Black Lives Don't Matter... As Black Lives?

[Beorhtnoth]

When Cambridge University professor Priyamvada Gopal stated "White Lives Don't Matter", certain sections of the internet went into meltdown. Here was prima facie evidence of anti-white prejudice. Gopal received death threats. Throughout all this was forgotten Gopal's statement was edited. She actually said, "White lives don't matter. As white lives."
This casts sentiment in a wholly new light. Distanced from the confrontational and controversial presentation, from politically motivated commentators, Gopal's statement makes sense. It is the life that matters, not the whiteness.

However...

If white lives don't matter for their whiteness, black lives don't matter for their blackness. All lives matter.

Yet "All lives matter" is treated as racist apology.

We really are in a dark place where spurious identity politics obscure simple truths. We are all equally valid. Nonsense verbiage tries to hide this. Don't let it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

"All lives matter" as a statement is absolutely true. As a budding Buddhist, it is a core portion of the philosophy that I try to live my life by, with "all lives" meaning much more than just human lives; it also includes animal, plant, and mineral lives.

However, saying "All lives matter" as a way of avoiding the truth that that a society that has been based for centuries on the philosophy of white supremacy has caused and continues to cause untold harm to people of color is, to me, not acceptable.

Edited to slightly slightly clarify the above and to add: the phrase "black lives matter" is not intended to mean that only black lives matter, or that lives matter because they are black. It is intended to point out that in the perception of many (including me) black lives in the United States have not been treated as mattering in many instances.

[Beorhtnoth]

Without wishing to sound like a one note orchestra, I believe words, and how they are used, is integral to this (as Voronwë highlights).

There is nothing contentious about the statement "Black Lives Matter". There is nothing contentious about the statement "White Lives Matter". Both are, I posit, self evident. Where I believe conflict arises is when one statement is employed to the exclusion of others.

Where Priyamvada Gopal was, rightly in my opinion, called out was not for her original statement, but her subsequent qualifying statements, such as her recommendation to "abolish whiteness".

I find the whole issue of racial identification troubling. It appears the only "pure" race is white, as any person with a non-white grandparent is automatically BAME, or some other umbrella term. How can this be right? It is chillingly similar to the "one drop" determination of Jewishness in Nazi Germany.

This might have spun out from my original intent in posting. Apologies for my comments being confused, but I find the subject of race confusing.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The very idea of "race" was developed to maintain the idea of white supremacy. Among the progenitors of the idea was Thomas Jefferson (who despite righting the words "all men are created equal" owned hundreds of enslaved people) as Robin DiAnglelo notes:

Jefferson suggested that there were natural differences between the races and asked scientists to find them. If science could prove that black people were naturally and inherently inferior (he saw Indigenous people as culturally deficient—a shortcoming that could be remedied), there would be no contradiction between our professed ideals and our actual practices. There were, of course, enormous economic interests in justifying enslavement and colonization. Race science was driven by these social and economic interests, which came to establish cultural norms and legal rulings that legitimized racism and the privileged status of those defined as white.

Drawing on the work of Europeans before them, American scientists began searching for the answer to the perceived inferiority of non-Anglo groups. Illustrating the power of our questions to shape the knowledge we validate, these scientists didn’t ask, “Are blacks (and others) inferior?” They asked, “Why are blacks (and others) inferior?” In less than a century, Jefferson’s suggestion of racial difference became commonly accepted scientific “fact.”

The idea of racial inferiority was created to justify unequal treatment; belief in racial inferiority is not what triggered unequal treatment. Nor was fear of difference. As Ta-Nehisi Coates states, “But race is the child of racism, not the father.” He means that first we exploited people for their resources, not according to how they looked. Exploitation came first, and then the ideology of unequal races to justify this exploitation followed. Similarly, historian Ibram Kendi, in his National Book Award–winning work Stamped from the Beginning, explains: “The beneficiaries of slavery, segregation, and mass incarceration have produced racist ideas of Black people being best suited for or deserving of the confines of slavery, segregation, or the jail cell. Consumers of these racist ideas have been led to believe there is something wrong with Black people, and not the policies that have enslaved, oppressed, and confined so many Black people.” Kendi goes on to argue that if we truly believe that all humans are equal, then disparity in condition can only be the result of systemic discrimination.

DiAngelo, Robin J.. White Fragility (pp. 16-17). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.

[River]

I find the whole issue of racial identification troubling. It appears the only "pure" race is white, as any person with a non-white grandparent is automatically BAME, or some other umbrella term. How can this be right? It is chillingly similar to the "one drop" determination of Jewishness in Nazi Germany.

It isn't right. One-drop rules are a manifestation of white supremacy. People who were considered black under the one drop rule could be and were enslaved back when that was still legal. They could be and were subjected to the Jim Crow laws back when those were a thing. Nowadays, racial identification is self-declared and more complicated but until white supremacy itself gets rooted out it's not going to go away. It's a nasty thing that has haunted American history and culture since we became the USA and it is something we have been struggling with with varying degrees of openness, pain, and bloodshed for ever since. The BLM movement is only the most recent round of this struggle. We tend to come out the other side of these things in a better spot but the process isn't pretty.

In other words, what Voronwë said.

It would be nice if the kids would shut up long enough for me to submit a post in a timely manner...

[Frelga]

Nazi ideology owed a great deal to the ideas of white supremacism and eugenics that were popular in the US at the time.

This is far from a comprehensive write up, addressing specifically influences of American laws on Nazi legislation, but it's the first that came up on Google. There's lots more.

The Atlantic

What America Taught the Nazis

[Sunsilver]

Jefferson suggested that there were natural differences between the races and asked scientists to find them. If science could prove that black people were naturally and inherently inferior (he saw Indigenous people as culturally deficient—a shortcoming that could be remedied), there would be no contradiction between our professed ideals and our actual practices. There were, of course, enormous economic interests in justifying enslavement and colonization. Race science was driven by these social and economic interests, which came to establish cultural norms and legal rulings that legitimized racism and the privileged status of those defined as white.

And to show how ingrained segregation became in the fabric of American society, I've just discovered that until as recently as 1950, blood bank donations to the American Red Cross were segregated, so a White person would not receive blood from a Black. The Black physician who pioneered blood bank donations quit his job over this segregation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Drew

Out of Drew's work, he was appointed director of the first American Red Cross Blood Bank in February 1941. The blood bank being in charge of blood for use by the U.S. Army and Navy, he disagreed with the exclusion of the blood of African-Americans from plasma-supply networks. In 1942, Drew resigned from his posts after the armed forces ruled that the blood of African-Americans would be accepted but would have to be stored separately from that of whites.[19

[RoseMorninStar]

Pamala Moses: a case I don't know much about but would like to make note of and see how it resolves. Judge orders new trial for US woman sentenced to six years for trying to register to vote.

Ms.Moses is a BLM movement activist who sought to run for mayor. But process of registering to vote issues arose that resulted in her being sentenced to 6 years in prison, a harsh sentence which of course affected her ability to run for mayor. Hmm.

I'm a bit confused about this case. It says that in 2016 she was placed on 2 years probation and in Tennessee those on probation cannot vote, so by 2018 she should have been eligible to register and the registration in question took place in Sept 2019. I must be missing something here-or maybe not. In her first trial there were documents by the criminal justice system that were undisclosed.

[RoseMorninStar]

This is just so horribly sad and awful. A 9-Year-Old Black Girl Was Catching Lanternflies Outside. Her Neighbor Called The Police On Her And Said She “Scared” Him.

The neighbor called 911 after spotting her outside testing an environmentally friendly spotted lanternfly solution she’d made, identifying her as “a little Black woman” with a “hood.”

A 9-year-old Black girl was afraid to leave the house after a neighbor called the police on her while she was catching spotted lanternflies, her mother said in a moving town council speech.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This is appalling, but it shows just how far we have to come in the United States before there is a semblance of racial harmony. Rose, how close is this to where you live?

[RoseMorninStar]

Ugh. Baraboo is a small town about 100 miles/an hour & a half drive from here. It's a popular destination as it is close to the Wisconsin Dells and also home to one of the best State parks, Devil's lake. A few years ago there was an incident in Baraboo where a photo was taken of students giving the 'sieg heil'/(Nazi) salute. There was also an incident in which the Baraboo Athletic Director was involved which seems to have possibly had racist a racist element. Sounds like deeply rooted racist issues to me, unfortunately common, especially in the smaller towns.

[Dave_LF]

This is why I hate X-Twitter. The tweeter--who does not appear to have been there or have any connection to the school--said what he said, but there's nothing in the linked article to suggest race had anything at all to do with whatever it is the video shows. On the contrary, it notes that "a large group of residents, including a former district teacher who worked in the district prior to [superintendent] Briggs’ tenure, have voiced numerous complaints against Briggs, other administrators and the School Board." Which, following the rabbit trail, seem to center around salary issues and allegedly fishy deals between the district and a company that Briggs owns.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Dave, you are misquoting the article, I hope not intentionally. If you read the full article, it is not Briggs who is the primary target of those complaints that you mention; it is the white School Board President Kevin Vodak, who is the primary target of those complaints, and is the subject of a recall campaign. However, Vodak, other board members, and the school principal were all on the stage, and it was only Briggs (the one African-American) that the parent targeted, specifically saying that he didn't want his daughter to "touch" him.

[N.E. Brigand]

Here's a new story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Father of Baraboo, Wisconsin, high school graduate seen pushing superintendent during ceremony."

The father who rushed the stage and pushed Superintendent Rainey Briggs out of the graduation reception line, saying "That's my daughter," and also, apparently, "I don't want her touching him" (in the video you can't see who's saying that, but Briggs confirmed a remark of this sort in his application for a restraining order) has now been charged with disorderly conduct.

I agree that the WiscNews article previously linked says nothing about the father having racist motivations for singling out Briggs, the only Black member of the six people shaking graduates' hands, for his opprobrium. As Dave notes, the article mentions that a "large group of residents including a former district teacher who worked in the district prior to Briggs' tenure have voiced numerous complaints against Briggs, other administrators and the School Board." That would seem to encompass everyone on stage, which besides Superintendent Briggs included the high school principal and four board members, among them the board's president, Kevin Vodak, the subject of a recall effort from critics who have accused Vodak of "favoritism toward the administration, providing inadequate pay and administrative support for teachers, and unfairly firing" staff including the middle school principal and a school resource officer. Per the newer article to which I linked, Vodak's destractors also say he has "misused taxpayer dollars by increasing salaries for Briggs and another district administrator." The Journal Sentinel article does raise the subject of racism, but only because some observers have characterized the father's actions as such. I certainly would like to know more about why the father objected to the presence onstage of Briggs but not Vodak.

(Cross-posted with V.)

[Dave_LF]

I copy-pasted the quote, so I don't think I'm misquoting? (I did inadvertently omit the bit after the final comma initially, which was a significant omission. I corrected it almost immediately, but maybe not fast enough)

The parent's beef could certainly be racism. Or it could be that his beef is with the whole beleaguered board, but it was a racist impulse that made him go specifically for Briggs. But there really isn't any way to say, certainly not for those of us who weren't there and know zero about the backstory. It just turns into a Rorschach. My initial Rorschach take before I heard the other one was "oh, this must just be the latest educator to get caught making inappropriate advances toward minors."

(cross-posted with N.E.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not so much mis-quoting as taking the quote as of context, given what was written in the rest of the article. I don't think there should be any doubt whatsoever that this was a clear case of racist behavior. I'll leave it at that.

[Dave_LF]

My initial Rorschach take before I heard the other one was "oh, this must just be the latest educator to get caught making inappropriate advances toward minors."

And maybe that was at least partly on the right track? The school board's response to community concerns last month shows one of those was "Disregarding Dr. Briggs' inappropriate conduct (Sun Prairie Star Jan. 2022) calls into question an act or behavior that gravely violates the moral sentiments or accepted moral standards of our community" (I haven't been able to locate the article they cite, so I can't be more specific). The board's response is that the charges were dismissed (they have receipts), but it would be less than shocking if that information failed to trickle down or wasn't believed. The document is dated May 22, 2024, so whatever "concerns" went into it are still fresh.

I would guess (and it is just a guess) that it's this alleged incident, false or otherwise, that got the dad so riled up. Racism may well have been an aggravating factor, especially given the geography.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Here is another example of just how far people (even some black people) ensconced in the white supremacist culture will go in denying the existence of racism.

[N.E. Brigand]

I feel bad for the daughter, who looks absolutely bewildered.

Before clicking on the document that Dave's diligent research turned up, I assumed that the "inappropriate conduct" in the form of "an act or behavior that gravely violates the moral sentiments or accepted moral standards of our community" that was investigated and dismissed by the Baraboo school board must mean some sort of false sexual allegation. But the link within the link indicates that it was a charge of disorderly conduct that was dismissed in January 2022. In other words, the same charge issued to the man who menaced Briggs at the graduation. Whatever the alleged behavior was, even if it really did happen, it must not have been too serious, given that the other offenses listed in the report are mostly traffic offenses and only received sentences in the form of fines of less than $150 each.

Anyway, I can't find anything else about the incident, but I did find a human interest story about Briggs: "Learning and Living: Three biracial families’ stories," which apparently originally was published in Madison Magazine when Briggs was 37 and an elementary school principal in Sun Prairie. (His wife is white and they have three daughters.)

- - - - - - - - - -
In other news, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has "suspended a venture capital firm’s grant program for Black women business owners, ruling that a conservative group is likely to prevail in its lawsuit claiming that the program is discriminatory." As Nikole-Hannah Jones, the New York Times reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for overseeing The 1619 Project (a somewhat controversial collection of historical essays on race in America), notes here, Black women, who constitute nearly 7% of the U.S. population, receive "just 0.34% of these funds," but now this court has preliminarily decided that "efforts to address that disparity violate the 14th Amendment [which was] written to ensure Black people equal protection."

My take generally on programs that can be described as affirmative action is that they'll continue to be needed at least until equal representation has been achieved and maintained in most fields and institutions for a number of years. I remember that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said something similar about gender and the Supreme Court: she wouldn't be satisfied with just half the court being women, because for most of the court's history, there were no women. Once there have been as many women as men on the Supreme Court -- or in the White House -- then gender equality will have been satisfied. If that means a few men have to be "unfairly" passed over in the meantime, tough beans: men, and white men in particular, have been the beneficiaries of unfair practices forever.

- - - - - - - - - -
(I see that V has already beaten me to the third subject I was planning to include in this post: the bizarre comments delivered at a campaign event for convicted felon Donald Trump by Rep. Byron Donalds, Republican of Florida, about America's history: "You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative -- Black people have always been conservative-minded -- but more Black people voted conservatively." As Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who leads the House Demoratic caucus, notes in V's post, in fact they didn't vote at all, and they were killed if they tried to vote.)

[Dave_LF]

For the record, my "diligent research" consisted of going to the school's website to see if they'd posted a statement

ETA: they haven't