Mon Nov 22, 2021, 11:35 AM

After the Rittenhouse verdict: Will "white freedom" spell the ruin of America?

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 22, 2021 6:00AM, Salon

"White freedom" could bring the ultimate ruination of America. By that term, I do not simply mean "white privilege" or "racist" behavior that violates social norms and is considered unacceptable or aberrant. White freedom is much more powerful than that: it is a core organizing principle of American society.

In his recent book "White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea," Tyler Stovall explains this concept as "the belief (and practice) that freedom is central to white racial identity, and that only white people can or should be free."

Contrary to what many Americans would like to believe, the country's founding was not a project dedicated to universal human rights. Instead, America's "democratic" experiment was based on a racialized understanding of democracy and of who counts as fully human — and who does not.

In the 18th century, full citizenship rights and "democracy" were exclusive to white men who owned property. As Charles Mills, Edmund Morgan and other scholars have documented, Black and other nonwhite people were the boundary against which "democracy" and white freedom were to be demarcated and built upon. In his 1999 book "The Racial Contract," Charles Mills summarizes this as: "Whiteness is not really a color at all, but a set of power relations."

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I've always said only one country can destroy America. And we're doing a fantastic job of it!

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7 replies	Author	Time	Post
After the Rittenhouse verdict: Will "white freedom" spell the ruin of America? (Original post)	American Interregnum	Nov 2021	OP
No....some people try...(the last guy before Biden)..hard to do this. We are a very strong country.	Stuart G	Nov 2021	#1
They were only in favor of representative government as long as they called the shots.	CrispyQ	Nov 2021	#2
Yes...you are correct...but the problem is 2 words..."the vote"	Stuart G	Nov 2021	#3
Frankly, do not see this single verdict as cause for armed brown shirts in the streets.	Alexander Of Assyria	Nov 2021	#4
WTF is up with the dancing around the obvious. It isn't "white freedom".	Thomas Hurt	Nov 2021	#5
I'm going to make a rather unethical statement here	lambchopp59	Nov 2021	#6
Racism isn't a "card". It's a rule of the culture; like a full house beats three of a kind.	Marcuse	Nov 2021	#7

Response to American Interregnum (Original post)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 11:40 AM

Stuart G (37,385 posts)

1. No....some people try...(the last guy before Biden)..hard to do this. We are a very strong country.

(resilient) is the correct word...(I couldn't think of it at first...oh well...back to the hide...

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Response to American Interregnum (Original post)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 11:44 AM

CrispyQ (34,967 posts)

2. They were only in favor of representative government as long as they called the shots.

White, male property owners put themselves at the top of the hierarchy where they made the rules that kept them at the top. And they had a good run at it, too. But now uppity women, people of color, and gays are demanding equality, and worse, equity in the system, and the white Christian patriarchy is pissed off! Their position is being threatened. They believe that they are the real Americans, not the rest of us. And the ones they're really pissed at are liberal whites, for betraying the race and supporting equality for everyone.

There is a big segment on the right who literally wants to kill those of us who oppose them. I'm pretty sure I have a few in my extended family.

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Response to CrispyQ (Reply #2)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 11:54 AM

Stuart G (37,385 posts)

3. Yes...you are correct...but the problem is 2 words..."the vote"

..........Making laws is important...and who makes the laws for the government?...well.........that is swell..you and me..

What kind of laws are ok?....You figure that one out..One law in Illinois has saved countless lives. and few know
about that idea....Over years, hundreds, perhaps thousands have been saved in every state of the U.S.A...
figured that one out?.......oh well........"seat belt laws"....you got to put on your seat belt before you or someone else drives..

Some people don't like that law...& some don't do it....but word gets out. Now almost all do it..don't you?

Lots of laws are like that.

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Response to American Interregnum (Original post)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 12:28 PM

Alexander Of Assyria (7,531 posts)

4. Frankly, do not see this single verdict as cause for armed brown shirts in the streets.

Or some kind of violent right wing revolution overthrowing the federal government.

Fascism is on the march, no doubt, Danger Will Robinson, but when armed boys disguised as men start getting organized AND violent, as mobs or groups or “militias” or “patriots”, does anyone really think the Military, under command of not a fascist, will permit such a thing?

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Response to American Interregnum (Original post)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 12:36 PM

Thomas Hurt (13,903 posts)

5. WTF is up with the dancing around the obvious. It isn't "white freedom".

It is christofascist theocracy. This is has been the agenda of the far right since at least the Reagan admin. It has grown out of the previous right wing movements surrounding white supremacy, antisemitic, and anti government ideology.

The root of it all is the KKK, the oldest conservative christian terrorist organization in this country. Toss on the various sundry groups that have evolved over the years: militias, minutemen, neo-confederates, sovereigns/constitutionalists, neo-nazis, randian acolytes, birchers, patriot movement, secessionists, aryan brotherhood, army of God, christian identity, reconstructionists, dominionists.

These nutjobs are the rabid base that has made the Pig their Dear Leader and chosen of God.

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Response to American Interregnum (Original post)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 02:20 PM

lambchopp59 (2,809 posts)

6. I'm going to make a rather unethical statement here

For my caregiver profession.
Having done several of the honors of the final silencing of the hate mongering teevee channel as the doctor says "time of death".
Having argued with countless anti-maskers to put their mask back on in the hospital, please, properly. Having been physically assaulted by two of them since the beginning of the fuckdemic.
Having to bear idiotic, bullying commentary from this same anti-science ilk, in clumsy attempts to convince me of their nutjob slant on medicine while continuing to practice my science.
For the worst of these unvaccinated, violent, racist, bewildered idiots who can't be convinced of reality...
That's it. I go through the gentle motions but have been completely drained of any shred of emotional compassion for these hateful creeps. Completely numb.
Then I hear of complete nonsense like this, where the worst of them have "owned us libs".
I damn near lost my lunch.

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Response to American Interregnum (Original post)

Mon Nov 22, 2021, 03:51 PM

Marcuse (7,168 posts)

7. Racism isn't a "card". It's a rule of the culture; like a full house beats three of a kind.

“Men take their women straight” may have meant something different then, but the advertisement presents an interesting example of cultural misogyny accented by casual racism.

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