MSNBC announced today that Pat Buchanan will no longer be working with the network. After 10 years of Pat Buchanan flagrantly using White racism to forward his policy ideas and that of his party, he has finally been told your message no longer fits with this network. But let’s look at his message that did fit there for quite a while. You should get the gist of his argument on this YouTube video from a Rachel Maddow show.
When Rachel was correcting some of his errors she left out a few pertinent pieces of information, which she probably wasn't aware. The first man to die for this nation is named Crispus Attucks, he was the first killed in the Revolutionary War, and he was a Black former slave. She also didn’t mention that the Harlem Hellfighters were the first American unit to see action in WWI, months before any American White troops even arrived in France. Instead she incorrectly made it seem as if our first combat was The Civil War. So we didn’t just fight for this country, on occasion we were the first in battle. But when the Hellfighters returned home several were lynched, and they were still in their uniforms. You may hear the last speaker in this YouTube video say he sponsored an anti-lynching bill.
Pat was able to tell his wretched tales on air and rarely was his hate speech met with much opposition. Too often the arguments a Malcolm X or even a Dr. King would have made, were not issued strongly enough nor did they offer the moral questions that must continue to be asked. Race talk in America is little more than an exercise in futility.
White people in an effort to not have to deal with the history of this nation, or with the entitlements that history has granted them choose to call anything that attempts to broach the subject “playing the race card” or racism. That is an effort to dismantle the conversation before it begins. In this video Tim Wise says more in less than 5 minutes about America's resistance to a social safety net, and how to affect real social justice than most can say in an hour.
When Dr. King spoke on Meet The Press back in 1965 he was met with a panel which attempted to blame the deaths of activists on Dr. King and the movement, not the racists killers. And this panel is also asking Dr. King what more he wants?
You see this technique used today, the victim is asked hasn't his single victory been enough, and how much more do Whites have to give up, for Blacks to be satisfied? Rather than, what more needs to be done to reach the equality you seek sir, two very different tacts.
Lawrence Spivak spends the first nearly 7 minutes of questioning trying to get Dr. King to commit to end demonstrating. Dr. King, rightly in my opinion, stated that “Non co-operation with evil is as much a moral obligation as co-operation with good.”
This video is yet another example of the White press forcing Dr. King to defend the movement for equality, when in reality that White press should have had to defend or explain what was just about what was happening to Blacks. This is part and parcel of how racism works. It is obvious that racism exist, and we see it in every institution, yet the victim for years on end must articulate what everyone knows to exist, like it is the first time anyone has said it.
People can watch the same show and hear the same words, but what you may hear, and what I may hear are light years apart. And the reason is because I'm not ashamed of my people or our history. And I won't let some old crank, who has long believed that Blacks have somehow gotten something for nothing, revise the history so he doesn't have to deal with his shame.
The truth is we have long been given half measures and quick fixes for an issue far too complex and deeply rooted to eradicate it by continuing to try to make the victim play victimizer. The time of disavowing any knowledge of the existence of racism or of trying to make it so inconsequential that one should just get over it, is over. Those who claim to want a peaceful world, to want to create lasting change will recognize the need for truth, those who do not will continue to ask Blacks why do some White people hate you, and what are you going to do to make it better?
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Comments
The referendum is the next presidential election and nobody in the spotlight is willing to admit it. I think 2008 was fluke. They never thought he'd be elected, but now they now better.
But we gotta remember the good news, don't you think? He is at least gone so somebody who knew better took charge.
It is so easy to miss our own blind spots. A few years ago, one of my students changed gender. In an art school, no one blinks at gay/lesbian students, but trans is a different story. One the most difficult things for me was switching to the other pronoun. Until I was able to do this without thinking, I understood that my perception of his gender had not changed. The other students got it, while I continued to slip, until slowly, he became a him in my mind. It took time, even though we both wanted it to happen much faster. Racial misconceptions are similar. Sincere attempts to understand and patience are necessary.
In the meantime, you and I share a clear vision of Mr. Buchanan! What an embarrassment of a human being.
Your thesis immeasurably.
-R-
@Markinjapan thank you very much. I lay the blame precisely where I think it belongs and I feel that the media allows much of what people believe to just hang there without a challenge. I also feel they attempt to limit any challenges by just ignoring them. But if morality is going to be an issue then let's deal with the morality of the lies that Liberals promote right along side those of Conservatives.