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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHistorian Ken Burns: Trumps America is a ‘retrograde moment’-white guilt ‘metastasizes into darkness
Historian Ken Burns: Trumps America is a retrograde moment white guilt metastasizes into darkness
We are in a retrograde moment, Burns explained, in which the dog whistles of race that have been with us we cant pretend now that a phenomenon of the kind of racial innuendo thats happening right now is somehow new and were shocked, shocked that this is happening.
The filmmaker recalled that then-GOP candidate Ronald Reagan opened his 1980 presidential campaign with a wink-wink to racist voters by scheduling his first campaign event in Philadelphia, Mississippi where three civil rights workers were lynched to death by KKK members. Burns noted that similar strategies had been employed over and over again by Republican candidates.
So when you have a presidential candidate who takes a day to remember that he had already once repudiated David Duke and it took a day to remember that he was going to do it now, that is the wink-wink dog whistle that signals to our unreconstructed brethren, Burns said.
We would like to believe we would all be that slave ship owner who gives it up and writes Amazing Grace,' he added. Wed like to believe in our better selves, but in point of fact, a lot of us arent that. And that the old guilts as Robert Penn Warren talked about that weve inherited from slavery, our original sin, dont often transform into goodness, but metastasize into darkness and our politicians spend a lot of time exploiting that.
VIDEO & MORE:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?406428-1/national-press-club-luncheon-ken-burns-henry-louis-gates-jr
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/historian-ken-burns-trumps-america-is-a-retrograde-moment-white-guilt-metastasizes-into-darkness/
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)Response to kpete (Original post)
Skittles This message was self-deleted by its author.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)UTUSN
(70,691 posts)Nightjock
(1,408 posts)The republicans have been catering to the lowest common denominator for a very long time.
They started this "trump fire" and all responsibility belongs to THE REPUBLICANS.
Trump has realized EXACTLY what he has to say to turn politics into his own mega successful (for him) reality show. He will get his ass kicked in the general election and he will make tons of cash with whatever show he puts on next.