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Today lets dive into one of the toughest questions of our religious, cultural, and political lives. While we write and print millions of words about race in America, why is it still so hard to have a truly respectful, decent, and humble dialogue about perhaps the most complicated and contentious issue in American life? Its a huge topic, but lets start with what I believe is a true principle of human nature, a maxim called Miless law: Where you stand depends on where you sit.

While originating as an explanation for behavior of people in bureaucracies, Miless law has a much broader application. It speaks to the overwhelming influence of our own social, religious, and cultural experience over our viewpoint. Our different political cultures not only live different lives, they speak different languages. They apply different definitions to the same words and phrasesand those definitions are not self-evident.

Take systemic racism, for example. I daresay that only a vanishingly small number of Americans know that this is a term with an academic meaning thats not entirely obvious from the words themselves. Heres one definitionstructural or systemic racism is:

A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with whiteness and disadvantages associated with color to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it has been a feature of the social, economic and political systems in which we all exist.

Yet millions of Americans read the accusation that America is beset with systemic racism and hear a simpler and more direct meaning of the termyoure saying our systems (and by implication the people in them) are racist. But thats completely contrary to their experience. They think, How can it be that the system is racist when I just left a corporate diversity training seminar, I work at an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, my sons college professors are constantly telling him to check his privilege, and no one I know is a bigot? It seems to me that the most powerful actors in the system are saying the same thingsdont be racist.

Then, when you go online or turn on the television, youre hardly persuaded to change your mind. If youre conservative, chances are your social media feed is full of images of rioting and looting. There are viral videos (including one the president retweeted Saturday) that declare George Floyd was not a good person and the fact that he has been held up as a martyr sickens me. There is the constant repetition of statistics about black-on-black crime, and posts and pieces arguing that police racism and brutality are overblown are shared across the length and breadth of social media.

Even a well-meaning person subject to this barrage of messaging is then apt to look at clear racist injusticeslike the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, where the killer allegedly used a racial slur after he fired the fatal shotand say, Sure, there are racists still in this world, but theyre not part of any system I know. Moreover, compounding the problem, those voices who are most loudly condemning American racism are also the voices he or she trusts the least on other issuessuch as abortion, religious liberty, economics, or health care. Something in the conservative mind and heart rebels, I cant join with them, can I?

We each like to think were not unduly influenced by our immediate environment and culture. Thats a phenomenon that affects other people, we believe. Im the kind of person who has carefully considered both sides and has arrived at my positions through the force of reason and logic. Sure, Ive got biases, but that only matters at the edges. The core of my beliefs are rooted in reason, conviction, and faith.

Maybe that describes you, but I now realize it didnt describe me. I freely confess that to some extent where I stood on American racial issues was dictated by where I sat my entire life. I always deplored racismthose values were instilled in me from birthbut I was also someone who recoiled at words like systemic racism. I looked at the strides wed made since slavery and Jim Crow and said, Look how far weve come. I was less apt to say, and look how much farther we have to go.

Then, where I sit changed, dramatically. I just didnt know it at the time. I went from being the father of two white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed kids to the father of three kidsone of them a beautiful little girl from Ethiopia. When Naomi arrived, our experiences changed. Strange incidents started to happen.

There was the white woman who demanded that Naomithe only black girl in our neighborhood poolpoint out her parents, in spite of the fact that she was clearly wearing the colored bracelet showing she was permitted to swim.

There was the time a police officer approached her at a department store and questioned her about who she was with and what she was shopping for. That never happened to my oldest daughter.

There was the classmate who told Naomi that she couldnt come to our house for a play date because, My dad says its dangerous to go black peoples neighborhoods.

I could go on, andsuresome of the incidents could have a benign explanation, but as they multiplied, and it was clear that Naomis experience was clearly different from her siblings, it became increasingly implausible that all the explanations were benign.

Then the Trump campaign happened, the alt-right rallied to his banner, and our lives truly changed. In October 2016, I wrote a piece describing what happened. It began like this:

I distinctly remember the first time I saw a picture of my then-seven-year-old daughters face in a gas chamber. It was the evening of September 17, 2015. I had just posted a short item to the Corner calling out notorious Trump ally Ann Coulter for aping the white-nationalist language and rhetoric of the so-called alt-right. Within minutes, the tweets came flooding in. My youngest daughter is African American, adopted from Ethiopia, and in alt-right circles thats an unforgivable sin. Its called race-cucking or raising the enemy.

I saw images of my daughters face in gas chambers, with a smiling Trump in a Nazi uniform preparing to press a button and kill her. I saw her face photo-shopped into images of slaves. She was called a niglet and a dindu. The alt-right unleashed on my wife, Nancy, claiming that she had slept with black men while I was deployed to Iraq, and that I loved to watch while she had sex with black bucks. People sent her pornographic images of black men having sex with white women, with someone photoshopped to look like me, watching.

The attacks got worse and some became overtly threatening, including posting image after image of dead and dying African-Americans in the comments section of my wifes blog. Suddenly, my understanding that weve come so far in American race relations was replaced by the shocking, personal realization that weve got so far to go.

All this was happening as I had already grown alarmed at the sheer vehemence of conservative defensiveness on matters of race. Before the backlash I received for opposing Trump, the piece that generated the most personal anger from conservatives was a 2012 essay in Commentary called Conservatives and the Trayvon Martin Case where I critiqued the conservative medias seeming rooting interest in George Zimmermans innocence, and I critiqued George Zimmermans decision to arm himself and pursue a teen whose only crime was walking to his fathers girlfriends house after dark. I did not judge Zimmerman guilty, but I did signal that conservatives should not reflexively defend the police:

[C]onservatives should not be inclined to trust without question the actions of local law enforcement. There is no evidence that a single national conservative commentator knew the first thing about the competence or character of the individuals who made the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman. They dont know whether those local officials are wise, foolish, or free from racist taint. But they do know, or should know, that public officials (even public-safety officers) make mistakes even when they have the best of intentions, and they should also understand the need not only for constitutional constraints on police actions but also for public accountability.

This is when I began to learn about conservative political correctness. If politically correct progressives are often guilty of over-racializing American public discourse, and they are, politically correct conservatives commit the opposite sinand they filter out or angrily reject all the information that contradicts their thesis.

For example, if youre a conservative, youre likely quite aware that the Obama Department of Justice decisively debunked the hands-up, dont-shoot narrative of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Youre less likely to remember that there was a second Ferguson report, one that found Fergusons police department was focused on raising revenue more than increasing public safety, and it used its poor, disproportionately black citizens as virtual ATMs, raising money through traffic stops, citations, and even arrest warrants. It painted a shocking picture of abuse of power.

If youre a conservative, you may well be aware of the research cataloged by Heather Mac Donald rebutting claims of systemic racial bias in fatal police shootings. You may be less aware of the recent New York Times report indicating that African Americans make up 19 percent of the population of Minneapolis, 9 percent of the police force and an incredible 58 percent of subjects of police use of force.

But again, I hear the objection in my head, the sentiment of good friends and thoughtful peopleIf racism is this bad, and if the experiences of black Americans are this negative, why dont I ever see it?

Lets perform a thought experiment (I did this on our Dispatch Live event this week, so I apologize to readers whove already heard it.) Lets optimistically imagine that only one out of 10 white Americans is actually racist. Lets also recognize thatespecially in educated quarters of white Americaracism is condemned and stigmatized. If this is the reality, when will you ever hear racist sentiments in your daily life? The vast majority of people you encounter arent racist, and the minority who are will remain silent lest they lose social standing.

But imagine youre African American. That means 10 percent of the white people you encounter are going to hate you or think less of you because of the color of your skin. You dont know in advance who they are or how theyll react to you, but theyll be present enough to be at best a persistent source of pain and at worst a source of actual danger. So you know youll be pulled over more, and in some of those encounters the officer will be strangely hostile. The store clerk sometimes follows you when you shop. A demeaning comment will taint an otherwise-benign conversation. Your white friends described in the paragraph above may never see these things, but its an inescapable part of the fabric of your life.

This is how we live in a world where a white person can say of racism, Where is it? and a black person can say, How can you not see?

So now I sit in a different place. But where do I stand? I believe the following things to be true:

Slavery was legal and defended morally and (ultimately) militarily from 1619 to 1865.

After slavery, racial discrimination was lawful and defended morally (and often violently) from 1865 to 1964.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not end illegal discrimination or racism, it mainly gave black Americans the legal tools to fight back against legal injustices.

It is unreasonable to believe that social structures and cultural attitudes that were constructed over a period of 345 years will disappear in 56.

Moreover, the consequences of 345 years of legal and cultural discrimination, are going to be dire, deep-seated, complex, and extraordinarily difficult to comprehensively ameliorate.

Its hard even to begin to describe all the ramifications of 345 years of legalized oppression and 56 years of contentious change, but we can say two things at onceyes, we have made great strides (and we should acknowledge that fact and remember the men and women who made it possible), but the central and salient consideration of American racial politics shouldnt center around pride in how far weve come, but in humble realization of how much farther we have to go.

Moreover, taking the next steps down that road will have to mean shedding our partisan baggage. It means acknowledging and understanding that the person who is wrong on abortion and health care may be right about police brutality. It means being less outraged at a knee on football turf than at a knee on a mans neck. And it means declaring that even though we may not agree on everything about race and American life, we can agree on some things, and we can unite where we agree.

For example, heres a thoughtyou dont have to be a critical race theorist, agree with arguments about implicit bias, or buy into the radical social platform of Black Lives Matter to reach consensus on some changes that can make a difference. Ill call this tweet, from my progressive friend at Vox, Jane Coaston, the Coaston plan, and I endorse each prong:

A journey of a thousand miles continues step-by-step, and you dont have to agree on the entire travel plan to put the next foot forward.

Oh, and as we do it, be better than me. Remember, I had to change where I sat before I could change where I stood. If you first change where you stand, then the next generation will sit in a very different and better place.

One last thing ...

Weve seen too many images of violence from this weeks protests. Weve seen police violence. Weve seen riots. We havent seen enough moments like the short clip below. It comes from one of my favorite cities (Memphis), its my favorite hymn, and it touched my soul:

Photograph by Brent Stirton/Getty Images.

Read this article:
American Racism: We've Got So Very Far to Go - The Dispatch

Antifa shortfor"anti-fascist" is the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaninganti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis. The movement has no unified structureor national leadershipbut has emerged in the form of local bodiesnationwide, particularly on theWest Coast.

Some of the groups, such as the 10-year-old Rose City Antifa in Portland, the oldest antifa group in the U.S.,are particularly well-organized andactive online and onFacebook,while its members are individually anonymous.

President Trump has singled out antifa as part of what he calls the alt-left in his initial claim that "many sides" were to blame for violence in Charlottesville the weekend of Aug. 12, not just the neo-Nazis, KKK and white nationalists.

How is it pronounced?

"AN-tifa" with the emphasis on the first syllable, which sounds more like "on" in English than "an."

When did it start?

Anti-fascist groups, particularly in Europe, have been around for many decades, notably in Italy, against Mussolini, and in Germany, against Hitler. In the postwar period, antifa groups resurgedto fightneo-Nazi groups, particularly in Germany. In the U.S., the anti-fascist movements grew out ofleftist politics of the late '80s,primarily under theumbrellaof Anti-Racist Action.

What does the movementwant?

Theprimary goal is to stopneo-Nazis and white supremacists fromgaining a platform rather than to promotea specific antifa agenda. The antifa groups aredecidedly anti-racist, anti-sexistand anti-homophobia, but also by and large socially leftistand anti-capitalist.

How do the groupsoperate?

Mark Bray, a lecturer and Dartmouth andauthor of the new book Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook,says the groups "organize educational campaigns, build community coalitions, monitor fascists, pressure venues to cancel their events, organize self-defense trainingsand physically confront the far right when necessary."

A main goal is to try to deny fascists a public forum, which is why they turn out in numbers to physically confrontneo-Nazis, the KKKand white supremacists atpublic demonstrations. They also step in to protect counter-protesters at such events.

In addition, antifa is particularly active in"doxxing," or identifying neo-Nazis and like-minded individuals and disseminatingthat private information to the public and employers to discourage people from joining their ranks.

Is antifaviolent?

Memberspointedly do not eschew violencebut rather see themselves as engaging in "self-defense," protecting other protesters and primarily confronting neo-Nazis and white supremacists to deny them a platform to publicly spread their views.

"We are unapologetic about the reality that fighting fascism at points requires physical militancy, Rose City Antifas Facebook page reads. Anti-fascism is, by nature, a form of self-defense: the goal of fascism is to exterminate the vast majority of human beings.

Political activist and author Cornel West, speaking to Amy Goodman on the program Democracy Now about the clashes in Charlottesville, saidantifa intervened when the "neofascists" move against his group of protesters."We would havebeen crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchistsand the anti-fascists," he said.

Bray says the riseof fascism in the 1930s demonstrates that it wasa mistake to allow such groups to air their views in hopes that public opinion would blunt their growth."We should be wary of those who are more distressed about alleged violations of the speech of fascists than the actual violence they perpetrate," he says.

Where has the movementdemonstrated?

In addition to Charlottesville, antifa forces, whooften dress inblack and wearmasks, have confronted or clashed with far-right groups in such places as the University of California at Berkeley,where protests by West Coast antifa forces, some of whomsmashedwindows and setfires,forced the cancellation of aspeech by alt-right activistMilo Yiannopoulos in Februaryand another by conservative commentator Ann Coulter in April.

In June, antifa forces turned out to protest a pro-Trump free-speech in Portland. Some antifa counterprotestersbegan throwing objects at police, who responded with flash grenades and pepper balls, according to the The Oregonian.

Antifa was also out in force in Juneto confrontPatriot Prayer, a free speech groupprotesting political correctness and hatred at Evergreen State Collegein Olympia, Wash.

Originally posted here:
What is antifa and what does the movement want? - Savannah Morning News

Antifa shortfor"anti-fascist" is the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaninganti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis. The movement has no unified structureor national leadershipbut has emerged in the form of local bodiesnationwide, particularly on theWest Coast.

Some of the groups, such as the 10-year-old Rose City Antifa in Portland, the oldest antifa group in the U.S.,are particularly well-organized andactive online and onFacebook,while its members are individually anonymous.

President Trump has singled out antifa as part of what he calls the alt-left in his initial claim that "many sides" were to blame for violence in Charlottesville the weekend of Aug. 12, not just the neo-Nazis, KKK and white nationalists.

How is it pronounced?

"AN-tifa" with the emphasis on the first syllable, which sounds more like "on" in English than "an."

When did it start?

Anti-fascist groups, particularly in Europe, have been around for many decades, notably in Italy, against Mussolini, and in Germany, against Hitler. In the postwar period, antifa groups resurgedto fightneo-Nazi groups, particularly in Germany. In the U.S., the anti-fascist movements grew out ofleftist politics of the late '80s,primarily under theumbrellaof Anti-Racist Action.

What does the movementwant?

Theprimary goal is to stopneo-Nazis and white supremacists fromgaining a platform rather than to promotea specific antifa agenda. The antifa groups aredecidedly anti-racist, anti-sexistand anti-homophobia, but also by and large socially leftistand anti-capitalist.

How do the groupsoperate?

Mark Bray, a lecturer and Dartmouth andauthor of the new book Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook,says the groups "organize educational campaigns, build community coalitions, monitor fascists, pressure venues to cancel their events, organize self-defense trainingsand physically confront the far right when necessary."

A main goal is to try to deny fascists a public forum, which is why they turn out in numbers to physically confrontneo-Nazis, the KKKand white supremacists atpublic demonstrations. They also step in to protect counter-protesters at such events.

In addition, antifa is particularly active in"doxxing," or identifying neo-Nazis and like-minded individuals and disseminatingthat private information to the public and employers to discourage people from joining their ranks.

Is antifaviolent?

Memberspointedly do not eschew violencebut rather see themselves as engaging in "self-defense," protecting other protesters and primarily confronting neo-Nazis and white supremacists to deny them a platform to publicly spread their views.

"We are unapologetic about the reality that fighting fascism at points requires physical militancy, Rose City Antifas Facebook page reads. Anti-fascism is, by nature, a form of self-defense: the goal of fascism is to exterminate the vast majority of human beings.

Political activist and author Cornel West, speaking to Amy Goodman on the program Democracy Now about the clashes in Charlottesville, saidantifa intervened when the "neofascists" move against his group of protesters."We would havebeen crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchistsand the anti-fascists," he said.

Bray says the riseof fascism in the 1930s demonstrates that it wasa mistake to allow such groups to air their views in hopes that public opinion would blunt their growth."We should be wary of those who are more distressed about alleged violations of the speech of fascists than the actual violence they perpetrate," he says.

Where has the movementdemonstrated?

In addition to Charlottesville, antifa forces, whooften dress inblack and wearmasks, have confronted or clashed with far-right groups in such places as the University of California at Berkeley,where protests by West Coast antifa forces, some of whomsmashedwindows and setfires,forced the cancellation of aspeech by alt-right activistMilo Yiannopoulos in Februaryand another by conservative commentator Ann Coulter in April.

In June, antifa forces turned out to protest a pro-Trump free-speech in Portland. Some antifa counterprotestersbegan throwing objects at police, who responded with flash grenades and pepper balls, according to the The Oregonian.

Antifa was also out in force in Juneto confrontPatriot Prayer, a free speech groupprotesting political correctness and hatred at Evergreen State Collegein Olympia, Wash.

Read this article:
What is antifa and what does the movement want? - Dallas County News

Even racists are criticizing President Donald Trump's responseor lack thereofto the murder of unarmed Black man George Floyd by police.

With unrest overtaking the United States in response to the murder, Trump referred to protestors as "thugs" before ultimately turning off the exterior lights of the White House and hiding in the underground bunker.

Trump's eagerness to recede from public in the face of demonstrations in front of the White House prompted far-Right author Ann Coulterwhose own racism has given her notoriety in Republican circlesto tweet a cheeky rebuke of Trump.

Coulter jokingly mused that Trump had secretly resigned.

On Monday, Trump chastised governors for being what he described as "weak." He then called for the imprisonment of protestors for as much as 10 years.

Ironically enough, Trump's own responsecowering in an underground bunker of a darkened White Housewas considered the actual weak response.

For once, people found themselves agreeing with Coulter.

Though some are surprised at Coulter's criticism, she's actually been a critic of Trump for some time now. While most people criticize Trump for stoking the flames of racism and bigoted anger, Coulter criticizes him for not being racist enough, especially when it comes to his failure to build the long-promised wall at the southern border.

She wasn't the only one who felt Trump's response was weak.

Where is the President?

Read the original post:
Ann Coulter Perfectly Mocks Trump's Absence of Leadership in This Time of Crisis With Savage Tweet for the Ages - Second Nexus

The United States has for days been engulfed in protests and violence, in large cities and even small towns across the country, following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In response, the president of the United States tweeted.

He tweeted a legally questionable declaration that hed designate antifa a terrorist organization, tweeted about his polling, tweeted simply FAKE NEWS and LAW AND ORDER, and tweeted the summation of an episode of Fox & Friends. He tweeted about the media and the vicious dogs of the Secret Service, and he tweeted advice at state governors and city mayors. He also shared a QAnon conspiracy theorists tweet, but later deleted it. After speaking about Floyds killing following a NASA launch on Saturday, Trump spent the rest of the weekend at the White House, speaking to the nation only on a platform hed threatened to shut down just days earlier and largely in the manner of a person observing his own presidency from afar.

People on both sides of the aisle noticed Trumps absence from the national stage, including many on the right who consider themselves among his biggest allies. They havent specified an exact course of action but want Trump to take a far more prominent role in calming tensions.

But Trumps press secretary told reporters on Monday, A national Oval Office address is not going to stop Antifa. And while some outlets report that the president is interested in doing a listening tour with law enforcement and pastors and community leaders, there are no firm plans.

Back in 2016, during his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Trump decried violence aimed at police officers and then said, I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order our country.

Four years later, Trump sits in the midst of a crisis of law and a breakdown of order as a result. And it turns out, he alone cant fix it.

Conservative writer Rod Dreher at the American Conservative wrote this past weekend that Trump and the political class were completely inept at handling the compounding crises of unrest and a pandemic, saying Trump is as useless in this crisis as teats on a boar:

The fact is, we have a massive national crisis underway, a crisis on top of two other crises pandemic and economic collapse and we are led by a buffoon who does nothing but sit on his backside and tweet. Its infuriating!

The pro-Trump meme creator Carpe Donktum who attended the White Houses summit on social media last July tweeted that he would also like to see Trump speak publicly, to ease public concern and plot a course to peace.

Other right-leaning observers online have agreed. Caleb Hull, a conservative videographer who works with political campaigns and influencers, said on Twitter that Trump should spend less time tweeting and more time taking decisive action.

And Ann Coulter, once one of Trumps biggest cheerleaders before breaking with him over his perceived softness on immigration, tweeted that he was likely spending his time delving deeper into conspiracy theories about an MSNBC host.

But in his piece, Dreher made the point that perhaps many of us are thinking: Does anyone really want Donald Trump the real person, not the idea of Donald Trump often constructed in the imaginations of the media always ready for him to pivot to opine on current events?

And you know, we should probably count our blessings. If he went on TV to address the nation, Trump would probably make things worse. There he sits in the White House, impotent, an angry old man who doesnt know what to do, and who, being utterly despised by half the country but not feared! cannot possibly gain control of the situation.

When I emailed Dreher and asked what he wanted Trump to do, he said that while he wanted Trump to issue clear, unambiguous statements that civil disorder will not be tolerated and do everything in his power to show that he is taking the moment seriously, Trump being Trump, its hard to know what he could possibly do that wouldnt make things worse.

As my colleague Ezra Klein noted, When we elected Donald Trump, we elected a political arsonist. The point of Trump, the purpose of Trump, was never to ease tensions or unite a nation (one that, arguably, has always been divided, particularly over matters of race). More often, he has held up a mirror to national divisions while using them for his own political purposes.

Donald Trump is a blunt instrument aimed like a cudgel at institutions political and cultural, domestic and foreign that some of his voters believed ignored millions of Americans at best and hurt them at worst. Trump was made to threaten social media platforms that boosted his candidacy with regulations and potential closure. He was made to scream at cable news networks during a time of relative peace. He was not made to bring a nation reeling from death and disease back from the brink.

In response to a request for comment from the New York Times about what he planned to do to address the nation over the weekend, Trump said, Im going to win the election easily. The economy is going to start to get good and then great, better than ever before.

Trump wasnt elected for this moment of crisis. Its no wonder, then, that he has no idea how to respond to it. As Dreher told me, Some critics have said all along that Trump only wanted to be president so he could make sure all eyes were on him constantly. Now that has been proven true.

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#WheresTrump: Trump, the loudest man in America cant find his voice - Vox.com