WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 102321 Dr. Camilla Westenberg on Critical Race Theory 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.000 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am your host, 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:03.760 rams is Jah. 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:07.000 My mother calls me Q, so I'm very comfortable with 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:11.559 you calling me q as well. Last name Ward, I 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:11.960 like it. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:13.640 I like it. If you love it, I like it 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.120 or sorry that was the wrong way round anyway. Uh, 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.239 we are back once again to broadcast balance and to 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:26.280 defend the discourse. Special guests in the studio with us today. Uh, 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:32.120 sometimes contributor on the show, but full time contributor to 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.320 you know, the plight of black folks. And and and 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.960 a dear friend of mine, doctor Kamilla Wessenberg. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.639 Welcome, good they think to both of. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:47.680 You, and UH today you are with us as a 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:54.200 former educator and as a person who has done a 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.600 lot of work in the community. And Uh. One of 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:00.720 the things that has happened recently on the show, as 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:04.440 we've had to have some conversations about critical race theory, 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.120 we've had a lot of folks reach out to us 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:10.880 through social media to tell us, you know, that they 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.720 love the show. They love the fact that we're giving 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.520 some perspective to it because you know, there are a 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.600 lot of other media outlets calling it indoctrination and things 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.120 like this, and so to provide some context for folks 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.720 that might not have access to that, you know, they 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.680 were very much appreciative. And today to have you here 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:33.080 so that we can kind of flesh out a more 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:36.880 full discussion about critical race theory is something that we've 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:38.680 been looking forward to for a long time. So once again, 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:47.720 welcome to the show. And again I'm very very excited 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:52.920 about the amount of enthusiasm surrounding critical race theory, not 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:58.200 necessarily the enthusiasm in opposition to it, but the enthusiasm 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.760 in terms of wanting to learn more. And so that's 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:05.080 exactly what we're going to do today. So before we 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.640 get there, all I do is when when win, no 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.760 matter what you know, like we normally do, we take 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:17.960 a moment to acknowledge some ebony excellence. And today we're 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:23.360 going to do just that in the form of acknowledging 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.160 a story that we came across not too long ago 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.400 that we didn't get time to put on the air. 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.519 But finally we're having a little bit of time or 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.839 we're catching up. This one is for Howard University, who 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:40.760 renamed their College of Fine Arts after Chadwick Boseman. For 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:42.800 those that don't know Chadwick Boseman is the actor that 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:48.520 played Black Panther, And I'll read a little bit from 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:50.919 the article that we have here. This one comes from 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.760 the Hollywood Reporter, so it says that they partnered with 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:59.079 Netflix to also establish a scholarship, and Howard University now 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:03.480 has five point four million dollars for the cha Chadwick A. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.240 Boseman Memorial Scholarship, which will mainly support students in the 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.000 Dramatic Arts College. Netflix is the inaugural donor of the 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:16.560 scholarship and this year's recipients are freshman Sarah Long, sophomore 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:21.360 Seawn Smith, junior Janie Ferguson, and senior d Dre Duncan. 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:26.200 And the Howard President, Wayne Frederick, said in a statement, 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.720 the scholarship embodies Chadwick's love for Howard, his passion for storytelling, 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.320 and his willingness to support future generations of Howard students. 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:35.440 I'm thankful for the continued support and partnership of Chadwick's wife, 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.640 Missus Simone Ledward Boseman, and to Netflix for this important gift. 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.560 So I do believe that, you know, anytime we get 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:47.440 a chance to honor the legacy of someone, especially someone 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:53.560 who was able to bring so much grace and honor 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.520 to the role. You know that now many of us 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.800 hold dear in a whole new generation of Marvel fans 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.080 hold deer black Panther just a testament to the life 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.080 that he lives. So that's going to be our ebony 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.560 excellence for the day once again, shout out. 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.640 He also played Thirdgood Marshall, James Brown and Jackie Robinson. 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:13.080 So I don't want to I don't want to short 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.880 change the brother he was. Yeah, some legendary figures in cinema, 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.599 got to keep me on my toes man, but yeah, 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:23.640 absolutely he was. He was the man and and uh 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:25.680 just grateful to know that his name is going to 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:31.040 live on. Yeah, absolutely absolutely, Howard is is definitely the spot. 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:41.360 So onward to the subject of the day, critical race theory. 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:48.159 All right, so how about this in your words, what 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:50.320 would you say critical race theory is? 0:04:53.400 --> 0:05:01.120 Critical race theory is an abstraction. It is a concept. 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:06.320 It is an idea. It is a supposition up on 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:14.080 which one will build based on the research that is done. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:25.760 It isn't anything that is necessarily concrete. It's exploratory. It's 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:31.800 looking for answers. It isn't doing anything to anyone. It's 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.000 trying to resolve, if you will, and the only way 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.479 that you can resolve is to inspect and to look 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:41.640 at it and to look at it from all angles. 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:49.599 And so in this instance, race of course is the 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:55.760 subject that is being looked at in the educational setting 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.479 and how it is being dealt with and from a 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:04.320 legal perspective as well, from an educational and a legal perspective. 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.719 Okay, so that's interesting. I didn't know that there was 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.240 a legal component to it because all the articles that 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.120 I read about are based in academy. 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:16.880 That is, because the community has taken it and driven 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:22.640 it in that direction. There is a segment of our 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:29.160 community that first it's very political. Indeed, this is political 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.799 and it's being used in the political arena. And so 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:38.600 if you think in terms of the climate today and 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:44.080 everything that is happening in the world, the division that 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:49.640 is taking place, it is not unreasonable for a segment 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:56.240 of our population to take the concept out of context 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:05.839 and say that it is teaching derogatory things about another 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.880 component of society, when in fact that isn't really the 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:16.560 essence of what it is. It's looking at the impact 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.640 of race in the classroom. And that can be in 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.600 a history class, it can be in a literature class, 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.720 it can be in a math class, a science class, 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:36.000 anywhere where you are looking at race as the topic 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:46.760 and how in that genre there was an other an 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:55.720 other and what impact has that other person a person's 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.720 had on the intersectionality of the larger scheme of things. 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:06.920 And that for some individuals who may not be used 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:14.880 to looking at things critically in an exploratory fashion, but 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:19.240 they take it on face value, are just very concrete 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:25.000 or what they have been told, then it's very easy 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.720 for them to embrace that and say, well, this is 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:29.840 being taught in the schools and it should not be 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.280 taught and it's making us feel bad, it's making the 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:39.680 children feel bad. The fact is, as far as I'm concerned, 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:45.520 critical race theory is a part of our everyday life. 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.600 When you look at the insurrection and the changing of that, 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:58.640 how it occurred and what it really represents, there is 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.800 a denial and not looking at the situation critically. Sure, 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.560 sure it is not being critical. And you have a 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.960 population who are being told one thing, Oh they were 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:15.120 just visiting, they were just visiting, or are they are 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:20.120 told well, the campaign was stolen, the race was stolen. 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:27.720 They're not thinking critically. And anytime you are told something 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.640 concrete and you don't have the capacity to take it 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.680 and turn it this way and this way and that 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.880 way and this way and that way, but you just 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.520 look at it this way and that's it, then you're 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.320 not thinking critically. 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:51.880 Indeed, you know, there's a to your point. You know, 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.560 one of the things that Q and I talked about, 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.400 certainly around the time of the insurrection earlier this year 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.840 was that when you know, the right was trying to 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:04.760 rewrite what happened. 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:07.400 Now, that's not they were. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.680 They are correct a better way to say that. Yeah, 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:16.720 at the time they were still attemptation. But you know, 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.600 I think the word that Q used was delusion or 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:24.040 shared delusion or something like that, something that fantastic, and 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:29.600 it was voluntarily. They were voluntarily participating in this shared delusion. 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:34.679 And on some level, based on video evidence, you have 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.720 to know that these are not tourists, you know, but 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:45.320 have managed to convince themselves otherwise by voluntarily participating in 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:50.480 this delusion. And so I like how you said there's 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:54.920 a segment of the population, because that segment of the 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:58.560 population isn't all of the population, isn't even all of 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.319 one group. The rest of us, the rest of us 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.520 are able to see exactly what happened. And when it 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:06.720 comes to things like this like critical race theory, we're 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:09.720 able to you know, like you said, take some time 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.520 with it, or you know, a word that Q uses 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.559 quite a bit is explore the nuances of a conversation, 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.040 of an argument of you know, whatever it is, you know, 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:22.360 some sort of debate, anything like that, where you know, 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:30.679 there's more than just words, there's more than just interactions. 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.440 There's nuance, there's history, there's framing and so forth, and 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:35.959 I think that a lot of that is missing. One 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:39.960 of the things that I found is that it's not 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:44.600 just the media that has an issue with critical race theory. 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:51.520 It's actually educators, particularly educators who, at least in the 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:55.240 stories I've read, sit high above the classroom. They're not 0:11:55.280 --> 0:12:01.120 in the classroom interacting with students there. They're more in 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:06.400 an administrative capacity. And those educators they kind of border 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.679 on like really in the they're they're in the border, 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.600 in the in the cross section of the educational arena 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:16.440 and the arena, right. But you know, when when they 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.400 get that high up it it becomes political for them. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.760 And so I love the way that you explain critical 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:30.160 race theory that it is an examination and it's it's 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.720 a theory, it's it's there's it's abstract, it's not concrete 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:39.559 yet and should be approached, you know, for for all educators, 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:42.600 for all people who are committed to studying, and you know, 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:46.559 educated folks. You would think this would be very very 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:50.360 easy conversation have. But because I think that a lot 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:56.160 of these administrators border on you know, political uh people, 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.840 you know politicians, I think that's where the right. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.520 Word well, you know I I I want to equate it. 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:11.600 In another instance, we could go with critical vaccine theory. 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:14.160 Okay, explain. 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:20.640 And again it's a matter of looking at the situation, 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:26.600 researching it, looking at the data, and making a determination. 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:32.480 When you have a segment of the population again who 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:37.280 will not look at science, but everything that they do 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:43.559 in life is based on scientific exploration, especially in this 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:49.400 day and age with technology, not to accept the fact 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:56.440 that maybe I had better think about this as something 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:58.200 that I need to entertain. And there are a lot 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.679 of other factors as to why pe people may or 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:06.560 may not, but logic would say to me, and I 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.800 say that to say that I think there is a 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:19.760 cohort of individuals in our society who are immune to thinking. Okay, okay, 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:24.960 I think they are immune to thinking. Why, I don't know. 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.480 And I also that I feel that there is an 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:38.200 element of insecurity, okay, the desire to be superior. Sure, 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:44.320 but when you think all of our lives, the notion 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:49.000 of a vaccine is not foreign. Every time I have 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.520 traveled out of the country or even here when I 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:56.480 began school, there are places where you have to get 0:14:56.520 --> 0:15:00.000 a vaccine to travel to that particular country to protect 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:07.160 to yourself. So the notion that this is completely removed 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:14.600 from anything imaginable. When you have X number data showing 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:20.680 that people have died, this phenomenal that has been taking place, 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:27.760 it causes one to wonder where is the intellect, where 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.680 is the thinking? Critically, so. 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.240 I'm glad you mentioned that because so actually I'm not 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:40.120 going to tell the story, but q Q and I 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.040 we talk about some of our friends who are particularly 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:51.280 susceptible to online facts, statistics and so forth. So Q, 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:56.040 I want you to don't tell the story, obviously, but 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.640 you know, help us to understand how a person can 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:08.440 fall down that rabbit hole, if you will, and end 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:14.000 up with a detached detached from reality, but very very 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:18.120 confident in their convictions. 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.760 Well, be careful with calling it online facts. That's what 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.200 I mean online. It's just online information. It's not really 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:30.400 online facts. Sure, and we have a generation of contrarian 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.960 without a cause, people who are just opposed to what 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.920 they consider group think. So if a large portion of 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.400 the population thinks this way, they by nature have to 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.640 think the other way to show us how woke they 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:48.880 are or to somehow come across as intellectually superior. So 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.760 you all are just thinking that way because you're brainwashed. 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.680 I'm thinking this way because I did my own research, 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.200 and by did their own research, they just mean click 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.200 through their Instagram timeline and grabbed a hold to some 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:06.200 things that sounded interesting to them, coined it as fact, 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:11.639 and then would start to parrot those same views as 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:16.560 their own. It's quite discouraging. But we've spoken about before. 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:21.240 I think the most damaging thing that happened with our 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:28.000 prior administration was that they found a way to suspend truth. Right. 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:32.439 It's okay to have a healthy sense of skepticism, but 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:37.480 to question everything is dangerous. Right, we've gotten to a 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.680 point where nothing's the truth, water's not wet, the sky 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:46.000 is not blue. So as we question everything and suspend 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.840 a such thing as truth in fact, that's a very 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.679 very very dangerous and slippery slope where we have no 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.679 baseline to start from. So once we start a conversation, 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.399 we have to first determine, Okay, what is it that 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.000 we all agree is fact? And if we can't start there, 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:08.919 it makes having intellectual and forward thinking conversation very very difficult, 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:14.800 and it's very discouraging that in order to seem like 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.920 an intellectual, we have people who are parroting and grabbing 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:23.640 a hold to things with very very little intellectual basis, 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:27.840 with no actual academic research being done. Right, just going 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.280 on Google and searching doesn't mean you're doing proper research. 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:33.439 There are people who are more qualified to do the 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.760 type of research you're doing than you. They're called doctors 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.399 and scientists. But once we've determined that they don't know 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.639 what they're talking about, wow, I don't know where we 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:43.320 go from there. 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:48.840 So that's actually something that I wanted to talk about, 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:55.280 because what we're finding is that not only does that 0:18:55.359 --> 0:19:02.760 phenomenon exist where folks will come across, however, they happen 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:08.399 upon this false, false factual information or these false you 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:13.720 know information. But also there is a segment of the population, 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:20.960 to quote Dr. Westernberg, that almost needs those facts. They 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.880 need that to be true in order for their worldview 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:29.440 to stay the way that it is. And so something 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:34.560 like critical race theory, you know, this has been a 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.520 complaint from you know, conservative parts of this country for 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:41.840 a long time. Well, once our children get educated, they 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:45.520 come back and their values have changed, you know, And 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.280 this has been something that's happened for a long time. Typically, 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.119 the more educated you are, the more liberal your beliefs are, 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.119 the more liberal your votes tend to be in this 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:59.920 country at least, and you kind of adopt the world 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.440 view as opposed to just a you know, Buck Saw 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.720 Mississippi view. And this is something that the right has 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:13.400 rallied against for since forever. And so when there are 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:19.320 these misrepresentations of what critical race theory is, they call 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.239 it indoctrination, they call it all these other buzzwords that 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:27.879 make people freak out. There's absolutely a segment of the 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:31.080 population that sees it and it's susceptible to it and says, oh, 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.840 my god, I don't want my children indoctrinated. And since 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.160 the association word association is there, then I don't want 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.080 any part of it. But then there's another segment of 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:44.880 the population that knows better. But they have it somewhere 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:47.479 in front of them. There's they don't feel alone. They 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.000 feel like there's other people that are saying things that 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:55.240 they need to be true, and so you know, they'll 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:58.720 share this information or you know, you know, share it 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:00.719 on their platforms or whatever it is that they do 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:05.399 have conversations about it as though it's an attack on 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:06.840 America itself. 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:13.240 The term was presented very early on in the past 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:24.280 administration's term. One of his press representatives, in speaking about 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:30.399 the number of people who were there for the inauguration, said, 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:36.160 these are alternative facts. 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:38.160 How about that? 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:42.800 That's what she said, These are alternative facts. And I 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.359 listened to that. It was so interesting because when I 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:50.000 was in Washington shortly after that, you know, you went 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.840 to the gift shops all around and everything, and there 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:58.520 was a hat and a shirt that had it was interesting. 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:05.359 It was among his paraphernalia, and it had alternative facts. 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.879 And the hat had alternative facts, but the letters were 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:13.919 superimposed together in red that said lies. 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:16.240 Wow. 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:23.960 And so this premise of all alternative facts with this 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:33.280 segment of the population has been built. It has been structured, 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:38.640 it has been nourished, it has been there has been 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:43.560 a concerted effort to carry and if you go back 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:49.040 to some of the footage, very very early on, the 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:56.680 term was these are alternative facts. But look at the numbers, 0:22:56.720 --> 0:22:58.719 and look at the numbers, look at the space and 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:04.520 look at the space. And people accepted it. Why did 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:07.800 they accept it? It goes back to this other there 0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:12.160 was something about here that pumped them up and made 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.320 them feel There was also the notion of something being 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:22.640 taken away from them. Sure of America, something was being 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:26.440 taken away from them. The notion that we can coexist 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:32.719 isn't something that they can comprehend. They just are not able, 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:42.679 I say, yet hopefully somewhere along the big battle, I 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:47.720 don't know. I don't know, sir. I am very fearful 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:50.760 to tell you the truth, because I have been looking 0:23:51.040 --> 0:23:52.720 and I want to go back to you to what 0:23:52.840 --> 0:23:56.600 you The business of the social media. As much as 0:23:56.640 --> 0:24:01.400 social media has been an asset, it also has been 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:04.520 very very harmful because individuals do not know how to 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:07.080 use it. They don't know how to look at it 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:11.640 when they get that little snippet of information and say, well, 0:24:11.880 --> 0:24:18.040 who said it? When did they said? Oh, what was 0:24:18.080 --> 0:24:21.000 the education of the person? What was the experience of 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:24.600 the person who paid for it to be said? What 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:27.520 was the date that it was a you know printed? Sure, 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:31.880 none of that information is asked, and they just look 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:33.879 at it and if they see it and it fits 0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:36.640 with in the mold of what they want, then that's 0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:37.280 what they go with. 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:39.520 Now I have to say this, and then we're going 0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:41.560 to take a break, and I have to say this. 0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:46.959 That is a human phenomenon and it does happen on 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:48.680 both sides of the aisle. 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:49.480 It does. 0:24:50.160 --> 0:24:56.280 But there, I think is an added element of the again, 0:24:56.320 --> 0:25:01.720 the wilful delusion, which I think to often be on 0:25:03.280 --> 0:25:07.480 the right conservative side of things. And I'll just leave 0:25:07.520 --> 0:25:16.040 that right there, and now. 0:25:12.560 --> 0:25:18.560 My mic back like that journal time strike waters from 0:25:18.600 --> 0:25:20.080 headquarters behind him. 0:25:20.080 --> 0:25:23.880 And if you're just tuning into Civic Cipher, I'm your host, 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:24.600 Ramsey's jock. 0:25:25.359 --> 0:25:26.400 They called me q war. 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:30.880 Yes, Indeed, a special guest with us today, a decades 0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:35.720 long educator, doctor Canilla Westenberg, is sitting in with us, uh, 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:39.440 and we're discussing critical race theory. Be sure to stick 0:25:39.480 --> 0:25:44.159 around because we are also going to uh take a 0:25:44.200 --> 0:25:49.679 look back at the Black Panthers, Uh, something that I 0:25:49.720 --> 0:25:54.919 found out that they did with respect to television, and 0:25:54.960 --> 0:25:57.080 that's going to be our way black history fact. And 0:25:57.080 --> 0:25:59.119 I'm really excited to share that with everyone because of 0:25:59.280 --> 0:26:02.199 something that even I didn't know. And I know a 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:05.879 whole lot about the Black Panthers and h. 0:26:07.560 --> 0:26:08.119 Stuff like that. 0:26:08.160 --> 0:26:10.520 A lot of good stuff coming your way. So again, 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:13.640 a lot to stick around for. But first we are 0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:19.640 going to discuss how to become a better ally. This 0:26:19.720 --> 0:26:25.520 is our bah Bah segment. So qu you remember we 0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:29.000 talked about this family in Virginia Beach where they were 0:26:29.000 --> 0:26:34.240 getting harassed by their neighbors. The neighbors was playing like 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:38.600 monkey sounds and. 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:42.920 Racist yeah munson rhetoric exactly exactly. 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:46.560 So for those that don't know, there's a family, a 0:26:46.600 --> 0:26:50.399 black family in Virginia Beach and one of their neighbors 0:26:50.480 --> 0:26:52.760 didn't take too kindly to them moving into the neighborhood 0:26:52.800 --> 0:26:55.879 and try to intimidate them, you know. But everything the 0:26:55.880 --> 0:27:00.760 neighbor did was just barely legal. They didn't do anything 0:27:00.800 --> 0:27:03.920 off their property. They didn't do anything that was overtly 0:27:04.160 --> 0:27:07.840 just subtly racist, and they played like racist music and 0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:10.880 things like that, so they weren't able to be charged 0:27:10.880 --> 0:27:16.480 for a hate crime. Well, their story obviously made national headlines. 0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:22.919 We talked about it here. And what happened is they 0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:30.399 had a protest. So activists rallied in Virginia Beach to 0:27:30.440 --> 0:27:32.920 support the black family taunted by the next door neighbor 0:27:32.960 --> 0:27:36.119 with offensive loud noises and other racist stuff. Since twenty seventeen, 0:27:36.720 --> 0:27:39.840 The peaceful march, organized by Russell T, who lives outside 0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:42.679 of Richmond, was a show of community solidarity in the 0:27:42.680 --> 0:27:47.159 sleepy Salem Lakes neighborhood the Martinez family called home for 0:27:47.240 --> 0:27:53.239 nearly five years. So I guess in short, you know, 0:27:53.520 --> 0:27:58.400 if there are no legal ways to support you know, 0:27:58.760 --> 0:28:04.280 you're black and ground, and you know other oppressed individuals, marginalized, 0:28:04.280 --> 0:28:08.200 I should say, individuals that you know, you know, protesting, 0:28:08.640 --> 0:28:11.280 marching that always helps, It goes a long way. And 0:28:11.600 --> 0:28:13.840 I just wanted to shout these folks, these activists that 0:28:13.840 --> 0:28:16.760 got out there and marched up and down the street, 0:28:16.880 --> 0:28:22.400 exercising their right to assemble and their right to free 0:28:22.400 --> 0:28:26.280 speech to support this family, the Martinez family, the Black family, 0:28:26.800 --> 0:28:29.240 and that is how you can become a better ally. 0:28:29.680 --> 0:28:38.080 Now back to critical race theory, Doctor Wessenberg. We talked 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:47.760 about what critical race theory is, but let's I want 0:28:47.760 --> 0:28:49.720 to ask the question, and I want this to be 0:28:49.760 --> 0:28:52.040 a focused, a more focused answer, because I think that 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:55.000 we take for granted the answer here, but there are 0:28:55.040 --> 0:28:56.960 people who are listening right now that may not know 0:28:57.080 --> 0:29:00.320 the answer to this question. So, in your words, why 0:29:00.360 --> 0:29:07.960 do you think critical race theory is important? 0:29:09.520 --> 0:29:14.040 I think by looking at it, we begin to understand 0:29:14.720 --> 0:29:19.840 human nature, and we begin to understand how we interface 0:29:19.920 --> 0:29:22.720