Black Lives Matter--Until The Police Are Involved

Black Lives Matter--Until The Police Are Involved

by C.A. Matthews 

Watching mere glimpses of the Derek Chauvin trial--not the "George Floyd Trial" as it has been called in some instances--can  really enlighten you on the ugly reality of the US justice system. In our criminal courts it doesn't matter about the motivations of the alleged killer. It's all about the "worthiness" of the crime victim. 

In this case, Mr. Floyd has been found lacking in worthiness by the Chauvin defense attorneys. According to them it was okay for a member of the Minneapolis Police Force to murder Floyd in cold blood while other officers assisted by keeping witnesses at bay with unspoken threats that they, too, could be killed or maimed by the cops if they intervened.

You don't think these police officers were trained killers? Think again:

...Many Minneapolis police officers receive “Killology training” through the police union, where they are taught to kill rather than de-escalate conflict situations. This training violates the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which require officers to, “as far as possible,” use nonviolent techniques before resorting to force and firearms.

Prosecutors will likely try to isolate Chauvin as one of “a few bad apples.” That may be an effective prosecutorial strategy to convince jurors they should convict him. But this “rogue cop” characterization — also used after the 1991 Rodney King beating and the police killings of Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and Breonna Taylor — obscures the systemic nature of police violence against Black and Brown people in the United States. Even the best training in the world cannot teach police, who are licensed to kill and deployed to enforce a racist system, not to be racist.

Black people who are unarmed or not attacking police are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people, the Brookings Institution found. Moreover, police kill Black people at more than twice the rate of whites even though Black people account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population. More than 75 percent of the time, choke holds are applied on men of color.

--  Marjorie Cohn, Calling Chauvin a "Bad Apple" Denies Systemic Nature of Racist Police Violence

"Even the best training in the world cannot teach police, who are licensed to kill and deployed to enforce a racist system, not to be racist..."

 Once you concede that it's not only the police who are racists--it's the entire system they are taught to uphold that is racist--then George Floyd's murder makes "sense" if only in the fact that it was inevitable. His wretched death by the actions of Minneapolis police officers was inevitable given the training and the social conditioning of his killer and his accomplices. 

So, how do we make Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter, Migrant Lives Matter, Red Lives Matter, Women & Girls Lives Matter, Brown Lives Matter... if we're all constantly fighting against a system that wants to keep its divisive status quo in place?

“We say you don’t fight racism with racism — we’re gonna fight racism with solidarity,” said Fred Hampton, Black Panther founder. Hampton knew that solidarity is the ticket to overthrowing oppression. It's why he was killed--he wanted to bring many diverse groups together.

Cooperation among differing groups and organizations of Americans in a very large "Rainbow Coalition" will be necessary. This union of unions will be made up of activists who won't stand by and be silent any longer as their fellow Americans are killed by a system designed to keep wealthy capitalist, white, cisgendered males on top by any means necessary--which includes murder and intimidation.

Keep watching the Derek Chauvin trial via the live stream at Unicorn Riot, and you'll see our unjust system of justice exposed.  https://unicornriot.ninja/livearchive/   Then reach out to area groups/organizations who are speaking out against police brutality and for human rights on any level.  Join them and pass their information along to others and ask them to join a larger coalition of groups fighting for these goals. Solidarity must begin at the local level before it can spread to a national level and make a lasting change.

Related Articles:

https://truthout.org/articles/calling-chauvin-a-bad-apple-denies-systemic-nature-of-racist-police-violence/

https://truthout.org/articles/fred-hampton-was-right-we-must-fight-racism-with-cross-racial-solidarity/

https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/68674-focus-why-the-trope-of-black-asian-conflict-in-the-face-of-anti-asian-violence-dismisses-solidarity

https://unicornriot.ninja/2021/race-and-perception-first-two-weeks-of-derek-chauvin-pre-trial/

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/30/us/witness-derek-chauvin-trial/index.html

🚨 ACTION ALERT 🚨 SIGN ON NOW! Join us in support of declaring a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls on May 5th. Sign on: https://t.co/p7Y9S5QiJj.

Please circulate widely! #MMIWG #MMIWGActionNow #NoMoreStolenSisters pic.twitter.com/ESwlerOTjQ

— National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (@niwrc) March 29, 2021

https://truthout.org/articles/haaland-announces-investigative-unit-for-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people/

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/68627-protesters-are-chaining-themselves-to-the-fence-outside-derek-chauvins-trial

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/68644-dhs-watchdog-finds-widespread-mistreatment-of-immigrants-at-ice-facility

In 1978, the top 0.1% owned about 7% of the nation’s wealth. In 2019, they owned nearly 20%.

The looting is grotesque.

— Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) April 3, 2021

***

This campaign is a collaboration between UltraViolet and BLM Louisville community activists working on the ground to demand justice for Breonna Taylor.

---

On March 13, 2020, three Louisville police officers shot Breonna Taylor after breaking into her home. They didn't even call for medical help for her as she lay dying.¹

But despite more than a year of protests calling for justice for Breonna, none of these officers has been criminally charged. In fact, one of the officers involved in Breonna's killing is still employed by the Louisville police.²

Enough is enough. The officers involved in Breonna's killing should all be fired and arrested, and they aren't the only ones. Our allies at Black Lives Matter Louisville have built a database of police officers who have neglected their duties and injured or killed Black people, and we have a plan to turn up the pressure and demand accountability.

Saturday, May 1, is the Kentucky Derby. It's the biggest media event in Kentucky every year, and with the state in the national spotlight, it's a prime opportunity to remind the country that Breonna's killers haven't been brought to justice. Our plan is to fly an airplane banner over the event and to drive a mobile billboard to force the national media to take notice and demand justice for Breonna. Will you chip in $5?

Yes, I'll donate $5 and help fund demand the firing and arrest of the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor.

The officers who killed Breonna Taylor want her to fade from public view. But we won't let that happen.

Breonna was an award-winning EMT and first responder who loved helping her patients and her community. A daughter, a friend, a Black American, she was 26 years old and planning to become a nurse. Her life mattered.³

The protest movements that followed Breonna's killing led to the Louisville City Council banning the use of no-knock warrants. Two of the police officers were fired. Many cities around the country are radically reenvisioning the role of police in our communities and beginning to shift resources from punitive criminal justice toward community investment, mental health, and rehabilitation.

But the fact remains that bad cops who kill Black people must be fired. When they escape accountability, it sends a message to other police officers that they will not be held accountable for killing Black people.

The Kentucky Derby is hugely important to the local economy. The state's top politicians and corporate leaders will all be there, and the last thing they want to focus on is Breonna Taylor. That means we have leverage to our demands, and we're going to use it.

Our airplane banner and mobile billboard will be impossible to miss, but without your grassroots donations, we will not be able to continue organizing high-profile protests like this one. Will you chip in $5?

Yes, I'll donate $5 to help demand justice for Breonna Taylor.

--Shaunna, KaeLyn, KD, Kathy, Bridget, Melody, Lindsay, Sonja, Kimberly, Maria, Elisa, Katie, Isatou, and Iris, the UltraViolet team

CONTRIBUTE

Sources:

1. What to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death, New York Times, January 6, 2021

2. A Year After Breonna Taylor's Killing, Family Says There's 'No Accountability,' NPR, March 13, 2021

3. What to Know About Breonna Taylor's Death, New York Times, January 6, 2021

*** 

The Families Belong Together Act is the only proposal that makes amends and provides permanent relief and support for those impacted by Trump's unforgivable family separation policy. But first we need it to be introduced in Congress. We need to show there's support for this and we can't do it without you. Will you take two minutes to contact your congress members and ask them to co-sponsor the Families Belong Together Act?

CONTACT MY REPRESENTATIVES →

While we can't change the past, we can do everything in our power to reunite families and create a fair procedure for permanent legal status for thousands of children forcibly separated at the border. You spoke up before about this injustice and we need you to stand with us once again. Tell your lawmakers to do the right thing: Support the Families Belong Together Act. 

After enduring so much pain, these families deserve to be reunited in the United States and provided citizenship, care, and a commitment that family separation will never happen again. 

Only Congress can provide the permanent legal status necessary to ensure that families can safely reunite in our country. Now is the time to live up to our promise that families belong together. Contact your representatives today and help achieve justice for families. 

Thanks for taking action,

Paola Luisi, Director
Families Belong Together

P.S. You can learn more about the Families Belong Together Act here. 

*** 

The Revolution Continues is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!

 

The Only Difference Is The Uniform

Portland mom being snatched by "federal agent" (photo by Tommie Sunshine)

It's been a harrowing week--at least if you follow independent media pod casts and web sites. The images of peaceful protesters being gassed, shot, beaten and abducted are the subject of horror stories. Historians and pundits alike have concluded that Trump has taken a page right out of the fascists' playbook. Most of the elected officials in Washington DC give their silent nod of approval to this sending of federal troops into American cities through inaction. When will we wake up from this nightmare? Who knows, but until then keep an eye on the men tossing the pepper spray bombs into a line of brave moms... because the only real difference between these troops and Hitler's thugs is one of fashion sense.

The Only Difference is the Uniform
by Coast Watcher


The Battle for Portland, Oregon, has lasted for over fifty days and counting. Stemming from the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis PD, the Black Lives Matter protests have rocked this liberal city in the Pacific Northwest to its foundations. Most of the protests are peaceful; however, the response by the Department of Homeland Security at President Trump’s orders has been out of all proportion.

The Department of Homeland Security Rapid Deployment Force entered Portland in response to what were termed "increasingly violent attacks" according to Federal Protective Services regional director Gabriel Russel. According to documents obtained by Portland journalists, there are currently 114 federal law enforcement officers deployed to protect federal buildings, which also includes statues and monuments according to Trump. Personnel drawn from the Federal Protective Service (FPS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Marshals Service and US Customs and Border Protection make up the contingent—yet knowledgeable sources have also identified mercenaries prowling the streets including some from Triple Canopy, a descendant of the infamous Erik Prince’s Blackwater mercenary corporation.

Videos and photographs are circulating showing these and other "federal" personnel using unmarked vehicles to arrest protesters without warrant or explanation and taking them to undisclosed locations. In one attack, a van used as a first aid station for protesters had its windows smashed out by troops. In another, a professor of European Studies (ironically a specialist in the rise of fascism) at Lewis and Clark University suffered a severe head wound from a baton round during a peaceful demonstration on public land.

None of the heavily-armed personnel involved in these outrages against the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments displayed identification, as is required of law enforcement agents. There is little difference between these overly militarized personnel deployed by Trump and the gray uniformed SS "snatch squads" used as an instrument of terror by Heinrich Himmler in Nazi Germany. Similar snatch tactics causing the "disappearance" of protesters were used in Chile during Augusto Pinochet's regime in the 1970s.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler suffered a tear gas attack on the streets of his own city. During this episode Wheeler called the federal intervention an abuse of power and accused the FPS of escalating the violence, which included the tear-gassing and use of baton rounds on peacefully protesting women known as "the Moms." Oregon’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the federal authorities citing its snatching of citizens from the streets and their retention under arrest without due process. Mayor Wheeler’s response has been oddly weak. Instead of ejecting the FPS, he’s making statements that fall short of telling the feds to get the hell out of his city.
 
The FPS remains unrepentant. Senior official Ken Cuccinelli stated they will remain on the streets of Portland, and other cities where required, "until the violence recedes." Trump has also threatened to deploy more so-called federal units to Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and other urban centers across the country.

Documents show that the FPS spends $1 billion of taxpayers’ money per year on these hired security thugs. It must be noted that the FPS has a long and troubling history of failing to properly vet and adequately monitor these mercenaries or even ensure they have proper training and certifications. In other words, the taxpayers are effectively paying for their own government to oppress them and their fellow citizens. This travesty of justice is happening in a time when a virulent disease has the world and the US in its grip. The economic consequences of COVID-19 with its mass unemployment and threatened homelessness by eviction are still playing out.

Some say this is Trump’s rehearsal for when he declares himself dictator, possibly if he loses the election in November. Analogies with the Nazi  SA "Brown shirts" and Mussolini’s fascisti are clear to see. The ammosexuals--who stockpile thousands of firearms against the day they have to stand against a tyrannical government--have been strangely silent. Some side with Trump. While these gun-lovers cower, mothers and daughters stand tall with interlocking arms against the unconstitutional oppression inflicted by their own government via tear gas and rubber bullets.

Whatever happens in November, whether a second civil war begins or an outright revolution erupts, the experiment in democracy that is the United States will never be the same.

Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-portland-valor/court-documents-reveal-secretive-federal-unit-deployed-for-operation-diligent-valor-in-oregon-idUSKCN24N2SH

https://medium.com/@wkc6428/the-lead-federal-agency-responding-to-protesters-in-portland-employs-thousands-of-private-db137349f8b0

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augusto-Pinochet

BIO: Coast Watcher can't help but draw parallels between current events and Nazi Germany. It's like Trump is taking cues from Mein Kampf--supposedly a book he kept on his nightstand and read to fall asleep. Explains a lot.

Related links:

Federal Agents in Portland Tear Gas the Press (video)
https://youtu.be/wTp-Sj4bZPQ

Portland Protests Escalate! Chicago Mayor Welcomes Federal Goons! (video)
https://youtu.be/Q4YMoeOquaU 

"Wall of Veterans" Arrives in Portland to Protect BLM Protesters From Trump's DHS Troops
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wall-of-veterans-arrives-in-portland-to-protect-black-lives-matter-protesters-from-trumps-dhs-troops/ar-BB17bnpZ?ocid=sf

Navy Veteran Beaten by Feds in Portland Fears that Trump's Deployment Will Lead to Copy Cats in Combat Fatigue
https://www.businessinsider.com/christopher-david-navy-veteran-beaten-by-feds-speaks-out-2020-7

Trump Plans to Expand the Federal Invasion of American Cities
https://www.motherjones.com/anti-racism-police-protest/2020/07/trump-border-patrol-cities-portland-chicago/

America "Staring Down the Barrel of Martial Law" Oregon Senator Warns
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/64212-america-staring-down-the-barrel-of-martial-law-oregon-senator-warns


From Facebook:

"It dawned on me when I was in the ER, and had a chance to catch my breath (post tear gas): my government did this to me. My own government. I was not shot by a random person in the street. A federal law enforcement officer pulled a trigger that sent an impact munition into my head."

Professor Maureen Healy is the chair of the history department at Lewis and Clark College. She teaches Modern European History, with a specialization in the history of Germany and Eastern Europe (and the rise of fascism). She was shot in the head by federal agents on Monday night and is recovering from the injury and the concussion, but shared a statement of her experience, and gave permission to share this.
--
Statement by Maureen Healy, July 22, 2020
For Immediate Release 

Since June, I have been attending peaceful protests in Portland neighborhoods in support of Black Lives Matter. I have gone with family and friends. 

I am a 52-year-old mother. I am a history professor. 

I went downtown yesterday to express my opinion as a citizen of the United States, and as a resident of Portland. Of Oregon. This is my home. I was protesting peacefully. So why did federal troops shoot me in the head Monday night? 

I was in a large crowd of ordinary folks. Adults, teens, students. Moms and dads. It looked to me like a cross-section of the City. Black Lives Matter voices led the crowd on a peaceful march from the Justice Center past the murals at the Apple store. The marchers were singing songs. We were chanting. We were saying names of Black people that have been killed by police. We observed a moment of silence in front of the George Floyd mural. 

I wanted to, and will continue to, exercise my First Amendment right to speak. Federal troops have been sent to my city to extinguish these peaceful protests. I was not damaging federal property. I was in a crowd with at least a thousand other ordinary people. I was standing in a public space. 

In addition to being a Portland resident, I am also a historian. My field is Modern European History, with specialization in the history of Germany and Eastern Europe. I teach my students about the rise of fascism in Europe. 

By professional training and long years of teaching, I am knowledgeable about the historical slide by which seemingly vibrant democracies succumbed to authoritarian rule. Militarized federal troops are shooting indiscriminately into crowds of ordinary people in our country. We are on that slide. 

It dawned on me when I was in the ER, and had a chance to catch my breath (post tear gas): my government did this to me. My own government. I was not shot by a random person in the street. A federal law enforcement officer pulled a trigger that sent an impact munition into my head. 

After being hit I was assisted greatly by several volunteer medics. At least one of them was with Rosehip Medic Collective. To take shelter from the teargas I was hustled into a nearby van. Inside they bandaged my head and drove me several blocks away. From there my family took me to the ER. I am grateful for the assistance, skill, and incredibly kind care of these volunteer medics. 

We must take this back to Black Lives Matter. Police brutality against Black people is the real subject of these peaceful protests that have been happening in my city and across the country. What happened to me is nothing. It is nothing compared to what happens to Black citizens at the hands of law enforcement, mostly local police, every day. And that is why we have been marching. That is why I will continue to march.

From the web:

First they came for the Muslims,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Muslim.
Then they came for the immigrants,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an immigrant.
Then they came for the Black Lives Matter protesters,
And I did not speak up,
Because I was not a BLM protester.
Then they came for me,
And there was no one left
To speak for me.
(Based on the post WWII poem by Reverend Niemoller)

Paul Rippey of Portland, Oregon, wrote two new verses to A Policeman's Lot Is Not a Happy One:

When you signed up to defend our southern border,
Detaining people mostly black and brown,
You could not anticipate that you'd get orders
To teargas folks in our beloved town.
Now you're beating up on people who speak English,
And their cell phones capture all that you have done.
Ah, take one consideration with another,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.

When the kids aren't marching in a demonstration
They live their happy lives from day to day,
And they do not feel the threat of deportation
'Cause most are from the good old USA.
In fact you might see one who is your brother,
Your sister, or your daughter, or your son.
Ah, take one consideration with another,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.

*** 

We’ve been busy all month with our Cops & Capitalism: A Summer Webinar Series along with our partners at LittleSis and we’ve gotten amazing responses from those who have joined us. If you’d like to join us for our next webinar happening this Wednesday, RSVP here!
 
On our first webinar, we explored our groundbreaking research on cities’ use of Police Brutality Bonds, the bonds issued to pay for police brutality settlements which ultimately allows Wall Street to profit from police violence. Those on the webinar learned how bonds work and how to research police budgets in their own cities. 

Then, we dove deeper into the demand to defund police and took a closer look at relationships between corporations and policing. We know that cutting the police budget is a first step towards the world we want to see but in order to fully fund our communities and invest in the things we need we must also redirect funding from the institutions that support policing. Participants on the second webinar also had a chance to follow along with our complimentary How To Guide and ask questions. (If you haven’t had a chance to join any of our previous webinars, you can watch the recordings on our website.) 

And now it's time for the third installment! Join us for our next webinar happening this Wednesday July 29th at 1pm ET.

Register Now

On this webinar, we will explore how billionaires and corporations like Wells Fargo, Amazon, and Target use police foundations to fund and prop up the police. Police foundations--nonprofits that fundraise money from wealthy donors and corporations for local police departments--help maintain the racist policing status quo. We’ll discuss how directly pressuring corporations to cut ties with police foundations can strengthen fights to defund the police and invest in Black and Brown communities, as well as ensure that police departments’ public funding is not replaced by similarly enormous private funding. 

Participants will learn how to research which corporations support their local police foundations and hear examples of demands activists are making around corporations and police foundations in local campaigns. 

For centuries, police have acted as the muscle of racial capitalism, protecting the property and interests of the wealthy, and violently reinforcing systemic and racist disinvestment in our communities. Policing and mass incarceration has made it more possible for the finance industry and corporations to build their profit off our oppression. Because they are inextricably linked, we have to defund the police and tax the rich to fully fund and sustain the communities we want to live in. 

Hope to see you on the webinar! 

In Solidarity always,
Alyx Goodwin
Senior Organizer, ACRE

The Long Flight Of Jim Crow

This week marked the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riot.  Featured this week are photos of area activists coming together to use their platform to promote the BLM movement, especially Black LGBTQ and Trans lives.  And keeping with remembering our not-so-shining history, our resident historian takes a look at the long history of racial discrimination in America. Is there an end to it in sight?

The Long Flight of Jim Crow 

by Coast Watcher
photos by C.A. Matthews

Even the name Jim Crow is racist. The original Jim Crow was a black minstrel character found on the Victorian vaudeville circuit, but the term defines the collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial discrimination in the United States.

The history: 19th century

Beginning from 1865—immediately following the Civil War—these laws crept into the statute books as white legislators and their rich white sponsors sought to circumvent the Thirteenth Amendment. By enacting Jim Crow laws they aimed to marginalize black and colored people by denying them the right to vote, hold good jobs, live in decent housing, find an education or do anything else a pre-emancipation slave couldn’t do. Those who fought against the blatant discrimination often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences and death at the hands of lynch mobs.

By means of Black Codes, formerly enslaved people were restricted in how, where and when they could work, and for how much compensation. By creative use of legislature whites forced black and colored people into indentured servitude and even seized children for labor purposes.

For decades after the Civil War, former Confederate soldiers working as civic authorities, police officers and judges ensured the black population of the South would never rise above their former slave status. It became nearly impossible for legal representatives working on behalf of black people to win a court case with such opposition stacked against them.

The Jim Crow laws were designed to work in conjunction with labor camps where prisoners were treated like slaves. Black and colored offenders received longer sentences than their white counterparts. Because of the conditions in which these incarcerated individuals had to live and the appallingly hard work, they often didn’t live out their entire sentence.

About the only bright spots in the whole horrible saga were to be found in the big cities of the South. Greater populations tend to lead to greater freedoms under law. By the 1880s this had led to substantial numbers of black citizens moving to the cities where they would face less oppression. Unfortunately this migration led to a commensurate decrease in the very freedoms that had attracted them. White city dwellers began to feel threatened by the increasing black population of their communities and demanded the enactment of Jim Crow laws to restrict and control African Americans.

This rise in support for their racist measures enabled the white legislators to expand the Jim Crow laws throughout the South and to increase their harshness. Segregation became the way of life, with public transport waiting rooms, restrooms, water fountains, elevators, cemeteries and even amusement-park cashier windows being designated Black and Colored Only. It didn’t end there. Neighborhoods became African American only. Public swimming pools, hospitals, asylums, jails and residential homes also fell under this racist legislation. It was common for towns to set up signs banning African Americans the right of residence or even passage through the township limits.

In the field of education, the old edicts banning the teaching of black people to read and write resurfaced in a new, more oppressive form. Some states required separate textbooks for black and white students. New Orleans regulated prostitutes according to race. In the courtrooms of Atlanta, Georgia, African Americans were even given a separate Bible to whites upon which to place their hand upon and swear. Marriage and even cohabitation between races was outlawed.

This is not to say there wasn’t firm push-back against these increasingly harsh restrictions as we'll soon see.

The 20th Century
 
As the twentieth century progressed the oppression of African Americans began to be marked by increasing violence. Lynching incidents rose significantly in number and frequency. As they rose, so too did race riots. As the lethal Spanish Flu pandemic began to subside in 1919, twenty-five such riots occurred across the country. The scale of these uprisings led to the period earning the name the "Red Summer." One of the last incidents of that summer was not a race riot yet proved the deadliest of them all. Some two hundred African Americans died in and around the city of Elaine, Arkansas, following an all-out assault by armed white men afraid of a Communist insurrection by black workers. The final death toll is uncertain, as witnesses spoke of seeing black people taken by whites—including US army troops—off to undisclosed locations never to be seen again.

The 1920s saw a significant migration of educated black people into the North, which had its own Jim Crow-style laws. Some states required black citizens to own property before they could vote. Segregation had even infected the cities with black only neighborhoods and schools. The pervasive influence of segregation extended nationwide with the popular "Green Book" travel guides having a separate African Americans only issue listing places where they could stay, visit or find entertainment.

The Great Depression marked yet another upswing in lynchings. World War II created a kind of intermission because everyone was needed for the war effort, yet black veterans returning from the war were still met with discrimination and violence. Suburban developments both North and South were built with segregation in mind. Blacks found it difficult to impossible to find mortgages in some locations. The city of St. Louis, Missouri, was not alone in having an entire real estate industry dedicated to keeping black and white property owners in separate neighborhoods.

Jim Crow crashes and burns...

Inevitably the pendulum of history began to swing back the other way. In 1948 President Harry S. Truman ordered the integration of the US military. Before this date African American troops mostly saw service in labor battalions or as transport drivers. Increasing awareness of civil rights in the African American population led to increased focus on the right of blacks to vote. The Jim Crow laws began to erode, starting with the famous 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education, a landmark Supreme Court ruling for desegregation of schools across the country. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 which legally ended the segregation brought about by Jim Crow laws. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 stopped efforts to prevent minorities from voting, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 ended discrimination in the property market.

The 21st Century—Has anything truly changed?

Not much. If anything the rise of white supremacists under the Trump presidency has made matters worse. Police forces across the country are guilty of killing African Americans with little to zero provocation. Black Americans account for around 13% of the US population yet the percentage of those shot and killed is twice as high as that of white Americans. Black Lives Matter protests are frequently harassed by armed gangs of white supremacists, and sometimes with the full cooperation of the local police departments. Lynchings are back, with a number of black men killed recently in California and the Carolinas. Incarceration of African American citizens is at an all-time high as unscrupulous capitalists take advantage of the involuntary servitude clause of the Thirteenth Amendment to exploit their free labor in prison sweatshops.

In 2012 Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. In August 2014 the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, led to days of rioting. This year the death on camera of George Floyd ignited protests worldwide. In Louisville, Kentucky, Breonna Taylor was shot dead by cops while asleep in her own home. Louisville business owner David McAtee was shot dead by officers from that same police department during a protest over Breonna Taylor’s death. Many others have died at the hands of the police before and since simply for the crime of not being white.

Perhaps things are finally changing as the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement grows. Perhaps white liberals are getting involved because it’s "fashionable." In any case, the country is now addressing the blatant discrimination against those who happen to have a darker skin color. Statues of well known racists are toppling across the world. 

With Trump’s popularity declining—poll numbers show his support dwindling daily even in his heartland states—it looks like the GOP may lose control of the White House and Senate come November. However, I very much doubt Joe Biden will be much better as president in protecting the civil liberties of persons of color. This is the man who helped to create the Patriot Act and supported segregation in Delaware when he served as their senator, after all. Regardless of the duopolist political party sitting in the White House, the BLM movement has gathered such a pace that it appears nothing can stop it. It's high time to bury all the legislation of Jim Crow and his bastard children, too.

BIO: Coast Watcher studies history and hates to see it repeat itself over and over again in violent and oppressive cycles. Now is the time for us to fight free from this destructive pattern. Black Lives Matter!

Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/elaine-arkansas-riot-1919/

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/the-purpose-of-a-house

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/05/28/police-shootings-black-americans-disproportionately-affected-infographic/#6ede37659f7c

Related Articles:

Finally Healing the Wounds of Jim Crow
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This introverted 23-year-old was just walking home when he was murdered for being Black. Charge these killer cops, now!

Sign Now

"I'm an introvert. I'm just different. That's all. I'm so sorry. I have no gun. I don't do that stuff... You all are phenomenal. You are beautiful. And I love you. Try to forgive me. I am a mood Gemini. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Ow, that really hurt. You all are very strong." Those are the final words of young Elijah McClain, a Black massage therapist who loved to play the violin for lonely shelter cats to calm them down. After going out to buy his brother an iced tea, he was walking home and listening to music when someone called the police to report "suspicious behavior" because they couldn't see his face. Elijah had anemia, so he often felt cold and wore many layers and a mask to stay warm. When three police officers arrived, they didn't even wait for him to take his headphones out of his ears before they pounced, locking him in a chokehold. As he sobbed and repeatedly vomited, authorities injected the 23-year-old with twice the amount of ketamine needed to subdue someone as small as him. He suffered two heart attacks, and by the time he arrived at a nearby hospital, he was brain dead. Police clearly don't want us to know about this. They claim that all three of their body cameras mysterious fell off, but audio recorded at the scene captured one officer telling another, "move your [body] camera, dude." To this day, not one of these cops have been fired or charged with murder. All three are still out patrolling the streets of Aurora, Colorado, even though they have blood on their hands. Sign the petition to demand justice for Elijah! Thank you for all that you do, Miranda B. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Police from killed him just for wearing a mask while Black, even as he forgave and praised them. Demand that these sadistic murderers finally face real justice now!

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From UltraViolet:

Imagine a world where the website that's home to some of the "most violently racist content" on the Internet bans hate speech.¹

It may sound unbelievable, but together we can make it happen. Reddit has long harbored white nationalists, extreme misogynists, the alt-right, and other hate groups. But in this moment of reckoning on systemic racism and hate, millions of Reddit users, tech leaders, and UltraViolet members have come together to say it's time for Reddit to be on the right side of history. Right now, the COO of Reddit is speaking on a virtual panel about the importance of community. If Reddit truly wants to build community, it must ban hate speech against protected groups, ban hateful users and moderators, hire more women and people of color, and hire paid community managers.

Can you take a moment to send a tweet to tell Reddit that if it wants to build community, it must ban hate speech?

Send a tweet now: Reddit must ban racism and hate speech--and hire more women and people of color.

Share on Twitter ►

Reddit has shown that it will listen to complaints about hateful pages on its site, and together we can push Reddit to act now. Reddit even shut down one so-called men's rights group for inciting violence against women after a petition and negative publicity. By showing public support for the demands of Reddit community members, we can force Reddit to take action and stop the spread of white male supremacy online.

As long as Reddit continues to allow racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic groups to have a home on its website, it is complicit in promoting violence and hate.

Send a tweet to demand that Reddit ban racism, sexism, and other hate speech on its platform.

Thanks for speaking out!
--Shaunna, Kat, Kathy, Anathea, Sonja, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, Maria, Kimberly, Katie, and Elisa, the UltraViolet team
Source:
1. Reddit Is Finally Facing Its Legacy of Racism, The Atlantic, June 12, 2020