The Update Desk: TGIF 6/4/21

In my TGIF entry for June 4th, I mentioned the Memorial Day celebration in Hudson, OH. 

Hudson is where a decorated veteran's remarks during the town's Memorial Day celebration were partially silenced by event organizers, and I compared the flap over a tweet sent by VP Kamala Harris two days before Memorial Day to what happened in Hudson on Memorial Day.

The same people, plus many others, aren't making a peep about this story, reported by the AP. 

Organizers of a Memorial Day ceremony turned off a speaker's microphone when the former US Army officer began talking about how freed Black slaves had honored fallen soldiers soon after the Civil War. 

That's right - when Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter (Ret.) decided to include that part in his speech, he did so because "he wanted to share the history of how Memorial Day originated." Sadly, the folks who organized the Ohio celebration Kemter spoke at, said "that part of the speech was not relevant to the program's theme of honoring the city's veterans."  Pretty easy to see who the good week guy is, and who they aren't, right? 

A quick review of news at the Update Desk show there has been significant fallout since then. According to Fox 8 News in Cleveland, the local American Legion, which sponsored the remembrance, is being suspended until it's officially closed, and at least two people have resigned.

Suzette Heller, Department Adjutant with the American Legion Department of Ohio, confirmed to the I-Team Friday that the one official involved in the event informed her he was resigning and that the Post is closing.  She added the commander of that Post is also resigning.

The resignations come less than 24 hours after the officials with the American Legion Department of Ohio started investigating Monday’s Memorial Day event.

American Legion of Ohio Commander Roger Friend on Thursday requested the resignation of two officers of Hudson American Legion Post 464 that organized the event. 

Friend also stated in a letter asking for the resignations that a full investigation and the charter of this post are pending with the Department Executive Board. 

The station also reported that the sound engineer refused to lower the volume on the mic, so one of the organizers did it. 

The organizers issued a statement, noting

It appeared that Mr. Kemter was making a distinction between Black soldiers and their families and white soldiers and their families before Memorial Day was created.

I'll note that even calling him 'Mr. Kemter' seems to be a slight, given that he's a retired Lt. Colonel, but maybe that's just me.

Not being sure of what racially charged comments the speaker might make, the volume was reduced on the microphone. The microphone volume was restored when he returned to the issue of remembering the men & women who have given their lives in defense of our great country. It was an attempt to avoid racial speech in a ceremony planned to honor our town’s fallen heroes. The speaker was not asked to stop. He gave his entire speech. While we acknowledge that the contributions of Black men and women in the military are often overlooked, the purpose of the 2021 Memorial Day Ceremony was to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and not to bring race into the discussion. We recognize the sacrifice of all men and women, regardless of the color of their skin.

It's interesting that the organizers suggest they didn't know what Kemter was going to say; after all, early reporting on the incident noted his speech was reviewed in advance and, while edits were suggested, Kemter didn't see the request in time to make changes.

You can read Lt. Col. Kemter's entire speech here. I've copied the renegade portion below. 

Today is Memorial Day. This is the day that we pay homage to all those who served in the military and didn’t come home. This is not Veterans Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of our freedom.  

Memorial Day was born out of necessity. After the American Civil War, a battered United States was faced with the task of burying and honoring the 600,000 to 800,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who had died in the single bloodiest military conflict in American history. The first national commemoration of Memorial Day was held in Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, where both Union and Confederate soldiers were buried.

Several towns and cities across America claim to have observed their own earlier versions of Memorial Day or “Decoration Day” as early as 1866. (The earlier name is derived from the fact that decorating graves was and remains a central activity of Memorial Day.) But it wasn’t until a remarkable discovery in a dusty Harvard University archive the late 1990s that historians learned about a Memorial Day commemoration organized by a group of freed black slaves less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865.

But in recent years the origins of how and where Decoration Day began has sparked lively debate among historians, with some, including Yale historian David Blight, asserting the holiday is rooted in a moving ceremony held by freed slaves on May 1, 1865, at the tattered remnants of a Confederate prison camp at Charleston’s Washington Race Course and Jockey Club – today known as Hampton Park. The ceremony is believed to have included a parade of as many as 10,000 people, including 3,000 black schoolchildren singing the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body” while carrying armfuls of flowers to decorate the graves.

More importantly than whether Charleston’s Decoration Day was the first, is the attention Charleston’s black community paid to the nearly 260 Union troops who died at the site. For two weeks prior to the ceremony, former slaves and black workmen exhumed the soldiers’ remains from a hastily dug mass grave behind the race track’s grandstand and gave each soldier a proper burial. They also constructed a fence to protect the site with an archway at the entrance that read “Martyrs of the Race Course.”

The dead prisoners of war at the race track must have seemed especially worthy of honor to the former slaves. Just as the former slaves had, the dead prisoners had suffered imprisonment and mistreatment while held captive by white southerners.

Not surprisingly, many white southerners who had supported the Confederacy, including a large swath of white Charlestonians, did not feel compelled to spend a day decorating the graves of their former enemies. It was often the African American southerners who perpetuated the holiday in the years immediately following the Civil War.

African Americans across the South clearly helped shape the ceremony in its early years. Without African Americans the ceremonies would have had far fewer in attendance in many areas, thus making the holiday less significant.

My generation grew up listening to the famous radio personality Paul Harvey. Paul would say at the end of his broadcast, “And now you know the rest of the story." And now, you know the rest of the story about the origin of Memorial Day.

After the offending segment, Lt. Col. Kemter spoke about taking the oath when he joined the military; he called for recognition of Hudson's fallen, many of whom he knew; and he recited a poem about soldiers. All in all, it seems his remarks were more than appropriate, and more than worth telling.

It's unfortunate that people - worse, that American Legion members, for Pete's sake -decided to muzzle him in the first place.

My Middle-aged White Lady Perspective: Juneteenth

I'm not going to pretend - not even for a minute - that I know everything there is to know about Juneteenth.  What I do know is from the 30,000-foot level, which, as a particular executive I used to deal with always said, was "plenty enough detail for the moment."  

Juneteenth commemorates the day that Union soldiers made it to Texas and informed the slaves there that they were free, that they had been emancipated by President Abraham Lincoln - nearly two years earlier. That should be enough to give one pause, don't you think? You're free, no longer a slave, and it took that long for you to find out? (You can learn more here, if you're interested, or really, just do an Internet search. There's plenty of information out there.)

As a middle-aged white lady, I've done some soul-searching on racism, and tolerance, and bias, and prejudice and yes, on white privilege, over the years, admittedly most often when we hear about a black man, a black child, a black young adult, being killed by a white man in a police officer's uniform. I've talked about some of that in this blog, in the past, and I'm not proud of some of the posts I've written - because I can see my privilege showing, like a slip hanging below the hem of my dress back in the day. 

• I was too eager to see both sides of the story, and not hold both sides equally accountable. 
• I was quicker to judge one side and feel myself being dragged kicking and screaming towards a more balanced position, by the time I got to the last paragraph where I'd throw up my hands and wish for something better
• I would not commit to doing anything to make me better, to make things better, even in my own little circle, much less in the larger scheme of things.

I was - I am - a middle-aged white lady.  And until I went back and read some of my old posts, I didn't realize how much of a one I was.  Which is funny - curious/interesting/hmm... funny, not haha/laugh out loud funny, because I know I've talked about racism and bias and about trying to change my perceptions. I guess I just never put those posts here, or I have to think differently about how I tagged them.

Which brings me to the point of this: thinking differently. Challenging myself to think differently, or to at least think like the person I think I thought like, if that makes any sense at all?

A former co-worker sent me the information below. We've been discussing #BlackLivesMatter and racism and white privilege on social media lately. Most of the time we find common ground - sometimes it takes a bit - even though we have different perspectives. 

Her perspective includes being in the south, a black woman in a Mercedes with out-of-state-plates, driven by her black boyfriend, being on pins and needles as they were followed - for miles - by a white cop who only stopped following them when they crossed into another state. I will never have that experience - and she shouldn't have had it.

It's a simple list - only ten things - that white people can do to celebrate Juneteenth. 

Black and Brown people are calling on white people to stand with them and take action. They’ve been fighting too hard and too long. ​​​It made us think about what do we want white people to do to celebrate Juneteenth? 

10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth

1. We want white people to deeply consider the wound of racism on the hearts of every Black American.

2. On Juneteenth we want white people to read, study Black history, Black poets, Black leaders, Black achievements.

3. We want white people to do things about racism as readily as they do things for their own children.

4. We want white people to make a list of resolutions, of promises, of vows about what will it take for them to use their power, their privilege, their platforms of power to give space to Black and Brown leaders.

5. We want them to find an accountability partner and make the list public of what actions they will take. They CAN do this on social media. A lot of those actions will be giving up privilege and making room for folks who they may not have noticed have no room at all.

6. We want white people to stop talking about how uncomfortable it is to talk about racism or police violence.

7. We want white people to stop being afraid of their own internalized white supremacy. I want them to search and look within at hard facts of thought and deed. Who cares about being comfortable? What about being true, brave and real instead?

8. Then we want white people to stop talking and listen to what needs to be done.

9. We want white people to plan on spending time in spaces with folks who are not like you.

10. We want white people to hold other white people accountable not on social media, instead with measured voices that call folks in to look and wrestle – to change. We are interested in courageous conversations, in hearing folks out and in allowing themselves to feel terrible and to let that feeling be a crucible for change.

I've read the list more than once, and I will continue to read it, to find my place in it, starting at the top and working my way to the bottom. Because I can do more than just find the posts that I thought I wrote that describe the me I am today, not the me I was seven or six or five years ago. 

And if I find I'm not the person I think I am today - or, even if I am the person I think I am - I have a path forward. Not just for today, on Juneteenth , but for tomorrow and the day after and the days, weeks, months and years after that.  

I'll still be a middle-aged white lady, informed by my experiences, but I'll be a better one, I hope. 

OrangeVerse LIV: There's a Plan for That

Can you stand one more volume from last Friday's Rose Garden appearance by the president?

Come on, I know you can do it! 

To whet your appetite, here's the first volume, and here's the second one, if you want to just skim and get back into the swing of presidential poetry... 

OK - ready to go again? 

Save Me, Donny!

I just want to finish by saying:

To save the economy, we passed

several pieces of critical pieces of

legislation totaling many trillions

of dollars - meaning, three. 

We're set up to do more 

if we want. I think we

should because we - 

we are dominant. 

Bystanding

For many

years as a

bystander 

but somebody

that loved government,

somebody that loved this country

I would watch and study and see and just, 

you know - when I say "study,"

naturally study, 

by watching.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes Me Stronger

We're going to be stronger than we were

when we were riding high. And our

stock market is almost - it's just

short of an all-time high.

I've had 144 all-time high

stock markets during a three

and a half year period. Nobody

has ever come close to that. And

we're going to do it again but it's

going to be even stronger than last time.

I See Good Numbers

When I would say

that to you, two three

months ago - I could see

what's happened I have good

- I've always done well with numbers

but I had a feel for it. I said it even the other

day. I was saying I think we're going to have a tremendous

next year, I think it's going to be a phenomenal next year. I didn't

know it would start this quickly...  I thought it would start in August,

September but it started very early. Amazing - it's an amazing thing.

Return of the Jobs

But it means they're likely to return

and all of these jobs that we're talking

about now aren't even included

because some of our biggest

places aren't opened.

They're opening up now. I think

New York is opening up like as of

today, and that's one of our

big ones. New Jersey

They're all working hard.

The governors are all working hard.

A Mobilization Like No Other 
We mobilized.

Nobody has never seen anything like it,

just like the Second World - there hasn't been

a mobilization like this since the Second World War - 

especially ventilators, because it's hard. It's big, it's complex -

very complete machinery, computerized all over the place and very

expensive. And we're building thousands a week. Right now we're building

thousands a week. We have all we can use. No governor - you hear the calls; 

you listen in on those calls. Frankly, you're invited to if you want - but 

you do anyway, even if you're not invited. 

And you see what's going on. 

Every governor - there's not been 

one patient in this entire massive

country - and we didn't have ventilators

when we started. The cupboards were empty.

The previous administration left us empty cupboards.

Damn the Flaming, Full Speed Ahead!!

So we want

the continued

blanket lockdown

to end for the states.

We may have some embers

or some ashes or we may have some

flames coming but we'll put them out.

We'll stomp them out. We... 

understand this now. We'll

stomp them out, and

we'll stomp them 

out very, very 

powerfully.

The R Word 

So we've made a big step in our comeback. 

This was always going to be - three months

ago, I said to you "This is a very important

period" - this June period - because we're

going t0 learn whether or not this is

a very big powerful "R" word - 

"recession" - or whether this is a

hurricane that we recover from

very quickly - we recover from

in a matter of weeks or days.

And we've learned. We've learned.

Again, as good as these numbers are

the best numbers are yet to come 

because so many areas

are still closed or very partially closed.

Very few, actually, are fully open. These

numbers are with states - 50 states -

and very few are fully open, even

the ones that are very out there

are not fully fully opened. 

So we're going to have some

tremendous numbers coming in. 

Nobody Puts Melania In A Trailer

When you look at the ridership in the airlines, 

what they've gone - they went from 2% to a number

that if it's correct, I'd be surprised actually but it's a very

high number. It's great. People are traveling. And you know what?

They're traveling in the United States. And they're also driving. And they're

building the trailers. They're building a lot of things. The're driving. 

People are  - people are driving. I may have to buy one of 

those things, drive around town. Maybe I'll drive back 

to New York with our First Lady in a trailer.

What do they call that? 

Contagious Magnetism

Now, we didn't know

the second part. We

knew it was highly

contagious because it

spread like fire.

But we didn't know that it hit

certain groups of people.  That

helps us so much in testing and other things.

So we're going to protect our elderly. 

We're going to protect, especially

our elderly with problems, whether

it's heart or diabetes or any problem.

It's like a magnet. I mean you're elderly

and you have diabetes or a bad heart it's

it's like a magnet. They say if you're - 

if you're heavy. So I say 

"Thank goodness

I'm in perfect shape. Thank goodness."

But if you're - if you're heavy, it's not good. 

It's a brutal, brutal thing.

The Logistics of War

We're going to have a vaccine soon.

I said it along time ago, based on knowledge - based on knowledge.

I'm - I'm meeting with these geniuses.  Based on knowledge, I said

a long time ago, I said, "by the end of the year." I think it's going to be

a lot sooner than that. And just finishing about vaccines,

we have mobilized the logistics arm of our military. 

We can move hundreds of thousands of men

and women in a very short time. 

The vaccine is easy, by compare.

But we can move hundreds of thousands.

It's meant for war. It's not meant for this, 

but we have our war with 

the invisible enemy. 

It's meant for war, but

we can move hundreds of thousands.

Hun - think of that: Hundreds of thousands

in a very short time. The same people

are doing the vaccine and

they're fully mobilized.

"Thank You, Nancy and Chuck"

I want to thank the Democrats.

We had essentially unanimous votes

I think in the Senate and the House. Right?
Whether it's unanimous or very close. 

It's a lot of people.
But I want to thank the Democrats. 

We worked together on it great.

And I hope we can get along with Democrats.
It's been a disaster, in terms of relationship but

I hope we can get along because it's a great thing for our country.

We did all of these numbers and all of this greatness.

We have the greatest economy we've ever had.

It will soon be greater than it was even before.

But Wait - There's A Pandemic???

We did this with discord. 

We did this with a Senate and a House

that were not dealing with us and

we weren't dealing with them either.

The level of - of - let's just say the war-like po-

posture is ridiculous because we have a great country.

It would make a difference if we could get along.

And maybe we can and maybe we can't. 

I mean there are a lot of differences.
We want low taxes.
We want closed borders. 

We want people to come in 

but they have to come in through a merit.

They want open borders. 

You can't have open borders 

especially now when you have a pandemic.

Open The Door, and Let Me In

So we have a lot of things

to work with the Democrats. 

If we could work along with them,

it would be great.
If we don't, we're going to

do great as a country anyway.

We're going to do great anyway.

But if we could work along with the Democrats -

and I'm open to it. People say

I wouldn't be open why would I be open?

They did things that 

they never should have done.

And you know what I'm talking about. 

Should have never done.

But I'm totally open to it.

A Man With A Plan

And by the way, what's happened

to our country and what you see now -

it's been happening - 

is the greatest thing that can happen

for race relations, for the African American community,

for the Asian American, for the Hispanic American community

for women, for everything - because our country is so strong, 

and that's what my plan is.

We're going to have the strongest economy
in the world. We are almost there now. 

We had the strongest economy anywhere in the world

and now we're going to have an economy that's even stronger.

Ranting and Raving (v6): If You Think This is OK...

I want to scream.

We watch another heartbreaking video of a black man being killed, having the life squeezed out of him under the knee of a white police officer, and we watch the comments coming in saying all of the standard stuff - if he hadn't resisted, if he hadn't have done something illegal, if he had only listened to the police, if he only... if he only... if he if he if he if he if he only...

If you think this is all the fault of George Floyd - say his name, say it out loud - George Floyd - if you think this is HIS fault, if only he hadn't (fill in the blank), if only he had (fill in the blank), then you think these things are OK, too.

• Me, dying under the knee of a police officer, for shoplifting a $5 ring from a gift shop on a school trip in the 7th grade (peer pressure is a wonderful thing, isn't it?); 
• Me, being shot in the back by a police officer, for running (along with several friends) when we were discovered under-aged drinking on a nature trail in the woods behind an elementary school;
• Me, being shot repeatedly in the chest after stumbling arm-in-arm with the "'love of my life that week" off a bench and towards a police officer who was yelling at us for smoking pot and violating the open container law in a Wisconsin park after hours? (And is a goat-skin bag an even an open container?) 

And yet, here I am, decades later. 

Still here. 

Still living. 

Still breathing. 

Still remembering these and countless other crazy things I did that I'll likely never share. 

Is it because I'm lucky that I didn't run into any of the police officers who have been involved in - and most, absolved of - the murders of black men? 

Maybe; obviously, every black man who has an encounter with the police does not die as a result of the interaction. Only way too many of them do.

But the other reason I'm still here, still living, still breathing, still remembering, is because I am a white female, not a black man. Of that, I have absolutely NO doubt. 

I have the privilege of being allowed to live, when I commit minor violations of the law. 

A significant number of people - fellow citizens, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and total strangers don't have that privilege.

George Floyd did not have that privilege. Eric Garner did not have that privilege. Philando Castile did not have that privilege. Amadou Diallo did not have that privilege. And dozens and dozens of other black men - and a lesser number of black women - did not have that privilege, and are dead because of it. 

They are dead because capital punishment is handed out not by a court of law, but by police officers. 

If you think it's OK that George Floyd and the others are dead at the hands of the police, you can't think it's OK that I'm still here. 

If you think it's OK that I'm still here, then you can't think it's OK that George Floyd and the others aren't. 

You can't have it both ways: Wish me dead, or be angry that they are. 

Sunday School 12/1/2019

A couple of the Democratic presidential candidates were in the classrooms today: Cory Booker with John Dickerson on Face the Nation on CBS, and Amy Klobuchar with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press and with Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union.

Here's what was on their minds, starting in NBC's classroom, where Chuck Todd wondered about impeachment, the upcoming Senate trial, and the campaign. She made it clear to him that she can do two things at a time - campaign on the issues, and uphold her constitutional duty as a senator. 

She also said that this behavior, to her, is "part of a bigger pattern" of Trump's, his betrayal of "the trust of the American people." She mentioned him putting his personal and private business interests and "partisan political interests" ahead of the country's interests - and tied that to why Democrats won in Louisiana and in Kentucky last month.

Todd wondered "do you fear, though, what he could do - how he would interpret a Senate acquittal?"

I have no idea what he will do. All I know is that we have an obligation to the country to lead, to have this proceeding conducted fairly, which I believe it has.

Todd asked her for a criticism of her campaign that resonated with her; she pointed to comments that she's not raised as much money as the other candidates. She agreed that's true, but pointed to gains since the last debate. And she said she'll never be able to "compete with two billionaires." Todd suggested she was "particularly insulted" by former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg getting into the race, in her lane.

Well, it is more about money in politics for me. I have admiration for the work that he's done, but I don't buy this argument that you get in because you say, "Oh, everyone else sucks." I just don't. I think we have strong candidates. 

In her conversation with Dana Bash, Klobuchar agreed it would be good to hear from administration folks (Mulvaney, Pompeo and Bolton)  in the impeachment inquiry, suggesting Trump let them testify, since he claims he wants them to, and that it might be possible to compel them to testify in the Senate trial. 

Bash noted that in New Hampshire, pretty much everyone she talked to was looking at Biden, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar, and asked if this was going to put her at a disadvantage if she's sitting in DC in the Senate trial instead of out on the campaign trail.

I meet whatever obstacle is put in front of me... But I have many people that are going to be out there for me if I can't leave for a few weeks. That includes my husband and daughter, who are excellent campaigners. But it also includes all of our endorsers. I have more endorsers of elected and former electeds in Iowa than anyone else.

Turning to Klobuchar's not being in favor of "sending rich kids to college for free" which has been attacked by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a "GOP talking point, Klobuchar noted the comment was directed at another candidate, but that she thinks others can be brought to this position.

Let us look at our economic needs and match them to our education system. And that means making it easier and more affordable for kids to go to college by doubling Pell Grants. That also means making loan repayments much easier. But what would I make free? The one- and two-year degrees. Why? Fastest growing area of jobs. We're not going to have a shortage of MBAs or CEOs.

Bash pushed on the GOP talking point argument, and Klobuchar disagreed, calling it a "talking point for our economy." Moving on, Bash asked about a new line in the stump speech, "We can't afford to screw this up." and asked what it meant.

...if Donald Trump gets elected, shame on us. I mean that we need to bring our party together and bring with us independents and moderate Republicans, just like I have done in all my races...where I have run in suburbs, rural, and in urban areas.

Bash wondered if it would be a screw-up if a less moderate candidate is the nominee. Klobuchar said "we need to put someone at the head of the ticket that can actually bring people with us." And, she's "the only one on that debate stage that has led a ticket over and over again" that has won by bringing in suburbs, rural areas, and urban areas. That kind of experience matters, Klobuchar said.

On discrimination, Klobuchar pointed out that she's not experienced discrimination like African-Americans have, with wages, for example, but that she knows what the answer is.

...economic justice and making sure we give opportunity to more people of color, and we give them the opportunity to go into those jobs that are so high-paying, like tech jobs. The second thing I know is, no one is going to get their rights if we shut them out from voting, which is why I have been a leader on voting rights from the very beginning. 

Moving on to Cory Booker's appearance on Face the Nation, John Dickerson asked about the senator's new campaign ad talking about love and unity, and wondered if that message wasn't selling.  Booker noted that it is, to some degree - he's got more endorsements from the local folks in Iowa and New Hampshire than the other candidates, and his favorables are up in Iowa as well - so, it's working but "it's not translating to people choosing me in the polls." 

But, he said, the reason he's running is because "the next president, especially after this person, has to be a healer." And he decried the "tribalism" we face.

We're hating each other because we vote differently and - and we're not going to be able to get the big things done that we need to get done, like facing down climate change, the health care crisis that still persists. You need new American majorities to get that. And you need a leader that can inspire the moral imagination of this country.

Dickerson noted that President Obama ran on a similar vision, but by the time it was over, he felt the Republicans "were not willing partners" and wondered if Obama couldn't do it then, how can Booker do it now, when things are even worse. He said we do need someone who can bring the 'Obama coalition' along and added

...when I took over a city that was known for crime and corruption... people told me all the things we could not do. And my - my frustration was hearing all these things that people said couldn't be done. It undermined. It sort of was like a surrender to cynicism that I think we have to resist. So I'm going to come to Washington and do things differently. I'm going to break norms like this president is doing to demean, degrade and divide--

"What norm are you going to break that's going to make this city, calcified as it is, suddenly break open in a group hug?" Dickerson asked. Booker said that wasn't what he's looking for, adding

But this is what frustrates me. The majority of Americans agree on common sense gun safety reform....on the need for massive infrastructure investment...that we need to raise the minimum wage. This is the frustrating thing - is that we have this wide berth on which we agree, so our politics is not reflecting the people. And that's what I'm going to change as the next president of the United States.

Referencing President Obama's comments a while back, that we're "not really ready for revolution" and that there's maybe too much change coming from some of the candidates, Dickerson asked, "if a Democrat is elected, it's going to be after four years of- of President Trump, where there's been a lot of excitement. Is the country going to be ready for a lot of Democratic version of excitement?"

...we need a inspiring, igniting leader next. Someone who can get folks energized... I'm here because of revolutions. The civil rights movement was a revolution...Seneca Falls was a revolution. But these are revolutions that are consistent and resonant with our founding ideals...This next revolution has to be one where we understand we have common cause...We've got to understand that we're all in this together.

The final question was about getting African-Americans motivated, getting them to the polls in record numbers, which Booker talked about at the last debate. Dickerson pointed out Biden has 49% of the African-American poll respondents, and he seems to be inspiring African-Americans. Booker noted that Biden's got 100% name recognition, and pointed out that Obama was behind Hillary Clinton with African-Americans - until he won Iowa. 

This race, most people have not made up their mind, and as a guy who has shown statistically in New Jersey when I'm on the ballot, surges in African-American vote, I am confident I'm the best person in this race - not to just get the percent of the African-American vote, but to increase the base, increase the turnout in a significant way. That's the kind of leader we're going to need on the ticket in the next election. 

That's where they left it, and we'll do the same.

See you around campus.

We Shall Overcome, If We Want To

The eleven innocent victims of Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue shooting have been laid to rest, as has the first of the two lesser-known victims of the Kroger shooting in Jeffersontown, Kentucky; the second is being buried today.

For those of you who may have missed the Kentucky shooting, the victims died from multiple gunshot wounds, shot by a man who later allegedly said to someone in the parking lot, "Don't shoot me. Whites don't shoot whites."

We've learned that before the brazen murders at the grocery store, the suspect apparently tried to enter a predominantly black church. One of the reasons he wasn't able to get into the church was because significant security upgrades were made after the murders at Mother Emanuel in Charleston back in 2015. Cameras. Automatic door locks. That kind of thing.

Robin Young, co-host of Here and Now on NPR, has an interview with Billy Williams, a staff members of the First Baptist Church - it's well worth a listen. You can feel the emotion in this account: what if the shooter had come during a service, when the doors are unlocked? What if I had been here and opened the door when he tried to get in? How do we heal, having lost a parishioner in the shooting?  How do we help, now?

It's not your fault if you didn't hear much about this one. We certainly didn't see the president tweeting about these two innocent Americans. They're not on his radar, and I don't think I'm wrong in saying that they're never going to be: they were killed by a white man, not by a brown-skinned immigrant or gang member. They were black folks in their 60s, not white schoolgirls on Long Island or college age young women from California of the Midwest. Maurice Stallard and Vickie Jones simply don't fit his narrative. He knows it, and we all know it.

Certainly the scope of these two shootings is vastly different, even though they have the common denominator of hate as a root cause. The shock of what happened in Pittsburgh - 11 Jewish victims, one a 97 year old Holocaust survivor; a synagogue literally (not just Joe Biden literally) in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, for Pete's sake. We handled the vandalism at cemeteries and bomb threats at Jewish organizations and schools (including multiple incidents at the JCC in my area) pretty well, and moved quickly past those, but this? This knocked us off our feet.

We thought we had expressed enough collective rage and outrage over the shootings and loss of life in Charleston; we expressed more after the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas back in 2017, although that had no racial or religious motive; and now we offer up more rage and outrage on behalf of the victims at Tree of Life.

Flags were ordered lowered to half mast in honor of those lost in Pittsburgh, as happened in honor of those lost in Sutherland Springs. No similar respect was ordered for the Kroger victims. It would have been respectful, but I don't think it's necessary.

We have a problem in America - well, several, if we're honest with ourselves and each other, including a gun problem.  And before you yell at me, I included that link not to make this about guns, but because that post touches on a lot of other things we do to exacerbate the problems that guns in the wrong hands create.

But it's bigger than the weapon - it's the weaponizing of hate, the purposeful weaponizing of hate, that we really need to solve. And that requires admitting we do it; calling out those who purposely fan the flames; refusing to accept their denials; and individually committing to making it stop.

Lowering flags for a couple of days is one thing. Lifting up hearts and filling them with love for those lost, for their families, their churches and synagogues, and for all of us, that we find a way to end the hate, is not limited to a Presidential Order time frame. It will long outlast that act, if we do it right.

And we can do it right, if we want to. We just have to want to.

Quick Takes (v25): A New Scarlet Letter?

Another day, and more reports of Americans being harassed by patriotic fellow citizens, or by law enforcement officers, for being black or for looking or sounding less than American.

I could try and recap some of these incidents for you, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to let Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tell you.

It’s hardly news that people of color are continually harassed, but what’s been making the news lately is the frequency with which upwardly mobile, middle-class people of color are being targeted. From the two black men waiting for a friend at a Philadelphia Starbucks, to a black Yale graduate student napping in her dorm’s common room, to three black women facing down seven cop cars and a helicopter as they checked out out of an Airbnb house they were renting, the victims’ faces on the news are not just the hoodied street thugs that white America expects and can then dismiss. 

Here's another recent example, again involving a law enforcement officer, except this time the people of color are two women of Hispanic heritage buying groceries. One was born in Texas, the other is from California.

Two American citizens were at a convenience store in Havre, a town in northern Montana. They were speaking Spanish - the horror! - and were overheard by a Border Patrol agent. Speaking Spanish was enough of a scary thing that he decided he needed to determine whether they were legally in the United States because You can check out the local news story, and a video of the officer explaining he reasoning, here.

You hear the agent deny racial profiling; it's just that in Montana you don't get a lot of people wandering around speaking Spanish, that's all. And you can say he was just doing his job, I suppose.

But would he have asked my and my husband for our ID if we were in the convenience store buying eggs and milk at midnight, chatting in English? Of course not. And probably not if we were speaking any other of the predominantly white European languages. At least, he didn't say he would; it would have made for an interesting clarification, I think.

Here's another example, this time from right here in Syracuse. Border Patrol agents randomly questioned people on an Amtrak train if they were citizens. I say randomly because, according to a person of color who was questioned, the white people were randomly excluded from questioning. And I have no reason to doubt that account, because it's similar to so many others.

Why would the Border Patrol be questioning people on a train in Syracuse?  Well, we snuck into the 100-miles-of-a-border range, by a mere three miles. Actually, that's the 'how' not the why, right? How they're able to do this is because we're 97 miles away from the Canadian Border. Why they were doing it, well, that's another question, I think.

Is speaking (or maybe just looking) Spanish really enough of a reason to ask someone for their papers? Is being black enough of a reason to call the police on someone? Apparently, in our presidentially-enhanced, hyper-racial, hyper-patriotic, hyper-MAGA society, the answer is yes.

We once had the fictional scarlet letter, signifying an adulterous relationship. Now, it seems, we have a have a letter of a different color - any color (other than white, of course) for American people of color to wear. 

Wondering on Wednesday (v127)

So, what are we wondering about tonight?

Well, let's see.  How about the president's reading comprehension skills? Seems the president thinks that former Vice President Joe Biden is threatening him. Take a look:

So, you wondering what's going on here? Well, back during the campaign Grandpa Joe took exception to Trump's Access Hollywood comments, and said basically if they were back in high school and Trump had said something like that in front of Biden's sister, Joe would have taken him out behind the gym. If they were in high school. Which would have been what, 55 or 60 some odd years ago?  

I know you must be wondering about this - 37% of people responding to a Public Policy Polling survey think Grandpa Joe would win this fight; 32% think the current resident of the White House would win, and 30% don't have an opinion on this one. 

Moving on to other important subjects, Walmart will cleanse the checkout aisles of their 5,000+ stores and move copies of Cosmo to the magazine aisle, which it sounds like could be anywhere in their stores.

Why the move, I wonder?

Walmart, in s statement, acknowledged that "the concerns raised were heard" but said that its decision stemmed from business reasons.

"As with all products in our store, we continue to evaluate our assortment and make changes," the statement said. When asked for further comment, Walmart indicated that there are a number of factors it evaluates when making in-store placement decisions, including customer feedback and sales data.  

Nevertheless, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, an advocacy group that has campaigned against what it calls Cosmopolitan's "hyper-sexualized and sexually objectifying" content, took some credit for the move on Tuesday, citing its "collaborative dialogue" with Walmart.

"This is what real change looks like in our #MeToo culture," said Dawn Hawkins, the group's executive director, in a statement. 

Now, there any number of legitimate reasons why a store might not want Cosmo in the checkout line, but I'm not sure the #MeToo movement is one of them. In the context of "no woman deserves to be sexually harassed, abused or victimized" I wonder if moving a magazine that focuses on empowering women to own their sexuality the way they want to, dress the way they want to, and so on, doesn't have a feel of victim-blaming? It might not have been intended that way, but still...

Staying with Walmart for just a second longer, I missed this story when it broke in January and only recently came across it, reading that a customer is suing the retail giant for racial bias.  Essie Grundy was shopping for a comb, only to find it locked in a cabinet - along with all of the other hair care products used by African American men and women.

We're sensitive to this situation and also understand, like other retailers, that some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products are subject to additional security. Those determinations are made on a store-by-store basis using data supporting the need for heightened measures.

I wonder whether this will have an impact on their bottom line, and if yes, in which direction?

Moving on, Remington, a gun company founded in New York over 200 years ago, has filed for bankruptcy and has secured loans that will help it continue manufacturing while they try and get their house in order.

If you're wondering whether fears of gun control changes have anything to do with the decision, the answer is no: it's actually the opposite.

Gun companies experienced record sales during the Obama administration, driven by fears among gun consumers of more restrictive gun control. But these fears largely faded, along with sales and profits, since the 2016 election of Trump, a Republican endorsed by the National Rifle Association.

So, let's review: the pro-job, pro-2nd Amendment president is the reason a 200+ year old American company is sort of on life support?  Interesting -- very interesting.

And finally, this Wednesday, in case you're wondering, Jared Kushner still has a job. And he may or may have been or is being investigated, but it doesn't matter because it's all good.

Wondering on Wednesday (v96)

Remember all those times president Trump told us we needed to come together?  

Here's one example, from his victory speech back in November:

Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division - have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one unified people.

I've heard similar from friends, acquaintances, and total strangers on social media posts, typically including sentences referencing one or more of these sentiments:

We need to come together behind the president... Whether he was our guy or not, we need to get behind him and support him... We need to put aside our differences for the good of the country... He wants to unify everyone... Stop being so divisive... Everyone will be fine, no one has anything to fear... We need to unify...

Personally, I haven't seen a lot from the president or any of his supporters that shows he's really trying to bring us together. Do you wonder, is it my dislike for him that prevents me from seeing it, or is it really that he's not showing it?

I mean, take a look at proclamations he made just for the month of June.

There was the announcement of National Homeownership Month:

...I am committed to helping hard-working Americans become homeowners. As part of my administration's plan to strengthen the middle class and the American housing marker, I am working with Congress on a pro-growth agenda of reducing rules and regulations, cutting taxes, and eliminating unnecessary government spending. These policies will unshackle our economy and create and sustain high-paying jobs so that more Americans have the resources and freedom they deserve to fulfill their American Dream.

And there was the announcement of National Ocean Month:

...Thirty-four years ago, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the creation of the US Exclusive Economic Zone, making clear America's sovereign right to explore, exploit, conserve and manage ocean resources extending 200 nautical miles from our shores. This is the world's largest Exclusive Economic Zone, spanning more than 3.r million square nautical miles, an area larger than the combined landmass of all 50 states. We must recognize the importance of our offshore areas to our security and economic independence, all the while protecting the marine environment for present and future generations.

 And there was National African-American Music Appreciation Month:

...The contributions of (Chuck) Berry, (Dizzie) Gillespie, (Ella) Fitzgerald, and other African-American musicians shine as examples of how music can bring us together. These musicians also remind us of our humanity and our power to overcome. They expressed the soul of blues, gospel and rock and roll, which has so often captured the hardships of racism and injustices suffered by African Americans, as well as daily joys and celebrations. Their work highlights the power music has to channel the human experience, and they remain a testament to the resilience of all freedom-loving people. We are grateful for their contributions to the canon of great American art. 

There was National Caribbean-American Heritage Month:

...Throughout our history, Caribbean Americans have helped create and maintain the strength and independence of our Nation. Alexander Hamilton, who came from poverty in Nevis, was a key contributor to our Constitution and the first Secretary of the Treasury, helping to establish our modern financial system and to create the United States Coast Guard.  Every day, Caribbean Americans help make America more prosperous and secure. Our Nation is particularly grateful to the many Caribbean Americans who have served and are currently serving in our Armed Forces. Today, more than four million Caribbean Americans live in the United State and contribute to a vibrant culture that enriches our Nation.

Finally, there was Great Outdoors Month:

...Whether your great outdoors means a community park, a state reservoir, a national forest, or a backyard campout, we must cherish our outdoor spaces and work to preserve them for generations. This is why, as president, I am working to bring leaders throughout the country together to improve management of our vitally important public lands, especially through public-private partnerships to help clear the backlog of deferred maintenance. 

Presumably, the proclamations he made were worthy, even for a president who seems dead-set on tapping "public-private partnerships" to get every last drop of oil, fume of natural gas, and ounce of minerals out of our public lands, both onshore and off.

But I wonder, how is he bringing everyone together, when he told us how he'd be "better for the gays" and then ignores Pride Month?

And I wonder, how is he bringing us together, and honoring the heritage of African Americans "more and more" by refusing to speak to the NAACP again this year?