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I can’t even say what I think about what’s going on right now. I am so angry.
Let me instead offer a thread of writings that have helped me understand how we got here.
Please take some time to read some of it, for the sake of your fellow humans.
Let me instead offer a thread of writings that have helped me understand how we got here.
Please take some time to read some of it, for the sake of your fellow humans.
Let’s start with one of the most essential reads of the Trump era https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/572104/
One thing to know is that police brutality against Black people in America isn’t new https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-painful-history-police-brutality-in-the-us-180964098/
And in fact, policing in large parts of America grew out of early slave patrols.
Which means that in America, policing and white supremacy have been interlaced from the beginning. https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/
Which means that in America, policing and white supremacy have been interlaced from the beginning. https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/
I’m not saying all cops are racist. I am saying the history still matters today.
Ta-Nehisi Coates has made and intricately documented the case that America was built on the plunder and exploitation of Black people, starting in slavery but continuing through Jim Crow and mass incarceration today. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
Equating incarceration to slavery might sound like a stretch to some. Don’t people just go to jail for doing bad things? What’s “plunder” about that?
If you want to explore a book-length investigation, “The New Jim Crow” is eye-opening: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6792458-the-new-jim-crow
If you want to explore a book-length investigation, “The New Jim Crow” is eye-opening: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6792458-the-new-jim-crow
And back on the topic of policing for a second, here’s a book that shows in vivid personal detail how, even when an individual officer wants to do the right thing, peer pressure and culture can make it hard or impossible to do so.
https://www.amazon.com/All-Centurions-Remembers-Street-1961-1981-ebook/dp/B000SCHBKW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=all+the+centurions&qid=1590937388&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/All-Centurions-Remembers-Street-1961-1981-ebook/dp/B000SCHBKW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=all+the+centurions&qid=1590937388&sr=8-1
Read that one and guaranteed the part about “gypsy guns” will stick with you forever.
There have always been multiple sets of rules in America. Which one you get depends on your birth.
That’s why some people got so angry about having to stay inside due to COVID: suddenly they no longer had their own special rules that benefit them alone https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/what-freedom-means-trump/611083/
That’s why some people got so angry about having to stay inside due to COVID: suddenly they no longer had their own special rules that benefit them alone https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/what-freedom-means-trump/611083/
Would just like to point here to the work of Osita Nwanevu, who is an amazing writer and thinker. Pretty much anything he writes is worth your time.
https://twitter.com/ositanwanevu/status/1266870177418878976?s=21 https://twitter.com/ositanwanevu/status/1266870177418878976
https://twitter.com/ositanwanevu/status/1266870177418878976?s=21 https://twitter.com/ositanwanevu/status/1266870177418878976
This is another must-read from Coates, contextualizing the presidency of Donald Trump and showing how racial animosity is what most strongly animates his movement https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/
Here’s a good one from a Michael Harriot. You can learn a LOT from this quick read: https://www.theroot.com/a-timeline-of-events-that-led-to-the-2020-fed-up-rising-1843780800
To get a little into the stuff it can be scary to talk about:
There is a substantial white supremacist extremist movement in the US. Understanding them can make many things clear.
Here’s a few resources around that:
There is a substantial white supremacist extremist movement in the US. Understanding them can make many things clear.
Here’s a few resources around that:
An examination of current extremist movements, from a former white supremacist who now works to pull people away from hate: https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Hate-Confronting-Culture-Extremism/dp/0316522937
An up-to-date explanation of some of the right-wing violence happening in the streets today: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/27/the-boogaloo-movement-is-not-what-you-think/
An important thing to know is that right-wing extremists often try to infiltrate other subcultures to find a foothold from which to grow. They did that with neo-nazi punk in the 90s, but more recently with gaming culture: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/15/opinion/what-is-gamergate.html
And lastly on that, if you want to understand “fringe” racism that is now loudly mainstream, this is a good one to check out. The history of anti-fascism is for obvious reasons closely linked to history of fascism itself, so a valuable resource
https://www.amazon.com/Antifa-Anti-Fascist-Handbook-Mark-Bray/dp/1612197035/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=antifascist+handbook&qid=1590939716&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Antifa-Anti-Fascist-Handbook-Mark-Bray/dp/1612197035/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=antifascist+handbook&qid=1590939716&sr=8-1
And to wrap up, here is a book I haven’t read yet but comes highly recommended from lots of people I respect. It might be a good starting point for action.
See you around https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist-1
See you around https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist-1
