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"Our past is one of slavery, racism, and injustice. Our systems were built to oppress people of color."
The history of humankind is a dense catalog of inhumanity, subjugation. The American project isn& #39;t the apogee of that awfulness; it& #39;s part of a sharp deviation from the mean. https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1311432334743273472">https://twitter.com/GavinNews...
The history of humankind is a dense catalog of inhumanity, subjugation. The American project isn& #39;t the apogee of that awfulness; it& #39;s part of a sharp deviation from the mean. https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1311432334743273472">https://twitter.com/GavinNews...
Only a deep, lamentable ignorance explains @GavinNewsom& #39;s myopia.
America had a host of imperfections at her founding. Vestiges of what preceded it, not cruel innovations of the framers. In fact, it& #39;s the American vantage point that helps bring those defects into focus at all.
America had a host of imperfections at her founding. Vestiges of what preceded it, not cruel innovations of the framers. In fact, it& #39;s the American vantage point that helps bring those defects into focus at all.
America& #39;s founding helped provide for the innovation + steady improvement of human liberty everywhere. A constitution that: limits govt, imperfectly balanced power among its parts, established a baseline for safeguarding minority rights, allows for its own & #39;perfecting& #39; over time.
Were American & #39;systems built to oppress people of color?& #39; Not so much.
Enlightenment ideals embodied in the American constitution, commingled w/ explicit protection of free speech, and gave rise to an abolitionist movement that undid slavery worldwide. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-truth-about-abolition/471483/">https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
Enlightenment ideals embodied in the American constitution, commingled w/ explicit protection of free speech, and gave rise to an abolitionist movement that undid slavery worldwide. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-truth-about-abolition/471483/">https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
The same document inspired folks like Douglas + MLK, eventually becoming the framework + principal instrument of a Civil Rights revolution. That& #39;s our heritage.
Underscoring + exaggerating a nation& #39;s defects, absent acknowledgment of its unique + distinct virtues... is perverse.
Underscoring + exaggerating a nation& #39;s defects, absent acknowledgment of its unique + distinct virtues... is perverse.
America has been home to slavery + discrimination, but those aren& #39;t unique or distinguishing qualities.
On the other hand, America has proven to be uniquely fertile soil for human thriving. And history suggests it& #39;s a more than suitable venue for the pursuit of justice.
On the other hand, America has proven to be uniquely fertile soil for human thriving. And history suggests it& #39;s a more than suitable venue for the pursuit of justice.
Easy to acknowledge history has some bearing on the present. Also happy to debate the wisdom of ascribing injuries (+ culpability) to persons centuries or decades removed from proximate causes. But I& #39;d only do that from a well-informed position, not some ahistorical dark fantasy.
