racism then and now essay

Systemic racism and America today

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June 11, 2020

Unaddressed systemic racism is, in my mind, the most important issue in the United States today. And it has been so since before the founding of our nation.

Slavery was America’s “original sin.” It was not solved by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, nor was it resolved by the horrendous conflict that was of the American Civil War. It simply changed its odious form and continued the generational enslavement of an entire strata of American society. In turn, the Civil Rights Movement struck a mighty blow against racism in America, and our souls soared when Dr. King told us he had a dream. But we were and still are far from the “promised land.” And even when America rose up to elect its first Black President, Barack Obama, we may indeed have lost ground as a collective nation along the way.

That is our legacy as Americans, and in many ways, the most hateful remnants of slavery persist in the U.S. today in the form of systemic racism baked into nearly every aspect of our society and who we are as a people. Indeed, for those tracing their heritage to countries outside of Western Europe, or for those with a non-Christian belief system, that undeniable truth often impacts every aspect of who you are as a person, in one form or another.

The reality of this history has been on stark display in recent weeks. From the terrible killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, to the countless, untold acts of racism that take place every day across America, these are the issues that are defining the moment—just as our response will define who we are and will be in the 21st century and beyond. Truly, the very nature of our “national soul” is at stake, and we all have a deep responsibility to be a part of the solution.

For us at Brookings, race, racism, equality, and equity are now matters of presidential priority. Addressing systemic racism is a key component of those efforts, with research also focusing on the Latino and Native American communities; faith-based communities, including our Jewish and Muslim communities; and the threat of white supremacy and domestic terrorism also playing a major role. It will also include work on the important need for comprehensive police reform, to include reform rooted in local community engagement and empowerment. We will not solve systemic racism and inequality over-night, and we have so much work ahead. But in a world where we often spend more time debating the nature of our problems than taking meaningful action, we must find ways to contribute however we can and to move forward as a community.

I firmly believe that we as Americans cannot remain silent about injustice. Inaction is simply unacceptable, and we have to stand up and speak out. And if our elected representatives and our elected leadership deny the problem, and refuse to act, then we must take on the responsibility of reform from the bottom up with special attention at the ballot box.

And especially for those Americans who may look like me – a white American male – or come from a similar background, action begins with reflection, and most importantly listening. It’s also about elevating and supporting the voices of those traditionally underrepresented, or even silenced, throughout society. How We Rise is an absolutely critical part of that solution.

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Jamala Rogers (left) and Tef Poe were among the panelists to discuss “Generations of Struggle: St. Louis from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter.”

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Civil rights, then and now

John Laidler

Harvard Correspondent

Through the prism of St. Louis and Ferguson, panel discusses how the movement has evolved, and where it endures

Their tones and tactics may vary, but African-American civil rights activists from different generations share plenty of common ground in their efforts to confront continuing racism across American society, speakers told a Harvard forum.

That sentiment was an overriding theme in the panel discussion on changing dynamics in the fight for black equality held Thursday at CGIS South, and presented by the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History with support from the Hiphop Archive & Research Institute .

“We’ve got to air out the differences — that’s important. But our similarities in this case are a lot more important than our differences,” said panelist George Lipsitz, a professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Providing introductions at the session were the center’s director, Walter Johnson, Winthrop Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, and Elizabeth Hinton, assistant professor of history and of African and African American Studies.

The discussion among three St. Louis civil rights leaders and two professors came amid surging protests nationwide against police killings of unarmed black people. Although focused on the half-century struggle for black rights in that racially divided city, the forum also touched on broader themes in the Civil Rights Movement, including some generational tensions over the more aggressive approach to change taken by some younger leaders.

Among the panelists was the rapper Tef Poe, who gained recognition last year for his widely publicized comment that this “is not your father’s Civil Rights Movement.”

A co-founder of HandsUpUnited, a protest group organized after Michael Brown was fatally shot by a policeman in Ferguson, Mo., Poe said his comment was aimed at the firm resistance the black community needed to show in response police violence.

“In St. Louis, when police kill someone of color, it’s very aggressive at the [protest] scene, and a lot of us don’t shy from the fact that it’s aggressive,” he said. “I want it to be aggressive … I want you to know that if you are going to come to one of these communities where there’s black folks and you are going to pull your gun out and you are going to shoot, you will be met with resistance.

“All too often, we’ve been told that change happens in increments … That’s fine,” Poe said. “But we are in the midst of what we are describing as a war … I can’t allow you to come in our neighborhood with a full militarized force.”

Jamala Rogers, a veteran activist who was also involved in the Ferguson protests, said activists from different generations were socialized differently.

“We know there are particularities about how we see the world and how we see the struggle,” said Rogers, whose past leadership work has included co-founding the Organization for Black Struggle. She said it was important to air those differences and for younger activists to learn from the movement’s past strengths and weaknesses.

“And we need not to be devaluing … the worth of young people,” Rogers added. “They bring a lot of energy.”

Lipsitz said there were benefits to having “different ways of solving problems.” He said each generation of black activists has in common its participation in a unique centuries-long struggle.

Percy Green II, a civil rights activist for more than half a century who has been arrested more than 100 times during protests, said civil disobedience remains an important tool to sustaining the movement.

“I might do certain things that move you a little out of your comfort zone. But it’s only when you have moved out of your comfort zone that you pay a little bit more attention to the event,” said Green, a founder of the St. Louis organization ACTION.

Poe said that those who want to work for change need to be serious about their commitment. “It’s not easy. You will have to sacrifice,” he said. “But if you really believe this is life or death, what are you going to do about it?”

Robin D.G. Kelley, a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, praised Rogers and others who kept the Civil Rights Movement going during the decades when it appeared to have lost steam. He said such recognition avoids the misconception that “every movement, every eruption is a complete break.”

Kelley also saluted those behind the Ferguson protests, observing, “The sustained level of resistance was so high it became almost ground zero for the struggles around the country, if not the world.”

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What is racism?

What are some of the societal aspects of racism, what were the measures taken to combat racism.

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racially restricted beach in apartheid-era South Africa

Racism, also called racialism, is the belief that humans can be divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races"; that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and traits of personality, intellect, morality, and other cultural and behavioral features; and that some races are innately superior to others.

Historically, the practice of racism held that members of low-status races should be limited to low-status jobs or enslavement and be excluded from access to political power, economic resources, and unrestricted civil rights. Members of low-status races could encounter segregation, acts of physical violence, and in some places, racism dictated that it was unnatural for members of different races to marry.

Racism elicits hatred and distrust and precludes any attempt to understand its victims. Many societies attempt to combat racism by raising awareness of racist beliefs and practices and by promoting human understanding in public policies, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, set forth by the United Nations in 1948.

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racism , the belief that humans may be divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races”; that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and traits of personality, intellect, morality , and other cultural and behavioral features; and that some races are innately superior to others. The term is also applied to political, economic, or legal institutions and systems that engage in or perpetuate discrimination on the basis of race or otherwise reinforce racial inequalities in wealth and income, education , health care, civil rights, and other areas. Such institutional, structural, or systemic racism became a particular focus of scholarly investigation in the 1980s with the emergence of critical race theory , an offshoot of the critical legal studies movement. Since the late 20th century the notion of biological race has been recognized as a cultural invention, entirely without scientific basis.

Following Germany’s defeat in World War I , that country’s deeply ingrained anti-Semitism was successfully exploited by the Nazi Party , which seized power in 1933 and implemented policies of systematic discrimination, persecution, and eventual mass murder of Jews in Germany and in the territories occupied by the country during World War II ( see Holocaust ).

Martin Luther King, Jr. (center), with other civil rights supporters lock arms on as they lead the way along Constitution Avenue during the March on Washington, Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.

In North America and apartheid -era South Africa , racism dictated that different races (chiefly blacks and whites) should be segregated from one another; that they should have their own distinct communities and develop their own institutions such as churches, schools, and hospitals; and that it was unnatural for members of different races to marry .

Historically, those who openly professed or practiced racism held that members of low-status races should be limited to low-status jobs and that members of the dominant race should have exclusive access to political power, economic resources, high-status jobs, and unrestricted civil rights . The lived experience of racism for members of low-status races includes acts of physical violence , daily insults, and frequent acts and verbal expressions of contempt and disrespect, all of which have profound effects on self-esteem and social relationships.

Racism was at the heart of North American slavery and the colonization and empire-building activities of western Europeans, especially in the 18th century. The idea of race was invented to magnify the differences between people of European origin and those of African descent whose ancestors had been involuntarily enslaved and transported to the Americas. By characterizing Africans and their African American descendants as lesser human beings, the proponents of slavery attempted to justify and maintain the system of exploitation while portraying the United States as a bastion and champion of human freedom, with human rights , democratic institutions, unlimited opportunities, and equality. The contradiction between slavery and the ideology of human equality, accompanying a philosophy of human freedom and dignity, seemed to demand the dehumanization of those enslaved.

By the 19th century, racism had matured and spread around the world. In many countries, leaders began to think of the ethnic components of their own societies, usually religious or language groups, in racial terms and to designate “higher” and “lower” races. Those seen as the low-status races, especially in colonized areas, were exploited for their labour, and discrimination against them became a common pattern in many areas of the world. The expressions and feelings of racial superiority that accompanied colonialism generated resentment and hostility from those who were colonized and exploited, feelings that continued even after independence.

Since the mid-20th century many conflicts around the world have been interpreted in racial terms even though their origins were in the ethnic hostilities that have long characterized many human societies (e.g., Arabs and Jews, English and Irish). Racism reflects an acceptance of the deepest forms and degrees of divisiveness and carries the implication that differences between groups are so great that they cannot be transcended .

Racism elicits hatred and distrust and precludes any attempt to understand its victims. For that reason, most human societies have concluded that racism is wrong, at least in principle, and social trends have moved away from racism. Many societies have begun to combat racism by raising awareness of racist beliefs and practices and by promoting human understanding in public policies, as does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , set forth by the United Nations in 1948.

In the United States, racism came under increasing attack during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s, and laws and social policies that enforced racial segregation and permitted racial discrimination against African Americans were gradually eliminated. Laws aimed at limiting the voting power of racial minorities were invalidated by the Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) to the U.S. Constitution , which prohibited poll taxes , and by the federal Voting Rights Act (1965), which required jurisdictions with a history of voter suppression to obtain federal approval (“preclearance”) of any proposed changes to their voting laws (the preclearance requirement was effectively removed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 [ see Shelby County v. Holder ]). By 2020 nearly three-quarters of the states had adopted varying forms of voter ID law , by which would-be voters were required or requested to present certain forms of identification before casting a ballot. Critics of the laws, some of which were successfully challenged in the courts, contended that they effectively suppressed voting among African Americans and other demographic groups. Other measures that tended to limit voting by African Americans were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders , partisan gerrymanders aimed at limiting the number of Democratic representatives in state legislatures and Congress, the closing of polling stations in African American or Democratic-leaning neighbourhoods, restrictions on the use of mail-in and absentee ballots, limits on early voting, and purges of voter rolls.

Despite constitutional and legal measures aimed at protecting the rights of racial minorities in the United States, the private beliefs and practices of many Americans remained racist, and some group of assumed lower status was often made a scapegoat. That tendency has persisted well into the 21st century.

Because, in the popular mind, “race” is linked to physical differences among peoples, and such features as dark skin colour have been seen as markers of low status, some experts believe that racism may be difficult to eradicate . Indeed, minds cannot be changed by laws, but beliefs about human differences can and do change, as do all cultural elements.

Racism, bias, and discrimination

collage of Black man in wheelchair, Asian American mother and daughter, and Black woman holding a rainbow flag

Racism is a form of prejudice that generally includes negative emotional reactions to members of a group, acceptance of negative stereotypes, and racial discrimination against individuals; in some cases it can lead to violence.

Discrimination refers to the differential treatment of different age, gender, racial, ethnic, religious, national, ability identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic, and other groups at the individual level and the institutional/structural level. Discrimination is usually the behavioral manifestation of prejudice and involves negative, hostile, and injurious treatment of members of rejected groups.

Adapted from the APA Dictionary of Psychology

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APA Services advocates for the equal treatment of people of all races, religions, and ethnicities, as well as funding for federal programs that address health disparities in these groups.

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APA’s commitment to addressing systemic racism

APA’s action plan for addressing inequality

APA’s apology to people of color in the U.S.

Confronting past wrongs and building an equitable future

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Protecting and Defending our People: Nakni tushka anowa (The Warrior’s Path) Final Report (PDF, 8.64MB) APA Division 45 Warrior’s Path Presidential Task Force (2020)
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Society of Counseling Psychology (APA Division 17) Social justice resources
Talking About Race | National Museum of African American History and Culture Tools and guidance for discussions of race
InnoPsych therapists of color search

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Digital Commons @ USF > Honors College > Honors Theses > 209

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

Racism: then and now.

Rain Christi

First Advisor

Dr. Christina Salnaitis

Second Advisor

Dr. Deby Cassill

University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Document Type

Date available, publication date.

History represents a strong correlation between an empire’s rise to power and the oppression of indigenous people. In fact, slavery dates back to earliest recorded history. Many stories of the struggles of oppressed peoples have not yet reached widespread awareness in today’s culture. The purpose of this compilation is to represent the history of racism; to cover the basics of the Civil Rights Movement and what it accomplished. Furthermore, this study will take a look at the current status of racism in the United States. Many perspectives will be entertained, including historical accounts of slavery and genocide, the power of music in culture and biological points of view. There are many ideas on racism, what the center of the problem is, and how it may be resolved. What is racism? The media’s voice has been heard. The government’s statement has been made. What does America have to say? Fifty participants were randomly chosen to answer five questions on film along with a written questionnaire to represent demographics. The filmed portion of the interviews was turned into a documentary meant to accompany the empirical data collected. The conclusion of this study finds that “racism” has social, biological and psychological implications. Division of the human race serves those who are interested in power struggles and classism serves to keep the lower classes oppressed. Equal access to resources and education can level the playing field.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University Honors Program University of South Florida, St. Petersburg

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Christi, Rain, "Racism: Then and Now" (2015). USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate). https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/honorstheses/209

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George Takei on Standing Up to Racism, Then and Now

Posted by Kaitlin Smith on May 21, 2020

George Takei and the cover of his book, They Called Us Enemy (2019)

Below is an excerpt from Takei’s remarks that speaks to his family’s experience of incarceration during the war:

“When I was five years old, I was categorized as an enemy alien by my own country: the United States of America. But I wasn’t an enemy, I was a five-year-old kid. And I wasn’t an alien, I was an American born in Los Angeles to a mother who was born in Sacramento, California. My father was born in Japan but he was brought to San Francisco when he was a young boy, and he was reared and educated in San Francisco. And yet, because we looked like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor, we were seen as the enemy and as aliens.

There was war hysteria that swept across the country combined with racism…. [President Roosevelt] was swept up in the fear and hysteria and he signed Executive Order 9066 which ordered all Japanese Americans on the West Coast...to be rounded up and put in barbed-wire prison camps in ten of the most desolate places in the country. I remember that day. It was a terrifying day...

We saw two soldiers marching up our driveway carrying rifles with shiny bayonets on them and, with their fists, began pounding on the front door… My father answered the door and, literally at gunpoint, we were ordered out of our home… We were taken from our home to the horse stables of Santa Anita Horse Track, and we were assigned a smelly horse stall to live in while the camps were being built. And so that was the beginning of a chapter of American history that I lived through from the age of five until eight years old, the duration of the war...

Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-American young people, like all young Americans, rushed to their recruitment centers to volunteer to serve in the U.S. Military. This was an act of patriotism which was answered with a slap on the face. They were denied military service and categorized as enemy aliens⁠—and they were imprisoned. But a year into imprisonment, the government realized there was a wartime manpower shortage and there were all these young people that they could have had but had been categorized as enemy aliens. They wanted to draft us, but how to justify drafting enemy aliens out of a barbed-wire concentration camp to serve in the U.S. military? Their solution was as outrageous and as cruel as the imprisonment itself. It was a series of questions, but two questions turned all ten camps into turmoil...

My parents were being asked to...abandon their children and bear arms to defend the nation that was imprisoning their children. It was outrageous and...an ignorantly put together loyalty questionnaire. My parents answered “no”...and, because of that, they were categorized as disloyal…. [We were then sent to] a high-security camp called The Segregation Camp which had three layers of barbed-wire fences and a half a dozen tanks patrolling the perimeter to goad and to terrorize the people who were there…”

Takei later distilled how these experiences informed what he came to learn about democracy and civic engagement from his father:

“I learned about American democracy from someone who suffered the most, who felt the pain of the failure of democracy the most, but who firmly believed in the core ideals of our democracy. He said ‘ours is a people’s democracy and the strength of our people’s democracy makes it great. The weakness of this democracy is the fallibility of human beings and even great people, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt…’ And he told me about democracy⁠—that it’s a participatory democracy. But I was a young teenager and would say ‘yeah but it was wrong, daddy. It was against our Constitution and against every ideal of our justice system.’ And so he said one Sunday afternoon, ‘let me show you how it’s got to work’...

We went to the Adlai Stevenson for President campaign headquarters. I knew about him from his speeches that I heard on the radio...and I knew about him from what my father told me but there I was with...young people, middle-age people, and old people committed to getting this man elected as President of the United States. And I understood...what a people’s democracy needs: we need to be actively participating. I owe my activism...to a very special man that I had as my father. He was the one who went through the most painful parts of the internment experience. But because he believes so firmly in the best ideals, the shining ideals of our democracy, he wanted to impart that to me… So I had my father’s good guidance and also got guidance from the people I worked with in the campaign. For me as a young, idealistic teenager, it was inspiring and it was fun. And so I became active in the political arena...

It’s so important that we understand that our democracy can be so fragile, as fragile as human fallibility. For the ideals to be alive, it requires our active participation. Young people, old people, and middle-age people that I saw at that campaign headquarters, all of us. And it’s going to be particularly important this year when we have a vitally important...election... There’s something more important than fear. We’ve got to rise above it.”

View George Takei’s conversation with Facing History here .

Facing History and Ourselves invites you to bear witness to Japanese American incarceration in your classroom using our array of relevant teaching resources .

Topics: Democracy , Japanese American Incarceration

Written by Kaitlin Smith

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Juneteenth: History and Healing

By Kenneth M. Koyle ~

Every year on June 19th we celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States, and the end to what is arguably the darkest period of our nation’s history. African people had been captured, enslaved, and transported to North America since the early 16th century. Slavery had been a contentious issue since America’s founding, with fierce debate and complicated compromises about the “peculiar institution” threatening to undermine the work of the Continental Congress. George Washington wrote in 1786 that:

“…there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of [slavery]; but there is only one proper and effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by Legislative authority.”

It would take almost 80 years, and another 15 presidential administrations, before that legislative authority was finally enacted.

By 1861 the issue of slavery had become so divisive in the United States that the nation went to war over it. At first the focus of the U.S. government was entirely on preserving the union, regardless of the impact on slavery in the states where it was still legal. As Abraham Lincoln famously said in 1862 :

“If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”

But even as he was making this statement it was clear that the Union could not be restored to its antebellum status. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation just a month later, and it became effective on January 1, 1863, freeing all slaves held in states in rebellion.

Emancipation Proclamation, 1862 National Library of Medicine #101653973 “…That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognise and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

Of course, the Emancipation Proclamation was a document of the United States government, and the Confederate states who had seceded from that government stood in opposition to it. Word of the proclamation spread slowly through the southern states, carried by Union soldiers as they fought through the territory. It would be two and a half long years, June 19, 1865, before Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with 2,000 Union troops and read General Order No. 3 , informing the people of Texas that slaves in the state were free, with “an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property.”

Handwritten text on lined paper dated June 19, 1865, stamped "War Records: Copied"

One year later, on June 19, 1866, the first Juneteenth commemoration was held at Emancipation Park, on land in Houston that had been purchased by newly free African Americans.

A photograph of four well-dressed Black men and two Black women posed in a park, with horses and carriages in the background.

While emancipation meant freedom for hundreds of thousands of enslaved people throughout the south, it also opened a new chapter in the struggle of Black Americans that persists to this day. Freedom did not convey equality, and pervasive racism made it virtually impossible for the emancipated population to obtain the basic necessities of life, like reliable healthcare. During the Civil War the U.S. government established Freedmen’s Hospitals to provide care in Union-occupied cities throughout the south including Memphis, Tennessee and Joplin, Missouri. In 1863 General Oliver Otis Howard established the Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, DC , which still exists as the Howard University Hospital.

A postcard with a photograph of a large, urban, colonial brick building with a five story wing and a front lawn.

Despite the emergence of hospitals and a Freedmen’s Bureau dedicated to caring for Black Americans, racist policies in most medical schools meant that there were too few Black doctors to care for the population, and too few White doctors were willing to care for Black patients. Health disparities persisted and grew throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and structural racism and discrimination has been an ever-present problem throughout our history.

In recent years the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health have focused energy and resources on reducing health disparities and improving health equity . NIH established the Office of Minority Programs in 1990 under the guidance of then Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Louis Sullivan . The office sponsored conferences and funded several prominent research initiatives. It was expanded first into the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) in 2000, then into the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) in 2010. Today NIMHD funds both intramural and extramural research to better understand minority health and reduce health disparities, they collaborate with partners across NIH ( including NLM ), and they conduct education and outreach programs to expand the scientific knowledge base and disseminate research findings and health information.

Many states have observed Juneteenth in various forms for more than 40 years, and President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a national holiday on June 17, 2021. This Juneteenth, as we celebrate how far we have come since Major General Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation to the people of Texas in 1865, we must also recognize how much is left to do and set ourselves to the work of finally completing the emancipation by eliminating structural racism and ensuring health equity for all . There is so much work to do, but there is reason for optimism with the emergence of institutions ready to meet the challenge.

Formal portrait of a white man in a suit.

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Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now Essay

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Any kind of injustice would surely disadvantage other people. When a lady is afraid to cross an alley because a Black man is standing near it or when a White policeman is stopping to check a car because the driver was a Black woman, there is always a tinge of injustice that outshines the goodwill towards other people. We come to think of how could these people have these predisposed notions about other people when their only difference is just their skin color. Indeed, racism is a societal malady that still eats up people’s minds and hearts by throwing away the essence of our differences. Racism usually results in a belief that one’s own race is superior and this is entirely caused by the human tendency to form stereotypes that are usually exaggerated characterizations based on appearance, personality, culture, and even behavior of other people.

During the 1960s, racism caused a deep wound in American history that is forever marked in the minds of all Americans. It was 1955 when a black dressmaker named Rosa Parks did not agree to provide her seat to a White man in Montgomery, Alabama. Considered as a grave offense, Parks was put in jail until she was rescued by E.D. Nixon, who was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Triggered by an outpour of emotions on how Mrs. Parks was treated, Nixon initiated a move to call all Black citizens into boycotting the unfair measures of Montgomery’s bus system. The unwarranted triumph made during the Montgomery bus boycott was a non-violent demonstration to lash out the iniquities of racial integration while getting national attention about the real score about how American civil rights are unfair to colored people.

Also, during the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a prime mover for escalating the call for equal rights. After the Montgomery incident, King led two massive racial protests in the 1960s that pushed the government to come up with major civil rights bills. With Martin Luther King’s protests, Congress was forced to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned racial discrimination in public places. Also, the past US president Lyndon Johnson supported the demand for nondiscrimination by issuing Executive Order 11246. The racism issue had turned around the federal employment rules. Equal worker rights have been implemented in the workforces of private firms. The words of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave discreteness and concreteness to the constitutional guarantee of “the equal protection of the laws.”

Although present-day Black people enjoy the same rights as their White counterparts, racism still exists within our midst via racial profiling. Also called “driving while black” (DWB), racial profiling practices by the police deeply undermine basic civil rights. Racial profiling is an unjust practice of pre-textual traffic stops. This unravels the belief that the police are not only unfair and biased, but untruthful as well. Each pre-textual traffic stop involves an untruth, and both the officer and the driver recognize this. We all know that the alleged traffic violation is not the real reason that the officer has stopped the driver. Everything becomes clear when the police will interrogate the driver if he or she is carrying drugs or guns.

This is the time the police will undertake the real mission of searching the car for suspicious items. Thus, racial profiling is another form of racism that wields prejudice against Black males. The law officers might capture some felons who are guilty, but this tactic has an unacceptably high societal cost. The perception that some police officers are engaging in racial profiling has created resentment and distrust among the police force, particularly in communities of color. Communities appreciate the benefits of community enforcers in reducing crime, but they also believe that truly effective crime prevention will only be achieved when police both protect their neighborhoods from crime and respect the civil liberties of all residents. When law enforcement practices are perceived to be biassed, unfair, or disrespectful, communities of color are less willing to trust and confide in police officers, report crimes, participate in problem-solving activities, be witnesses at trials, or serve on juries.

Indeed, racism is a grave form of injustice that threatens goodwill towards other people. We all need to reflect on the lessons of the past to be able to move on in the future. As Martin Luther taught Americans how to frown upon racism, we should all embrace the full arm’s length of celebrating everyone’s diversity. We all are human beings and we need not discriminate against each other just because we look different. We can all live in harmony, only if we shake away our pre-conceived thoughts about people. By keeping our tolerance at bay and learning to respect each other’s culture, traditions, behavior, and even nuances, American society will soon reap the benefits of a safer community that is free of hatred towards other people. Racism should be a thing of the past, but people should still be vigilant about it in the future. Unless everyone would be brave enough to face the realities of racism, this injustice will not cease and people will always experience being discriminated against.

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IvyPanda. (2021, September 28). Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-and-civil-rights-then-and-now/

"Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now." IvyPanda , 28 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/racism-and-civil-rights-then-and-now/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now'. 28 September.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now." September 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-and-civil-rights-then-and-now/.

1. IvyPanda . "Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now." September 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-and-civil-rights-then-and-now/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Racism and Civil Rights: Then and Now." September 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-and-civil-rights-then-and-now/.

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Racism and the Second Amendment (with Carol Anderson)

What are the origins of the Second Amendment? And what can America’s painful racial history illuminate about our national relationship to guns?

On this special Live Taping of Now & Then, Heather and Joanne talk to Carol Anderson, professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America .

The trio discuss how the recent spate of mass shootings — and Supreme Court decisions striking down gun control measures in liberal-leaning cities and states — echo the longstanding inequalities embedded in American gun ownership.

Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. Head to: cafe.com/history

For more historical analysis of current events, sign up for the free weekly CAFE Brief newsletter, featuring Time Machine , a weekly article that dives into an historical event inspired by each episode of Now & Then: cafe.com/brief

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Editorial Producer: David Kurlander; Audio Producer: Matthew Billy; Theme Music: Nat Weiner; CAFE Team: Adam Waller, David Tatasciore, Sam Ozer-Staton, Noa Azulai, and Jake Kaplan. Now & Then is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

Carol Anderson, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America , Bloomsbury , 6/1/2021
Carol Anderson, One Person No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy , Bloomsbury , 9/11/2018
Carol Anderson, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide , Bloomsbury, 5/31/2016
Previous Live Show with Carol Anderson: “Votings Rights: The Big Picture,” CAFE, 10/21/2022

ORIGINS OF THE SECOND

Dave Davies and Carol Anderson, “Historian Uncovers The Racist Roots Of The 2nd Amendment,” NPR , 6/2/2021
German Lopez, “Philando Castile Minnesota police shooting: officer cleared of manslaughter charge,” Vox.com , 6/16/2017
Paul Finkelman, “‘A Well-Regulated Militia’: The Second Amendment in Historical Perspective,” Chicago-Kent Law Review , 10/2000
Patrick Henry, “Speech Delivered at the Virginia Convention Debate of the Ratification of the Constitution,” Teaching American History , 6/7/1788
Rob Orrison, “Militia, Minutemen, and Continentals: The American Military Force in the American Revolution,” American Battlefield Trust , 4/30/2021

BAD HISTORY

District of Columbia v. Heller, Oyez , 6/26/2008
McDonald v. Chicago, Oyez , 6/28/2018
Noah Shusterman, “Why Heller is Such Bad History,” Duke Center for Firearms Law , 10/7/2020
John Paul Stevens, “The Supreme Court’s Worst Decision of My Tenure,” The Atlantic , 5/14/2019
Carl Schurz, “Report on the Condition of the South,” W.W. Norton , 1865
Danny Lewis, “The 1873 Colfax Massacre Crippled the Reconstruction Era,” Smithsonian Magazine , 4/13/2016

RACE AND GUNS TODAY

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, Oyez , 6/23/2022
Jeannine Amber, “In Her Own Words: Marissa Alexander Tells Her Story,” Essence , 10/27/2020
Nicquel Terry Ellis, “Texas governor citing Chicago violence was a ‘racist’ deflection, leaders and experts say,” CNN , 5/26/2022
Patricia Hurtado, “Goetz Says He Snapped in 1984 Shooting,” The Washington Post , 4/14/1996
“Where Does American Democracy Go from Here?” New York Times , 3/17/2022
Jonathan M. Metzl, Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland , Basic Books , 3/5/2019

Heather Cox Richardson :

From CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This is Now & Then. I’m Heather Cox Richardson.

Joanne Freeman :

And I’m Joanne Freeman.

And welcome to this live taping. We are so excited to be joined this evening by our dear friend, the incredible professor Carol Anderson, who is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. She’s also the author of last year’s terrific book, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America .

Now Carol joined us last October to talk about voting rights, in the aftermath of the Brnovich decision, which pretty much gutted a lot of the power of the Voting Rights Act. And if anyone of you were there, it was a really lively conversation, really fun for us. And so it will definitely be fun for you again. She joins us now to talk about the recent mass of mass shootings, the Supreme Court’s rulings against gun control, and how the politicization of guns connects to the other, pretty much anti-democratic shifts, that we’re seeing in American society now. Welcome, Carol.

Carol Anderson :

Ah, thank you so much for having me. I’m just looking so forward to this conversation.

Let me start right off, and I have to confess that I have been waiting for this, because everybody always asks me to explain the origins of the Second Amendment. And I know Carol has discussed this at great length in the book, The Second. And Joanne and I actually discussed this not infrequently off camera, when we’re by ourselves, as historians tend to do. And I think that you both have a lot to contribute to this. And I have a third vision, and I don’t think any of them are incompatible. So, why don’t you Carol, start by taking us through what exactly the Second Amendment is all about.

So, I started this research with the killing of Philando Castile. And so here you have a black man who has a license to carry weapon with him, and the police officer shoots him dead, simply because he has a license to carry weapon. And the NRA went silent. And so, pundits were asking, well, don’t black people have Second Amendment rights? And I thought, Lord, that is a great question. And it was one of the rights that I had not looked at previously. So I went hunting and went all the way back to the 17th century. And in there, I mean, I was in your Bailiwick. And in there, I’m finding all of this fear of black people, the fear of the enslaved, and the slave codes coming up, about the making sure that they were disarmed, that they did not have access to weapons. Also making sure that free blacks, didn’t have access to weapons. And also finding the love of the militia and the slave patrols. Because they are what protected the white community from this black threat.

And so as I’m seeing the constitution develop, and there’s the constitutional ratification convention in Virginia. And James Madison thinks he’s done something, right? Because, he’s crafted this constitution, and he’s like, woo, got that thing through Lord, yes, all we got to do now is just get it ratified. And Virginia’s sitting there going, nah, I’m not filling it. I’m just not filling it. And it’s Patrick Henry and George Mason, two key in slavers, and anti-federalists, who come at him hard, because of the power of the federal government in this newly crafted constitution. And because the militia is put under the control of the federal government. And George Mason is clear, we will be left defenseless against the slave revolt. Because under the feds, it’s going to be… We have to deal with Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, who are like getting rid of slavery in their states. And so, we can’t count on them. We can’t trust them to send the militia down to protect us.

And so they started threatening to scuttle the constitution. And if they couldn’t scuttle it, they were going to have a new constitutional convention, which was the last doggone thing James Madison wanted.

Pretty much anybody Carol.

Right? Right?

So, they literally were like, we’re out of here. If you mess around with this.

Oh yeah, they were really clear about that. But remember, they had played hardball before, with the drafting of the constitution itself. This is how we get the Three-Fifths Clause. This is how we get the 20 year extension on the Atlantic slave trade. And this is how we get the Fugitive Slave Clause. It is the south playing hardball saying, US, you’re on your own, we don’t get to protect slavery, we don’t get to enhance slavery, we don’t get to empower slave holders, that, peace out. And so, it was that threat again. It was that threat of dismantling the United States of America over slavery. And so, when James Madison goes to that first Congress, and he’s crafting the Bill of Rights, and one of the congressmen said, he felt like he was haunted by the ghost of Patrick Henry, as he’s crafting this thing. You get a Bill of Rights, that when you think about it, the state cannot support a religion.

You get freedom of the press, you get the right not to be illegally searched and seized. You get the right to have a speedy and fair trial. The right to a well-regulated militia, for the security of a free state, that thing is an outlier in this larger bill. And that was the bribe to the South, to not hold a new constitutional convention. And so sitting in this Bill of Rights, is an amendment that is about denying black people, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is about how do we contain and control this black threat? How do we keep the white community safe from this threat?

I wanted to, in a sense, build off something you just said, Carol. And that is, if you think about the Bill of Rights as something that came along, because people were scared of federal power, right? They were, for appeasing people. It’s the one thing that the anti-federalists did, that was concrete, that they suggested and that they got, in the constitutional period at the ratification debates. They were very nervous about this new constitution’s going to take all kinds of powers, and they were going to lose all of these rights in one way or another. So they wanted to restrain this brand new, far more powerful government. So on the one hand, first of all, that’s important to notice because, the Bill of Rights is from people who already were a little bit nervous about what was coming this brand new government, makes perfect sense that they’re saying, I don’t know about the power of that.

But equally, if not more important, if you think about in that context, what the main thing that people are thinking about is, they’re not thinking, as we do today in a very modern sense, my rights. My rights, this is my right. They’re thinking, the government can’t do this. I want this to put a wall up in front of the government. So the Bill of Rights in a sense, is about restraining government, not about empowering citizens. And that’s important because if you look at the idea of rights, over the course of American history, it changes its meaning. In time, it comes to be much more individualistic, these are my rights. But in the period we’re looking at, the constitutional period, it’s a response to a new powerful government. And it’s far more interested in putting up a wall, than it is in empowering people beyond what they already had and knew.

So do you see The Second as an outlier, Joanne?

I guess, I don’t know if I see it as an outlier, because I never thought of it that way before. Because it feels to me like the same fear born, Bill of Rights moment, right? Like, oh, well they can’t take away our freedom of speech. Well, they can’t take away our right to a fair trial. And some of these are things that go back to the revolution that they were nervous about. The dynamics of that amendment, I don’t think necessarily make it an outlier. But what you’re suggesting Carol, and you correct me if I’m wrong, is that because of the explicitly race centered aspect of it, an extra layer that’s worked into that amendment.

Absolutely. That’s the peace for me. And I understand the fear of a standing army, I understand that that was back there. But when I’m reading through the Virginia ratification debates, and I’m seeing how much George Mason and Patrick Henry are pounding on the fear of a slavery volt, and they absolute fear that you could not trust the federal government to send the militia down, to protect slaveholders, when the revolt came. And so this is where that dynamic is, and so this is about how do we contain and control, not a government, but how do we contain and control these enslaved folks? How do we contain these black folks?

So Carol, is this an early manifestation of State’s rights?

That is a great question. It really could be. It was this fear that you could not trust the federal government, but that tension had been there, like for so long. I mean, that tension was there with the Articles of Confederation. That they didn’t want a strong central federal government. And so you had each of these individual states acting like separate actors. And that thing was absolutely unworkable.

I think one way of thinking of that too, is kind of relates back to what I just said, which is, it’s not so much, hey states, you have more power. It was, scaring national government, you’re going to have limited power, right? And it depends on how you’re going to use that. Speaking at someone who works in early America on the founding period, the degree to which people are scared of things, or talking about things, or using words differently, in ways that suggest things that are happening back then mean something really different, from the way people interpret them today. A well-regulated militia, that’s very explicitly about the fact that, in that period, a standing army is like the ultimate threat of a freed country. Right? And there’s a new government, it’s going to be powerful, and nobody really knows how it’s going to work. So, yeah, we have to really be able to defend our militias, that would’ve been, these local militias would’ve been the equivalent of armies, that could stand up against the tyrannical national government.

Of course, they were all over reading the Greeks. And, one of the things that this accomplishes by creating well-regulated militias, is it sort of harks back to the old Greek system. But it also says, we don’t have to come up with the money to put an army in the field. And we proved in the revolution, that we couldn’t actually do that. So I’m over here being an economic historian type going, well, maybe they were just cheap.

I’m over here being an economic historian type going, “Well, maybe they were just cheap.” Is that part of it or was that just an excuse for the ideology?

I think that part of what we’re seeing is, one, is that militia wasn’t really effective in fending off a professional army. There were just these incredible reports about the militia not showing up when George Washington really needed them to, or the militia taking off running when George Washington really needed them to stay and fight. So this was one of the reasons why Madison put the control of the militia, the arming and the training of the militia under the feds. To beef that up, to get some kind of coherence and organization behind it. But what the anti-federalists saw was that you now have the federal government having control of these militias. And what does that mean?

For some it meant that it means that we’re really moving towards a standing army. What it meant for the slaveholders was that we will not have control over our own state militia, if the feds are in full control of this thing, when the enslaved come after us. So one of the things that I really lay out in the book The Second was the role of anti-blackness in driving the Second Amendment. That fear of how do we protect the white community from these folks who had the Stono Rebellion. From these folks who had numerous rebellions in Virginia and South Carolina. How do we defend ourselves? Whereas the militia would take off running. You couldn’t count on them during the Revolutionary War. You could count on them to put down a slave revolt. They were really good and really effective at that.

Okay. So you two have convinced me that the Second is about walling off the federal government from hurting people’s rights or from defending white southerners against their Black neighbors. And then of course that’s overturned in 2008 by Heller. The Heller decision, we’ll get to and nothing happened in between. Is that right, Carol?

See, I love setting Joanne up like that.

She does. I was about to say, I am so enjoying watching Heather do that to someone else. I’m sorry, Carol. But I’m always the-

You did warn me.

She does, almost every week you do that, Heather. So then this happened and everyone went home, right, Joanne?

And Joanne’s over there like, Franklin Beers, Franklin Beers.

There was so much that happened in between then and Heller. One of the things that you continue to see happening is the push to disarm Black folk, regardless of their legal status. So when they were enslaved, they could not have arms. When they were free Blacks, they could not have arms. After the Civil War, you get the Black Codes. And one of the key elements in the Black Codes is disarming the free people.

Could you walk us through some of that because you have all these soldiers who go home, and they’re trained soldiers, and they have their guns, and now they have civil rights. And by 1870, they’re going to have voting rights.

What happened?

Woo. And so again, what you see is coming out of Reconstruction. You see this language, this fear of armed Black people who are strutting around acting like they’re citizens, acting like they’re full blown American citizens, acting like they’re human beings. And it’s like, we can’t have this. And so you get the rise of these Neo Confederate governments that come in, that Andrew Johnson had basically provided amnesty to. And they implement Black Codes. And Black Codes were a way to try to reinstall slavery by another name, to control the labor of the free people, but also to control their lives and also to disarm them because they’ve got these guns. And one of the things is when folks know they’re free, they’re like, “I’m free.” And you want to strip them of that freedom. They’re like, “We’ve got to take the arms away from these really dangerous, violent Black people.” And so you continue to get the language of violent, criminal, dangerous happening when it comes to Black folk.

So literally what did that look like?

So you got these white domestic terrorists, such as the Ku Klux Klan, and such as the Red Shirts, and the White Camellias, who are terrorizing these Black folks. The slaughter… Carl Schurz’s, basically travel log of atrocities, as he looks at the conditions in the South, after the Civil War, from like mid-1865 to December 1865. And you just see the bodies being piled up, being burned, being hung, being dismembered. I mean, you just see just torture and violence raining down on this Black community. Because Black folks are standing up. Black folks believe that they have rights. And so I saw these missives coming out of the Black churches, talking about don’t we have our Second Amendment rights. And they response was “No, no, no.” It’s like Amy Winehouse. So we’re switching generations here, but it was Amy Winehouse going, “No, no, no.” And so you hear these plaintive wails going up to the Freedmen’s Bureau, going, “We have our Second Amendment rights.” And the Freedmen’s Bureau is like, “Ah, this violence is a lot. I mean, it is a lot and we just don’t have the power to stop it.”

And America has a long tradition of violence as political repression, and really no response. And the other thing worth remembering here is that on a local level, the way that this kind of violence works is that if you have some really over the top nasty, violent, horrible punishments, not only are they punishing and destroying bodies and lives, but they stand there as repressive reminders.

You don’t want to do what we just punished that person for doing.

So you could have all your claims you want about your rights. You’re not going to want to demand them after you see these sorts of things.

So after the Colfax Massacre in Louisiana, which the US Supreme Court then overturned the Force Act and said, “No, the Federal government cannot stop white domestic terrorism because these are private acts, and the Force Act can only go against State acts.” And then after the Hamburg Massacre in 1874 in South Carolina, again, a slaughter, President Ulysses S Grant was just beside himself. And he said, “You know what these states all have in common. It’s not Christianity. It’s not civilization. It is the right to kill Negros.” Basically without any accountability and without any consequences. I paraphrased his last piece, but he was talking about being able to slaughter Black folks without accountability, without consequences.

When you talk about the taking away of guns, Carol, is that part of what’s driving the concept of Black Americans, and indigenous Americans in the same period, as criminals, the idea they’re criminals. You have to construct criminals in order to take their guns away.

What I’m seeing is the need to construct them as violent, and as criminal, and as a threat in order to justify what’s being done to them. In order to justify enslaving them. In order to justify lynching them. In order to justify removing them from their land.

I was about to say, taking their land.

Well, they’re horrible. They’re violent. They’re savages. They’re going to kill us. And so we’re defending ourselves by pushing them out and taking their land. It makes you the sort of virtuous I’m defending myself person.

It’s a linguistic twist that is really powerful even today.

I was going to say, I hate how much this echoes. I just hate how much this echos.

So what is going through your head, Heather? What echos are you talking about?

The idea that, for example, we in America have tended to talk about young Black Americans and young indigenous Americans as adults from extraordinarily young ages. Whereas white guys can be children. I mean, when we talked about Donald Trump Jr, as a child, and it’s like, “Wait a minute, isn’t he like in his forties?” And then we’ve got a 14 year old who is killed as an adult. It’s like that whole sort of reordering of American society.

For me, one of the things about the role of anti-blackness is that once you have defined Black folks as criminals, as a threat, as inherently violent, then adding guns makes that violence exponentially. They become an exponential threat.

And obviously we haven’t gotten to the present yet, but you know what we’re not talking about at all is women. And you had some wonderful examples in your book of women who stand their ground.

I’m going to go more contemporary now with women standing their ground. Think about Marissa Alexander, who was the Black woman in Florida around about the same time as Trayvon Martin. And she had been a victim of domestic violence. And she had just had a baby. And her partner came at her, threatening her, she’s running for her life. She gets the gun out of her car in the garage, and goes back into the house, and shoots a warning shock to tell him to back off. She didn’t shoot him. She shot a warning shot. She got hit with a 20 year sentence.

So clearly, in a stand your ground state, where you have documented domestic violence, a Black woman protecting herself-

And her baby.

And her baby, by shooting a warning shot. She didn’t have that right to defend herself. And then I juxtapose that to George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, where again, a stand your ground state… Where you have Trayvon, who is a child. He’s 17. But in the media, he gets thugified. He gets heavier, taller, darker, more malicious. And you have a grown man who sees this Black child and says, “Ah, threat to my community.”

That child and says, “Ah! Threat to my community.” Zimmerman takes a loaded weapon and stalks this child through the neighborhood. But the way that it plays out is that Zimmerman, the grown man with the loaded gun, is the one who was fearful and Trayvon was the threat and so killing him was okay because he was a threatening, vicious, thugafied, drug smoking, dangerous Black man. That was the way that it played out in the thugification of Trayvon Martin.

One of the things that jumps out to me here for all of this work is it seems to me we are in different periods constructing a vision of America as being about one guy with all these rights defending himself and theoretically his family from that dangerous other. And that, of course, brings us to this current moment, which I think … Joanne, that’s fair to say that that’s kind of what was going on in the American south in the 1850s, right?

This fending yourself off from the dangerous other? Yeah. It becomes very important. In a sense, it’s part of your justification for being violent and aggressive and attacking is if you define it as being defensive. “Well, they’re out to get me in some way.” “They’re coming.” I remember in my most recent book there’s someone who reaches out to masons and says, “Look, we’re the masons and we’re all over the place and we’re a brotherhood and we can talk to each other and we can …”

“We’re all over the place.”

Okay, maybe he didn’t put it that way. That’s my summary. Paraphrase.

Paraphrase, I get it.

Yeah, paraphrase.

They are all over the place. “And we are true to each other and we can talk to each other and we can bring down the tone of things.” This is like 1858 or 9. And someone responds to the letter in which this person is pleading and says, “Are you really kidding? You think I’m going to listen to this? You guys are about to come into my home and burn down my house and take my family. I don’t care. Why am I listening to you?” “This is life and death.” Right now, at that point, that’s not happening but that person who responds is totally in defense moment so anything goes. And sometimes that’s the best way to justify violence. And it’s not necessarily that people thing, “Time to justify violence. I think I’ll make myself be defensive.” But that dynamic is really important.

You always want to depict yourself as the victimized, virtuous person under attack and thus anything that you do is justifiable.

And to me this is why, when we’re seeing the horrific evolution of the second amendment … It was bad enough as its anti-Blackness core continues through with the well-regulated militia. But watching the Heller decision of the US Supreme Court in 2008. Heller comes out of Washington, DC. And Washington, DC had really strict gun safety laws that dealt with how you had to maintain your gun within your own home because they knew that there was lots of violence in the home with weapons. And you had this case, then, where the US Supreme Court looks at this and says …. The US Supreme Court cherry-picked some history and came up with this founding fathers individual right to bear arms. And anybody who does the real work in this period knows that that second amendment was about the well-regulated militia. It wasn’t about an individual right to bear arms.

But now, the US Supreme Court, based on bad history, has created a judicial standard that you have this individual right to bear arms. But because that was Washington, DC it dealt with on a federal basis and so then the McDonald decision in 2010 dealt with Chicago and then that made it across the United States. But what this individual right to bear arms … When you read through those decisions what they keep harping on is that you have the right to self-defense. It is the right to self-defense and so it’s crafting a really hostile world where you have to … When you’re outside of your home … When you’re inside your home you got the castle doctrine, defend yourself. When you’re outside your home, anywhere you are, which is part of Stand Your Ground … Anywhere where you have a right to be and you perceive threat you have the right to defend yourself.

This ratcheting up of the fear of being in American society that you have to always be on guard, that you always have to know that you are under threat. And then it’s the way that the society defines threat. After Uvalde, the slaughter of this children and the two teachers in Texas … When folks are like, “So, let me see if I get this right. He turned 18 and he had immediate access to AR-15s?” Greg Abbot, the governor of Texas, was like, “Don’t talk to me about our laws. What about Chicago? What about Chicago?” Right? Chicago. That is dog whistle politics. Think about all of those Black folks there in Chicago who are violent. They had this huge homicide rate. And it’s that imagery of the slaughter, the imagery of the Black violence, the imagery Black threat.

Think about Bernard Getz in New York City in 1984, I want to say it was. And he was on the subway and there were Black teenagers who asked him if he had five dollars or if he had a cigarette or something like that and he pulls out a gun and he shoots all of them.

I remember.

I can remember, too.

Yes. Yes. And you got this thing where he became a hero because he took on the threat of these Black teenagers who were unarmed. But he dealt with that threat and he walked. The jury said, “Yeah, you had the right to be afraid.”

What was your response, Carol? And also, Heather, when the decision came down about guns and that series of decisions? Carol, did you have a particularly distinctive … other than strong response? How did you respond as a person who works on this?

The New York state … The Bruen decision?

Mm-hmm, yeah.

I thought a couple of things. One is that given where you had the republican national committee … The head of it … Rona Romney McDaniel … Saying that January 6th was legitimate political discourse so that violence was legitimate political discourse. And then when you think about Reuters … Reuters did that analysis of the threats going in to election officials and election workers from the 2020 election and how many times you have the second amendment invoked as the way to deal with these folks who stole the election.

It’s right out of reconstruction.

So seeing the New York decision I went, “This is further down that slope.” I’ve talked about how American democracy is under a full blown assault. The land assault is the attack on our voting rights. We’re seeing state after state after state implement more barriers, more hurdles for access to the ballot box based on the big lie that this was a stolen election. The second assault is the sea assault where we’re getting the wiping away of American history, the teaching of real American history where you don’t talk about slavery, you don’t talk about the genocidal removal of indigenous people, where you don’t talk about xenophobia and the anti-immigrant strain coming through American society.

And the separation of church and state, apparently.

Okay! You don’t walk about any of that. No, you made some stuff up that separation of church and state wasn’t even in the constitution. That is the sea assault. When you wipe away American history then you can craft your own self-serving narrative that deals with the relationship of people to power and that deals with who’s in and who’s out. And then, to me, there is the air assault. And that air assault is the loosening of these gun laws. We already saw it before the Supreme Court decision in Texas and in Georgia where you could get permitless carry, where you didn’t have to have any real training. And then you have the Supreme Court’s decision that basically says you’ve got the right to carry a weapon anywhere you are that isn’t sensitive. And we don’t think a lot of places that you’re defining as sensitive as being really sensitive.

When you link that in with the political violence that has already been demonstrated against election workers and already demonstrated in January 6th, we are in a heap of trouble. That’s what I thought.

I agree with the idea we’re in a terrible crisis here. But one of the things that was interesting about the Brewin decision which came down at the end of June and overturned a New York state law about whether or not people had access to guns under certain circumstances is that New York promptly passed a whole slew of far tighter regulations than were there before and so did New Jersey. And when you combine that with the fact that the Governor Newsom in California has all of a sudden been really ramping up California doing whatever it wants out there … I think today he announced that they are going to be manufacturing their own insulin and, of course, going to be a state where people can continue to get abortions.

It really makes me wonder … And to take us back to where we started about how this moment is going to play out. That is, when the Supreme Court that we have now, which has been utterly radicalized with these six people from the federalist society who want to throw everything back to the state, with these six people from the Federalist Society who want to throw everything back to the States, they’re clearly trying to kill business regulation and the protection of civil rights and a basic social safety net, but at the same time, just like in the years before the Civil War, what that means is that states can do whatever they want. New York has just basically said, Hey, we’re really cracking down on gun ownerships, so has New Jersey. California has said, Hey, we’re going to have abortion rights out here.

When you think about this moment, dear God, doesn’t that look like the 1850s? The difference between then and now is that then the enslavers, the largest slavers who basically ran the US economy were all in the South. They were like, we’d love to just go make our own country because we’re the ones with all the cash. Although, it wasn’t really cash, it was property and all that. Now, it’s the blue states that are the economic engines. I don’t think those red states are going to say, Yeah, it’s okay if you go off and do your own thing. I think they want to have their minority rule, not to create their own little minority fiefdom, but to impose it on the majority.

This is an entirely new moment and that dynamic of we’re focusing on the states who aren’t going to have rights, but what about the states that are going to have expanded rights? How does that play out? Does somebody in Mississippi go, Hey, Massachusetts is looking pretty good over there. Then somebody in Mississippi says, Well, you can’t go because we need workers. We’ve been there before too.

Yes, we have. Yes, we have. We were there with the great migration. When Black folks were fleeing the South because of the lynching, because of the lack of education, because of the lack of economic opportunity. There were cities that were passing laws saying that black folks could not leave for economic opportunity. They couldn’t leave to get a better job.

The same was true after 1876, where they were literally labor conventions that said a white guy couldn’t hire a black person away from a neighbor.

We talk about how capitalism is held up on high, this enshrined thing. One of the key laws of capitalism is labor has the right to take itself where it can get the best deal, except when you get these rules put in place saying, no, you can’t leave so what they were doing during the Great Migration was saying if you try to leave, we will criminalize you. We will incarcerate you, and then we will put you basically on a work farm. It was we’re going to extract your labor eight ways to Sunday, come hell or high water. We’re going to extract your labor and you cannot leave for the American dream.

People not being able to leave states or go to other states is the most obvious thing in the world, which is abortion, right?

There we have basically, in one way or another, in some states they’re talking about making it so that you can’t leave to go to another state to get an abortion. Which is first of all, remarkably, I don’t have a word actually for that, as to what that means and what that entails and how anyone could possibly do that. It’s like the Fugitive Slave Act. Slaves would escape from the South, they would go north. Basically said well Northerners have to return those people to the South and law enforcement has to help in that process. You can’t help someone continue to escape.

What you have there in the 19th century is people fleeing from one state to another state for freedom, and people in the North being told, sorry, I know you like that kind of freedom here, but it doesn’t matter. We’re going to take that back. We’re in this moment where women might go from a state that doesn’t allow abortion to a state that does and what we hear these people talking about essentially saying, no, I’m sorry, you can’t go to another state and if you’re there, will you be allowed to have an abortion? How will this work? We’ve talked before, Heather, you and I about how sometimes I’m the person screaming with my hair on fire. This puts me in a screaming-

I think all historians are right now.

Well, that is true. This is a screaming with my hair on fire kind of moment because even though I understand the logic of it and we’ve seen it coming bit by bit, and as historians we could predict parts of it living through it and watching it happening, it sucks.

It totally sucks.

I wasn’t going to quite say that, but I’ll take it.

Sorry, it’s an unfortunate moment in our personal existence.

I’m always like, it’s unfortunate that… It does suck, it does. We should start bringing things to a close but part of what I want to say here relates to much of what was said and that is particularly in relation to this recent stream of Supreme Court’s cases, it’s easy for the implications and impact of some of this stuff to seem invisible. In history, when we look back, we have to look for it and then we could see it or in this case, it would’ve been easy for this to vanish and we wouldn’t know about it.

I always say to people, we’re at this moment where the implications and the impact matter beyond the beyond. That you need to be aware of what’s going on, thinking about the implications of what’s happening, and thinking about real history and what happened in the past and how that can actually inform what might happen going forward. We really need to be alert and aware and you just use the word active. We need to be activists to deal with this vision that’s being sent out into the world about a kind of America that the majority isn’t necessarily on board for.

Let’s hand you the last word, Carol. What should we think about the second and what should we do to try and, at least as a historian, I’m suggesting that we need to get back to a pre-Heller understanding of the second. There was more to it in your book. You actually thought that the second, I believe as I wrote to you after I read it, that you were making a much larger argument about American society when you wrote about the second.

Yes, and that argument deals with the way that anti-blackness is so embedded in the way that we operate in this nation. It is the way that insurrection that happened on January 6th was basically provoked by saying that those people in Atlanta, in Detroit, in Milwaukee, in Philadelphia stole the election from good, honest, hardworking white folk and so because they stole it, we have to take our country back.

That kind of anti-blackness that delegitimizes the citizenship and the humanity of folks who live here, who are American citizens is so profound. It has major implications and repercussions for this democracy. We are teetering because we have not dealt with the anti-blackness. Part of what I’ve also argued about the second amendment, the reason why we don’t have real gun control laws, real gun safety laws, is because of that fear that I have to defend myself.

I think about Jonathan Metzl’s book Dying For Whiteness where he does a study and he finds that in rural Missouri folks, who have had gun violence in their families, are in a support group and they’re talking about they don’t want gun safety laws because those people from St. Louis will come down here and try to take everything that we have. This is the only thing that we have to defend ourselves and defend our property.

When we have that kind of fear coursing through this society, when we have that kind of dehumanization coursing through the way that we handle voting laws, the way that we handle the basic right to vote, we are in trouble in this democracy. It requires us to have real history so we can understand the way that anti-blackness has influenced and affected American society and so that we can begin to dismantle that anti-blackness and really live into the fullness of this nation.

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Most Black Americans Believe U.S. Institutions Were Designed To Hold Black People Back

1. racial discrimination shapes how black americans view their progress and u.s. institutions, table of contents.

In their own words: Quotes from our 2023 focus groups of Black Americans
Most Black adults say they experience racial discrimination
Black adults feel angry or undermined in the face of discrimination
Black adults say they must work more than everyone else to get ahead
Black Americans believe the criminal justice system was designed to hold them back
Black adults and mistrust about policing and prisons
Many Black Americans believe the U.S. political system was designed to hold them back
Black Americans, Black political leaders and mistrust of the U.S. political system
Black Americans believe the economic system was designed to hold them back
Mistrust of big businesses
About half of Black Americans believe U.S. news media was designed to hold them back
Most Black adults say they encounter inaccurate news about Black people
Some Black Americans believe the health care system was designed to hold them back
Mistrust about medical research
Mistrust of family-related government policy
Mistrust of government reproductive health policy
Acknowledgments
The American Trends Panel survey methodology
Focus group methodology

Editorial note to readers

A version of this study was originally published on June 10. We previously used the term “ racial conspiracy theories ” as an editorial shorthand to describe a complex and mixed set of findings. By using these words, our reporting distorted rather than clarified the point of the study. Changes to this version include: an updated headline, new “explainer” paragraphs, some additional context and direct quotes from focus group participants.

Claudia Deane, Mark Hugo Lopez and Neha Sahgal contributed to the revision of this report.

A pie chart showing that The majority of Black adults say they have experienced racial discrimination

Most Black adults say they have experienced racial discrimination (75%), either regularly (13%) or from time to time (62%). They say these experiences make them feel like the system is set up for their failure. Many also say Black people must work harder than everyone else to achieve success.

Three-quarters of Black Americans say they have experienced racial discrimination, either regularly (13%) or from time to time (62%). Fewer say they have not been discriminated against because of their race (23%). Black adults differ slightly on this question by age, education, family income and where they live.

Eight-in-ten Black Americans ages 65 and older say they experience racial discrimination, compared with smaller shares of Black adults under 30 (71%), ages 30 to 49 (76%) and 50 to 64 (75%). Black men 50 and older (82%) were most likely to say they experience racial discrimination when compared with men under 50 (73%) and Black women of any age (75%).

By education and family income

Most Black adults with at least a bachelor’s degree (82%) say they experience racial discrimination. Fewer of those with some college (77%) or a high school diploma or less education (70%) say the same. Black adults with upper incomes (80%) are more likely than those with lower incomes (74%) to say this. 1

Black adults who live in Western states (81%) are more likely than those who live in the Northeast (72%) and the South (74%) to say they experience racial discrimination. In the Midwest, 78% of Black adults experience this.

A bar chart showing Most Black adults say discrimination makes them feel like the system was designed to keep them down

Black Americans who experience racial discrimination have a range of reactions to this treatment. Large majorities say their experiences with racial discrimination made them feel angry (76%) and like the system was designed to keep them down (73%).

Smaller shares say they felt nervous or anxious (59%), negative about the future (56%), scared for their personal safety (53%), isolated (52%) or depressed (41%), or had trouble sleeping (25%).

By gender and age

There are a few key differences among Black adults in their reactions to racial discrimination. Black women under 50 (80%) are more likely than Black men under 50 (73%) and women 50 and older (75%) to say racial discrimination made them feel angry.

Most Black adults also say experiencing racial discrimination made them feel like the system was designed to hold them down (73%). Black men 50 and older (75%) are more likely than Black women in this age group (69%) to say this.

By birthplace, education and party

Black adults born in the U.S. (77%) are more likely than Black immigrants (65%) to say experiencing racial discrimination made them feel angry. And Black adults who went to college (80%), regardless of their degree level, are more likely than those with a high school diploma or less (70%) to say the same.

Black Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (76%) are more likely than Black Republicans and Republican leaners (63%) to say their personal experiences with racial discrimination made them feel like the system was designed to hold them down. Still, majorities of both groups say racial discrimination makes them feel like the system was designed to hold them down.

A bar chart showing that Three-quarters of Black adults say they must work more than everyone else to achieve success

Regardless of whether they feel systems are designed to hold them back, Black Americans generally view their road to success as more difficult than others’. Three-quarters of Black adults say they must work more than everyone else to achieve success. Far fewer say Black people must work the same as everyone else (19%) or less than everyone else (4%) to be successful.

By discrimination experience

Discrimination is still a key factor in how Black Americans think about their progress. Black adults who have experienced racial discrimination (79%) are more likely than those who haven’t (63%) to say Black people must work more than everyone else to be successful, though majorities of both groups share this view.

By ethnicity and age

Ethnicity and age also play a role. Non-Hispanic Black adults (76%) and multiracial Black adults (74%) are more likely than Hispanic Black adults (50%) to say Black people must work more than everyone else to achieve success. And the oldest Black adults, those ages 65 and older (82%), are more likely than those younger than 30 (69%) to say this.

By education, family income and party

Over eight-in-ten Black adults with a bachelor’s degree (84%) say Black people have to work more than everyone else to achieve success. Fewer of those with some college experience (77%) or a high school diploma or less education (68%) say the same. And Black adults with upper incomes (84%) are the most likely among income groups to say Black people must work harder than everyone else to be successful.

Political affiliation is also a factor in how Black Americans think about their progress. Black Democrats (79%) are more likely than Black Republicans (58%) to say Black people must work more than others to achieve success (though majorities of both groups say this).

The middle-income range for the American Trends Panel is about $47,800 to $143,400 annually for an average family of three. Lower-income families have adjusted incomes less than $47,800 and upper-income families have adjusted incomes greater than $143,400. All figures are expressed in 2022 dollars. For more information, please refer to the methodology . ↩

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‘They Came for the Schools’ details how GOP targeted race and identity in classrooms

Laura Barrón-López Laura Barrón-López

Karina Cuevas Karina Cuevas

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Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/they-came-for-the-schools-details-how-gop-targeted-race-and-identity-in-classrooms

In 2021, an affluent, suburban school district in Texas gained national attention when parents and local conservative activists falsely accused the district of indoctrinating students with critical race theory. Mike Hixenbaugh's "They Came for the Schools" details how it became a blueprint for Republicans across the country and exposes their ambitions. Laura Barrón-López reports.

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Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Amna Nawaz:

In 2021, an affluent suburban school district in Texas gained national attention when parents and local conservative activists accused the district of indoctrinating students with Critical Race Theory.

That drew the interest of Republican figures across the country and sparked a Christian movement beyond the district's borders to restrict what children are being taught in schools.

Laura Barron-Lopez has that story for our Bookshelf.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Mike Hixenbaugh has been at the forefront of covering the events in Southlake Texas.

What started as an earnest effort by the Carroll Independent School District to confront racist rhetoric and bullying devolved into a battle about much more. Conservative parents and activists turned a district cultural competence plan into a fight over protecting their — quote — "traditional way of life."

The result? Books and classroom discussion about race, slavery, and sexual orientation were effectively banned. In his book "They Came for the Schools," released in May, Hixenbaugh details how this school district became a blueprint for Republicans across the country and exposed their ambitions, which go well beyond controlling what version of American history makes it into high school textbooks.

I'm joined now by the author and senior investigative reporter for NBC News, Mike Hixenbaugh.

Mike, thank you so much for joining us.

Mike Hixenbaugh, Author, "They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms": Thank you.

When you started investigating, you discovered that there were a number of racist incidents at the schools in Southlake, some that go back decades, but, in particular, in 2018, when a video of white students saying the N-word went viral.

And the district promised action. What exactly was their plan in response to that?

Mike Hixenbaugh:

After the video came out, dozens of parents came forward and said, it's not just a video. My Black child has experienced these kind of racist slurs and jokes in the school for decades.

And so the district put together a committee. And they formed — they put together a plan called the Cultural Competence Action Plan. They worked for two years on this from 2018 to 2020, and the plan essentially called for diversity training for students and teachers, initiatives to try to hire more diverse teaching staff, a plan to go through the curriculum to make sure that kids were learning an honest and full picture of America's history.

But the plan was released in 2020 in the midst of backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement. And so when it was released into the community, some conservatives who I guess hadn't been paying attention to the two years of work on the plan, they saw it as this plan that was being shepherded in by the radical left to try to ruin this affluent, successful school district.

In response, a local conservative group, the Southlake Families PAC, said that they rallied what they called an army to their cause. How did they convince the community essentially to turn on school district leaders, school board leaders, teachers that many of these people had known for years?

It was remarkable to watch, because the people who were advancing this Cultural Competence Action Plan, many of them were themselves conservatives, Republicans.

But the Southlake Families PAC painted anyone who was pushing this plan as a radical leftist, as a Marxist. And it was around the same time that Critical Race Theory was entering the national conversation, this phrase that Chris Rufo used to try to describe any attempt to address discrimination in schools and other places.

It became a battle between adults over who was welcome in Southlake, whose ideas were welcome there. And that fight ended up spreading all over the country.

Chris Rufo, the national conservative activist, what role did he play in taking Southlake and spreading it elsewhere and making it a national cause?

After Southlake Families PAC got organized, they put together a slate of conservative school board candidates whose mission was to destroy and defeat that diversity plan.

The Southlake Families PAC candidates won in a landslide election in May of 2021. And Chris Rufo, after that, was one of many conservative voices who then held up the election in Southlake as a model to be copied in schools all over the country.

You say that the end goals were bigger than even just teachings about history, stretching all the way to making schools more explicitly Christian.

What is the end goal here, and where are we seeing it in other places?

There are elements of the Christian right in America that have long argued that the separation of church and state is a myth, that our country began to decline in the 1960s, when prayer and mandatory Bible readings were removed from schools.

And they have seized on this moment to say, parents are upset about schools. This is our chance to try to chip away at those foundational principles. And so you're seeing in Texas and all over the country moves to, in this moment, not just remove LGBTQ content from schools or to ban how — restrict how teachers talk about race and racism, but to replace those things with Christian symbols.

There's bills to mandate the Ten Commandments be hung in every classroom, to put Christian chaplains in schools to replace counselors and therapists, and to bring the Bible back into school and have kids read from that as part of their social studies curriculum.

They are counting on lawsuits. Some activists have said explicitly that — told school districts or school board members, hey, if you bring prayer back to school, hopefully, someone will sue you. We can take that to the Supreme Court and we can win this for America.

More than three years into this, what does the resistance movement look like outside of Southlake and the other communities that are facing book bans and having difficulty when it comes to being able to teach history?

What we have seen now all over the country in kind of purple or left-leaning suburbs coalitions of progressive and moderate conservative parents banding together, forming their own political action committees, running their own slate of candidates.

And so we're seeing that in different places across the country, where Moms for Liberty isn't winning in a lot of places. Their ideas are not necessarily broadly popular, even among a lot of conservatives. And so we have seen kind of a wave of victories for the other side.

Based on all of your reporting in Southlake and the larger movement to revise American history, what do you think is at stake this election cycle?

I think about stories like a teacher I highlight in the book named Christina McGuirk, a fourth grade teacher who got into education because she wanted to live out her own Christian faith by showing kindness to kids and teaching them a real accounting of America and how to be kind to each other.

But as a result of her speaking out about these issues, she was forced out of her job. And we're seeing that repeated all over the country. Teachers are weighing whether or not they're going to stay in the classroom.

And, at the same time, families, parents are looking at what's happening and wondering, do I want to keep sending my kid to this school? Do I want to still live in this community?

And, as a result, people's lives are literally being upended.

Mike Hixenbaugh of NBC News, thank you.

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Laura Barrón-López is the White House Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, where she covers the Biden administration for the nightly news broadcast. She is also a CNN political analyst.

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Essay winners: Juneteenth lets us remember nation's past while striving for better future

Correction: Erin Mauldin is an associate professor at the University of South Florida. Her name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.

Three 2024 high school graduates were honored this week as winners of the Juneteenth Scholarship essay contest. Their essays are below.

Juneteenth is chance to acknowledge both legacy and unfinished work

It is June 19, 1865, and over 250,000 enslaved Africans are gathered in Galveston, Texas, watching the United States Union Troops approach the bay to announce that after 400 years, they are free. Just a few months prior, Abraham Lincoln had announced the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those enslaved in Confederate territory, but not all of them were made free.

This day is known as “Freedom Eve” or “Emancipation Day” and took place on January 1, 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation might not have cemented the actual liberation of African American people in the U.S., but it was a critical turning point that led up to the country’s second Independence Day, known as Juneteenth. Understanding what Juneteenth is and recognizing its importance and the intentions of other celebrations like it is essential.

Juneteenth, deriving from the words “June” and “Nineteenth”, is the day that marks the annual celebration of a huge step towards racial reckoning in the United States. Texas was the first state to make it a holiday in 1980, motivating other states to do the same in the years following. Finally, in 2021, Juneteenth became a national holiday. However, we must see this celebration as an obstacle that was overcome, rather than a destination. There is still much work to be done. Victories like this one encourage us to continue the fight.

Associate professor Erin Mauldin at the University of South Florida, an expert on civil war and reconstruction, talks about how “Juneteenth is neither the beginning nor the end of something.” The same article states that “the end of the Civil War and the ending of slavery didn't happen overnight and was a lot more like a jagged edge than a clean cut.” It is imperative to realize that the road ahead could be just as long as the road behind us.

In today’s age, the celebration of Juneteenth holds a higher significance than ever before, as we take time to honor the struggles endured but also acknowledge that many of those struggles are ongoing, as it pertains to racial inequality and systemic issues that create numerous disparities for African Americans. The historical injustices we suffered had only just begun to be accounted for by the rest of the country’s population. Juneteenth holds the purpose of reminding us of progress made thus far and is a chance for our community to move forward as a whole and help each other rebuild. This holiday gives millions of African Americans an opportunity to rejoice and give thanks to God for releasing them from years of suffering and captivity. The day creates a country-wide social awareness of the journey to equality and the abolishment of slavery’s awful oppression. Additionally, observing this day as a united front inspires self-development and is a chance to reconnect to one’s roots that were all but erased during slavery and go on to encourage African Americans to keep striving for a brighter future.

In France, Bastille Day acknowledges the fight and patience undergone to eventually reach freedom. July 14, 1880, is the day the citizens of France finally overcame King Louis XVI and his monarchy’s rule over them. Each year, they cherish this as a day of reclamation for their lives.

Every July 18th since 2010, the historical moment when Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president, is recognized. This day is known as Mandela Day. Mandela transformed their democracy into a more diverse selection of administration, breaking down the white power held over the country for centuries. After being elected, he shared to his citizens this powerful message; “I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.” Just as those countries continue to commemorate those momentous turning points in history, we must continue to honor Juneteenth’s significance.

Like Juneteenth, these important moments in history represent coming out on the other side of trials and tribulations, as well as salvaging their heritage. Universally, it is important to continue the recognition and cultivation of knowledge about Juneteenth and other celebrations akin to it, so we can mend communities back together who were violently ripped apart by domination subjugation. Breakthroughs didn’t happen without countless setbacks, but celebrations like these serve as a notion to never give up hope regardless. Juneteenth has the purpose and effect of uplifting hearts and minds to keep fighting, until justice and humanity are restored.

Hailey Perkins is co-winner of the Taylor Academic Talent Scholarship. She is a graduate of Okemos High School and will attend Howard University.

Celebrations of freedom offer history lessons

I imagine the words, “Ain’t nobody told me nothing!” came out of many mouths, minds and hearts when freed slaves found out they stayed in bondage 2 ½ years after other slaves had been set free. Slavery in Texas continued 900 hundred days after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

In I863, the Civil War was in its third year. Many lives had been lost, and the end was nowhere in sight. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln enforced the signed Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation stated, “That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.“

This proclamation freed slaves that were in states that had left the union. This proclamation could only be enforced if the North won the war. After continued fighting and the loss of many more lives, the Union won the war April 9, 1865. Then on June 19, 1865, in the state of Texas, more than 250,000 slaves were finally set free. Their freedom came 2 ½ years after everyone else’s. While gaining freedom was a dream come true, delayed freedom is symbolic of the continued struggle for Black Americans.

There are many opinions regarding the celebration of Juneteenth. Many people celebrate it as the end of slavery, others don’t celebrate it at all, while others fall somewhere in between. Although Juneteenth has been celebrated for many years, it was only in 2021 that it became a national holiday.

The importance of celebrating Juneteenth is because America needs to know. Celebrating Juneteenth provides the opportunity to educate and inform our communities. Celebrating this holiday is more than remembering the past but it gives an opportunity to discuss race relations today. It allows people to have difficult conversations about hard subjects. Ultimately, celebrating Juneteenth allows us to examine the mistakes of the past and do better in the future.

Celebrating this holiday makes us ask tough questions about the beginning of our country, our values, and our rights. Celebrating Juneteenth since the murder of George Floyd has made many people question, “Are Black people really free?”

Juneteenth celebrations are now opportunities to discuss systemic racism, policy change, politics and ways to make sure that our lives do matter. Most importantly, it forces us to take an honest look at race relations in America, ask how are we really doing?

There are many celebrations of freedom and independence across the world. India celebrates its freedom from British rule. Ghana celebrates its freedom from the United Kingdom. But the country whose freedom celebration identifies with me the most is the Philippines. My paternal grandfather’s wife is from the Philippines. She shared much about her birthplace and its culture with our family. The country celebrates its freedom from Spanish rule with a celebration called Araw ng Kalayaan.

The celebration is filled with parades, music, food and family bonding. But the Philippines has another celebration for freedom. After the Spanish rule ended, the Philippines came under the rule of America. But it was a nation that wanted to be free. The road to independence for the Philippines is similar to the Juneteenth celebration, and the delay in freedom. The Philippines nation was supposed to become independent in 1944. But World War II occurred and like Juneteenth that freedom was delayed for 2 full years.

On July 4, 1946, the Philippines became fully free from United States. Today, the citizens of the Philippines celebrate not one but 2 days of independence and freedom. A sign of their perseverance. These celebrations remind us to never give up.

It is vital to continue the celebration of Juneteenth and other cultural celebrations of freedom around the world because “knowledge is power.” These celebrations symbolize more than just freedom. They are evidence that major changes in society can happen despite the odds. They provide motivation for people to stand up for basic human rights and against injustice.

Most importantly these celebrations give us hope. They are evidence that we can be part of the change that we want to see in the world. When I think back to the first Juneteenth, that moment when the slaves realized they were enslaved 900 days longer than everyone else. That moment when they had to think, “Ain’t nobody told me nothing!”

Well today, I told you something. Never forget the lesson of Juneteenth or the other cultural celebrations of freedom.

Zachary Barker is co-winner of the Taylor Academic Talent Scholarship. He is a graduate of Okemos High School and will attend Michigan State University.

The importance of why we celebrate Juneteenth

Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is an annual holiday recognized on June 19th in honor of the enslavement of oppressed African Americans in the United States. The festival started in Galveston, Texas, where on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers conveyed the news of the Emancipation Proclamation to the state's last surviving enslaved people, thereby ending slavery in the United States.

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which announced that all enslaved individuals in Confederate-held territory would be set free. However, it wasn't until the Civil War ended and Union forces landed in Texas that the word of freedom reached the remaining enslaved people. Understanding the history of Juneteenth is important, including its connection to other countries, the significance of learning about it as a child, and how it is celebrated today.

While Juneteenth is uniquely American, it bears shared characteristics with other cultural celebrations of liberty and independence across the world. Many countries have their own celebrations, which are cultural and historical events. For example, India celebrates its independence from British dominion on August 15th of each year, remembering the day in 1947 when the country gained freedom after years of struggle and sacrifice. Similarly, Mexico commemorates its independence from Spanish colonial rule on September 16th, often known as "El Grito de Dolores." These cultural celebrations of sovereignty and liberty contain common themes such as determination and the pursuit of justice. They remind us of the challenges that persecuted populations have experienced throughout history, as well as the significance of preserving and respecting their tales. By connecting Juneteenth to other cultural celebrations, we may get a more comprehensive understanding of their significance.

Juneteenth was recently given new attention and significance as a result of the ongoing battle for racial equality and social justice in the United States. The Black Lives Matter movement and rallies against police brutality have drawn attention to the systems of prejudice and inequality that persist in American society. As a result, recognizing and remembering Juneteenth has never been more crucial.

At the high school level, students ought to learn about and participate in cultural celebrations of freedom and independence, such as Juneteenth. By understanding the history and significance of these festivals, students may develop a better understanding of different individuals' perspectives as well as the continued effect of historical events on our modern society. Studying Juneteenth and other cultural festivals of independence allows students to critically assess problems of race, power, and privilege. By discussing the historical foundations of systematic racism and oppression, students may obtain a better understanding of social justice concerns and the need of speaking up against injustices in their own communities. Incorporating conversations and activities about cultural celebrations of freedom and independence into the curriculum for high school can help students extend their viewpoints and get a better grasp of the complexity of history and culture. These abilities are critical for creating a more inclusive and equitable society in which all people are respected, appreciated, and celebrated.

To summarize, Juneteenth's historical significance as a celebration of liberation and freedom for African Americans is firmly anchored in the history of slavery and the ongoing battle for equality and justice. By commemorating and celebrating Juneteenth, we recognize the significance of remembering history, comprehending the present, and working for a more fair and equitable future for everyone. Studying and recognizing these events in high school, students may get significant insights into the experiences of other groups, as well as the ongoing efforts for freedom and equality.

In today's world, when the fight for racial equality is ongoing, commemorating Juneteenth is more vital than ever, as it serves as an important awareness of the African American community's continued struggle for justice and perseverance.

Glorie Clay is the winner of the University of Olivet Academic Talent Scholarship. She is a graduate of Lansing Christian High School and will attend Olivet.

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What Really Happened Inside Miss USA?

Accusations of racism, sexual harassment and rigging have plagued the organization in recent years, but no reigning titleholder has ever quit. Then Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned in the same week.

By Madison Malone Kircher and Callie Holtermann

The reporters spoke to over two dozen insiders, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants, parents and pageant directors.

Laylah Rose says she won her first pageant at the age of 2. With dark, glossy hair and a measured smile, she went on to enter many more. Yet, even as a girl, she dreamed of something bigger. Ms. Rose didn’t only want to wear a sash, as her mother and grandmother had done before her: She wanted to run Miss USA.

Last summer Ms. Rose, 45, whose legal name is Laylah Loiczly, finally achieved that goal. In an email, she said she saw “opportunities to improve, enhance and in many ways repair the iconic brand.”

Those repairs were sorely needed. In recent years, Miss USA has weathered allegations of racism and sexual harassment , and has passed from owner to owner — one of them being Donald J. Trump . The 2022 suicide of Miss USA 2019 sent the organization reeling. In 2023, Ms. Rose’s predecessor was suspended after accusations of pageant rigging .

In her first months in charge of the pageant, Ms. Rose got to work. (She bought the rights to manage Miss USA for an initial payment of $1.5 million, according to a preliminary deal document.) She helped secure a multiyear deal with the CW to broadcast the Miss USA pageant for the first time since 2016. In an interview, Renato Basile, a Hollywood producer she hired to work on the production, credited her with “bringing the luster back to Miss USA and Miss Teen.”

But less than a year into Ms. Rose’s tenure as the president and chief executive of the organization, the reigning Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, Noelia Voigt and UmaSofia Srivastava, stepped down within days of each other . In the pageant’s seven-decade history, no winner had ever quit.

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Donald Trump deigns to see Black voters now

Trump deals with the Black population when they fit comfortably into his narrative, not when they challenge it

Presidential candidate Donald Trump has been touting his newfound appeal to Black voters who wanted little to do with him in previous election cycles. It would be an exaggeration to call the uptick in support for Trump a reflection of enthusiasm for him or even affection. Mostly it’s a matter of disaffection with President Biden.

Not satisfied with his modest gains, which are in the single digits, Trump has been extolling his popularity among Black voters with a particular kind of fervency that positions him as the high lord raining manna upon the starving. Trump’s tone isn’t that of a pandering politician seeking common ground. He’s not detailing what he’s willing to do to win a Black person’s vote, rather, he’s announcing what he will deign to do.

During Trump’s recent appearance at a church in Detroit, he leaned into one of his favorite tropes, which is that predominantly Black neighborhoods, cities and countries are hellscapes of homicidal thugs, violent gangs and terrible schools. The visit called to mind Trump’s appearance at the Black Conservative Federation gala in South Carolina during the Republican primary, where he engaged with the assembled Black folks, who were wearing tuxedos and formal dresses, in the context of urban blight and criminality — rather than tax cuts, entrepreneurship, health care or family traditions.

In Trump’s telling, things have only gotten worse. Black Americans can’t even cross the street to buy a loaf of bread without fear of being murdered or mugged. While there are communities where residents indeed feel under siege, crime is not the defining characteristic of Black life. But Trump is unconvinced. He recounted the pleas he hears from Black voters: “Sir, we want protection. We want the police to protect us.”

Sir. Sir? Sir .

It’s a simple term of respect and surely there are plenty of adults who might use it as a matter of etiquette or upbringing. But in Trump’s recounting of these interactions, he places the word before a cry for help and then attributes that supplication to a group of people that he’s shown little inclination to respect as unique individuals, patriots or right-minded protesters. His words and actions treat disagreeable Black people like an ungrateful mob that must be contained, controlled and corralled.

He describes his beneficence, the First Step Act , Opportunity Zones , in grandiose terms, declaring that he’s done more for the “Black population than any president since Abraham Lincoln,” which is really to say that Lincoln may very well be the last president whose policies affecting systemic racism and discrimination in this country have yet to come under assault or scrutiny by Trump and his hard-right supporters. They’re rewriting the known history. They’re upending voting rights, affirmative action, diversity and inclusivity programs.

Trump only deigns to deal with the Black population when they fit comfortably into his narrative, but not when they challenge it. He wants their vote but when he doesn’t get it, he claims that their votes shouldn’t count because they must be fraudulent even when they’re not. He likes Black folks such as his former HUD secretary Ben Carson and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who say nice things about him.

Trump chooses Black folks who may speak from their own experiences or who may speak from the heart, but are not necessarily speaking in good faith or with great clarity. He champions Black Trump supporters, regardless of their flaws or their failings , but not Blackness as a cultural identity, historical tradition or point of pride and dignity.

At the Detroit church, Trump performed onstage surrounded by Black faces — as many White ones looked on from the audience — in what was billed as a roundtable conversation. One woman nervously spoke of running a small neighborhood corner store and wanting to give back to her community. She did not ask the former president a question. A formerly incarcerated man noted that he’d been sentenced under the 1994 crime bill that Biden supported as a senator but found relief under the First Step Act. He was thankful.

A restaurateur touted the economic policies of the Trump administration when “money flowed” even though reports in the local papers documented his white linen tablecloth establishment as having opened and then closed during the pandemic when Trump was in the White House, and finally reopening in a new, larger location in 2023, during the Biden administration.

A man who identified himself as a veteran urged Trump not to “allow our soldiers to walk around wearing red high heel shoes.” In response, Trump promised that the military would remain high heel-free on his watch. And a woman who said she worked with young people, lamented that she’d been forced to be a Democrat and take Section 8 public housing and then some unknown force “had me pop out all those babies to get some checks. Didn’t tell me I was stuck with those kids for 18 years.” She liked Trump very much.

That was the representative group of Black folks onstage with Trump. In a predominantly Black city, one known as the motor city, there were no autoworkers onstage. There were no teachers. No ambitious recent graduate struggling to repay a student loan. No one involved in health care or technology or law enforcement. No one who simply identified themselves as a member of the hosting church.

The only person introduced as from 180 Church was the pastor himself, Lorenzo Sewell. He thanked Trump for coming but he also had a question about the challenges of being a Black entrepreneur and keeping one’s revenue circulating throughout predominantly Black neighborhoods. How would Trump’s policies support such businesses?

The candidate didn’t address the challenges of obtaining small business loans. He didn’t go into the policy weeds on supply chain issues, tax burdens, regulatory red tape or the changing nature of technology. “I think one of the biggest problems I see is the crime,” Trump said. “You have to stop the crime.”

Sir, really?

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