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Michael Barone| Creators Syndicate

"If you pull the camera back and think about 1965, and think about last week, there's been massive improvement. The question is why so many people pretend that that's not true."

That bracing dose of wisdom comes from John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor and author of several books on other subjects, going back to his 2000 book, "Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America."

He's also a critic of what he calls, in the title of his latest book, "Woke Racism." Despite that, he has been hired as a commentator for the New York Times.

McWhorter, who was born in 1965, correctly identifies the anti-racism of that era as aimed at "slavery and legalized segregation" and "consistent with, indeed compelled by, the nation's founding principles." In contrast, he argues the current wave of anti-racism attacks those founding principles and condemns American society as irremediably racist.

As someone who became eligible to vote in 1965, I would add to his depiction of successive historical cycles the thesis that each great advance in equal rights is followed by the plaint that things are just as bad as ever.

The passage of civil rights acts in 1964 and 1965 ended legalized racial segregation in the South and vastly reduced exclusion of Black people from jobs and public accommodations nationwide. But the late 1960s saw dozens of riots in northern cities with lasting damage to Black neighborhoods, cheered on by local militants "mau-mauing" (novelist Tom Wolfe's term) sympathetic liberals.

Their listeners had to admit they were right in saying that northern cities did not turn out to be the "promised land" that postwar Black migrants from the South expected. But white liberals were typically too intimidated to point out that the "militants" were wrong in saying that nothing had changed.

The current wave of anti-racism comes after the election and reelection, both times with popular vote majorities, of a Black president something considered unthinkable back in 1965.

Once again, the response is to insist that things are as bad as ever.This wave of anti-racism, writes McWhorter, "becoming mainstream in the 2010s, teaches that because racism is baked into the structure of society, white peoples' 'complicity' in living within it constitutes racism itself, while for black people, grappling with the racism surrounding them is the totality of experience and must condition exquisite sensitivity toward them, including a suspension of standards of achievement and conduct."

For a set of beliefs so contrary to fact to thrive, it requires that it be taken as a religious faith. And that's exactly what McWhorter thinks "woke racism" is: "a new religion (that) has betrayed black America," as his subtitle puts it.

It's not hard to see in this religion a doctrine of original sin (see the NYT's 1619 Project), persecution of heretics (McWhorter gives myriad possible examples) and ritual prayers for forgiveness (from those who "cringe hopelessly at the prospect of being outed as a bigot.")

The policy responses to post-1965 mau-mau were lax policing, lavish welfare for single mothers, racial quotas and preferences. The results were sky-high crime, broken families and overmatched students on campuses.

Policies advanced in the latest wave include defunding or discouraging policing, lavish welfare for single mothers (in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill) and racial

quotas plus career destruction and banishment for those who make the slightest misstep against the latest speech code.

McWhorter commits useful heresy by pointing out the predictable, actually precedented, consequences are bad for Black people and for Americans generally. The Black Lives Matter movement's success has had about 2,000 more Black people killed than would have under previous murder rates.

He also notes that propagators of the woke catechism tend to be affluent white liberals, from the corporate chiefs empowering their human resources and "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" priesthoods to the urban white voters who support the political equivalents of yesteryear's grand inquisitors.

I would add, as one with adult memories of both cycles, that the post-1965 rioters, including those who died, were almost all residents of low-income Black neighborhoods. The more recent wave of "mostly peaceful" (as most media called them) riots seem to have been more multiracial, including white and often drug-addled or mentally ill "antifa" protesters.

Today's woke anti-racists, like the post-1965 mau-mauers, were wrong that Black people were no better off than before despite great political advances. Their success in cowing the larger society, however, owed something to the sense that things had not improved as much as people hoped. Unfortunately, as McWhorter argues, they made things worse for everybody in both cases.

Let's hope ordinary Americans of all ancestries once again manage to make things better.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime co-author of The Almanac of American Politics.

Original post:
Against the Religion of 'Woke Anti-Racism' - Examiner Enterprise

BENNINGTON In the early summer of 2020, as the country raged in the aftermath of George Floyds death, 81-year-old Jane Sobel and her husband Stanley Rosen, 94, placed a Black Lives Matter sign in front of their North Bennington home of 48 years.

We wanted to let Black people know that theres support for them, Sobel said from her kitchen table. And that if you share those ideas of justice, that you know youre not alone.

That original sign proudly sat on their small lawn on Mechanic Street until a few months ago when she went outside one day and it was gone. Sobel and her husband immediately decided to put another one up to replace the original, but this time, Jane taped a small message on the front of the sign.

I wrote on it, please do not remove this sign, in small print so no one would see it except a person who was trying to remove the sign, she said. I asked instead that they please talk to me and leave their contact information in my mailbox.

That second sign disappeared also.

We are sad and angry that for the second time, our Black Lives Matter lawn sign was stolen, she said.

Then she asked a hard question.

What to do about racism in our community, let alone in our country?

Sobel and her husband have lived in the same house since 1973. They have four daughters between them.

Sobel grew up in New York City. She attended Bennington College, then left to get married to her first husband before returning to finish her degree. A job opening led her to work at the Dean of Studies Office at the college, later becoming a therapist in Albany.

Sobel has given a lot of thought to race and racism since the summer she put her sign up, especially after the signs disappeared.

I think theres a presence of racism everywhere, Sobel said. So, of course, theres some here in North Bennington. Racism is part of our history and our culture. I dont think you can grow up white in this country and avoid having to work through your racism that you may not even be aware of or recognize as such. I think were all recovering racists. I dont mean that just because youre white that youre supposed to beat yourself up. I think, however, that you have to find a way to engage in changing things.

This isnt about guilt. Its about a way forward, but a little guilt doesnt hurt, Sobel says with a smile.

Sobel doesnt know who took her signs, but she has a general idea about why someone would.

Im thinking its someone angry, someone who maybe feels marginalized themselves, she said. Maybe they are angry about the concern people have about Black people when they might feel that no one is concerned about them.

Sobel is serious about having that conversation with the person who took the signs.

I think the first thing Id do is to listen to what they had to say. We need to learn how to have difficult conversations. If you dont talk to people who feel differently, how are things ever going to change?

Theres a long, reflective stare out to the lawn before Sobel speaks again.

The only way were going to make good things happen for everyone is if we can learn somehow to work together and talk to one another, but it has to be for everyone. I think a certain white majority is terrified of becoming a minority, and thats driven a big interest in doing away with democracy in this country. I feel very strongly about that. Whatever programs we can come together on where people might feel less angry and afraid, thats the only way we make it past this moment and remain together. Its the only way we survive.

I feel a little tearful talking about this, truthfully. I feel awful. Its a violation, and its such a mild violation compared to what Black people endure all the time. But for the first time, it made me anxious living here. We started locking our doors for the first time in all these years.

Although Sobel feels anxious about racism and whats happened since that summer of 2020, she still feels lucky to be here in Vermont. She especially feels good about the next generation and its commitment to diversity and justice. Keep up the work youre doing to change the world, she said.

Sobel informed the Banner that the sign had reappeared overnight. The hand-written note was missing, but the sign was still intact, just lying on the lawn by the mailbox. Its going right back up exactly where it was, she said.

As she stood to open the door and reached for her coat, Sobel added, I just want to add that I greatly appreciate the return of the sign and the hope it brought with it.

Then she smiles and heads out to replant her sign along Mechanic Street.

Read this article:
Sign of the times: Resident speaks on disappearance of Black Lives Matter sign - Bennington Banner

CHICAGO Oral arguments were heard Tuesday in the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding eight Black Lives Matter protestersarrested and jailed beyond 48 hours aftera 2020 demonstration in Rockford.

The plaintiffs were arrested on a Friday evening and held for three days without bond hearings, a common practice in Winnebago County because there is no weekend bond count.

The defendants' attorneys said the Fourth Amendment does not guarantee an individual the right to a bond hearing within 48 hours.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Adele Nicholas, a Chicago-based civil rights advocate, argued that the lack of weekend and holiday bond hearings in Winnebago County results in unreviewed, extended detentions and violates the Fourth Amendment.Reached after the hearing Tuesday, she called Winnebago County an "outlier."

Nicholas noted Cook County has court 365 days a year.

"If you get arrested on Christmas Eve, you get a hearing to determine whether you should be released on bail the next day," she said. "It's not really controversial that that's the appropriate process in almost all jurisdictions."

She added, "Winnebago County's procedures put people at very serious risk of losing their jobs, their income and not being able to take care of their families for no reason other thanWinnebago has deemed it more convenient to only have court on regular business days."

The plaintiffs are:Dylan Mitchell,26;Dayna Schultz, 23;Ivan Holland,25; AndrewEhrhardt,23; and Jaylen Butler, 20, all of Rockford; Ross Wagner,35, of Madison, Wisconsin;Larissa Walston,23, of Loves Park; and Michael Riggs,20, of South Beloit.

Previously: Protesters have spent 100 days outside Rockford City Hall, and they have no plans to leave

Many of the protesters, if not all, participated in one of several civil rights protests held in Rockford and around the country after the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a manwho died after a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Once the plaintiffs appeared appeared the following Monday before a judge, they were released on their own recognizance.

The plaintiffs' initial filing was dismissed by the district court, which noteda judge signs a probable cause statement within 48 hours.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs arguethe judge does so without the accusedor their attorneys present makingtheprobable cause hearings"constitutionally inadequate" because they deny people who could be released on bail the opportunity to request release within 48 hours.

Photos:Images from four months of protests in Rockford

The defendants are 17th Judicial Circuit Court Chief Judge Eugene Doherty,Sheriff Gary Caruana and Winnebago County.

Doherty is being represented by the Illinois Attorney General's Office. The county is being represented by the law firm of Hinshaw &Culbertson.

Michael Iasparro, a Hinshaw & Culbertson attorney, notedthe district court judgedetermined there is no constitutional right under the Fourth Amendment to abail hearingwithin 48 hours. He is hopeful the U.S. Court of Appeals will rule likewise.

"There'sa presumption of constitutionality if there is a finding of probable causefor somebody arrested without a warrant made by a judge within 48 hours," he said, "but that's never been extended to the right to a bail hearing under the Fourth Amendment."

There is no date by which the court must rule on the case.

Chris Green: cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

The rest is here:
Rockford Black Lives Matter case over bond hearings is now in hands of US Court of Appeals - Rockford Register Star

A Minnesota Black Lives Matter protester has been charged with trying to intimidate the judge overseeing Daunte Wrights manslaughter case after he posted live video outside her apartment door.

Cortez Rice who previously posed as a nephew of George Floyd was among a group shouting for justice a month ago outside a Loring Park high-rise condo where they believed Judge Regina Chu lived.

He admitted in an interview last month that he then got inside the building and filmed himself inside the hallways and at the front door of the apartment that he believed belonged to the judge.

Tight on her ass, we on her heels. Wont she think it sweet, he said in a since-deleted livestream video that was cited in his criminal complaint, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

We want cameras in the courtroom the people deserve to know whats going on, he continued, referring to the trial of Kimberly Potter, the ex-cop who claimed she thought she was using her Taser when she fatally shot Wright, 20, in April.

I dont know if this is her crib. I think this is her crib right here. We got confirmation that this is her house right here, he said in the video, according to the criminal complaint.

He said he was waiting for the gang to get up here.

Other footage appears to show him back outside bragging that hed been inside the building, saying, I was at that bitch door.

It was not immediately clear if he was at the right apartment, the local paper noted. A man who lived there claimed hed bought it from Chu, who had moved, but the judge said in court that the protest was staged at the presiding judges home, the Star Tribune said.

Either way, Chu told cops that she believed Rice was trying to intimidate her and to interfere with the judicial process, the complaint read.

Rice, 32, was charged last week with tampering with a judicial officer, a felony. The criminal complaint was unsealed late Friday afternoon, four days after he was booked into jail in Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

He was transferred to jail in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where he was being held Monday night on $50,000 bail, records show.

Before his arrest, Rice had admitted to the Star Tribune last month that he had been outside the judges door.

I just made a live video on it and I was just there to make sure she can hear us, he said at the time, insisting he was not there to intimidate her.

Chu later allowed cameras in the Potter trial but insisted in her ruling that the protest did not have any impact on the Courts decision, nor should it.

Rice previously wore Black Lives Matter garb as he gave tearful interviews to media claiming to be a heartbroken relative of George Floyd, whose murder by a Minneapolis cop in May 2020 sparked international protests.

However, Floyds real family later sent him a cease-and-desist letter to stop him making the claims, the Minnesota Sun noted. Rice then claimed he only meant that Floyd was like an uncle because blood dont make you family, the paper said.

Read the rest here:
BLM protester charged with trying to intimidate judge in Daunte Wright trial - New York Post

Ten years ago, a group of mostly young activists took to the streets the expensive streets of New Yorks Wall Street. One of the worlds top financial centers, headquarters to the titans of finance and the companies they headed. The activists raised their voices to speak back to the 1% of the super wealthy who own most of the nations resources. We are the 99% was their rallying cry. The 99% of Americans who lived at the other end of the economic ladder. This was Occupy Wall Street that went from street demonstrations to a makeshift squatters settlement in Zuccotti Park.

Occupy Wall Streets message and movement found eager supporters around the country and the world. Occupy Boston set up tents in Bostons Dewey Square, inspired by the energy and spirit of the movement. The encampment grew to include a kitchen to feed the hungry, and even a library named for social justice legends Audre Lorde and Howard Zinn. Here, many first-time organizers received an on-the-ground education about grassroots actions from veteran activists who had lived through the civil, voting and womens rights movements. The intergenerational mix of protestors expanded as more Boston-area residents, and others, joined the protest as did the groups list of issues, eventually embracing anti-war efforts, health care access gaps and environmental concerns. On a visit to Dewey Square, then-Governor Deval Patrick observed to WBZ radio, Im just trying to understand, theres such a range of issues and interests.

All of the Occupy groups refused an organized structure and designated leaders, insisting their movement could be steered by any among them they were not leaderless but leaderful. They may not have been traditionally organized, but they were laser focused on the central mantra of the 99% vs. the 1%. They helped concretize and humanize the economic inequities, their frustration addressing the widening gap they felt between the haves and have-nots. At Dewey Square, 27-year-old Amy Fisher told WBZ, Im really sick of nothing happening to reduce income disparity. Its just going to get worse and worse and worse until violence takes over.

Her words seem prescient considering the ongoing street protests about living wages and low-income workers fight for a $15 minimum wage. And the economic pain and suffering levied by the impact of COVID, which has swelled the ranks of the unemployed.

Ironic that the 10th anniversary of 'Occupy' arrives as the super wealthy literally cant stop making money. As I noted recently, billionaire MacKenzie Scott, who founded Amazon with her ex-husband Jeff Bezos, has acted on her pledge to give away most of her fortune $8.5 billion so far to various institutions and causes addressing public health, climate change, pandemic assistance and more. But because of the way the wealthy are invested, she earned back all the money she gave away. (Ill point out that her ex-husband is spending some of his billions flying into space.)

Occupy Boston only lasted two and half months, before Boston police razed the encampment on Dec. 10, 10 years ago this week. But the mantra the 99 vs. 1% is now part of the lexicon. And the economic inequalities the mantra reflects are now generally understood. Whats more, many of the Occupy activists were forever changed by their experience and have gone on to work for the cause of the 99% in nonprofits, politics and, yes, other protests. Occupy lives through the marchers in last summers George Floyd protests for racial justice. Seeds of Occupy fueled #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. Perhaps the late professor and activist David Graeber said it best. Back in 2011, he foresaw Occupys fundamental lesson, telling Time magazine, the system is not going to save us, were going to have to save ourselves.

See the original post:
Ten years on, the 'Occupy' movement is mainstream - wgbh.org