Read Transcript EXPAND
IT IS VERY SIGNIFICANT.
UM, WHAT MAKES IT SO SIGNIFICANT IS THAT IT REMINDS OF HOW FAR WE HAVE COME, AND HOW MUCH FURTHER WE NEED TO GO.
UM, HAVING THAT CONSISTENT REMINDER IS -- IS THE KIND OF SPUR THAT THIS NATION NEEDS.
PARTICULARLY, AS YOU SEE STATES TRYING TO ERASE THE TEACHING OF REAL-AMERICAN HISTORY.
WHAT ROLE HAS CRITICAL-RACE THEORY PLAYED IN THIS JOURNEY TO TEACHING AMERICANS ITS RACIAL HISTORY DOES RACIST PATH, AND ON THAT ROAD TO -- TO A MORE RACIALLY JUST SOCIETY.
UM, I THINK CRITICAL-RACE THEORY WAS A POWERFUL AND IS A POWERFUL, ANALYTICAL TOOL USED IN -- IN LEGAL THEORY.
UM, BUT WHAT YOU ARE SEEING IS THE -- THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICAL-RACE THEORY BEING USED TO COVER THE TEACHING OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
THE TEACHING OF SLAVERY.
THE TEACHING OF JIM CROW.
THE TEACHING OF LYNCHING.
THE TEACHING OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
UM, IT IS DESIGNED TO CREATE A NARRATIVE OF A NATION THAT WAS BORN FULLY WHOLE AND FULLY PERFECT.
AND SO, YOU DON'T SEE THE STRUGGLES, YOU DON'T SEE THE INEQUITIES.
YOU DON'T SEE THE INJUSTICES.
HOW DIVISIVE HAS THAT COME AND TURNED INTO, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE HAVE COVERED OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS FOLLOWING THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD?
THE DISCUSSION AT LEAST OF POLICE REFORM.
AS WE HAVE SEEN MORE PROTESTS IN THE COUNTRY, THERE WAS HOPE THAT FINALLY, THE COUNTRY HAD REACHED A TURNING POINT IN -- IN AT LEAST HANDLING AND ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE.
ARE YOU MORE OPTIMISTIC TODAY THAN YOU WERE TWO YEARS AGO?
OR NOT AS MUCH.
WHAT I AM SEEING IS A CONSISTENT PATTERN IN THE U.S.
WHERE WE HAVE THESE MOMENTS OF INCREDIBLE MOVEMENT FORWARD.
AND THEN, WE GET THIS POWERFUL BACKLASH.
UM, PARTICULARLY, IN TERMS OF VIOLENCE AND IN TERMS OF PUBLIC POLICY.
WE SAW IT AFTER -- AFTER THE CIVIL WAR WHERE YOU HAVE RECONSTRUCTION BUT THEN YOU HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE VIOLENCE RAINING DOWN ON THE BLACK COMMUNITY THERE.
KEEPING THEM -- TRYING TO KEEP THEM FROM THE BALLOT BOX.
TRYING TO KEEP THEM FROM -- FROM OWNING LAND.
TRYING TO KEEP THEM FROM ENGAGING IN THEIR FULL-AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP.
UM, WE SEE THIS KIND OF BACKLASH HAPPENING AFTER THE GREAT MIGRATION.
AFTER THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
AFTER THE BROWN DECISION.
AND AFTER OBAMA.
SO, WHAT WE ARE SEEING RIGHT NOW IS YET ANOTHER WAVE OF THAT BACKLASH -- WHAT I HAVE CALLED WHITE RAGE.
About This Episode EXPAND
Professor Carol Anderson explains the significance of Juneteenth. Director James Jones discusses his new documentary “Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes.” Heather Booth and Jeanne Galatzer-Levy discuss Jane, an underground abortion network in the 1960s and 1970s.
LEARN MORE