March 17, 2023

This headline should read: 75% of Republicans disapprove of January 6th insurrection.

While 25% is still too high by at least 25%, with a 66% turnout in 2020 what it really boils down to is only 8.25% of likely voters support the insurrection. That sounds about right for TFG's base.

March 7, 2023

First of all,

there are existing buildings that could be retrofitted for all these purposes. Think dead malls across America. No reason for more deforestation. Second of all, it’s not so much that they’ll be getting training, it’s the quality and content of the training. Arguing in favor of the complex “for better trained cops” is like arguing for universal literacy and giving out copies of Mein Kampf because “literacy is inherently good.”

March 2, 2023

Context is everything.

He was addressing clergy, of course he talked about his faith! 🙄 Jimmy Carter has said very similar things, now let’s see you post this same thing about him.

February 19, 2023

When I was in seminary,

My New Testament prof started the class about Revelations by singing the first few chords of Jim’s Hendrix’s Across the Watchtower. 😂 It definitely set the scene for the trippiest book of the Bible!

February 10, 2023

Incrementalism kills.

You can’t fix what’s been broken since its creation. Or rather, you can’t fix a culture that’s operating as planned. A public ignorant to the motivations that started modern policing in US - slave patrols - is a public that accepts incremental “solutions” to centuries of state torture. This is one more example of why the GQP is terrified of Black history being taught. ACAB.

February 10, 2023

I know what the College Board is.

I was a librarian in a private school, we had AP classes up the wazoo, so to speak. I am well aware of the academic rigor they demand.

Not sure why you lead with it being nonprofit. Its nonprofit status is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is that they are politicizing history. The College Board is compromised, accepting that APAAS "skews left." No, it doesn't. It shines a spotlight on reality. The fact they are letting a well-documented, historically racist and skewing authoritarian state erase the lived experience of the descendants of those who their ancestors kidnapped and enslaved is insane. It's a freaking elective. No one is forcing this class on anyone. It's a literal white-washing of history.

Worse, by erasing intersectionality they have specifically erased the voices of the most oppressed peoples - the disabled, the poor, the queer - and even more specifically erased the voices of Black American disabled, poor, and queer people. The Board has been bullied/compromised to consent to historical genocide to placate politics.

I've seen this movie and it doesn't end well.

February 8, 2023

"Not all white people!!!" "White Lives Matter!"

That's what I hear when I read your posts. Yes, of course, in a perfect world it would be BS for white people to say we're sick of white people. But you've shown your hand in your white advantage even in this post I'm replying to.

"The broad brush that every white person has some sort of power (still) over nonwhite people..."

"It doesn't matter that white people have an advantage. How is that advantage, such as it is today, an excuse for generalizing about them in a way you would not permit for any other group?"

"And they are trying to claim they are better than other white people."

All three of these remarks are racist assumptions that reflect more on the state of white fragility than prove your thesis. Putting "still" in parenthesis indicates you don't really think white people have an advantage over Black people in society.

"Such as it is today" says that you, as a white person, do not think that you have any advantages over Black people, which is baloney at the most basic level. Are you regularly stopped for driving while white, followed around stores by people who assume you're going to steal something, or have the cops called on you for bird watching/jogging/collecting insects/having a phone in your hand/etc.?

And I do not know a single white person, in over 20 years of antiracism work, who thinks they're better than other white people when they acknowledge that white people created and continue to perpetuate most modern systems of oppression, and most of us understand fully that we are complicit even as we work to overcome racism. If you think voicing our frustration with fellow white folk means we think we're better than you, that's 100% projection on your part.

February 7, 2023

It's important to know the difference between a banned book and a challenged book.

This unsourced meme makes it sound like these books have been removed from libraries, and that is not the case. Some have faced challenges concerned about content but they haven't been removed from libraries. Others have been removed from compulsory classroom reading lists because they're old, outdated books that kids don't relate to any more, but they are still available for kids to read for pleasure. These titles are white authored classics, are RARELY removed from libraries, and none of these books are on the Moms for Liberty list of books they want removed from libraries.

TL;DR: This meme is dated and not reflective of what's being banned and challenged in the 21st Century.

February 4, 2023

Looking at life through rose-colored glasses is also problematic.

Personally, I think the odds are 50/50 which way Garland will go. But even if I had 100% faith in him, I would still extend grace to the folks who express their fears. DU should be a safe space for liberals and progressives to express their fears and doubts about the party/the legal system/the economy/etc. as well as their dreams and legislative victories. I read this and thought, "This person is frustrated after 2 years of nothing happening to TFG," unlike you, who immediately jumped into "This person is probably a troll" mode. Walking in lockstep is something I associate with conservatives but it's disturbing how often I see that sentiment here on DU.