37 thoughts on “Against Street Protests”

1. Why not mention Trump’s public and private words of condolence to the Floyd family, expression of the apparent guilt of the police officer(s), support for freedom of speech and assembly, and (the part even liberals acknowledge) the need to stop the violence and looting/

   I’m no Trumpist but even a broken clock is right twice every day.

   • There’s a reason why we get rid of broken clocks rather than praising them: Twice a day is a standard of total failure. Even the dumbest person can say that violence and looting is bad, and make a phone call. Condemning only the most obvious case of wrongful police killings is not good enough, especially when you are calling for mass shootings at the same time. As for free speech, Trump has called for suppressing freedom of the press, tried to intimidate colleges into punishing criticism of conservatives, and sought illegally to punish Twitter for daring to criticize his false tweets and his advocacy of violence.

     • If even “the dumbest person can say that violence and looting is bad, and make a phone call. Condemning only the most obvious case of wrongful police killings is not good enough,” then most of the liberals and pseudo-leftists who say the same thing are just as dumb, no?

       The DOJ and FBI have been sicced on this case by Trump, making it a federal case. The broken clock metaphor may be a low standard but how many major decisions does a president make in a given day? If I was right twice EVERY day, I’s consider that a good record! 🙂

   • George Floyd’s brother reports that when Trump called him he would not even allow Mr. Floyd to speak. Some condolence call.

2. On the “about” page on this blog we find the following: “Academe Blog is a production of Academe magazine and focuses on issues in higher education. The blog and Academe are published by the American Association of University Professors, but opinions published in them do not necessarily represent the policies of the AAUP.” Just to be sure, if ever that second sentence were applicable it is to this post, as a forthcoming statement by the AAUP later today should clarify.

   But let me make two points. First, it is at minimum unseemly for a group of professors, or any individual professors, to lecture young people, many of whom are our students and who face an increasingly bleak future, about how they should give voice to their anger and demands, much less hector them about the “uselessness of protests.” Second, when the rich and powerful abandon the notion that spending their billions is “speech” (e.g., Citizens United), then perhaps the poor and powerless might reconsider taking to the streets.

   • The above-mentioned statement, issued by AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum, is now posted to this blog at https://academeblog.org/2020/06/01/statement-protests-response-murder-george-floyd/

   • I’m disturbed at the idea that it’s “unseemly” for anyone to “lecture young people” about effectiveness in their protest tactics. I think lecturing about ideas and challenging conventional wisdom is one of the most important jobs of a professor (along with listening to young people lecture back and engage in discussions). I’m urging people to push universities to create programs to stop police brutality rather than just yelling in the streets. Maybe we need to adopt the effective tactics of the rich and powerful in taking over political and educational institutions, instead of cheering on street protests that don’t work.

     • Sometimes “street protests” work and sometimes they don’t. And sometimes, as with the Vietnam War, it takes some time for the general public to recognize a righteous cause. Most times, though, as David Moshman notes above, violence causes a backlash (or “whitelash” as a CNN commentator calls it).

       What ever happened to the non-violent tactics of Gandhi and MLK?

     • I don’t know whether you’re white or not, and it doesn’t really matter, because you sound like the white patriarch lecturing people of color on the need to “be white like me.” (Andrew Jackson called himself the “great white father” of the indigenous people whose massacre he authorized.) We need no more lectures. For more than two centuries we’ve tried reforms, laws, policy changes, and they’ve given us Trump. People of color are fed up. Can’t you see that? Can’t you try to understand from OUR perspective rather than the perspective of the privileged? Of course the status quo is served when we do the “polite” thing and try to change a few laws. Why aren’t you providing guaranteed healthcare to the undocumented people harvesting the food you eat? Why aren’t you helping the Asian American nurses who are being spat upon in hospitals while they try to save the lives of the bigots who are spitting? Instead you tell us to resist politely. That’s not resistance–it’s capitulation. I’m not participating in the protests, and I have some misgivings about their usefulness, but many of my best, brightest, most passionate students and colleagues are there, and I support them. Even if they fail, even if they catch the virus and die, at least they will have had a better chance of ridding the world of racism than anyone who follows your “advice.”

       • I am white, but it’s ridiculous to call me a “white patriarch” for pointing out that a protest movement linked to violence and looting isn’t going to be politically effective in its goals. I can understand that you’re fed up, but being fed up doesn’t mean the world changes. I can understand your sympathy for your students and colleagues out on the streets, but the protesters can be the best, brightest, and most passionate, and it doesn’t mean flawed tactics will win in the end. I’m not telling anyone to resist politely (if I was polite, I wouldn’t have annoyed so many people). I’m telling people to resist effectively. Please explain to me how these protests, and the violence and crime accompanying them, are providing guaranteed healthcare or helping Asian American nurses? You say that trying reforms, laws, and policy changes hasn’t worked–actually, I’d argue that violent street protests have also been tried many times and they’re the worst approach of all in terms of long-term success. Even in the highly unlikely best case scenario, where most people respond to these protests with a newfound commitment to end police brutality rather than supporting Trump, how exactly will that be put into effect? How are these protests going to end racism and police brutality? My “advice” is that we need to use universities to create programs that will actively work to stop police brutality. It might not work, but it seems a lot more likely to succeed than hoping that white America will decide to end racism because the media show a bunch of people looting.

         • I am pleased to agree with John K. Wilson when he says that, “flawed tactics will [not] win in the end. .. I’m telling people to resist effectively. Please explain to me how these protests, and the violence and crime accompanying them, are providing guaranteed healthcare or helping Asian American nurses?

           In fact, wasn’t Obamacare supposed to provide almost complete guaranteed “affordable” healthcare? Yet there are still about 30 million citizens without it, not to mention non-citizens.

           I’m not as optimistic as John K. Wilson, however, that universities can have much of a role in ending police brutality. Even colleges with Criminal Justice programs teach the “proper” way to do police work.

           Leave moral and ethical training to parents, churches, mosques, synagogues, and op-ed writers.

3. Black lives matter. This essay is (at the very least) a disappointing perspective from an organization that stands for unions, collective bargaining, and solidarity in issues of free speech and academic freedom.

   Black lives matter. Protests are clearly warranted by the blatant police brutality and continual murder of black citizens by the police.

   Black. Lives. Matter. Protests are at the very heart of our rights as citizens of the United States. These protests are crucial to standing with our colleagues of color and with the rights of all.

   • Laura: Please see Hank Reichman’s post above. Please also note that the president of AAUP has issued a statement that takes a very different position than John Wilson’s post.

   • Laura A.: WHO is saying ANYTHING against PEACEFUL protests? No one that I know of, except maybe Antifa, which seems to want to sabotage the good intentions and righteous anger of the vast majority of protesters by linking their legitimate rage with looting, violence, and arson.

   • Laura: I don’t think you need a fourth person to tell you that AcademeBlog is a place for different ideas to be heard, not just official statements from AAUP officers, but I would encourage you or anyone who disagrees with me (or Rudy Fichtenbaum, or both of us) and wants to express your ideas at greater length than in a comment, to email us about submitting a guest post.

     Now, to the content of your comment: Yes, Black Lives Matter, and protests are warranted, and protests are a fundamental right. But are these particular protests effective at stopping police brutality? Instead of encouraging street protests, why aren’t we using universities to help fight against police brutality?

     • John Wilson: I’d like to suggest one better than your telling Laura A. to write to ask about being a guest blogger. Have the editors of Academe or of the Academe Blog write a post, and pin it to the blog’s main page, about how one can contribute to this blog. Explain what topics or categories can one write on/in, who will decide whether the essay is worthy of posting, and how often will these be reviewed. Without being more transparent about the process, your invitation will come across as gate-keeping as the Academe Blog appears to be run mostly or exclusively by white men. When the debate at the moment is about racism, Academe bloggers would be wise to consider this advice, which I offer in the spirit of commitment to both AAUP as a long-time, active member of AAUP and two-time Academe author.

       • Martha, I know that you were directing your comment to John, but as the AAUP staff member responsible for managing the blog, I wanted to respond to it. I appreciate your suggestions. We have always included submissions info on our “About” page, which appears on the top menu, but your comment made me realize that placement was not obvious enough. I have moved the information about submitting to the blog to a separate page called “Submissions,” which now appears as a page in the top menu. I will also review the content and consider making edits to the page. We have a strong desire to diversify our pool of bloggers and to cultivate new bloggers who might become interested in serving as contributing editors. I will also take your excellent suggestion to write a blog post encouraging submissions. Thank you for taking the time to write. Kelly Hand

   • Laura Ammon: Indeed, Black lives matter, and your post here reminds us all that this message must be at the forefront of any commentary on these protests, lest the commentary come across as yet another defense of the white supremacist status quo and yet another dismissal of the understandable outrage over continued racism.

     • My reply here is similar to the one I provided earlier to Laura Ammon:

       WHO is saying ANYTHING against PEACEFUL protests? No one that I know of, except maybe Antifa, which seems to want to sabotage the good intentions and righteous anger of the vast majority of protesters by linking their legitimate rage with looting, violence, and arson.

       So, this time I ask WHO is “defend[ing] the white supremacist status quo? Be specific, please. As they used to say in the McCarthy era, “Name names!”

       BLM!

     • How about MY “understandable outrage” over this incident in Richmond and other similar ones: property destruction, looting, protester-against-protester injuries, and even deaths that Hank Reitman considers less violent than other recent riots.

       The relevant part begins at 3:30 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEncQKV8k_0

       Yes, I’m as mad as anyone about what happened to George Floyd, and agree with his brother on how to handle the immediate future in the wake (no pun intended) of George’s murder.

       “Can’t we all get along?” as Rodney King famously said.

4. This is an insightful and important post. Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968 in large part because violent protests against racism and imperialism led people to support his platform of “law and order.” Similarly, as noted here, the violent protests we are seeing now may lead in November to the re-election of Donald Trump.

   • Or not. Before freaking out, consider these arguments: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paloma/the-trailer/2020/05/31/the-trailer-this-election-isn-t-1968-or-1992-or-2016/5ed2f3ee602ff12947e7ffac/

   • And this from the New York Times today: “on ActBlue, the central online hub that processes money for Democratic candidates and causes, Sunday was the single largest day of giving in all of 2020, with donations of $19 million, according to a New York Times analysis of the site’s donation tracker. . . The giving timed to the protests was not just a one-day phenomenon: ActBlue processed more than $40 million between Friday and Sunday, a sign that the energy spilling into the streets nationwide might also be matched by a wave of money for Democratic causes.” See https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/donations-protests-actblue-democrats.html

5. Frank: Much of the power of the Civil Rights Movement, including the work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, was sustained by public marches, or “street protests.” Important during my own college/grad school studies and activism 1966 ff were the great dramas in ancient and modern literature, including reading–and seeing the RSC production of–MARAT/SADE (traditional abbreviation of title) and discussing in class the implications of the character Jacques Rue, defrocked priest, especially his last cry:

   Stand up in front of them
   And let them see how many of you there are
   …
   When will you learn to see
   When will you learn to take sides

   The play may be set in a madhouse, but then, as Peter Weiss knew, so is modern society.

   There is an important role for public demonstrations. Of considerable importance in the recent demonstrations (aside from the opportunistic infiltration by various self-serving violent factions) was the chance to see people of MANY races and MANY ages (mostly but not only young), marching together, supporting one another, calling for the same thing: JUSTICE for all. My students in American Lit survey last semester were surprised and invigorated by the documents and contemporary discussion of the U.S.’s founding and of the Civil War era. We do not and should not instruct our students in what to think and how to act in their actual lives, but it is our calling to put before them when relevant and help them understand the intellectual, social, and political history of the world and society they live in, so that they can think for themselves. I would not tell them they should refrain from public demonstrations, nor would I belittle the wider importance of such demonstrations in the socio-political world.

   Rudy Fichtenbaum’s statement addresses the present societal situation and the idea of public activism well, and I second him. As an individual and as an educator I deplore violence, and as a human being I have been horrified by the events of the last week. But I would never consider that public demonstration and private advocacy were mutually exclusive. –R.A. Baumgartner

   • RAB: First, I did not need a history lesson about the civil rights movement, since I was actively involved with it from an early age to my dotage and I marched with many leaders, including a trip over the Brooklyn Bridge with Al Sharpton in support of the 4-year nursing program at Medgar Evers College, where I worked. I was involved in many other marches, rallies, and protests against the Vietnam War, racism, sexism, and in favor of numerous progressive causes (I worked for the NYC Welfare Dept. during the Rockefeller cutbacks and we marched down 42nd Street toward his offices to protest.).

     In fact, I was the one who came up with the strategy (at least in NYC) of putting nuns and priests up front during marches, so that police horses would be less likely to storm into the crowd, especially when there were cameras trained on them. (Unfortunately, the horses charged ahead anyway, almost knocking me through a plate glass store window.) The centerfold of THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS captured that moment, with the caption, “Police horses NUDGE the crowd onto the sidewalk.” That was NOT a “nudge.”

     Yes, it’s good to see people of many races protesting together, although after watching dozens of hours of footage from all over the U.S. I have yet to see A SINGLE marcher over the age of about 30.

     My one point of disagreement with you is also a strategic one. When you say, “aside from the opportunistic infiltration by various self-serving violent factions…” the specific language you use implies that those “outside (or inside) agitators” are a mere “aside” from the peaceful protests. For millions of Americans, the destruction of mostly minority communities, mom-and-pop businesses, and injuries to innocent people of all ethnicities are THE issue, even if they agree — as everyone does — that George Floyd’s murder was unwarranted and criminal. With all that support for the peaceful protests, why turn supporters against you — and toward the racists — bu minimizing the impact of looting and injury?

6. Pingback: Actually, the Current Protests are Comparatively Peaceful and More Extensive Than Ever | ACADEME BLOG

7. The real violence is committed by cops against people of color. That’s what happened to George Floyd and the others who have been killed by cops. I ran across a news account from 2015 that says more than 100 innocent black people were murdered by cops that year. It wasn’t a person of color who drove a semi into a crowd, nor was it antifa. It was a racist who supports the cops. It’s odd to me that white folks here are debating looting rather than cops killing people of color. And what about Trump teargassing peaceful protesters so that he could dishonor religion by holding up a bible in front of a church whose teachings he clearly doesn’t understand? Blaming the victim is easy. It’s one of the basic lessons in my Ethnic Studies 101 classes. And white people are extremely talented at blaming victims when those victims are not white.

   • I don’t see why people can’t discuss BOTH crimes: the unjust murder of George Floyd (an others) AND the murders, arson, looting, and other crimes of Antifa and others.

     Also, apparently FBI stats (believe them or not) indicate that far more white folks were killed by cops than blacks — and they weren’t all “innocent” (although they probably shouldn’t have ended up dead — unless they were attacking a cop).

     Finally, there’s no need to repeat the common myth — that “Trump teargass[ed] peaceful protesters …” — to make your point. Get the facts straight from a variety of sources, instead of “fake news” outlets (I hate using that term but MUCH of what we read and hear is fake). In this case, the U.S. Park Police (believe them or not) says that they did NOT release tear gas — it was smoke canisters and pepper balls — to disperse a crowd that was hurling bricks and other projectiles. (51 Park Police were injured this week, with 14 going to the hospital). Here’s the actual statement:

     https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm

     Incidentally, in case you think I’m some kind of right-wing troglodyte, I happen to be a Marxist whose name is enshrined on Rosa Parks’s Wall of Tolerance and has worked his whole life for social justice.

     • You have a habit of boasting that you worked for people of color decades ago. What are you doing for us today? My university had a president a few years ago who boasted about marching in 1965 with civil rights protesters, then he turned around and imposed policies that hurt people of color. So what if he marched in 1965? He converted into another white who doesn’t even try to understand racism today from our perspective. You’re not working for social justice today–you’re impeding people of color. Then you whine that we’re not doing things your way. My students of color are extremely smart in identifying their true white allies. And most whites who feel a need to boast about being allies are NOT our allies–like Trump calling himself a stable genius. (My white grandmother, who didn’t finish eighth grade, once said that if you have to call yourself smart, you’re not smart.) You defend racists and then call yourself an ally. Ha. Stop deluding yourself. Many good whites on this blog have proven their solidarity with people of color. You have proven the opposite. If I showed your posts to 100 of my smartest students and colleagues of color, I guarantee that all 100 would call you an enemy.

       • John Streamas: I used to think like you and maybe you will become more enlightened and less hostile as you grow up. To be kind, you have COMPLETELY misunderstood most of my posts on this site. You know the old saying, “When you ASSUME, you make an ASS of U and ME”? I always thought it made an ass of the person who DID the assuming.

         It is true that I’ve worked for social justice causes since I was 12 years old — and still do (see below). I am proud to point that out when the discussion is about SJ strategy, since many of today’s students and activists are not familiar with how some measure of social justice was achieved in the past and continue to make the same tactical mistakes that my generation made decades ago — and caused setbacks to the struggle until we learned better.

         Yes, my name is enshrined on Rosa Parks’s WALL OF TOLERANCE, and I’m very proud of that. It was added in the 1990s, not the ’60s. Is YOUR name on that Wall? (I think that nominations are still open.) I also worked on recruitment and strategy for the “real,” “original” Black Panthers. Did you? Tthe New Black Panthers are still around. Have YOU signed up? As a film/media academic, I also write and lecture extensively about racial topics, including the Rodney King videotaoe and, more recently (2019), about THE COLOR PURPLE. Have YOU done any of that kind of scholarly work, other than spouting your views to your “smartest students and colleagues of color”? (That’s NOT a rhetorical or hostile question. I’d really like to know what you’ve done in that regard.)

         I won’t take the bait and list ALL my recent activities, in part because several of them are technically illegal, as were many of the others in my past; some were even DANGEROUS. Yes, I was tear-gassed on several occasions, pushed to the ground and night-sticked by cops, almost shoved through a plate glass window by police horses, and other such atrocities. I don’t mention all this (and I’m leaving out A LOT) to tell everyone how smart I was (in fact, I was probably TOO risky in my behavior, often standing in the front of march) but, rather, to suggest to today’s SJWs that the older generation should not be written off, as you seem to do.

         I will mention that just this week I marched 3 times with the demonstrators here in New York City to Gracie Mansion and around Union Square. You may have seen me on TV; I was probably the only protester aged over 70 in sight. 🙂

         Well, I listed a few of MY contributions to the cause. What about YOU?

       • P.S. I forgot to provide the precise information about about unarmed black deaths at the hands of cops. The most recent stats come from the liberal WASHINGTON POST, which tracks these facts. The ones from 2019 show that only 10 black people were killed by cops, most of them justified as self-defense with charges dropped, based on eyewitness accounts, etc. I think that 1-2 officers were convicted of the 10.

         http://www.washingtonpost.com › police-shootings-2019

         The WASHINGTON POST conducted a longer-term study, 2015-2020 and found that police killings of blacks were highest during the Obama years.

         http://www.washingtonpost.com>graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/

         “Facts are stubborn things.” I happen to be a Marxist who continues to work for social justice causes BY USING FACTS.

8. How petty. You’re turning this into a competition. How Euro and how macho can you get? All my Marxist friends are focusing their attention on the ways in which racial capitalism is manifest in the history of US policing, and some are leading a movement to abolish prisons and defund police. And they certainly aren’t relying on your sources for information on racist policing. (By the way, will you admit that FBI reports now show that fascist groups have disrupted protests posing as antifa? Do you think the driver of that semi in Minneapolis was anyone but a fascist?) You seem to forget that facts are equally suspect regardless of their source, but you are certainly committed to citing white sources. If you want facts, maybe you’ll want to read Manning Marable’s “How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America,” or maybe you’ll want to read Harney and Moten’s “The Undercommons,” or the new Heyday anthology on the history of US policing’s racism. If you want theory, you should read Paik’s “Rightlessness,” or Day’s takedown of racial capitalism in settler colonialism in “Alien Capital.” Or maybe you should check out Robin Kelley’s newest works, or if you’re into literature read Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen”–there’s a righteous takedown of institutional racism and racist policing. Or Layli Long Soldier’s poems in “Whereas,” in which she mourns the history of Abe Lincoln’s authorizing a massacre of Lakota people within days of issuing his Emancipation Proclamation. If you don’t know these works, you’re out of touch. My students certainly know them–I assign them. And for your information, I marched in the 1970s and 1980s in many protests and saw cops beating down protesters too, without any provocation. But I won’t compete with you. Competition is antithetical to justice. I will add, though, that for my recent teaching and writing, I’m a charter member of the Professor Watchlist. Those fascists really hate me. Do they hate or love you? But don’t turn this into a game. I’m not playing. I’m framing a response to a former student who just participated in Seattle protests and saw friends attacked by cops.

   • John S. Thanks for the reading list. I’ll get right on it. I do want to be as well-read as you are. In return, might I suggest Marx’s Karl Marx’s “Theses on Feuerbach” Tthesis 11), which states, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” It’s not just the “philosophers”; today’s squabbling overly “P.C.” academics are also at fault, in my opinion.

     Thanks also for the tidbits about Jackson, Lincoln, et al. I was well aware of those facts and factoids. (maybe you teach Black/Ethnic Studies and just ASSUME that everyone is ignorant about such matters). BTW, my source was the WASHINGTON POST, not the FBI but, of course, when the FACTS don’t mesh with one’s ideology, ignore or rewrite them, or, better, use ad hominem arguments to discredit the person who cites those FACTS. Facts can be used by racists — and Leftists too — but TRUE facts are not inherently biased — unless you’re some kind of extreme poststructuralist. If ALL facts are suspect, how would we know eidetically that George Floyd was murdered by cops or that Rodney King was beaten to a pulp.

     Continuing to be “petty,” I did notice that you did not fully respond to my request for YOUR level of participation in SJ activities, or would that have been too “petty” to mention — even though you made much of your INACCURATE claims (assumptions? guesses?) about MY supposed lack of participation.But, you’re right, people on the Left should not be engaged in competition of this sort. (Ironic that YOU started this tit-for-tat with me, right?)

     In-fighting has too often been the bane of the Old Left, New Left, and Post-Left — with too many proclaiming a ONE Left (i.e., Stalinist/Maoist) code with no disagreements brooked by independent thinkers (what used to be called “freethinkers” — and that was usually a compliment.).

     But, as I’ve been advocating on this very site, “Can’t we all just get along?” In that vein, I’m willing to propose a truce in this “petty” squabble. I accept you as a comrade in the struggle; I hope you will accept me.

9. Twitter now reports that provocations attributed to antifa originated in fascist groups, and the CDC now says that the chemicals used against peaceful protesters in DC so that Trump could pose with a bible he’s clearly never read was in fact the equal of tear gas. It’s police who are causing riots, not protesters. I’ve now received messages from several former students who report police beatings of innocent protesters and even bystanders. Universities must now reconsider their relationship to police.

   • I guess my use of the WASHINGTON POST for a source was not valid, according to John S. but “Twitter” is now considered a reliable and trustworthy news source! “FACTS are persistent things.”

     Likewise, CNN (!) says that the smoke pellets, etc., used against demonstrators in D.C. were “equal to tear gas.” Maybe so, but does that invalidate the claims in the U.S. Parks Dept. statement explaining what happened — and refuting what most of the mainstream media had falsely claimed, that ACTUAL tear gas was used. (It makes a difference.) Here’s that statement again. Was ANYTHING inaccurate in it?

     https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm

     — A Marxist who believes in dialectical MATERIALISM and that there are MATERIAL facts and conditions in the world.

     • News flash: The Park Service now says it erred in its previous statements. And don’t confuse the CDC with CNN. I worked as a proofreader and copyeditor for twelve years, so I have a high regard for “facts.” Speaking of which, some healthcare folks also say that tear gas threatens to worsen the spread of the virus–no accident, I’m sure. I’ve spent parts of the past few days consoling students of color. But I can’t assure them that any institutions will ever support them, can I? I don’t care about scoring points or competing with you. I want to help my students. The system has failed them. And they see friends and others in their communities being viciously attacked by men with badges. I trust my students. I don’t trust the badges. But while here I need to add another book to your reading list: “Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter,” edited by Jordan T. Camp and Christina Heatherton. Some of its chapters are by academics, others by activists. But all pretty much agree that the militarizing of police has escalated the race war in the US. Finally, a point about “facts”: institutional power determines who will get access to facts so that they may decide how to manipulate them. Just as history is written by winners, facts aren’t often enough provided to marginalized peoples. But anyone who wants to learn about the London plague of 1665 knows that the best source is Daniel Defoe’s “A Journal of the Plague Year,” though it’s largely a work of fiction. There are ways of knowing that marginalized peoples have always had to depend upon. Mark Zuckerberg may have a truckload of facts at his disposal, but I’d rather learn to make the world a better place from Cornel West. My students from the Pacific Islands depend on what they call indigenous ways of knowing–better guides to navigating the world than Google..

       • Busted on confusing CDC with CNN. I heard the announcement on CNN while typing. I was an editor of 2 scholarly journalists. associate editor of a labor union newspaper, and documentary filmmaker, etc. etc. I’m very concerned about facts too (although i did make a typo in my last post).

         BTW, I may be wrong but “the militarizing of police (which] escalated the race war in the US” really began in full force in the Clinton years, when (1) billions were allocated to local police forces to hire additional cops — but many cities spent the money on cheap Army surplus vehicles, gear, and uniforms; likewise, in that same era, the Crime Bill (supported by Joe Biden) also exacerbated racial tensions when thousands of black men (and many women) ended up serving jacked-up sentences. I hope you’re not a liberal because Trump at least relaxed SOME of those sentencing regulations.

         I’m not taking his side — only pointing out that donkeys and elephants both contribute to the ongoing pain and discrimination against minorities. To me, and Noam Chomsky, the U.S. has only ONE political party, the Business Party, with two wings who reward their own respective donors.

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