dagblog - Comments for "Elizabeth Warren's History Lesson"

Not what I meant, but I can

kyle flynn — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 14:52:59 +0000

In reply to "Give folks some breathing

Not what I meant, but I can see how you came to that conclusion.

When you go from

rmrd0000 — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 13:31:53 +0000

When you go from sharecropping to a factory job, you make great progress. Going from having one dollar to two dollars is a one-hundred percent increase, but you are still in dire straights. No one would want to go back to the "good old days". Ask blacks who lived in the pre-Civil Rights era what they thought about their great "progress"

Thanks!

HSG — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:28:04 +0000

In reply to Nice post.

Thanks!

In fact, the standard of

HSG — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:15:00 +0000

In reply to

In fact, the standard of living for black families increased more rapidly than that of white families in the post-war era before the Civil Rights era took hold as a direct result of mostly race-blind government policies designed to reduce wealth disparities.

rmrd0000 — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:10:44 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth Warren's History Lesson

McKesson would probably respond that the fact that blacks have had to have a movement to make gains proves his point. The fact the blacks consistently earn less than whites is depressing, not encouraging. The current discussion and move towards police reform only came after violence in the streets. You should read Ta-Nehisi Coates new book "Between the World and Me". Coates echoes McKesson's viewpoint about violence against black bodies.

At its inception, Social Security excluded most blacks. The GI Bill excluded many blacks. The USDA did not allow blacks the same access to farm loans. Prospective black home-owners were directed towards high-risk loans. Blacks are always under attack.

From Warren's speech regarding economics

For much of the 20th Century, that's how it worked for generation after generation of white Americans - but not black Americans. Entire legal structures were created to prevent African Americans from building economic security through home ownership. Legally-enforced segregation. Restrictive deeds. Redlining. Land contracts. Coming out of the Great Depression, America built a middle class, but systematic discrimination kept most African-American families from being part of it.

State-sanctioned discrimination wasn't limited to homeownership. The government enforced discrimination in public accommodations, discrimination in schools, discrimination in credit-it was a long and spiteful list.

Economic justice is not - and has never been - sufficient to ensure racial justice. Owning a home won't stop someone from burning a cross on the front lawn. Admission to a school won't prevent a beating on the sidewalk outside. But when Dr. King led hundreds of thousands of people to march on Washington, he talked about an end to violence, access to voting AND economic opportunity. As Dr. King once wrote, "the inseparable twin of racial injustice was economic injustice."

http://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=967

Warren gets it.

I think if people are

PeraclesPlease — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 08:24:38 +0000

In reply to "Give folks some breathing

I think if people are scratching in the dirt for a living, they're often more likely to be panicked, jealous, resentful, hateful, easy to blame others for their woes. That's a generality that's of course not universal, but seems to be a fairly common ingredient for many of history's wars and atrocities. Of course the Mongols were doing just fine and decided to up an conquer all of Asia & quite a bit of East Europe. Prosperity doesn't always lead to "live and let live", which of course is the flaw in trickle down theory as well. There's much more "suck up" than there is "trickle down" - the rich aren't limited by gravity.

Nice post.

PeraclesPlease — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 08:19:33 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth Warren's History Lesson

Nice post.

"Give folks some breathing

barefooted — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 05:35:12 +0000

In reply to Good post, Hal. Just want to

"Give folks some breathing room" - sounds like you're saying if whites had a better lot they'd be more inclined to be nicer to blacks. Otherwise, they'll buy into the suggestion to "blame 'those people' for their woes"...

Good post, Hal. Just want to

kyle flynn — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 05:14:19 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth Warren's History Lesson

Good post, Hal. Just want to add a thought I think gets overlooked in these conversations. Leisure time was an important product of the middle-class expansion Warren talks about and it contributed importantly to the civil rights movement as well as other activist moments of the sixties. Give folks some breathing room--good jobs, job security, affordable college options, etc.--and they'll engage in civics in meaningful ways. (Add to that mix millions of boomers coming of age and, well). But take those things away, scare the hell out of them 24/7 and suggest they blame "those people" for their woes and watch the shit hit the fan. Shorter: the fight for income equality leads to racial justice.