In Tennessee right now, a week after Sen.Tim Scott insisted America is not racist, there is discussion in the state legislature by Rep. Justin Lafferty of how the 3/5 Compromise was good policy and Lafferty got applause from the GOP.
The 3/5 Compromise got applause. In 2021.
If you are unfamiliar with the 3/5 Compromise between the North and South, this is a good, concise, detailed overview.
This is where slavery was codified in the Constitution by the Founders, some of whom were slave owners--that is, men who "owned" other human beings. Never forget this country was founded as a democracy that also believed that Black men, women and children were not fully human.
Throughout 2020 I reported a series of pieces on a story that flew under the radar: Sect of State Mike Pompeo's radical remaking of USAID as an extremist evangelical operation. #PostForThePress
As the US was voting to oust Trump, Pompeo was continuing his extremist policy-making at State. He coalesced dozens of rogue nations to create a "pro-family" agenda for the US abroad. #PostForThePress
The work Pompeo was doing via USAID was increasingly far-reaching, yet largely ignored at home due to focus on Trump's excesses. Biden and Blinken have yet to undo any of this. #PostForThePress
Politicians on both sides--Tim Scott, President Biden, Harris--saying America and Americans aren't racist are not unifying the country. They are gaslighting us. Black, Latinx and Asian people are being killed due to racism. 74 MILLION Americans voted for Trump. THAT'S RACISM.
I get that no one wants to critique Biden and Harris about anything after the past 4yrs of hell. But when they are wrong, they must be called out. Parroting Tim Scott parroting Trump won't help us address the structural and systemic racism that both Harris and Scott grew up with.
A 16yr old Black girl was shot to death after she called police for help. Ma'Khia Bryant was a victim of racism. We cannot and must not ignore these realities.
#NEW
In 2018, Christine Hallquist was the 1st out trans woman to run for governor for a major party. Hallquist won the Vermont Democratic race, beating FOUR other candidates. She lost to popular incumbent GOP Gov. Scott 55-40, but Hallquist's was an historic race in the US.
1/
For a decade, Hallquist had been the CEO of an electric company prior to running for governor, so she had defining executive experience. Also, Vermont is the 2nd least populous state in the US with only 625k people and the whitest. So a small, homogenous demographic.
2/
California is the most populous and most diverse state: 40M people, only 36% white. Caitlyn Jenner has no executive experience and little actual job experience. She was an Olympian in 1976 and a reality TV star for 15yrs due largely to her wife and stepdaughters' celebrity.
3/
I won't be writing about this until next week, but having written extensively about this issue, let me say that this is a terrible, terrible ruling.
Supreme Court ruling will make it easier to sentence juveniles to life sentence without parole cnn.com/2021/04/22/pol…
This dangerous ruling, by Kavanaugh, has such far-reaching impact, it is taking the collective breath away from defense attorneys across America--as well as social workers and teachers. Kids' brains don't fully develop until they are about 22-25. Mitigation for age is essential.
No one is suggesting that some heinous crimes by juveniles--and I have covered a few--should go unpunished. But these kids are often mentally ill and/or have mitigating life experience. Parole must be a possibility. But now it's not. This will trickle down to the states & cities.
Why was Ma'Khia Bryant in foster care & what was happening to her there that she felt so endangered at only 16 that she called police for help? Why didn't police make ANY attempt to intervene before going directly to deadly force? Why was no attempt made to diffuse the situation?
There are so many questions raised about the too-short life of Ma'khia Bryant and why the State failed her at every level. She needed help and instead of getting it, she was shot to death. How many levels of harm did she endure and why? This needs a full investigation.
When Black bodies are involved, police are far more likely to use deadly force. This is statistical fact. Why did this happen to Ma'Khia Bryant, though? Why didn't police try to ascertain who was the victim? She was protecting herself and was shot to death. Why?
Wow is THIS a lunatic story. Tucker Carlson attacked Washington Post columnist Eric Wempel, whom he called "dusty and middle aged" (Carlson is 51) and said Jeff Bezos ordered Wempel to investgate Carlson, which of course never happened. thehill.com/homenews/media…
Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post company. He has literally nothing to do with the paper. Zero. Not an editor. Also, we columnists are not assigned stories. That is why it's a dream job. So Wempel decided to investigate Tucker Carlson's racist and homophobic roots.
Tucker Carlson thinks teenagers--actual teenagers--are villainous if they are POC. Or left-leaning like the Parkland survivors. But he does not want to be accountable for *his* teen/college years at his elite schools. Huh.