WEBVTT - Racism is a Distraction 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.480 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:19.119 me your girl, Daniel Moody, recording from the Home Bunker, Folks, 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.680 I can't help but continue to think about the ways 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:27.560 that Republicans are using racism as a distraction. For the 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.120 last couple of days, we've been going back and forth 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.440 on social media about hard ends and ers, as I 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:37.559 posted in a video on my YouTube channel, and I 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.519 got to tell you that Toni Morrison, I continue to 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.600 say was a prophet, was right when she said that 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.040 racism is a distraction. Because if I'm too busy explaining 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.680 my humanity to you, then I don't have the energy 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:52.920 and the ability to actually do the work to move 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.960 this country forward. And that is the goal of the 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.760 Republican Party. It is to exhaust us. It is to 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.400 distract us, to get us out of ourselves right and 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:06.560 into the muck with them. And what I am deciding 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:11.240 to do is not right. It should just say no. 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.400 Because you know what happened while we were busy talking 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:19.160 about Megan Kelly and Richard Lowry, which I am talking 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:25.240 about myself, the Senate Republicans once again blocked legislation that 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:29.040 would allow IVF to be protected in this country. So 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.440 while they're lying to your face about, oh, we just 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.440 moved abortion from a federal issue into a states rights issue, 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:38.560 mind you, this is the same shit that they said 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.160 about slavery. Oh, it's states rights and it's an economic issue. 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:46.080 No the fuck it is not. You have created a 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.320 patchwork of protections for women and people with uteruses in 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:53.520 this country that are killing women, most recently two black 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.320 women in the state of Georgia. There is a pro 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.360 publica article out now on the ways in which those 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:05.000 two women, those two mothers deaths could have been prevented 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.560 if abortion was legal in the state of Georgia. Now, 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.200 while they say, oh, you won't be persecuted and treated 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.079 like a criminal for seeking an abortion, guess what they 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.519 have done successfully, which is scare women into dying alone 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:26.080 at home or in parking lots. So again, while I 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:31.960 say that we are in arms right over the fact 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:37.520 that an entire town in Springfield, Ohio has been basically 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:42.000 under a terror watch because of Donald Trump and JD. Vance, 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.920 the question that I ask is what is it that 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:50.400 we're missing while they're throwing our attention over there, What 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.120 is it that they are doing? Because there is always 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:58.320 something underhanded going on. So while our focus is on Springfield, Ohio, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.360 and I'm not saying that it's shouldn't be, we should 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.880 also be asking the question of what else are Republicans doing, 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:11.280 because right now they are in session mandating how when 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.800 and if a woman has a child and how when 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:19.239 and if she is going to die because she takes 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:24.200 on that awesome responsibility. Right now, we are living inside 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:26.840 of the handmaid's tail. It is not something that is 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:31.639 forthcoming after November, if in fact, enough people in swing 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:35.000 states don't decide to vote for common fucking sense and 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:39.320 not a common criminal like Donald Trump. But the reality 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:46.560 is is that their dystopian wet dreams are manifesting every 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:51.520 day and they are costing women their lives. We have 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:56.080 got to keep our eyes on the prize, on the 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:01.200 ball because these motherfuckers are shifty, they are shady, and 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.200 as JD. Vance said, the quiet part out loud again, 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:08.400 they are ruthless about their pursuit of power by any 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:13.800 means necessary. Coming up next, my conversation with our friend, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:20.839 our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel. Folks. I am 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:27.080 always very happy when our world traveler, doctor Jonathan Metzel 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:32.560 returns to WOKF to discuss all of the happenings. Jonathan, 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:35.320 you've been gone a spell. It's good to have you back. 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.200 It was an incredibleship. I was in Copenhagen talking about 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:43.200 American gun violence and they looked at me like, oh 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.120 my god, what is wrong with you guys? Like it 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.400 was really interesting. Everybody should have the experience of talking 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:54.720 about America somewhere else and just seeing how we are 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.440 just kicked in the McNuggets here in terms of like 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.120 in terms of just our what we get used to 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.800 every day. They looked at me like, oh my god, 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.680 please go back, leave us alone. 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:11.280 Yeah, I uh fair funny. I will be in London 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:16.159 over the weekend through next Tuesday doing an event with 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:21.200 Mehdi Hassan where we will talk about American democracy in London, 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.200 and I'm just like, I'm excited about it because I 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:29.599 really do international discussions. Oh cool, I like, outside of 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.159 outside of Canada. 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:32.880 Where's it going to be. Let's pump that up. Where's 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:33.320 it going to be? 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:36.479 I will find out. I will find out. Well, I 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:37.479 will let people know. 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.040 People are just going to be wandering around London looking for. 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.240 Right, looking for me, but you know, so I want 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.760 to talk about this with you today. Over the last 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:50.480 couple of weeks, Donald Trump and Jade Vance have been 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:56.400 ratcheting up their stochastic terrorism attacks on the Haitian immigrant 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:00.520 population of Springfield, Ohio. Folks have been listening to this show. 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:02.720 They know that I've talked about this. It's been all 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:06.919 over the news. You've had two city commissioners, police chiefs 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.839 come out to discredit the lies that have been told 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.640 about the Haitian immigrant population and how it is damaging 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.760 the community, how it's damaging businesses. Just recently, as of 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:22.359 this recording, they have canceled a cultural arts event that 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.520 was supposed to happen in Springfield this coming week or 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.799 weekend because they fear violence. Because over the last week, 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.159 schools were closed two days in a row because bomb threats. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:37.159 There have been municipality buildings were shut down because of 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:40.520 bomb threats, all coming after Donald Trump was at the 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:45.720 debate a week ago recounting the lies of Haitian immigrants. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.320 And I want to talk to you about this because 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:53.240 what I realized, Jonathan, is one we use too many 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:57.880 euphemisms when we talk about the rhetoric that Donald Trump, 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:01.080 Jade vance and the Republican Party has been using over 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:04.040 the last eight to ten years, right like, it has 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:08.720 escalated in its violence, it is escalated in its cruelty, 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.360 and it's been causing harm to people, from Judge Marshan 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.880 and his court staff that have had to get security, 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.760 to Shay Moss and Miss Ruby down in Georgia that 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.160 sued both Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani for the lives 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:25.200 that they spread, their lives who were ruined. So I 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:27.560 want to get a sense from you, like talk to 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:34.600 us about how these insinuations, these derogatory statements, they begin, 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.760 but then they metastasize and they become a part of 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.440 our lexicon, They become a part of what we believe 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.960 to be the norm of political rhetoric, and how that 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:47.680 is harming us. 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.760 Well, I mean right now, obviously it's a very heightened 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:54.280 moment where the stakes could not be higher, and we 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.480 are seeing Willie Horton on steroids, basically playing to people's 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:07.400 deepest replacement fears, anxieties, biases, racisms, stereotypes, and so this 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.920 idea that basically other people are out for your stuff. 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.840 I'm the only person who's going to protect you. We're 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.880 going to be taken over. It's so deep, and it's 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.520 just at this moment where basically you're trying to elicit 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:24.920 an automatic response, which is fear vote, and I'm going 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:26.720 to protect you and the other person's not going to 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:28.360 protect you, and all these kind of things. In fact, 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.960 the other person looks like those other people. And so 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.240 in a way, it's just hard because it's such a 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.640 tried and true method in American politics, which we've never 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:42.240 seen it on this level before, I don't think. But 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.280 the stakes are also higher than really the tricks are 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.840 incredibly I and so I think part of the story 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.600 is just it's hard because it's so obvious, right, and 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.960 so how do you refute it? We're on a constant 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.920 like treadmill of having to refute all this crazy stuff. 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.280 And you know, what I've been thinking about recently is 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.959 actually the time when the CRT thing came out initially 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.199 because it was just so idiotic, right, it was like 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.240 twenty twenty twenty twenty one, they started saying, oh, we're 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.839 going against critical race theory, and we were just constantly 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.440 people like me and you and other people were constantly 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.800 going on television having to refute, oh, critical race theory 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.319 is arcane legal theory that's taught in law schools, and 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.080 blah blah blah, Like we were all of a sudden 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.400 on their turf all the time, and so this idea 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.640 of kind of always being on the defensive, it's great 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.560 for Trump to be in the middle of the new cycle. 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.559 He's going to keep ratcheting this up. And I guess 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.720 for me, the question which I would ask you in return, 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.880 is are we going to be continually it's like nine 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:50.959 hundred tennis balls are coming at us at one time 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.360 and we have just one tennis racket, Or is there 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:56.679 a way that we can actually change the channel right now? 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.559 Because it is of course racism and xenophobia, but it's 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.440 also in the stakes of the election, and so I 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.080 wish we could change the channel on this in some way. Yeah, 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.640 that them on the defensive not have to respond to 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.720 their points all the time, because the awfulness is just 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:13.920 going to get worse and worse. It's so clear. I mean, 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.400 even Vance was on TV one day saying this whole 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.520 thing was bs and the next day he's like, oh wait, 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.640 I stand corrected. So it's obviously a strategy. 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.559 And that's the thing is that it is a strategy, 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.080 and I think that the American people are exhausted, and 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.719 I think that that is one of the many reasons 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.280 why the Harris Walls ticket is palling in the way 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.760 that it is right now. And I mean like a 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.440 series a series of polls have all come out and 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.600 shown that they are up. And while I tell people 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.400 not to give too much stock to the polls, you're 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.800 also looking at the amount of people that are showing 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.199 up for their rallies and their events, and I think 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.559 it's largely because America is exhausted. Donald Trump has exhausted 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.240 us to the point where it's just like, can we 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:05.320 have normal time? And I just want to bring this 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.280 up again that the Springfield, Ohio officials are canceling their 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:13.600 annual celebration of Diversity, Arts and Culture due to safety concerns. 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.160 You mentioned the fact that Jade Vance was on with 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:21.920 the Dana Bash over the weekend and said, sometimes we 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.480 have to quote create stories. And I think that there 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.439 is something to the fact that this is a strategy. 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.280 The strategy is that Donald Trump and Jade Vans are 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.439 down in the polls, so we need to find a 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:37.920 scapegoat for that, and that looks like pointing the finger 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:42.680 at black people, this time Haitian immigrants and saying they're 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:46.920 the reason why your lives are so bad. Right aside 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.000 from all of the truth that we know about Springfield, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.640 Ohio that I've continued to say here, I continue to 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.840 say on my YouTube channel about the fact that Springfield 0:11:55.920 --> 0:12:01.720 was in economic dire straits and up until four years 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:06.480 ago when this population of immigrants came to that area 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:11.560 as the renewed labor force that was needed. They came 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:16.320 to set up new home and in turn, Springfield, Ohio 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:20.679 is seeing economic booms that they have not seen in decades. 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.520 But that's not the narrative that's being told. And I 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.280 think though, Jonathan, that this time around, people are not 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:33.240 falling for Donald Trump and JD. Vance's bullshit in the 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.800 way that they were falling for Trump a couple of 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.760 years ago. Because even the stories and I critique corporate 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:45.560 mainstream media all the time, are reinstating that this is 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.160 a lie that they have been caught up in and 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:51.400 are being forced to admit. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.800 I agree with you. I mean, it's on one hand, 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.040 it's laughable rate, but I mean that's the whole point. 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.960 The absurdity is kind of the point. And so you know, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.400 I just keep thinking, like, what's the best answer, because 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.480 the minute we're talking about eating dogs, you know, we're 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.400 not talking about all this other stuff. And so how 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:13.080 do you know when you say people are not responding 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.400 to it? I mean, these poles are seem to me 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.120 incredibly close, right. 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.280 They're always But here's the thing, Jonathan, They're always going 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.280 to be close. We're never going to see blowouts. But 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.800 when we're talking about three to five point difference, three 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.440 to five points of Harris being up, which was the 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.800 latest Morning poll, the latest CNN poll, the latest National poll, 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:36.199 those numbers are within the margin of error, and she's 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.400 still up. You're never going to see ten points up. 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.360 But when we're seeing three and five, that's considerable. 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.720 No, And so I guess for me, it's just from 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.040 devoice on down. There is such a predictable way of 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.440 generating outrage in this country, which is to poke the 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:57.640 color line or poke different groups of people come to 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.839 this country in different ways a different times. I mean, 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.880 you know, my dad's an immigrant and he came because 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.679 they needed educated people, and that's true for many people. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.160 So you can kind of poke this division line and 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.600 the question is I think our strategy before was this 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.839 is so preposterous. But again, I do think that that 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:21.360 CRT moment was a textbook example of what not to do, 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.120 which is we were on their playing field all the 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.240 time and not making fun of them, not arguing with them, 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:29.080 not doing anything else. But it was like we didn't 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.360 talk about anything else except I mean, I don't know, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.000 you probably the same thing. I did twenty interviews defending CRT, 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:40.360 which now nobody's really thinking about, and so in a way, 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:42.600 it's just got their points on the news thing. So 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.480 the question is how do you regenerate your being the 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.200 front of the news cycle. And I think that you know, 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.400 obviously everybody knows this right now. It's it's so predictable. 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.840 But I just think that's going to be the point. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.400 I don't know about you. I'm I'm nervous about this election. 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.200 It really feels like it'd go an anyway, and so 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.240 the fact that this is happening in a swing state 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.200 and things like that are important. But I hope you're right. 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.560 I hope people are not falling for it. I hope 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:09.960 that's right. 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.600 I say this like it is happening in a swing state, 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.600 and people are seeing, particularly in this state of Ohio, 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:20.240 how their town, their city is being used as a 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:24.320 political football. So for people for the first time being like, oh, 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.880 I didn't have a problem with Donald Trump, but now 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.680 those chickens have actually come home to roost in your 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.000 front yard and you're just like, wait a minute, there 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:36.440 was nothing wrong with Springfield, Like we were fine. They're like, 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.000 I have no idea what this man is talking about, 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.760 and now they're seeing front and center the way in 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:45.720 which you can easily be used. And what I keep 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:50.320 saying to people is anywhere can be Springfield, Ohio. Anywhere 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:54.480 can become a target and a subject of Donald Trump 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.360 and the Maga Republicans if in fact they so choose. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.840 And that's what makes their rhetoric so dangerous and needs 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.400 to be referred to as terrorism, because that's what they're doing. 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:09.840 It's to terrorize this area and to make these people 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:14.480 fearful of their neighbors. And even the businesses are saying, 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.720 what are you doing. Our businesses are flourishing because we 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:23.200 have a labor force. Yeah, and now this labor force 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:25.120 is going to pack up and go because now they 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.280 don't feel safe. So then what and I think that 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.840 the question that Dana Bash pointed out jd Vance was like, 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.880 you're acting as if you're somebody's political bystander. You're the 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.920 senator from the state. You can actually do something if 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.000 in fact you cared, but you're not doing anything other 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:44.160 than spreading lies. 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.480 I hope you're right. I hope it's like remember that 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.520 movie Dave, where like in the end of the movie 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.960 everybody came out and supported the gay music teacher, stuff 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.280 like that. I hope this is a moment where we say, 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:58.680 I hope it's a moment of joy. I really do. 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.040 I'm Jada because I wrote a book called Dying of Whiteness, 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:06.560 where people were turning away their free healthcare based on 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.640 exactly the same logic, which is somebody's coming to take 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.720 away your stuff. So I hope this is not dying 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.400 of whiteness. I hope this is the future of American 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:18.320 multi racial democracy and all of its potential. I really 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:20.439 hope that. And we got a lot of work to 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:23.439 do in a lot of places to make sure that happens. 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:27.800 So let me switch gears with a couple of minutes 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:30.000 that we have left, which is I want to bring 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.320 a story to your attention. You haven't watched the video, 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:35.960 and you don't really need to watch the video. I 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:39.399 will tell you. Rich Lowry, who is the editor in 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.639 chief of the National Review, goes on a show with 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:47.240 Megan Kelly, and we know that Megan Kelly, from her 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:52.200 firing of NBC News, is nothing more than a racist 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.840 and a race vader. And the things that she has said, 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:58.760 from saying that Santa Claus, a fictional character, is white, 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.679 to saying that they're nothing wrong with blackface, which is 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:04.200 what got her fired from NBC in the first place, 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.080 to all of the lies and things that she has 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.359 said on Fox and on her own podcast and what 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:14.600 have you. She's interviewing Riche Lowry about the lies that 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:17.639 are being told in Springfield that they are echoing, and 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.359 when talking about Haitian immigrants, he uses the N word 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:25.679 and then gets on social media, as does Begg and Kelly, 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.560 who by the way, did not flinch. It was not 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:32.159 like a oh, you know, like you know anything. It 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.199 was just like a nod and smile and just like 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.240 keep it going. Then gets on social media says that 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:40.400 it was just a slip. I meant to say immigrant 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.399 or migrant. I think that we all know the difference 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.119 between M and a hard N and the er and 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.840 all of these things like don't gaslight me into your bullshita. 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.320 Wait he said, like I said, like minor or something. 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.760 Yeah, just trying to tell us that, like we don't 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.080 know what we heard, and that it was a slip up. No, 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.440 it was a slip up. You said the quiet part 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.040 out loud, like it was a slip up, absolutely, but 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.399 it was not misplaced words and letters. And so now 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.600 you know, there's this uproar on social media with like, 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:11.800 oh my god, this guy uses the N word like 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.080 blah blah blah blah, and I'm just like, we think 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:18.760 that this is like like the N word is somehow 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.439 become has become like the punctuation, right, Like, if you 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.240 use this word, then that's what makes you a racist. 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.679 Not the policies that you put out, not the articles 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.520 that you allow to run in your paper that target 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.680 particular communities, none of that. It's just this one word. 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.640 So so long as you avoid that one word in public, 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:40.199 then you're not a racist. And I just want to 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.720 get your thoughts on like the outrage around it and 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:48.280 how we've turned or I should say that white supremacists 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:52.480 or racist have turned this one word into like their 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.119 lynch pin. So long as they don't say it, nothing 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:57.640 else that they do can be judged as racist. 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.000 Well, I mean, you know, I think as a societ 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:04.240 we've deemed that word and some other words none really 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:06.840 with this charge to be unacceptable. So I don't think 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:10.800 it's just white supremacists that have done this. But it's 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:13.560 interesting like Megan Kelly, right, I mean, she've got fired. 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:16.080 And then I'll admit I read the New York Posts 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:18.240 every once in a while because they have a great 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:22.080 sports page, and every time something would happen, there'd be 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:26.560 a front page article Megan Kelly throws shade on Beyonce 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:28.600 or something like that. So every single thing, and I'm like, 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:32.280 who cares of Megan Kelly throwing shade whatever? But it's like, 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:36.280 the way you get back into the public eye. The 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:41.399 whole economy we've created is by controversy outrage. If Megan 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:45.159 Kelly said, gosh, I like some of Beyonce's songs, it 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:47.639 wouldn't be newsworthy in a way. And so it's kind 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.280 of like these outrage moments that are almost always tied 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:55.040 to race of racism, are kind of how you kind 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:56.879 of get on the map and then everybody's talking about you, 0:20:56.960 --> 0:20:58.879 and then you generate clicks in a way, it's like 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:03.399 this whole economy of relevance. It's kind of an economy 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:08.600 economy where there's no market for centrism or getting along 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.240 or fixing any of the problems that we're talking about. 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.720 And it's so so clear, and these examples, I mean, 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.600 it does sound like he said the quiet part out loud. 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.080 It was a slip. And we're in a moment right 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:25.040 now where like these issues I don't know, I'm having 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:31.720 like dying of whiteness PTSD honestly, because like your answers, 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:34.159 what you're saying now is so rational, and I just 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:39.359 this white anxiety is so irrational. Honestly. If they said 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:42.080 people are coming to take your pants and don't wear 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:44.640 pants like that would have it. It's just it's it's 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:45.399 like that level. 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:47.840 But it's the movie don't look up like that. It 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:51.119 was a spoof, but it was a documentary like this 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:53.280 on this, Yeah, I need to watch it again too. 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:57.480 On like the pure stupidity of things, like yeah, what 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:00.919 I'm saying is rational, what you wrote is rational, and 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:04.320 yet like, I don't call it white anxiety. I call 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:07.760 it white fear and ignorance or what have you. Is like, 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:13.960 it isn't rational because it's based in stereotypes, fear mongering, lies, 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:17.200 and hatred and distrust of the other that you refuse 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.879 to actually accept as like a neighbor or human or 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:25.240 any of these things. And it puts the burden on 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:30.120 the victims of your racism and your prejudice to now 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:34.159 defend our humanity and get you to see it, which 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:37.800 is why Tony Morrison said about racism that it's nothing 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:38.919 more than a distraction. 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:41.520 That's such a beautiful way to put it. I mean, 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:43.359 I could not agree more. But the other part is 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:48.280 it's also a reflection of our zero sum political system. 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:51.240 In other words, it's not surprising that this is happening 0:22:51.320 --> 0:22:53.600 now because we are in a winner take all political 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:57.040 system where you either win or you lose. And that's 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.600 how kind of this kind of tribalization works. Is I'm 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:03.800 in my tribe against other tribe, which plays out along 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:07.479 the fault lines of the history of inequality in our 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:09.679 country and all these things. It's not surprising that this 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:13.560 is happening now because they're just very big stakes about 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:16.280 winning or losing for the future of this Yeah. 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:19.639 One hundred percent. Well, we will leave it there today 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:23.720 my friend doctor Jonathan Maxil, who literally wrote the book 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:27.160 on dying of white myth, and we'll pick this back 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:33.640