EffieBlack
EffieBlack's JournalTweet: "The real problem isn't a coffee company"
“The entire morning shift at my regular @Starbucks was staffed by people of color today. Boycott them if you must but please know: the real problem isn’t a coffee company. The real problem is white people calling the police on us for existing.”
https://twitter.com/kelliparker/status/986634284365766656
Toure: Black Coffee and White Fear Make a Toxic Mix
Black Coffee and White Fear Make a Toxic Mix
It’s no mystery to me what happened in that Philadelphia Starbucks last week. Two black men were arrested after a few minutes of calmly, quietly sitting in a place that famously welcomes people to come and sit a while.
What happened is white fear entered the room. Those two people in the store somehow became frightening to the manager. Not because of what they did but because of what she saw. Witnesses—white ones!—say nothing happened to make the manager grow fearful, but white fear is so powerful it justifies itself. For some reason, the manager felt a need to get them out of her store as fast as possible. Because two black men were calmly, quietly sitting there, waiting for a friend.
White fear is a powerful force. Once in the bloodstream it can make calm black customers look scary. It can even make little black boys look scary. Ask Tamir Rice—well, you can’t literally ask him because he’s dead. He was 12 when he was shot and killed by 26 year-old police officer Timothy Loehmann in Cleveland in 2014 in a public park where he was playing with a toy gun. People were so scared of him that they called the police. He was killed within a few seconds of Officer Loehmann’s arrival. Officers said they thought he was 18. They saw him as a nearly grown man when he was a little boy. That’s what white-fear goggles can do.
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If you think that all I need to do is follow the law and I’ll be fine I point you to Philando Castile, a licensed gun owner in a car with his family. He calmly informed an officer that he was armed. Castile was dead seconds later. John Crawford was holding a toy BB gun in a Walmart. Officers rushed in and shot him dead. I could go on.
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That’s a long way of saying I don’t really know how to avoid white fear. I’ve seen white people leap to call the police over small interactions where no crime was being committed. If white-fear goggles can make sitting in Starbucks look like criminal behavior what chance do I have to make it through the rest of my day?
I’m scared out of my mind right now.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/black-coffee-and-white-fear-made-a-toxic-mix-at-that-philadelphia-starbucks
If Starbucks manager called police and said two customers had just raped her
but when the police arrived, other customers said they saw no rape, would the cops be obligated to arrest the men on the spot based solely on the manager's word, figuring the men could sort it out later and if they were innocent, sue for false arrest?
Or would they be obligated to do more than just follow the manager's orders?
Eric Holder is running for President!
We’ll, he hasn’t said it in so many words, but he sure sounds like it:
The President - I mean, the “Occupant” - says he wants to make America great again. I wonder when was that? What century? What decade? What year?
If one looks back at the story of America, but ignores past deficiencies or forgets the people who were denied rights to which all Americans are entitled, then the past can be, for some, to a minority, a comforting place. But it also betrays a lack of courage. It speaks to a fear of the future, which is, by its very nature, always uncertain. And is antithetical to who we are as a people. We have always embraced the possibility of the future, not the comfort of the past.
It has been that attribute that has made the American nature truly exceptional and the Democratic Party the instrument of the people. We are not held down or beholden to a fictional past. We Democrats look to the future with its possibilities of positive change and new challenges and have always there to make it ours and so it must be again.
Our party must be clear on the issues of the day and all who seek the nominations of our party must identify themselves as Democrats and be damn proud of it! Our present positions must be rooted in the traditions of our great democratic past. It is Democrats who gave the nation Social Security,. It is Democrats who gave the nation Medicare and Medicaid. It is Democrats who gave the nation the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. It is Democrats who gave the nation the Affordable Care Act. And it is Democrats that have given the country so much more. It is the Democratic Party that has used government power to make better the lives of average Americans, irrespective of their status but with an emphasis on those those who are most at risk.
Now is not a time to be beholden to ideological litmus tests. The stakes are too high, our democracy is too much at risk for us to be so divided when there is actually so little that actually divides us. Our party is made up of disparate parts but it is held together by common interests.
Eric Holder - Remarks at the Ohio Democratic Party Legacy Dinner, Columbus, Ohio, April 13, 2018
RUN, Eric, RUN!
https://www.facebook.com/OHDems/videos/10155553345588526/
James Comey is a very complex mixed bag
Like most Democrats, I am still absolutely furious at James Comey for what he did to Hillary Clinton - and the nation - in October 2016. I will probably never get over it.
But, as I said in another post, I really don’t think he did it out of malice or for political reasons. I think he was so obsessed with his own “purity” and bent over backwards trying to do what he thought was the right thing - being transparent with Congress - as stupid and boneheaded as that was in light of how he should have known they would handle it. It was arrogant and smacked of “I’m not political - so the election be damned” sanctimony. I also think he believed Hillary would win so he wanted to look like a straight shooter who wasn’t afraid of the most powerful person on earth - it was probably some kind of power play to set up the dynamics of the relationship he would have with the woman he thought would be the next president and his boss.
That said, however, I don’t think Comey is corrupt or evil or dishonest. I think he’s a straight arrow who tells the truth. And I think he is truly horrified by Donald Trump. And I think he probably knows the damage he did to the republic, that his role in history will not be viewed favorably and is trying to make some amends.
This has also made me recall something about him that has been largely forgotten.
In 2015, Comey delivered a speech at Georgetown University that infuriated conservatives and made civil rights activists say, “Wait. Whut?!”
https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/hard-truths-law-enforcement-and-race
With the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, the ongoing protests throughout the country, and the assassinations of NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, we are at a crossroads. As a society, we can choose to live our everyday lives, raising our families and going to work, hoping that someone, somewhere, will do something to ease the tension—to smooth over the conflict. We can roll up our car windows, turn up the radio and drive around these problems, or we can choose to have an open and honest discussion about what our relationship is today—what it should be, what it could be, and what it needs to be—if we took more time to better.
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There is a reason that I require all new agents and analysts to study the FBI’s interaction with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to visit his memorial in Washington as part of their training. And there is a reason I keep on my desk a copy of Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s approval of J. Edgar Hoover’s request to wiretap Dr. King. It is a single page. The entire application is five sentences long, it is without fact or substance, and is predicated on the naked assertion that there is “communist influence in the racial situation.” The reason I do those things is to ensure that we remember our mistakes and that we learn from them.
One reason we cannot forget our law enforcement legacy is that the people we serve and protect cannot forget it, either. So we must talk about our history. It is a hard truth that lives on.
A second hard truth: Much research points to the widespread existence of unconscious bias. Many people in our white-majority culture have unconscious racial biases and react differently to a white face than a black face. In fact, we all, white and black, carry various biases around with us. I am reminded of the song from the Broadway hit, Avenue Q: “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.” Part of it goes like this:
Look around and you will find
No one’s really color blind.
Maybe it’s a fact
We all should face
Everyone makes judgments
Based on race.
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But if we can’t help our latent biases, we can help our behavior in response to those instinctive reactions, which is why we work to design systems and processes that overcome that very human part of us all. Although the research may be unsettling, it is what we do next that matters most.
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The truth is that what really needs fixing is something only a few, like President Obama, are willing to speak about, perhaps because it is so daunting a task. Through the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, the President is addressing the disproportionate challenges faced by young men of color. For instance, data shows that the percentage of young men not working or not enrolled in school is nearly twice as high for blacks as it is for whites. This initiative, and others like it, is about doing the hard work to grow drug-resistant and violence-resistant kids, especially in communities of color, so they never become part of that officer’s life experience.
So many young men of color become part of that officer’s life experience because so many minority families and communities are struggling, so many boys and young men grow up in environments lacking role models, adequate education, and decent employment—they lack all sorts of opportunities that most of us take for granted. A tragedy of American life—one that most citizens are able to drive around because it doesn’t touch them—is that young people in “those neighborhoods” too often inherit a legacy of crime and prison. And with that inheritance, they become part of a police officer’s life, and shape the way that officer—whether white or black—sees the world. Changing that legacy is a challenge so enormous and so complicated that it is, unfortunately, easier to talk only about the cops. And that’s not fair.
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Not long after riots broke out in Ferguson late last summer, I asked my staff to tell me how many people shot by police were African-American in this country. I wanted to see trends. I wanted to see information. They couldn’t give it to me, and it wasn’t their fault. Demographic data regarding officer-involved shootings is not consistently reported to us through our Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Because reporting is voluntary, our data is incomplete and therefore, in the aggregate, unreliable.
I recently listened to a thoughtful big city police chief express his frustration with that lack of reliable data. He said he didn’t know whether the Ferguson police shot one person a week, one a year, or one a century, and that in the absence of good data, “all we get are ideological thunderbolts, when what we need are ideological agnostics who use information to try to solve problems.” He’s right.
The first step to understanding what is really going on in our communities and in our country is to gather more and better data related to those we arrest, those we confront for breaking the law and jeopardizing public safety, and those who confront us. “Data” seems a dry and boring word but, without it, we cannot understand our world and make it better.
How can we address concerns about “use of force,” how can we address concerns about officer-involved shootings if we do not have a reliable grasp on the demographics and circumstances of those incidents? We simply must improve the way we collect and analyze data to see the true nature of what’s happening in all of our communities.
This was a pretty remarkable speech, especially coming from an FBI Director. I was really pleased at the time because it needed to be said and needed to be said by a white person in law enforcement. Remember, Eric Holder gave a similar speech but was trashed for “playing the race card,” etc. Comey also took a lot of heat for it at the time - and I suspect more than a little of the hatred the right wing is spewing at him now is not only about Trump, but has something to do with these remarks he made what seems like eons ago.
I note this speech, not to generate sympathy for Comey or to “let him off the hook,” but as a reminder that he is a very complex person. Not evil, not a hero but something somewhere in between.
I also believe that these are not the thoughts and words of an ideologue or of a man all helped up to "get" Hillary or force the election of a Trump.
I really think Comey is, like the rest of us, a flawed person who’s doing the best he can. And, unlike most of us (I hope), he made an egregious mistake that seriously damaged the country, changed the course of our history for the worse and that he can’t take back and can’t fix, but maybe he’s trying to make up for it the only way he can right now.
I’m willing to let him try.
I've been out of pocket all day. Anything new come out?
DU this Lou Dobbs Twitter poll
https://twitter.com/loudobbs/status/983847819017584640Why I think impeachment is an awful horrible no good very bad idea
I love the idea of impeaching Donald Trump. I want to see him impeached, convicted and cast out of office in disgrace. He deserves no less and it would send an important message.
But ...
I think it's a terrible idea and would, in the long run, cause the country much more damage than leaving him in office.
I came to this conclusion by playing everything out to its logical end - something that most lawyers are trained to do. Here's how I see it playing out.
The Democrats take back the House and Senate in November. Woo Hoo! 
So far so good.
The House, by majority vote, impeaches Trump and sends his case over to the Senate for trial. Unless we pick up an additional 18-20 seats, it is highly unlikely that the Senate will convict. This will leave Trump in office with his full powers and, possibly, more dangerous than ever given his "victory."
But let's suppose he IS removed from office. What then?
President Pence.
President Pence who will carry forward all of Trump's policies AND do it while enjoying a honeymoon he will surely have as a result of many people being so relieved that Trump is gone, replaced by a man they think is saner and qualified for the job. Many Republicans who are embarrassed and disgusted by Trump will embrace Pence.
And all of this will occur in the lead up to 2020 election in which Pence will run as incumbent, with power over all of the mechanisms of government, and have an excellent chance of winning - because, you know, he's not Trump - and thereby open the door to the possibility of a full 10 YEARS of a Pence presidency.
The consequences would be unspeakable.
But we'll all get to feel good that we kicked Trump out ...
I don't think impeachment is the way to go. Instead, I believe we need to focus on taking back the House and/or the Senate and once we do that, put Trump in check at every turn, conduct vigorous oversight and investigations and lay the groundwork for a Democratic victory in 2020 that can take us well into the future.
Why "Bernie was arrested in '63" is an inappropriate answer to criticism of his civil rights record
Let me preface this by saying this is in no way an attack on - or even a criticism of - Bernie Sanders or a diminishment of his civil rights activism in the 1960s or an effort to "refight the primaries."
But all too frequently, any attempt to question or, God forbid, criticize, Sanders' record, attitudes or comments on civil rights today is met with a reminder that he was arrested while protesting for civil rights in 1963, often with an accompanying photograph and sarcastic comments such as "Here's a picture of Bernie hating black people," or similarly snide remarks.
So, let me explain why such responses to questions about Sanders' current record are not only completely beside the point, but show an ignorance about the civil rights movement, not to mention an arrogance and paternalism that is very galling to me and many other African Americans. Maybe, once folks understand this in a little more depth, they will be less likely to dismiss us in such a way.
First, I think it's great that Bernie Sanders and tens of thousands of other young white college students participated in civil rights protests across the country during the 1960s. They truly made a difference, whatever their contribution.
Some, like Bernie, participated in protests at or near their schools. Some traveled to other parts of the country to protest. Some went into the deep South to help organize and work on an ongoing basis. Some joined protests that put them in serious danger - such as the Freedom Riders who had no idea whether they would come back alive and, sadly, some did not. But whatever the degree and depth of their participation, every one made a difference.
Bernie Sanders' participation was admirable and laudable and appreciated. But he did not get involved or make the kinds of sacrifices that many other students made. Again - that's not a knock on him, just the reality. He participated in protests in which he knew that he would not face great harm or risk to his body, life or future. He joined a protest in which the students planned to be arrested, practiced for it (the movement trained protesters in non-violence and how to be arrested so as not to be injured or accused of resisting arrest). He also likely knew, going in, that, like most white students in these protests, he would not be physically abused, his rights would be protected, he would be released shortly thereafter and his penalty would be a small fine - in this case $25 - and the arrest would not have any negative impact on his education or future career.
The benefit of this type of protest did not come in the suffering or brutality that many black and white protesters endured elsewhere, but in showing the country the power and numbers behind the movement. And they were very important and very effective.
So, I have nothing but praise for what Bernie did in 1963. He was a small part of something very important. He did the right thing. He could have stayed in his comfy dorm room, but he went out, inconvenienced himself, and lent himself to the fight. He was on the right side of history.
But people should recognize that participating in a righteous fight in the past does not, in and of itself, completely define a person for all time. Charlton Heston marched with Dr. King. As a college student, Mitch McConnell participated in the March on Washington and worked for a senator who helped to break the filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I'm certainly not comparing Bernie to these two men, but just noting that support for civil rights in 1964 does not, by itself, mean that someone's positions can't be and shouldn't be questioned. And it surely doesn't make those who participated in it civil rights experts or icons who must be revered by virtue of what they did 55 years ago.
But more important is this simple fact: The civil rights movement was not a gift to black people. It wasn't a movement in which white people GAVE something to or did something for us. It was a movement, led by black people, in which Americans of all races joined together, prayed together, fought together and died together not to save us but to save AMERICA.
So, in my view, the notion that participation in the movement confers on a white person some special grace because they did something for black people and, as a result, black people must be forever grateful and cannot ever raise any question about their positions is not just insulting, it shows an incredible lack of understanding of what the civil rights movement really was. And it reveals a shallow and paternalistic view of civil rights and social justice as a movement based on an erroneous assumption that YOU did something for US and we should be forever grateful - and if we aren't, we are somehow betraying YOU.
For me, the bottom line is that Bernie Sanders did the right thing in 1963. I give him a lot of credit for that. But that credit is not unlimited and it definitely isn't a bottomless store of goodwill that shields him from any responsibility for or scrutiny of his subsequent actions, positions, views, or comments today. I appreciate what he did, but I don't OWE him anything, including reverent acceptance of whatever he says or does, for it.
So, again, I say, Thank you, Senator Sanders for doing the right thing 55 years ago and joining with us to help bring America closer to the more perfect union that we ALL want it to be. Now, let's talk about how you can continue to walk on that path with us now.
There's another point I want to make today. Just as Dr. King predicted, the rise of black southerners to full citizenship also lifted their white neighbors. "It is history's wry paradox," he said, "that when Negroes win their struggle to be free, those who have held them down will themselves be free for the first time."
After Selma, free white and black southerners crossed the bridge to the new South, leaving hatred and isolation on the far side—building vibrant cities, thriving economies, and great universities, a new South still enriched by the oldtime religion and rhythms and rituals we all love, now open to all things modern and people of all races and faiths from all over the world, a new South in which whites have gained at least as much as blacks from the march to freedom. Without Selma, Atlanta would never have had the Super Bowl or the Olympics. And without Selma, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton would never have been elected President of the United States.
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My fellow Americans, this day has a special meaning for me, for I, too, am a son of the South, the old, segregated South. And those of you who marched 35 years ago set me free, too, on Bloody Sunday, free to know you, to work with you, to love you, to raise my child to celebrate our differences and hallow our common humanity.
I thank you all for what you did here. Thank you, Andy and Jesse and Joe, for the lives you have lived since. Thank you, Coretta, for giving up your beloved husband and the blessings of a normal life. Thank you, Ethel Kennedy, for giving up your beloved husband and the blessings of a normal life.
And thank you, John Lewis, for the beatings you took and the heart you kept wide open. Thank you for walking with the wind, hand in hand with your brothers and sisters, to hold America's trembling house down. Thank you for your vision of the beloved community, an America at peace with itself.
I tell you all, as long as Americans are willing to hold hands, we can walk with any wind; we can cross any bridge. Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome."
President Bill Clinton, Remarks on the 35th Anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Selma, Alabama
March 5, 2000
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=58210
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