him.
What is happening in the state legislatures is so important. Other local groups such as school boards and county supervision respond to GOP efforts to remake local politics in their favor and agenda.
I think within the Independent voter profile there are left and right leaning people. The voting demographics in 2023 In 2023, 25% of people identified as Democrat, 25% as Republican and 49% Independent.Apr 17, 2023, The independent voter out numbers the two major parties. That doesn't mean that they are all left or right leaning they are voters who are tired of the existing 2 party system.
Disagree with your conclusion. I think it indicates flexibility and a desire to vote based on individual candidates rather than one party’s ideology. I don’t see it as rejecting the current system, but staying within the system which allows for freedom of choice.
Actually, it's both. I just read something about this. Most independent voters actully do identify with one party or the other. There isn't enough two-party fatigue to do more than merely ruin presidential elections by sabotage.
Actually, it is not rejecting a party but including a new party. As independent voter sout number both Democrats and Republicans, we should have an option for the independent voter.
Blue Trifecta doesn't mean no Republicans, it means control of house, senate and executive. It will require Republicans votes in both house and senate to be effective for the American people. It will mean killing off the filibuster and reforming the court. I have lived in the UK and have a son and his family in Canada. A third, and 4th etc party works there but it is a different form of government.
I don't want to go back to 1854. There will be some form of reformed Republican party I hope, we do need those voices but they have to have some policy base and not just blow smoke and talk garbage.
I think now to speak of a Republican presence in either house of Congress is a mistake. The Republican party has become so debased that even the name "Republican" is a term of debasement. They all have to go, down to the state and local levels. Anyone who identifies him/herself as Republican is associating themself with a debased entity, like running for office under the Ku Klux Klan label.
Continuing: To have a counterweight to the Democrats is a reasonable idea, but it can't be called "Republican" any more.
I with you 100 %. I am 78, it is such a change in my life. I spent the first 18 years in DuPage County, Illinois, at that time the most Republican county in Illinois. My father was a chief election judge while I was in high school but dad left the Republicans when Reagan was elected. He had had enough.
Time to take out the trash!
Not many countries have “welcomed,” (after much gnashing of teeth) so many diverse peoples from all over the world. That we did gave us a special challenge to live up to the words on the Statue of Liberty. We have fallen short. If we took advantage of the strengths of our diverse population, we could truly be the beacon on the hill for the world.
we have to work with what we have, but we have allowed much too much immigration, and that's a big part of what brought us trump (immigration was his signature issue). In the mid-'90s, Barbara Jordan, the Black Texas Democrat who made her name during Watergate, on the Judiciary Committee, ran a commission on immigration reform under Pres Clinton. She recommended cutting legal immigration to around half of what it was then, and strict enforcement of immigration laws--part of the impetus being that big biz uses mass immigration as a way to maintain an oversupply of cheap labor, which keeps wages down.
Had Jordan's recommendations been followed, trump would never have occupied the White House.
Did not know that. Loved Jordan, she was Texas’ best. Repubs will never cooperate on immigration. It’s the albatross they can hang around Dems necks forever. Totally forgetting that it was Reagan who gave amnesty to so many. I felt that that one fact made the problem worse. We need comprehensive reform, multifaceted, and sensible, or scrub the Statue of Liberty’s message.
Actually, we're the ones who are not cooperating with the GOP on immigration. I like to say that just as the GOP is in denial about global warming, the Democratic party is in denial about immigration. (Despite that, I still think Biden is the best President of my lifetime and that he's terrific on everything except immigration.) There was a bill in the House in the last several months that would have established a national, mandatory E-Verify. In case you're not familiar with E-Verify, it's a system which verifies people when they apply for a job to make sure they are legally here. It's good for both American workers, and for legal immigrant workers. It did not pass the House because so many Democrats voted against it, including my otherwise good congresswoman, Katherine Clark.
And at this point, our country is way overpopulated. If every person on Earth consumed at the average rate for Americans, it would take four Earths to support the world, according to people who study sustainability. Immigrants come here so that they can consume like Americans. The average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise threefold after arrival. In the 60 odd years since I was 10, the number of creatures of all sorts has declined by half or more--insects, which are often the bottom of the food chain, birds, frogs, reptiles and amphibians generally, as virgin land (which holds tremendous amounts of carbon that gets loose as carbon dioxide when developed) has been turned into sprawl.
Between 1990-2020, we added 40 million immigrants, on top of 40 million in native increase, which is equivalent to 4 New York states. The Census Bureau projects another ~65 million immigrants and 7 million in native increase over the next 40 years. From a quality of life point of view, certain things inevitably get worse with increasing population--traffic, noise, the distance to places where one can walk around in nature.
This notion that we can admit everyone who wants to come here is an American Exceptionalism of the left. No we can't! It was obvious to me at age 9 that allowing the population to keep growing would be a disaster. And if the population had stopped growing when I was 9 (1962-63) we'd be a lot better off with respect to global warming, as we are the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita GH emissions, and 188 million produce far less emissions than 335 million.
Finally, think of the initiative that a lot of people who come here have. Imagine what their countries could be like if they stayed home and worked to better their conditions.
Oh, and, big biz GOPers, such as Reagan, like mass immigration because it keeps wages down. In 1980, meat packers were Black, and they made good middle class wages, having organized for six decades. By that decade's end, meat packers were mostly immigrant, earning barely above minimum wage under atrocious conditions where maimings were common. The same thing happened in other trades and low/no-skilled work. The wages had been pretty good generally since immigration had been quite low since 1924.
I recommend the book, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias and Depression of Black Wealth. Companies would send boats to Europe in the 1800s to bring back white workers so they could fire their Black workers. The book is highly readable, as the author had been an environmental journalist for three decades. It's also solid, going through the academic economic literature (296) footnotes, and also quoting Black leaders, beginning with Frederick Douglass, whose sons were downwardly mobile because of mass immigration, quoting from Black periodicals, from the author's journalism, and Jordan's commission on immigration reform. It's $14 on Amazon, and may or may not be available at local bookstores where you are.
You speak the truth. Again.
Bill, your questions mirror mine. The reaction to George Floyd's murder had given me hope. The formation of the Black Panthers and the racial riots of the 60s, and poems such as Marvin X's "Burn Baby Burn" were a direct response to a history of Blacks being oppressed by Whites. I distinctly remember understanding and empathizing with the Black's anger but also fearing it. The Black's response to Floyd's murder was different--a collective wave of hurt. I was heartened that Whites responded with sympathy. But not all Whites. The "far-right Republicans," for example, who voted against Juneteenth last year, citing divisiveness, should be called out for who they really are--racist pigs....
Because sadly there are too many racists in the country. I have never in my long life understood how one's skin color can cause so much upset. Is there a _first_ person in our history that declared such a fear of non white people? Where does this hatred come from?
Well slaves have been around for a long long time. For centuries most slaves were a result of conquest, race, color, sex etc was not really a factor except if you were a slave your child would be a slave. My understanding is that the Portuguese sailors and traders came up with the concept of race and that Black people should therefore be slaves. There are others on this forum which likely have much better data than I do.
Many, many white USians think they are fighting for the soul of America. They believe that soul is white and Christian. They do not see themselves as bigots. Shaming is not going to work.
Your right. And if these White Christians read and quote the Bible and don't see the hypocrisy, NOTHING is going to work....
But the Bible isn't internally consistent, especially if what Christians know as the Old Testament is included. (No surprise there: it contains many books written by many authors over a considerable period of time.) In the 1850s, Southern preachers used biblical passages to justify slavery at the same time anti-slavery preachers were using other biblical passages to support abolition. I don't understand how believing Christians can support someone like Trump, but somehow they justify it for themselves.
None of the REAL Christians (those who follow Christ's Way) can understand so-called Christians' support of trump....
Regardless of the Bible's historical evolution, one of its foundational messages is that Jesus abhorred hypocrisy and what I can't understand is how these people read the Bible and can't see what they're doing. I guess we're shaking our heads at the same thing. Jesus explained it best: "Those who have eyes can't see and those who have ears can't hear."
Amen amen amen. And those who only see what they want to see will see nothing else. Many of us have a hard time seeing anything that makes us uncomfortable. (Quite a lot of that going on these days . . . )
MANKIND ! READ PROVERBS 14, Verse 12 ! REPENT ! ( with Humbled Heart ) and Get Ready ! The LORD !, is Returning ! ....Sooner, Than You THINK !
THEY DO NOT FOLLOW : " WHAT Would JESUS DO ! ? "
Why? The same sense of superiority exist today as it did during the slave era. It was accepted knowledge that slaves were an inferior "breed" of humans, and therefore an easy rationalization/justification for maintaining slavery. Human insecurity seems to need to feel superior to those who they think are inferior and or in someway a threat. My sense is that it is this deep insecurity that lies at the heart of all the systemic racism that was been put in place over these many years.
Well said. True.
Very simple, Bill. Because the people and the states who were traitors to America, who tried to rip the country to pieces, suffered no consequences after they lost the Civil War. Imagine Germany allowing the Nazi flag to fly or monuments to Hitler to be erected. No trials for treason. No one went to prison for insurrection. They were given reparations instead! Plantation owners were given $300 (about $5,597 in today’s money) for every enslaved person. Since, the South learned that it’s not only fine to continue to worship a way of life that is dependent on the enslavement and murder of people because of the color of their skin, but that the very existence of Black people was (and is) the source of all their problems since. America not only learned this, we have supported it for these 150+ years.
And then years later they erected statues of their traitorous generals. The truth is that the leaders of the Confederacy should have suffered the same consequences as the Nazis. It's easy to second guess history. Maybe it's not fair. But celebrating Lee for decades? Really? At the very least, the leaders of this treason should have been imprisoned for life.
Some data on incarceration & police violence...
https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/racial-justice/
https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
https://policescorecard.org/
Exactly...
Instead ...the bigoted Politician and a lot of preachers are the shouters....of twisted lies, poisoned darts, prelims to their next assault, and the incessant fictional storytelling.
Here in WV at our wonderful Vandalia Fest we have ‘A Liars Contest’ . Entree #1 wearing the MAGA hat and lips moving J. Q.(ANON) Republican...
Do we just ignore, take the oxygen from them, focus on real issues...GET WHAT’S NEEDED DONE ?
Because the facts presented , the majority of hands raised in AYES (what J.Q.Public wants) , history telling their promise hasn’t and won’t work, people jailed by the train carsfull/fired for NOT following insanity or NOW telling under oath what that insanity detailed ...
I truly see the tide coming in , a deep blue ocean , cleaning up/kicking out/rid of/
and prison sentenced traitors
💙VOTE THE BLUE TSUNAMI💙
Douglas county Colorado elected a proud boy as its sheriff. Yeah, it’s everywhere in the police force.
I hope that is a very small county without many people.
how awful!
Also, check out Shasta County California. Hatred kept growing there.
“It’s important for all Americans to see a reflection of themselves in American history.”
Yes, Deborah, thank you for repeating Colleen Shogan's, the Archivist of the United States, quote about Americans seeing themselves as part of the history that is theirs. Just what DeSantis and his gang want to continue to deprive us of -- and how long has that been going on?! FOR CENTURIES!
Another way to say this, given our penchant and reliance upon national polls and national statistics, is that our group, our demographic is in the disaggregate, not the aggregate of all of the metrics. The well-being of my group, my tribe, if we might, is what matters, is that reflection, my truth. If we are below average means something different than if we are above the average. But, if there is no metric/reflection of my group or tribe or meaningful demographic, do we even exist, least of all have a standard against which to be proud of, to pass on to the next generation?
Fred, can you explain your post somewhat more. 'Our group', how do you define it? What is the source of your data? Age/race/education? ___Your post is making a important point or points, but it is too vague for me to understand.
Our group could be White, college educated, Evangelical, males or Black, single mothers, paraprofessional or inner-city small business owners, third-generation Cuban American, with adolescents, and investment portfolios or college educated, Black men, living in rural states, working multiple jobs to stay afloat or .... almost any other combination of demographics (or attitudes or political leanings). A meaningful group of similar if not like people who may be included in one of the national polls (e.g., Marquette, CBS/NPR political leanings) or surveys (e.g., US Census, Health Surveys) intended to capture some set of important information from a representative sample of Americans. Any legitimate sample must be either truly random or clearly representative of any of those traits the survey/poll is gather the data from (e.g., gender identified, education, political leaning, voting patterns) or demographics (e.g., geography, ) and of sufficient size to provide trustworthy information. But, the information is mostly for the aggregate. With some exceptions where the sample obtained (versus the intended representation when telephone or other voluntary responses are sought), few disaggregate analyses will provide meaningful reflections of the traits or attitude for subgroups. Does the sample actually include people like me (my tribe, our group) and can I see how I look as part of that subgroup? If I were do pull out the responses from people like me, will I know something different? If my subgroup wants to see how we are improving or changing in someway important to me (e.g., shared opinions, economic gains, safety, employment, family health) are there enough of us (or any of us) to portray? Are there ANY samples or surveys or polls conducted (rigorously, of course) among people like me that would be relevant. I am pretty sure that most of us (the aggregate) look at poll and survey findings and ask How is this representative of me, my tribe, my subgroup? and likely don't see themselves captured in the telling of stories. So, if I don't see myself reflected in the data, how am I to gauge my group's or my standing on issues or measure of important (e.g., safety, equity, health, wealth, employment, education, standing, quality of life)? Am I even included in your discussion and projections? I still am at-one with my subgroup, our group, the one (or more) that I live and grow or fade and get left behind. I am not the aggregate mean, but the variance, the disaggregate subgroup with important meaning and needs to be measured and represented and focused upon as we examine how well or how not we have improved. Sometimes the subgroup must study themselves in order to engage in a meaningful discussion or Where are we? and How do we get our share of this prosperity?
Fred, I'm lost in your analysis and believe that you took time to carefully explain it to me. I have done solid research as a lay person, assistant, associate producer and producer of public affairs programing for both public tv and commercial tv stations/ It may be that individual polls, the basis on which each was created and an understanding of samples used would be the route necessary for me to understand your point. Thank you for your effort.
Fern, I respect your points and intelligence. I am not delivering my point clear enough. I'm going to rest a while and come back to this.
Fred, my first thought after reading your response was 'What a dear.' You are generous by nature. When I tried to figure out your point of view earlier, it occurred to me that you probably used a branch of mathematics in your work that I was unfamiliar with. It also may be that as the years go by, you are not as fluent explaining the strengths and weaknesses of formulas used to assess various groups of the population.
Whatever the proof in the pudding, Fred, we have a good deal of respect for one another, and this exchange is proof of that.
With appreciation,
Fern
Bravo, Fern. I knew you'd come through for Juneteenth.
HCR, subscribers like you, Lynell, our brothers and sisters. models of courage in the past, at this very moment and the younger ones teaching us a lesson or two, keep democracy marching on -- no matter what!
We should each and all celebrate this day of freedom .
Those who have issues with persons of color have an opportunity to reevaluate past and current prejudices. It is an opportunity for each and all to overcome those wrong thoughts and attitudes that separate us.
It is an opportunity to come together in love and hope and peace. It is an opportunity for us to evaluate ways we can demonstrate respect....ways we each and all can encourage one another.
"From a Distance" thank you Bett Midler!
Emily Pfaff - "From a Distance" thank you Bett Midler!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbovSrR6atE
Have always loved this. Thanks.
“How we remember our history matters.” Gratitude Professor, and Fern and all who post and read History and understand we continue to live History every day. The fact that the “United”States of America continues to battle, debate and legislate for Freedom and to enforce the Constitution is more than troubling. Yet the possibility, yes, possibility, that our votes can count and our voices can be heard, gives hope that battles fought for freedom then and now were and are worth the losses and gains and must continue.
If I could watch WWII as a 7-11 year-old, others that age can learn the truths of American history. My father showed me a photo of a Polish child who looked just like me standing alone beside a blackened stick (?burnt sapling) in a field of rubble. The photo was, I believe, in the Richmond, Virginia evening paper, probably early September, 1939. (I have tried unsuccessfully to find it online.)
Those who steer the course of our society (the People, no?) cannot do so effectively without trustworthy information, current and past.
The Professor provides much more than trustworthy information including the link to the original National Archives` Junteenth military order followed by her signature historical context -- in this case of the absolutely necessary Constitutional Amendments & still necessary enforcement of those Amendments in Minneapolis & elsewhere in 2023.
"Those who forget (or never knew) history are condemned to repeat it."
“Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.” From Tom Toro, The New Yorker. Sad to say
True, but not at LFAA.
George Santayana 1905, Winston Churchill 1948, Edmund Burke,1790.
“plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” Perhaps this has been said here many times. I like to think there is progress, but in the face of recent behavior, I wonder. Is it Groundhog Day? No, it is Juneteenth. So let’s celebrate what we have.
That's why this Substack is so important.
Our history must be remembered - and not with parts of it omitted or “white-washed” or covered-over nor glossed-over and yes, it must be factually accurate!!!
History Matters, and Justice Matters ( says Glann Kirschner. ). Anybody in the bumper sticker business?
Gigi Go!
Juneteenth wasn't the end, just as July 4 wasn't the beginning. "How we remember our history matters," and the ongoing academic falsification of the meaning of the Declaration of Independence is like a KKK cross tattooed on our minds.
There were still slaves after Juneteenth, in Kentucky and Delaware.
The Declaration of Independence was Part 2, following the original anti-Lockean independence resolution of May 15 (written by John Adams), which instructed the "total suppression" of royal government:
https://startingpointsjournal.com/the-may-resolution-and-the-declaration-of-independence/
More on the anti-Lockean meaning of the Declaration of Independence is summarized on this Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/john_schmeeckle/status/1497951393067450375?s=20