#1352 Racism In America, The Last 160 Years, Explained
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2020
⏱️ 108 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 6/10/2020
Today we take a look at the long arc of racism in America as a primer for many of the topics it would be good for you to be acquainted with as we live through yet another convulsive societal awakening regarding racism and police abuse in our country. If you only ever share one episode of this podcast with friends, family or another else, make it this one.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Confederacy - @LastWeekTonight with @iamjohnoliver - Air Date 10-09-17
Confederate symbols are still celebrated despite the ugly history they symbolize. John Oliver suggests some representations of southern pride that involve less racism and more Stephen Colbert.
Discussing the New York Times story: When Slaveowners Got Reparations
Ch. 3: 40 Acres and A Mule, Today with Brian Balogh and William Darity - BackStory - Air Date 5-24-19
“40 acres and a mule” promised ex-slave families 40 acres of tillable land on the southeastern coast. However, after many families had settled on the land, the policy was reversed and the area was reinstated to white farmers and former slave owners.
Ch. 4: The history of the raising of Civil War monuments - @offkiltershow - Air Date 8-18-17
Jeremy Slevin speaks with Professor Kirk Savage, an author and expert on civil war monuments, to discuss the troubling history of these monuments.
Ch. 5: As Confederate Monuments Come Down, the Struggle Continues - On the Media - Air Date 5-26-17
Bob talks with Malcolm Suber, an historian and co-founder of the group Take 'Em Down NOLA, about the significance of removing monuments to white supremacy, and the work that still remains to be done.
“We can’t go on. We cannot pretend that something really destructive, something really corruptive happened when communities came to celebrate this kind of violence. We have to talk about it. We have to acknowledge the wrongfulness of it.”
Ch. 7: Study On The Impact Of Nazi Propaganda - @TheYoungTurks - Air Date 06-19-15
Cenk Uygur discusses the power of propaganda. A study has been released which looked into the effect of Nazi propaganda on Germany, particularly it's long-term impact.
“We can’t go on. We cannot pretend that something really destructive, something really corruptive happened when communities came to celebrate this kind of violence. We have to talk about it. We have to acknowledge the wrongfulness of it.”
Ch. 9: The Great Migration - @DecodeDC - Air Date 5-14-15
Isabel Wilkerson spent 15 years researching and writing her book, “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.” The book is the story of nearly 6 million African Americans who migrated out of the South.
Ch. 10: A Dream Remembered? How we came to revere MLK - @Making_Contact - Air Date 1-17-17
Gary Younge, author of “The Speech” talks about Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and the story behind it.
Ch. 11: MLK What They Won't Teach In School - News Beat - Air Date 1-8-18
We take an alternative look at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, examining how the civil rights icon was so much more than simply the “I Have a Dream” soundbite.
Ch. 12: Michelle Alexander on The New Jim Crow - Leid Stories - Air Date 8-26-15
Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, discusses in a presentation at the University of Tennessee the policies that produced mass incarceration.
Ch. 13: The True Origins of the War on Drugs - News Beat - Air Date 8-9-17
One trillion dollars. That’s how much the United States has spent in the last 40 years on the war on drugs. Currently, more than 450,000 Americans are imprisoned for drug offenses—up from 40,000 in 1980.
Ch. 14: Racism vs Prejudice - Kat Blaque - Air Date 10-5-14
Ch. 15: Responding to the black-on-black-crime talking point - About Race - Air Date 9-1-15
Professor Jeanne Theoharis’s new book is titled “A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History.” It shows how the legacy of the civil rights movement has been distorted and whitewashed for public consumption.
Ch. 17: When Is the Right Time for Black People to Protest? - The Daily Show - Air Date 9-25-17
Trevor unpacks the backlash that NFL players, Stevie Wonder and ESPN commentator Jemele Hill received after speaking out against racism.
Ch. 18: How whiteness distorts our democracy, with Eddie Glaude Jr. - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 4-4-19
Glaude is the chair of Princeton University’s department of African American studies, the president of the American Academy of Religion, and the author of the powerful book Democracy in Black.
Ch. 19: Why We Riot The language of the unheard - NewsBeat - Air Date 12-18-17
MLK, Jr. once referred to “riots” as the “language of the unheard.” The reasons for such rebellions are myriad: political, social & cultural.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Derailed - The Depot
- The Envelope - Aeronaut
- Beast on the Soil - Desert Orchard
- The Cast and Favor - Bayou Birds
- Waltz and Fury - Macrame
- Landon Depot - The Depot
- Inessential - Bayou Birds
- Rafter - Speakeasy
- Midday - Pecan Grove
- Chrome and Wax - Ray Catcher
- Around Plastic Card Tables - Desert Orchard
- Turning to You - Landsman Duets
- Turning on the Lights - Speakeasy
- Line Etching - Marble Run
- Insatiable Toad - Origami
- The Coil Winds - Vacant Distillery
- Curio - Vacant Distillery
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left podcast in which we shall learn |
| 0:07.5 | about the legacy of racism in America as a way of understanding the anti-racist rebellion |
| 0:13.4 | against police brutality happening at this very moment. |
| 0:17.2 | This is not an episode about current events. |
| 0:19.6 | That episode is in the works. |
| 0:21.2 | This is for anyone who needs either a refresher on how we got here or for those who need |
| 0:27.0 | something that they can send to family, friends, acquaintances, enemies, whoever, so that |
| 0:32.3 | they can say here. |
| 0:33.9 | Listen to this one thing. |
| 0:35.3 | It'll answer 95% of your questions or objections to the movement for Black Lives and the |
| 0:40.9 | rebellion against police taking place. |
| 0:44.5 | If you listen to this and you still have questions, then we can talk. |
| 0:47.5 | That's what this episode is for. |
| 0:49.2 | We all know people who need to learn more, so please share widely. |
| 0:53.5 | The types of questions we're going to be answering today. |
| 0:56.0 | Why are you also hung up on this long past history anyway? |
| 0:59.7 | What good would 40 acres and a mule 150 years ago do for anyone today? |
| 1:04.8 | How could it possibly be racism's fault that Black people all live together in poor neighborhoods? |
| 1:10.3 | Confederate monuments are about history. |
| 1:12.0 | It does no good to try to forget history. |
| 1:14.9 | What do you mean we've all been taught the wrong history about Martin Luther King Jr.? |
| 1:19.3 | How could our criminal justice system be racist? |
... |
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