WEBVTT - Republican Taliban 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.680 Good morning, Keeps, and welcome to Okay f Daily with 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:18.080 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody back in our pot Stream 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:22.240 studios in Times Square. Folks, it has been a couple 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.960 of days since the Buffalo shooting. And later in the show, 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.880 I'm going to be joined by doctor Basil Smichael, who's 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.440 the director of public policy program at a Hunter College, 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.839 and Basil and I are going to get into a 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:43.760 conversation about what really is the Democrat's theory of power. 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.919 How is it that Republicans have done something that, if 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:49.839 you look at it, as Basil will say, from a 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:58.680 purely political science perspective, is brilliant. How do you decide 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.840 that over decades, you're going to begin to invest in 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:07.640 the areas where this country has made intense change. It 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:12.480 has come through the courts, it has come through state legislatures, right, 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:17.840 it has very rarely come from the oval office. And 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.520 yet for Democrats, the only thing that we've ever been 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:27.440 focused on as democratic establishments are those higher echelons of office. 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:32.720 For the last five decades, Republicans have been making inroads 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:37.480 with secretary of States, with school boards, with city councils, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:43.000 with governorships. We saw how this was unfolding while Donald 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:47.200 Trump was president, when you know the Senate was going 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.520 to decide while we're not sending COVID relief to blue states, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.800 we're only going to pay attention to who's in the 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:59.600 red states. The reality is that we do not have 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:05.120 the opportunity to get another bite at the apple. I 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:11.480 have been saying this for years now. You lose democracy, 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:16.520 it does not come back. And there is no point 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.120 to be made over the last several years in this 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:24.000 country that says that our democracy is safe and secure. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:30.480 We had a white domestic terrorists drive for hundreds of 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:36.320 miles to do reconnaissance in a black neighborhood to take 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:42.560 as many black lives as he possibly could. Now folks 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:48.679 refer to this individual as a terrorist as I have, 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:51.840 as a white supremacist, as he so proudly wrote about 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:55.640 in his hundred and eighty page manifesto. Let me pose 0:02:55.720 --> 0:03:00.280 this question in the eyes of the law. What the 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:06.320 fuck is the difference between Kyle Rittenhouse and the Buffalo 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:14.880 white supremist. Kyle Rittenhouse drove across two states within ar 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:20.160 fifteen over his shoulder, going to look for people to 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:24.679 shoot and harm. Now, folks on the right want to say, well, 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.040 he was out there protecting property. It wasn't his motherfucking 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:31.080 property to protect, wasn't in his state, wasn't on his 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:37.680 front fucking lawn. Peyton can say the same shit, Well, 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:42.920 I was going to protect property from what. The only 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:47.600 difference in these scenarios is that the buffalo white supremist 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.440 decided that he was going to walk into a grocery 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.800 store and take as many lives as possible. Kyle Rittenhouse 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.640 decided to put himself in the middle of a peaceful 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:05.320 protest and erupt in violence. He got off. Not only 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:11.360 did he get off, he was fucking offered internships in 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:18.200 Congress at the goddamn White House. The reason why we 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:22.839 are seeing this persistence in violence and anti blackness is 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:28.119 because there is no accountability. There has been no real 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.320 accountability for the thousands of white people that decided to 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:38.119 attempt to overthrow our government. The democratic establishment doesn't even 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:41.640 outside of the one six House Commission, doesn't even really 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.279 talk and fucking remind people on a regular basis. You 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.080 see me if I were Nancy Pelosi and Chuck's humor, 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.200 every time I had a microphone in my face, somebody's 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.480 cell phone in my face, I would be talking about 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.800 white supremacy and how fucking dangerous the Republican Party is, 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.320 because you see, what they are not lacking on that 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:11.279 side is passion and rage. Their passion amounts to violence, right, 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:16.000 it amounts to legislation meant to threaten and cause as 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.080 much harm as possible for those that are not white, 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:24.279 not siss, not straight, and not Christian. For folks that 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.039 think that they are sitting comfortably right now in blue 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:32.440 states and oh, this won't affect me, Doctor Basil Smichael 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.400 later on this show will tell you exactly how it 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:39.359 is going to affect you that in the next six months. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.080 The violence that we are going to see in this 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.520 country is going to grow as we head into midterm 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:52.400 elections where Democrats, Joe Biden, being our leader, has said, 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.400 We're going to focus on inflation. You're going to focus 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.920 on inflation. Yeah, I know that the cost of shit 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.240 is high. I know that gas prices are high. Do 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.240 you know what else? I know? Women and people with 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.120 uteruses are about to lose the ability to have an abortion. 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.080 Not only that they're going to lose the ability to 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.840 have access to birth control. Not only that they are 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.320 going to be tried and convicted as criminals for trying 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:21.080 to have bodily autonomy. Not only that that if in fact, 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.360 you attempt to move outside of your state in order 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.400 to get the kind of reproductive healthcare that you need, 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:32.440 that you can wind up in prison and those that 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:36.839 helped you do that will also arrive in prison. So 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:41.400 how were we talking about freedom of movement or freedom 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.160 at all in a country that is going to begin 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:49.160 to regulate the bodies of people with uteruses at our 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:52.800 state's borders. But the New York Times the other day 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.840 wants to run articles about what the Taliban is doing 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.599 to women in Afghanistan, and oh my god, these people, 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.640 how heinous, how backwards? Where the fuck is the expose 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:07.680 on the Republican Party turned into a white supremacist, fascist 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:12.400 extremist cult. Where is that conversation you mean? Because they're 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:16.760 not talking about what he jobs that then we're not 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:21.640 talking about control, We're not talking about patriarchy, We're not 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:27.400 talking about Christian fundamentalism and the abuse that that reigns 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:32.520 down on people who do not subscribe to that way 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:38.080 of thought. Tell me how Republicans are different than the Taliban. 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:44.520 I will wait because I don't see it. What I 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:51.160 see is a right wing zealot political party that has 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:58.800 created a violent insurrectionist movement to threaten the lives of 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:05.280 people who they don't see as human. Within the hundred 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:16.120 and eighty page manifesto, the Buffalo Terrorist talked about white birthrates, 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:22.080 which is a point of conversation on Fox News often 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:28.800 from the mouth of Tucker Carlson. Talks about masculinity, talks 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:33.280 about replacement theory, which once again Fox News and entire 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:39.160 network has dedicated themselves to stoking the fears and escalating 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:46.320 the violence of fragile white men. Tucker Carlson did a 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:52.000 documentary called The End of Men. The biggest problem in 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:56.240 America to him, is low testosterone rates in white men. 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.360 So what do you think that the action is going 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:05.760 to be When you have these mouthpieces like Tucker, like 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:10.160 Laura Ingram, like Ron de Santists, like Donald Trump tell 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.880 you to go and take your country back, tell you 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.480 that white people should not be feeling discomfort and if 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:22.040 they do, we must do something about that. Peyton like Kyle, 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:26.640 like Dylan. They're not fucking mentally ill. They've been fed 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:31.480 a steady diet that all Republicans have been fed, which 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.280 is that black and brown people are coming to take 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:38.480 from you. Meanwhile, if we actually taught history, which we 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:43.280 do not, all we do is provide American propaganda about 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:50.079 exceptionalism that no one experiences. If we would actually talk 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:53.320 about history in its real context, white people would know 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.040 that they have been the ones that have robbed everyone 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.880 and everything. Raping and pillaging is how they have had 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.480 access to power and have been a part of the 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:08.840 hierarchy at the top. So the audacity to even have 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:11.600 the idea in your mind that somebody is coming to 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.280 take something from you that you did not willingly. You 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:21.080 do not own anything, you didn't create anything, you stole, 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:26.880 you robbed, you raped. That's how we are here. So 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.640 what black and brown people and other people from marginalized 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:35.400 communities are only trying to do is create equity. Because 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:41.960 white folks Republican, these conservatives operate from a place of 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.000 scarcity in the country that they then also want to 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.560 turn around and tell us it's the most powerful and 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.800 the wealthiest, but we can't do for the least. Oh, 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:54.920 because you don't want people who don't look like you, 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.160 don't level like you, don't pray like you, to have 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.400 access in the way that you do. Folks, they've been 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:08.760 saying the quiet parts out loud four decades. We just 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:12.000 have always wanted to believe that somehow these people are 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:17.000 better than who they are showing themselves to be. President 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:21.680 Biden gave what folks are saying. It is an emotional 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:28.000 speech about the shooting, about white supremacy being a poison, 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.440 about we as a country needing to hold one another. 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:37.400 I don't need a comforter in chief. I could give 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.760 a fuck about how you want to comfort people, because 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:48.240 you know what people find comforting safety protection policies that 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:53.000 hold the people that do violent acts accountable, and not 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.800 just the person that pulled the trigger, but the person 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.560 that riled up, the person that decided to pick up 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.840 the gun. Where is the FCC and their investigation into 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.160 Fox News? Why has nobody called into that? Because let 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.120 me tell you something, and I said this earlier in 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:14.040 the week, if Tucker Carlson were a Muslim and Fox 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:19.240 News was Al Jazeera and we were seeing the same 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.040 level of violence, what the fuck do you think they 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.240 the United States government would be doing. Where do you 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.480 think that those people would be you think that they 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.720 would be safely taken in their millions talking about freedom 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:33.680 of speech. No, they would be someplace under a jail. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.720 So why don't we have the same rules that apply 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:45.040 to white domestic terrorists. Whether you are holding a gun 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.720 or a microphone, you are still doing the same amount 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.920 of damage. And until we decide to start calling these 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:56.640 people out consistently and by fucking name, nothing is going 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:01.200 to change. It is only going to get worse. Coming 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:06.079 up next, my conversation with Doctor Basil's Smichael about where 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:10.600 we go from here. It's no secret that the news 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:14.400 is horsepill hard to swallow. Thankfully, there's The Bituation Room 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:18.720 podcast hosted by comedian and commentator Francesca Freer and Tini 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.480 for a lighter take on the heavy stuff. Each week, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.479 The Bituation Room brings you progressive comedians, experts, and activists 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:27.480 to break down the issues in a way that won't 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.080 just leave you crying under a weighted blanket. Get The 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.199 Bituation Room on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and streaming on 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:40.120 YouTube and Twitch. Get a behind the scenes look at 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:43.080 Comedy Central's The Daily Show on Beyond the Scenes, an 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.280 original podcast from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:48.920 host Roy Wood Junior goes deeper with the notable guests 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.880 and experts from the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.440 use comedy to tackle current topics from gentrification to gun laws, 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.440 and take a closer look at how and why these 0:13:57.480 --> 0:13:59.960 topics matter. Listen to Beyond the Scenes from The Daily 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.240 Show with Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:11.760 or wherever you get your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday, folks. 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:15.240 I am very excited to be back in studio and 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:20.560 to also be joined by old time friend colleague who 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.960 we haven't seen each other in two years, doctor Basil Smichael, 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.520 who is the director of Public Policy the Public Policy 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:31.560 Program at Hunter College, to talk about you know where 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:37.320 we have been, where we are right now, Basil. We 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:43.800 are days removed now from the most heinous shooting that 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:47.440 we have seen in the United States in the last 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.560 several years. I would love to say ever, but we 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.000 can't say that, because we are a country that is 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.040 in love with guns and in love with white supremacy. 0:14:56.320 --> 0:15:01.080 Those two things collided in Buffalo, New York the Tops grocery. 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:11.040 Ten black people murdered, three other people, wounded, an entire community, 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:16.960 and frankly, a country rocked once again. What is your 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:24.120 initial reaction to learning about thee hundred and eighty page manifesto, 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:29.080 to learning about the reconnaissance that was done, the fact 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:34.800 that this white supremacist terrorists drove two hundred miles in 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.920 order to commit this act of terror. What do you 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.720 make of this? My initial reaction was that black people 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.560 are being hunted, were continuing and continue to be And 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:50.280 first and foremost, let me send my regards to the 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:52.280 Mayor of Buffalo, Byron Brown. We used to work together 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.400 at the State Democratic Party, where I was executive director, 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.320 and I spent a lot of time in Buffalo, a 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.360 lot of time in upstate New York. I had just 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.040 been in Upstate New York talking students at RPI read 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:05.280 to the Polytechnic Institute, and they were talking about how 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.640 they feel that so much has changed in this world 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:10.520 and are fearful about what it's going to be like. 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.520 Why when they graduate in certain parts of upstate New York, 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.640 you know it as liberal as the state is, or 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.280 we'd like to say that we are. They had reported 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:27.680 seeing more pockets of Confederate flags being flown from cars 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.360 on lawns, language about people of color, black people in 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.040 particular that they had not really heard before, so this 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.960 was making them feel very anxious. And then a day 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:40.360 later I heard about the shooting and I said, yes, 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.640 black people are being hunted in this country. I remember 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:47.640 in twenty seventeen a man traveling from Maryland to kill 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:49.760 black people in New York and he didn't wound up 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:55.920 stabbing someone. This country is in love with guns, is 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:59.720 in love with white supremacy. We have not. The country 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.920 has not been absolved of its original sin of slavery. 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.040 And you know, I went to Catholic school for twelve years. 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.040 I'm actually an Anglican, and I was taught that there 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.000 has to be penance before forgiveness. And I have not 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:17.080 seen this country engage in any type of penance for 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.639 either their past or their present actions towards African Americans. 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:28.240 Having said that, it's clear that individuals will travel great 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.800 distances and go to great lengths to manifest their hate. 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:36.359 And we what we have seen certainly in the last 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.960 few days, but we continue to see in our country 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:44.679 this inability for the nation to really not only reconcile 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:49.800 with the existence of domestic terrorism, but even fomented in 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.720 many instes certainly during the Trump earn. We can spend 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.600 a lot of time talking about Trump, we have, but 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.200 it really didn't start with him. It just gave people 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.520 who had these thoughts, who were organizing, and that's an 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:07.119 important point, organizing around these thoughts and feelings about black people. 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.080 It gave them an opportunity to bring that to the 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:16.040 forefront without fear of retribution or consequence. And I think that, 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.080 in many ways is the biggest one of the biggest 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:22.040 lessons of the Trump era for me, action without consequence. Right, 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:27.600 that folks feel compelled to and able to engage in 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:31.000 this behavior without fear that they'll have their guns taken away, 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.840 without fear that they're going to be prosecuted. That a 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:40.320 guy Kyle Rittenhouse killed protesters in Kenosha, right, And so 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:44.400 without that accountability, there is this freedom to act. And 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.639 that makes me feel nervous for the first time in 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:50.760 my life. And I grew up in a bron and 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:54.720 I've been shot when I was twelve, but I feel 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.399 that as a as a black man, in this black body, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:01.399 there are no safe spaces for me, and I've not 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.520 felt that way before a mon and that makes me 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.919 really terrify because My question was going to be, you know, 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:13.800 when was there a time when you did feel safe? Right? 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.879 But the reality is that we have watched a progression, 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.280 just like your students that were talking about seeing the 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:28.520 slow population of Confederate flags. Similarly, I'm from out east 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:34.400 on Long Island and Trump Country had has taken over 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:38.159 Suffolk County in New York, and in my neighborhood that 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.560 I grew up in, right, it was always ninety six 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:47.000 ninety seven percent white, But I never felt unsafe as 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:50.960 I started to see Trump flags populated, right. And I 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.160 mean not just a flag that says you know the 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:57.399 candidate or the person that you're supporting, but it's the 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:02.280 actual threatening language that they are lying so freely in 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.040 front of their homes or riding around in their cars, 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:07.160 like go ahead and take my gun if you want 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:12.680 to this type of threatening posture. You know, what do 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:16.600 you if there were to be some type of penance, 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:21.439 wouldn't that come from our education system, which I believe 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:25.520 has been the biggest perpetuator of white supremacy, and the 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:29.399 gaslight of American excellence comes from our public school system. 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:32.560 A couple of things about that, weren't I also, yes, 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:37.359 I also don't think that I don't think a lot 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:39.000 of times people have this language. We all need to 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:40.919 come to the table. And I'm like, wait a minute. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.240 Black folk has been at this table for a long time. 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.119 We've been saying this for a long time. And when 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.640 Trump became president or started running for president, you're like, hey, 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:54.160 all right, even if you don't like Hillary, but this 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:56.520 thing here you've got to pay attention to because it's 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:00.000 a problem waiting to happen. So we've been at the table, 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:04.280 were waiting for a willing partner. So that said, Um, 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:09.000 you know, I feel very strongly that you know, this 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:12.480 is a conversation that it's happened in the black community. 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.119 It needs to really happen in the way we should 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:16.920 be there because we've got to be able to aid 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.479 that conversation. But this is this is this is coming 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:23.560 for them. This isn't just about us. It hits us first, 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.359 perhaps first and foremost, but it's also coming for different 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:28.119 parts of the white community too. So if they're not 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.920 really awakened them and aware of this, it's going to 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:34.200 come to their doorstep next having and it already has 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:38.200 in many instances. Oklahoma City, among other terms, right. So 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:43.360 it's it's there the shooting of the baseball the congressional 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:46.159 baseball game, right, and even then they did not think 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.679 to curb gun violence. The second point I want to 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:51.640 make is on the flags themselves, because I've seen flags 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:55.240 from twenty sixteen, I've seen flags to twenty twenty, and 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.080 I'm seeing flags for twenty twenty four. What that says 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.560 to me is that this isn't just about the election. 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:05.359 This is about a movement. It's about their movement. Trump 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:07.359 might be the focal point of it and made by 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:09.800 the face of it, but it's a larger movement when 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:13.840 you see that kind of energy and vigor, right. And 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.280 the problem that we have is that on the other side, 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.400 there isn't that movement. It is an incident to incident 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:23.920 activity and objective. It is not a social political movement 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:27.040 meant to push that back. And that is one of 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:30.439 the things that I that I'm nervous about that I 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.400 talk about a lot, that there isn't that same level 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.080 of energy. Should we be focused more on what's happening 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:38.840 in the schools, absolutely, but we should have always been 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:43.080 this whole thing about critical race theory, banning books and 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:46.800 so on. That's a that's not new, but it is 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:49.159 a proxy for issues of race. It's a proxy for 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:53.719 more or conversations about inclusivity that people don't want to have. 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:59.119 But here's my issue from an organizing standpoint, there are 0:22:59.160 --> 0:23:03.639 almost fourteen thousand school districts in the country. That means 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:06.640 that there are fourteen thousand opportunities for us to be 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:10.800 in the room making arguments, organizing parents, which is what 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:14.760 folks of color and African Americans they did pre and 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:17.480 post Brown. We did it pre brand talk about folks 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:21.399 like Ella Baker in Harlem, among others, that were organizing 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:25.040 parents because they she believed and others believe that when 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:28.119 you organize parents around the urgency of us happening in schools, 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:30.320 you get them to develop urgency around other things in 0:23:30.359 --> 0:23:34.199 their community. So it leads to change. That is that 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:36.560 at the school level, but also at the city, state, 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:40.720 federal level, we're not doing that right now. The party 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:42.640 could be doing that, should be doing that. They're not 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:45.439 doing that. How does that change? That doesn't change on 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:48.080 a dime. And that's the problem. But I think about 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:51.480 why I got motivated to be a politics because I 0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:54.000 saw Jesse in eighty four and eighty eight on TV 0:23:54.080 --> 0:23:56.600 saying the party need to be more inclusive. In eighty 0:23:56.640 --> 0:23:59.560 eight he did it. And think about what happens. Eighty nine, 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:02.520 David It becomes the first black man of New York City. 0:24:02.600 --> 0:24:05.440 Ninety two, Doug A. Wil It becomes the first elected 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:09.120 black governor of Virginia. Bill Clinton gets elected that same year, 0:24:09.640 --> 0:24:12.000 and he started to see all these African Americans in 0:24:12.080 --> 0:24:16.920 positions of power. Alexis Herman, Rodney Slater, Ron Brown becomes 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:20.200 was a DNC chair Secretary of Compress at one point. 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:24.159 There is a direct there's a micro and sort of 0:24:24.160 --> 0:24:28.560 a macro effect of my political engagement through Jesse's engagement 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:33.280 and movement. Right where is that movement today? Maybe it 0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:37.320 was Bernie, maybe it's the Poor People's Movement, Reverend Barber. 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:41.199 But there has to be something that brings us to 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:45.560 the table in every school district and every police precinct, 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:48.040 every police jurisdiction across the country that gets as an 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:54.600 energized and engage you know. I do interviews with my friend, 0:24:55.960 --> 0:25:00.320 another doctor, doctor Jonathan Mexol, who is the author of 0:25:00.400 --> 0:25:04.159 Dying of Whiteness, and he said to me recently, the 0:25:04.280 --> 0:25:07.679 problem that I'm seeing. And the consistent problem is that 0:25:07.800 --> 0:25:11.199 Republicans have a theory of change, a theory of power 0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:14.840 is what he said, Actually, what is the Democrat's theory 0:25:14.840 --> 0:25:19.399 of power? And he said because marching and protesting great, 0:25:19.760 --> 0:25:23.080 But like you said, that is reaction to reaction. It 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:27.480 is momentary, right, It is not about a consistent strategy 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.160 or plan. If you were to say what you believe 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:34.440 the democrats theory of power to be, what would that be? 0:25:34.840 --> 0:25:39.840 I would have to say it is winning elections to 0:25:39.920 --> 0:25:42.600 have more more of Democrats in the House of a Senate, 0:25:42.640 --> 0:25:49.320 more governorships. Okay, The problem is there are two issues 0:25:49.320 --> 0:25:52.200 with that one, because that is an election cycle to 0:25:52.320 --> 0:25:56.440 cycle strategy. If you think about what Republicans do from 0:25:56.440 --> 0:26:00.600 a straight political science point of view, it's actually amazing. 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:06.440 They have realized that in order to force change they 0:26:06.480 --> 0:26:10.800 have to move multiple institutions at the same time. Think 0:26:10.800 --> 0:26:13.280 about what they've done with judges. Think about what they're 0:26:13.320 --> 0:26:16.800 doing with schools. Think about what they're doing with secretaries 0:26:16.800 --> 0:26:19.400 of state, many of whom are elected in this country 0:26:19.600 --> 0:26:23.520 and run our election systems. They're focused on those elections, right, 0:26:23.840 --> 0:26:26.840 all of these different institutions they are focused on and 0:26:26.960 --> 0:26:32.960 managing operations and policies at the same time. And mind you, 0:26:33.000 --> 0:26:37.240 these are institutions not previously designed for us. That's another issue. 0:26:37.560 --> 0:26:41.240 But the fact is that these are institutions that they 0:26:41.280 --> 0:26:46.919 are moving and manipulating over time to force their theory 0:26:46.920 --> 0:26:49.359 of change. Because as you say, over time, because I 0:26:49.520 --> 0:26:51.879 want people to realize too, this is not something that 0:26:51.920 --> 0:26:56.359 has happening over night. Absolutely, this is the way that 0:26:56.440 --> 0:27:01.080 Republicans have been moving. It has been a five and 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:07.840 six decade movement. That is that is now perfectly aligned 0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:10.520 and meeting the moment that they but they have planned 0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:14.240 for for decades. And they do it even through substantial laws. 0:27:14.680 --> 0:27:17.520 They'll say, they'll say they'll take that lass, they'll take 0:27:17.560 --> 0:27:22.600 the they'll take the Obama victory over over McCain, fine, 0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:26.280 over Romney, fine, because we focused on this other stuff 0:27:26.280 --> 0:27:29.879 down here, right, They'll take substantial losses because they know 0:27:29.960 --> 0:27:33.240