Your daily reminder that those who would ban antiracist education or Critical Race Theory would have to ban MLK. And the only reason people don't realize this is they've never read King or listened to any of his speeches except one misinterpreted line from one speech

THREAD...
After all, King recognized the systemic nature of injustice and how to address it when he said:

"...the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.” (2)
He also was clear about white ignorance:

'Whites are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.' (3)
...and the way whites were to blame for society's problems. Here is what he said on that subject:

"The policymakers of white society have caused the darkness; they create discrimination; they structured slums; and they perpetuate unemployment, ignorance and poverty (cont...) (4)
..."It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society."

Got that? The crimes of white society. Not colorblindness here...

But there's more: (5)
From the same statement after the Watts uprising:

"slums are the handiwork of a vicious system of the white society...if the violations of law by the white man...were compared with the law-breaking of a few days of riots, the hardened criminal would be the white man...." (6)
And he criticized America relentlessly when he said:

"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettoes without first having spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government." (7)
And he even said America may go to hell unless it fundamentally changed when he said:

"America too is going to hell if she doesn't use her wealth...to end poverty and make it possible for all of God's children to have the basic necessities of life..." (8)
In his last sermon, written but never delivered, he made clear the systemic failure of the nation:

"America...gave the black man a bad check that’s been bouncing all around. We are going to demand our check..." (9)...
It is imperative that we confront the critics of CRT nd antiracist education who are seeking to censor and ban books and stifle real learning, and demand to know why they support banning MLK, because they do, whether they will admit it or not... END

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More from @timjacobwise

18 Jun
I love it when folks say the South is so patriotic. They typically mean white conservatives of course. But historically white conservatives have been the LEAST patriotic group. Don't believe me?

A quick thread.
First, they wouldn't even join the nation unless slavery was protected & strengthened via the 3/5 compromise, a fugitive slave return provision in the constitution and the extension of the trans-Atlantic slave trade for 20 more years (2)...
...not to mention the 2nd Amendment, which, as @ProfCAnderson demonstrates in her brilliant new book, The Second, was principally about strengthening the white militia so as to put down possible rebellions by enslaved Black folks (3)...
Read 9 tweets
17 Jun
Conservatives say we shouldn't teach that racism was embedded in the U.S. from the start bc that ignores the progress we've made. But only by understanding how deeply rooted racism has been can we truly appreciate the victories of the abolitionist or civil rights movements (1)...
By downplaying how central white supremacy was to the founding & creation of the country, we minimize how incredible the anti-slavery and larger freedom struggles were. Progress only has full meaning when contrasted with the depths of depravity from which it emerged (2)...
Ultimately, the reason the right doesn't want us teaching about racism isn't so we can focus on progress, but so we can ignore everything against which we needed progress to begin with. These are people who say we need to MAGA, which means they think we didn't need progress (3)..
Read 4 tweets
16 Jun
Obviously, I'm no fan of Greg Kelly or Newsmax, but the main interpretation of his since-deleted tweet about military service & race is pretty clearly inaccurate. That said, what he IS saying, or trying to say, is also tone deaf and worth challenging...

A THREAD
On Sunday, Kelly tweeted this (2)...
At first glance, and taken literally, it sounds amazingly white supremacist. But truthfully, it should be obvious he's trying to be funny and ironic. Sadly, right-wingers aren't good at either, so it falls flat (3)...
Read 19 tweets
15 Jun
Thread

To understand white denial about American history, consider two photos. First, this pic of Hazel Bryan screaming at Elizabeth Eckford during the integration of Little Rock Central High. The date: September 4, 1957. As for the second photo, follow along...(1)
This is a promo pic for the TV show Leave it to Beaver: a much-beloved program, especially for white conservatives, who view it as a nostalgic representation of family life and the ultimate example of a more "innocent time..." But here's the thing...(2)
Leave it to Beaver premiered on October 4, 1957: one month to the day after that photo from Little Rock was taken. America was not innocent, and the evil wasn't only in the heart of Hazel Bryan or other Little Rock whites. It was a national sickness. One most whites ignored...(3)
Read 12 tweets
15 Jun
This cop must be terminated. Canceled, Career ended forever. No mercy, no second chances. Done. Zero tolerance for this is the only possible approach.

Warren police officer under investigation for racist comments on Facebook clickondetroit.com/news/local/202…
His "learning" and "growth" and whatever other woo-woo nonsense folks want to advocate for cannot come at the expense of those his attitude would or could victimize. Their safety is more important than his personal evolution as a human being...Let him learn from his unemployment
It's one thing to give average folks grace for racist shit. I believe in that, generally. But if you are a cop, teacher, judge, doctor, nurse, or anyone else in an authority position where your power can harm people, no second chances unless you do SERIOUS work to make amends
Read 4 tweets
15 Jun
Those attacking Critical Race Theory want us to get bogged down explaining why they don't understand CRT, or what CRT really is. Don't fall for it. Flip the frame. By their own admission, they seek to lump all discussion of racism, past or present, under the CRT label...

THREAD
...Bc they don't want any analysis of racism as a historic or contemporary force in the U.S. This is why even books like To Kill a Mockingbird are coming under attack, and books looking at segregation are being called "divisive" because they cast whites in a 'bad' light (2)...
Rather than spend time trying to explain what CRT is, expose their real agenda: canceling truth about history and its lingering effects. Censorship. Book banning. And as I said in an earlier thread directed at one of their main attack dogs, their approach would cancel MLK...(3)
Read 14 tweets

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