Those Assassinated at the Dollar Store in Jacksonville Had a Dream, Too.
Today (8/28) is the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s March on Washington, an event that marked a turning point in domestic politics, as an alliance of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations came together under the banner of "jobs and freedom.”
Most Americans know about the march as the time and place where Martin Luther King, Jr gave the “I have a Dream Speech.” Sadly, the context and intent of his oratory has been twisted in hundreds of ways by self-serving entities. King knew the foundation for freedom for Black people was economics. The goals of the day made it clear.
A quarter million people showed up in 1963 to support the stated goals of the protest:
a comprehensive civil rights bill
doing away with segregated public accommodations
protection for the right to vote
mechanisms for seeking redress of violations of constitutional rights
desegregation of all public schools in 1963
a massive federal works program to train and place unemployed workers
a Federal Fair Employment Practices Act barring discrimination in all employment
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 came about, at least in part, by a show of power significant enough for national television networks to interrupt programming, bringing the cause into millions of American homes.
The blowback on what should have been great points in American history has been unrelenting, as Heather Cox Richardson points out:
The federal protection of minority voting was a game changer, and opponents fought it. Since Reconstruction, reactionary racists had maintained that Black voters would elect lawmakers who would give them benefits that could only be paid for through tax levies on those with property, which generally meant white men. Black voting, they insisted, would lead to a redistribution of wealth and thus was essentially socialism.
As the Democratic Party under Johnson moved away from its historic racism, those who insisted that Black voting was socialism and segregation should be the law of the land began to swing behind the Republicans, whose opposition to government regulation of business and provision of a basic social safety net made them take a stand against a powerful federal government.
Once entrenched in the Republican Party, the idea that minority voting meant a redistribution of wealth led party leaders both to whittle away at federal power and to insist that Black and Brown voters were illegitimate. By 1986, Republicans talked of cutting down Black voting with a “ballot integrity” initiative, and they bitterly opposed the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, more popularly known as the Motor-Voter Act, which Democrats passed to make it easier to register to vote at certain state offices. The following year, losing Republican candidates argued they had lost because of “voter fraud,” and in 1996, House and Senate Republicans launched yearlong investigations into elections that they insisted, without evidence, Democrats had stolen thanks to illegal voters.
That's right folks, in case you haven’t figured it out, claims about “voter fraud” are just Republispeak for racism at the ballot box.
***
This past Saturday, thousands of people gathered on the national mall to send the message that a country that remains riven by racial inequality has yet to fulfill his dream.
From the Associated Press:
From the podium, [Rev. Al] Sharpton promised more demonstrations to push back against injustices, new and old.
“Sixty years ago Martin Luther King talked about a dream. Sixty years later we’re the dreamers. The problem is we’re facing the schemers,” Sharpton said. “The dreamers are fighting for voting rights. The schemers are changing voter regulations in states. The dreamers are standing up for women’s right to choose. The schemers are arguing whether they are going to make you stop at six weeks or 15 weeks.”
The election of Donald Trump as president gave permission for closeted racists to emerge; to pretend their grievances were the fault of social progress, and to normalize cruel/hateful behavior as protected speech. By some estimates, a quarter of the country see themselves as victims, and a percentage of them believe armed struggle may be needed.
Government and cultural institutions are under attack, as extremists ingratiate themselves in the square of public opinion using unfounded fears, misinformation and lies for attacks designed to malign efforts at inclusion, diversity, and equality. Make no mistake, these haters are not operating in a vacuum; a network of wealthy donors are enabling their actions through dark money fronts.
And just to put an exclamation point on the national mood this past Saturday, a man with Nazi insignia on his weapons assassinated three Black patrons at a Dollar Store.
Also:
The shooting happened just before 2 p.m. at a Dollar General about three-quarters of a mile from Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university. The sheriff said the suspect was seen on campus shortly before the shooting, putting on his vest and mask.
Make no mistake about his intention:
Palmeter had authored several manifestos, for his parents, the media and federal agents, detailing his hatred of Black people, police said.
Mr Waters said those manifestos "detailed the shooters disgusting ideology of hate".
"Finely put: this shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people."
A Republican presidential candidate voiced the opinion that White Supremacist beliefs were not connected to the shooting.
Vivek Ramaswamy told CNN viewers Sunday that a “racialized culture” and “mental health deficiencies” were to blame for the slaying in the New Town neighborhood, by a killer who was initially thwarted from entering HBCU Edward Waters University.
The killer had written a manifesto and had a swastika on his AR-15, seemingly clarifying his intent for most observers, but not Ramaswamy, who blames environmental factors rather than the gunman.
From 2013 to 2022, 73% of right-wing extremist-related killings in the United States were carried out by people associated with white supremacy oriented movements. During this time period, four percent of right-wing extremist-related killings were carried out by perpetrators affiliated with anti-abortion and other right-wing extremism.
As much as the apologists for these domestic terrorists try to “what-about” or “lone wolf” these actions away, one only needs to see the rhetoric coming from all parts of MAGA-land to understand these shooters are motivated by a common ideology and consider themselves part of a movement..
From Daniel Arkin at NBC News:
The spasms of gun violence are part of a wider history of racist terror in the United States dating back to the country's founding and stretching across more than two centuries. In the modern era, violent domestic extremists are often radicalized online, according to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Two years ago, a comprehensive review conducted by President Joe Biden's national security team found that "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists," specifically those who "promote the superiority of the white race," represented one of the most "persistent and lethal threats" facing the homeland.
A country overrun with hate, accompanied by groups like the San Diego County Gun Owners Association who can’t conceive of basic safe storage as a responsibility for gun ownership can only cycle one way–down, away from democracy and toward autocracy.
In this era every election is ultimately a choice between these directions, even if campaigns fail to use those words.
***
Monday, Monday. Sometimes It Just Turns Out That Way
***
Biden admin's latest home appliance crackdown: ceiling fans Via Fox News.
Here’s a little ditty in response, courtesy of Jeff Tiedrich at This week in stupid:
first they came for the light bulbs, and I didn’t speak out—because no one is coming for the light bulbs, you paranoid idiots.
then they came for the toilets, and I didn’t speak out— because no one is coming for the toilets, you bloviating gasbags.
then they came for the gas stoves, and I didn’t speak out— because no one is coming for the gas stoves, you asinine morons.
then they came for the ceiling fans, and I didn’t speak out— instead, I rolled my eyes so hard that I sprained my big toe.
***
Billy Bragg has an answer to the latest manufactured hillbilly hate-song:
Rich Men North of Richmond by Oliver Anthony. (I should tell you that the artist singing the song isn’t thrilled about its appropriation.)
Here’s Rich Men Earning North of A Million
***
Guns killed a record number of U.S. children in 2021, study finds
The report said 4,752 children died from a firearm injury in 2021 — an increase of almost 42 percent from 2018. The study, published in the journal American Academy of Pediatrics, found nearly half of those who died in 2021 were Black and about 85 percent were males.
The analysis, which looked at children and adolescents from newborn to age 19, found nearly two-thirds of the deaths among children in 2021 were homicides, almost 30 percent were suicides and 3.5 percent resulted from “unintentional injury.”
The research also found that, among that group, a majority of firearm homicides were Black children killed by gun-related injuries, while White children accounted for a majority of firearms suicides. Adolescents between 15 and 19 years old accounted for most of the gun-related deaths.