thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-31--Riots in Covid-19 era are the ‘language of the unheard’, looted bare by white elite

he massive scale of the protests sparked by the police killing of a black man in Minneapolis bares the roots of American discrimination – economic woe and ‘ legal ’ ruling-class looting , multiplied amid the Covid-19 pandemic .
The killing of 46-year-old black man George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis has sparked a wave of violent protests rooted in something bigger than one more terrible incident of racist police brutality .
There is nothing new , sadly , about mass black protests in the wake of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marches and confrontations with police and ( in some cases ) the National Guard followed the ‘ police-involved killings ’ of Eric Garner ( New York City in July 2014 ) , Mike Brown ( in Ferguson , Missouri in August 2014 ) , Walter Lamar Scott ( North Charleston , South Carolina in April 2015 ) , Freddie Gray ( Baltimore in April 2015 ) , Philando Castille ( Falcon Heights , Minnesota in July 2016 ) , and Keith Lamont Scott ( Charlotte , North Carolina in September 2016 ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the response has gone beyond the usual ‘ Black Lives Matter ’ speeches , marches , and confrontations .
Minneapolis has experienced four days and nights of civil disturbance , with over 100 buildings damaged or looted .
The unrest has included popular break-ins to appropriate life necessities and other goods from corporate retail outlets ( “ looting ” ) , and arson , including the remarkable burning down of the Minneapolis police precinct that was home base for the four cops complicit in Floyd ’ s death .
The city ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apologize for the killing , and Minnesota ’ s governor has acknowledged “ institutional racism ” even while deploying the National Guard to squelch the rebellion .
Donald Trump has used social media to threaten state-sanctioned mass murder by tweeting that “ when the looting starts , the shooting starts ” – a comment Twitter flagged for “ glorifying violence.
” Trump ’ s phrase is taken from southern segregationists cracking down on black protests since the 1960s , As nobody in the mainstream US media wants to admit , looting is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US .
The recent bipartisan $ 2.2 trillion coronavirus pandemic corporate bailout ( passed with only a pittance of relief for the nation ’ s working-class majority ) is just the latest example .
“ How much , ” left activist Doug Selwyn writes me , “ have the rich looted , that is , stolen through tax giveaways and bailouts ... trillions ... with no real protest ?
” ( None , at least since the Obama administration and Democratic-run city governments moved to repress the Occupy Wall Street movement in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Say His Name , George Floyd ” rebellion has spread from Phoenix to Columbus , Denver , Memphis , Los Angeles and other US cities , with thousands converging in city centers and marching on state capitols .
Gunfire has broken out in numerous cities , including Louisville , where crowds rose up against the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old black woman Breonna Taylor .
In downtown Columbus , protesters occupied major arteries , broke Ohio statehouse windows , shattered retail storefronts , and broke into the DGX store , a subsidiary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests reached the capital , where tear gas was sprayed at protesters outside a locked-down White House .
Why the special and prolonged intensity of civil unrest after George Floyd ’ s death ?
Some of the property destruction has been initiated by white Americans of different ideological stripes – including , some allege , a St. Paul police officer functioning as an agent provocateur by smashing the windows of an AutoZone outlet .
Right-wing white nationalists and neofascists may be actively seeking to spark the “ race war ” that they have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antifascists may be seizing an opportunity to spark chaos and rebellion .
ALSO ON RT.COM White people should acknowledge they DO have privilege & life IS easier for them .
Only then world ’ s racial wounds can be healed Still , it stands to reason that a significant number of black Americans would engage in serious civil unrest .
The Floyd killing , with a white police officer kneeling on his victim ’ s neck for eight minutes , is hauntingly reminiscent of the NYPD ’ s infamous , nationally scandalous killing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Floyd was a middle-aged man charged with a nonviolent offense who pleaded “ I can ’ t breathe ” while being asphyxiated by a vicious white officer in a senseless assault caught on video .
Looting of retail stores is about economic desperation , as well as civil and human rights .
Covid-19 , and the economic depression that the coronavirus has sparked in the US , has hit already deeply impoverished and highly segregated black communities with special and tragic virulence .
The median black household net worth is $ 17,600 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The national black unemployment and poverty rates have long been at least twice as high as the white rates .
As the real US employment reaches 20 % or higher , one can be sure that the joblessness measure in the nation ’ s black ghettoes is much higher than that .
And black Americans with jobs are disproportionately concentrated in low-wage occupations without health insurance – no small problem as Covid-19 wreaks special havoc in their neighborhoods .
It doesn ’ t help that the nation ’ s top job , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time around by a longstanding racist – a neofascistic white-nationalist who has called for the nation ’ s predominantly white police to “ get tough ” when dealing with urban communities of color .
“ Get tough ” is code for beat , maim , and kill .
Martin Luther King , Jr. ’ s 1966 reflections on the race riots of the mid-1960s apply well to the “ Say His Name ” uprising of 2020 .
“ A riot , ” King said , “ is the language of the unheard… America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.
” Do black rioters and looters in the streets ( understood so differently from Trump and other looters in the suites ) disrespect the law , as their white critics charge ?
Yes , King said on national Canadian radio in 1967 , adding that rioters ’ transgressions were “ derivative crimes… born of the greater crimes of the… policy-makers of the white society , ” who “ created discrimination… created slums [ and ] perpetuate unemployment , ignorance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” King elaborated , “ does not abide by law in the ghetto .
Day in and day out he violates welfare laws to deprive the poor of their meager allotments ; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations ; his police make a mockery of law ; he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provision of public services .
The slums are a handiwork of a vicious system of the white society.
” Did the rioters engage in violence ?
Yes , King said in 1967 , noting that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ degree… focused against property rather than against people.
” King observed that “ property represents the white power structure , which [ the rioters ] were [ understandably ] attacking and trying to destroy.
” Against those who held property “ sacred , ” King argued that “ Property is intended to serve life , and no matter how much we surround with rights and respect , it has no personal being.
” Americans who reflexively condemn the “ looting ” and property violence on display in Minneapolis , Columbus , and elsewhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King ’ s judgement more than half a century later .
The destruction of a window or building and the appropriation without purchase of household goods are minor crimes compared to the killing of human beings and the penning up of millions of people of color in ghettos and prisons where poverty , joblessness , and ill-health are rife , and where a deadly pandemic spreads disease and economic misery with extraordinary ferocity .
“ The robbery we should concern ourselves with , ” writes William C. Anderson , “ is the theft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where people in need have to go and take for themselves what should be a guaranteed right.
” Property is not more important than black life .
Neither is the law .

T he massive scale of the protests sparked by the police killing of a black man in Minneapolis bares the roots of American discrimination – economic woe and ‘legal’ ruling-class looting, multiplied amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The killing of 46-year-old black man George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis has sparked a wave of violent protests rooted in something bigger than one more terrible incident of racist police brutality.
There is nothing new, sadly, about mass black protests in the wake of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man in the 21st Century United States. Mass marches and confrontations with police and (in some cases) the National Guard followed the ‘police-involved killings’ of Eric Garner (New York City in July 2014), Mike Brown (in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014), Walter Lamar Scott (North Charleston, South Carolina in April 2015), Freddie Gray (Baltimore in April 2015), Philando Castille (Falcon Heights, Minnesota in July 2016), and Keith Lamont Scott (Charlotte, North Carolina in September 2016).
Familiar unrest on a massive scale
With the killing of Floyd, however, the response has gone beyond the usual ‘Black Lives Matter’ speeches, marches, and confrontations. Minneapolis has experienced four days and nights of civil disturbance, with over 100 buildings damaged or looted. The unrest has included popular break-ins to appropriate life necessities and other goods from corporate retail outlets (“looting”), and arson, including the remarkable burning down of the Minneapolis police precinct that was home base for the four cops complicit in Floyd’s death.
The city’s white mayor has been compelled to apologize for the killing, and Minnesota’s governor has acknowledged “institutional racism” even while deploying the National Guard to squelch the rebellion.
Donald Trump has used social media to threaten state-sanctioned mass murder by tweeting that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” – a comment Twitter flagged for “glorifying violence.” Trump’s phrase is taken from southern segregationists cracking down on black protests since the 1960s,
As nobody in the mainstream US media wants to admit, looting is a regular and highly organized ruling-class activity in the US. The recent bipartisan $2.2 trillion coronavirus pandemic corporate bailout (passed with only a pittance of relief for the nation’s working-class majority) is just the latest example. “How much,”left activist Doug Selwyn writes me, “have the rich looted, that is, stolen through tax giveaways and bailouts... trillions... with no real protest?” (None, at least since the Obama administration and Democratic-run city governments moved to repress the Occupy Wall Street movement in the fall of 2011.)
The “Say His Name, George Floyd” rebellion has spread from Phoenix to Columbus, Denver, Memphis, Los Angeles and other US cities, with thousands converging in city centers and marching on state capitols. Gunfire has broken out in numerous cities, including Louisville, where crowds rose up against the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old black woman Breonna Taylor. In downtown Columbus, protesters occupied major arteries, broke Ohio statehouse windows, shattered retail storefronts, and broke into the DGX store, a subsidiary of Dollar General.
Ultimately, the protests reached the capital, where tear gas was sprayed at protesters outside a locked-down White House.
Why the special and prolonged intensity of civil unrest after George Floyd’s death? Some of the property destruction has been initiated by white Americans of different ideological stripes – including, some allege, a St. Paul police officer functioning as an agent provocateur by smashing the windows of an AutoZone outlet. Right-wing white nationalists and neofascists may be actively seeking to spark the “race war” that they have long been advocating. Left-wing anarchists and antifascists may be seizing an opportunity to spark chaos and rebellion.
ALSO ON RT.COM White people should acknowledge they DO have privilege & life IS easier for them. Only then world’s racial wounds can be healed
Economic desperation
Still, it stands to reason that a significant number of black Americans would engage in serious civil unrest.
The Floyd killing, with a white police officer kneeling on his victim’s neck for eight minutes, is hauntingly reminiscent of the NYPD’s infamous, nationally scandalous killing of Eric Garner. Like Garner, Floyd was a middle-aged man charged with a nonviolent offense who pleaded “I can’t breathe” while being asphyxiated by a vicious white officer in a senseless assault caught on video.
Looting of retail stores is about economic desperation, as well as civil and human rights. Covid-19, and the economic depression that the coronavirus has sparked in the US, has hit already deeply impoverished and highly segregated black communities with special and tragic virulence. The median black household net worth is $17,600, compared with $171,000 for white households. The national black unemployment and poverty rates have long been at least twice as high as the white rates. As the real US employment reaches 20% or higher, one can be sure that the joblessness measure in the nation’s black ghettoes is much higher than that. And black Americans with jobs are disproportionately concentrated in low-wage occupations without health insurance – no small problem as Covid-19 wreaks special havoc in their neighborhoods.
It doesn’t help that the nation’s top job, the US presidency, is held this time around by a longstanding racist – a neofascistic white-nationalist who has called for the nation’s predominantly white police to “get tough” when dealing with urban communities of color. “Get tough” is code for beat, maim, and kill.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1966 reflections on the race riots of the mid-1960s apply well to the “Say His Name” uprising of 2020. “A riot,”King said, “is the language of the unheard… America has failed to hear… [that] the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.”
Black riots are crimes – enabled by white looting
Do black rioters and looters in the streets (understood so differently from Trump and other looters in the suites) disrespect the law, as their white critics charge? Yes, King said on national Canadian radio in 1967, adding that rioters’ transgressions were “derivative crimes… born of the greater crimes of the… policy-makers of the white society,” who “created discrimination… created slums [and] perpetuate unemployment, ignorance, and poverty… The white man,”King elaborated, “does not abide by law in the ghetto. Day in and day out he violates welfare laws to deprive the poor of their meager allotments; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations; his police make a mockery of law; he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provision of public services. The slums are a handiwork of a vicious system of the white society.”
Did the rioters engage in violence? Yes, King said in 1967, noting that their aggression was “to a startling degree… focused against property rather than against people.” King observed that “property represents the white power structure, which [the rioters] were [understandably] attacking and trying to destroy.”Against those who held property “sacred,” King argued that “Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround with rights and respect, it has no personal being.”
Americans who reflexively condemn the “looting” and property violence on display in Minneapolis, Columbus, and elsewhere would do well to reflect on Dr. King’s judgement more than half a century later. The destruction of a window or building and the appropriation without purchase of household goods are minor crimes compared to the killing of human beings and the penning up of millions of people of color in ghettos and prisons where poverty, joblessness, and ill-health are rife, and where a deadly pandemic spreads disease and economic misery with extraordinary ferocity.
“The robbery we should concern ourselves with,”writes William C. Anderson, “is the theft perpetrated by a system that creates desperation where people in need have to go and take for themselves what should be a guaranteed right.”
Property is not more important than black life. Neither is the law.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-06-01--Violence Never Works? Really?

Violence Never Works? Really?

Those who have rarely been the target of organized police gangsterism are once again lecturing those who about how best to respond to it .
Be peaceful , they implore , as protesters rise up in Minneapolis and across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd .
This , coming from the same people who melted down when Colin Kaepernick took a knee — a decidedly peaceful type of protest .
Because apparently , when white folks say , “ protest peacefully , ” we mean “ stop protesting.
” Everything is fine , nothing to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of white America sees fit to lecture black people about the evils of violence , even as we enjoy the national bounty over which we claim possession solely as a result of the same .
I beg to remind you , George Washington was not a practitioner of passive resistance .
Neither the early colonists nor the nation ’ s founders fit within the Gandhian tradition .
There were no sit-ins at King George ’ s palace , no horseback freedom rides to affect change .
There were just guns , lots and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of blood , and mostly that of others .
We are here because of our insatiable desire to take by force the land and labor of others .
We are the last people on Earth with a right to ruminate upon the superior morality of peaceful protest .
We have never believed in it and rarely practiced it .
Instead , we have always taken what we desire , and when denied it , we have turned to means utterly genocidal to make it so .
Even in the modern era , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or have some well-nurtured opposition to rioting is belied by the evidence .
Indeed , white folks riot for far less legitimate reasons than those for which African Americans might decide to hoist a brick , a rock , or a bottle .
We have done so in the wake of Final Four games , or because of something called Pumpkin Festival in Keene , New Hampshire .
We did it because of $ 10 veggie burritos at Woodstock ’ 99 , and because there weren ’ t enough Porta-Potties after the Limp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we couldn ’ t get enough beer at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake , and because Penn State fired Joe Paterno .
We did it because what else do a bunch of Huntington Beach surfers have to do ?
We did it because a “ kegs and eggs ” riot sounds like a perfectly legitimate way to celebrate St. Patrick ’ s Day in Albany .
Far from amateur hooliganism , our riots are violent affairs that have been known to endanger the safety and lives of police , as with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University .
According to a report at the time : Twenty-two years later , we wait for academics to ruminate about the pathologies of these whites in Pullman , whose culture of dysfunction was taught to them by their rural families and symbolized by the recognizable gang attire of Carhartt work coats and backward baseball caps .
Back to the present : To speak of violence done by black people without uttering so much as a word about the violence done to them is perverse .
And by violence , I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I mean the structural violence that flies under the radar of most white folks but which has created the broader conditions in black communities against which those who live there are now rebelling .
Let us remember , those places to which we refer as “ ghettos ” were created , and not by the people who live in them .
They were designed as holding pens — concentration camps were we to insist upon plain language — within which impoverished persons of color would be contained .
Generations of housing discrimination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decade of white riots against black people whenever they would move into white neighborhoods .
They were created by deindustrialization and the flight of good-paying manufacturing jobs overseas .
And all of that is violence too .
It is the kind of violence that the powerful , and only they , can manifest .
One needn ’ t throw a Molotov cocktail through a window when one can knock down the building using a bulldozer or crane operated with public money .
Zoning laws , redlining , predatory lending , stop-and-frisk : all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to understand that .
As I was saying , it is bad enough that we think it appropriate to admonish persons of color about violence or to say that it “ never works , ” especially when it does .
We are , after all , here , which serves as rather convincing proof that violence works quite well .
What is worse is our insistence that we bear no responsibility for the conditions that have caused the current crisis and that we need not even know about those conditions .
It brings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explain many years ago : White America has a long and storied tradition of not knowing , and I don ’ t mean this in the sense of genuinely blameless ignorance .
This ignorance is nothing if not cultivated by the larger workings of the culture .
We have come by this obliviousness honestly , but in a way for which we can not escape culpability .
It ’ s not as if the truth hasn ’ t been out there all along .
It was there in 1965 when most white Californians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ section of Los Angeles by insisting it was the fault of a “ lack of respect for law and order ” or the work of “ outside agitators.
” The truth was there , but invisible to most whites when we told pollsters in the mid-1960s — within mere months of the time that formal apartheid had been lifted with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — that the present situation of black Americans was mostly their own fault .
Only one in four thought white racism , past or present , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the culprit .
Even before the passage of civil rights laws in the 1960s , whites thought there was nothing wrong .
In 1962 , 85 percent of whites told Gallup that black children had just as good a chance as white children to get a good education .
By 1969 , a mere year after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. , 44 percent of whites told a Newsweek/Gallup survey that blacks had a better chance than they did to get a good-paying job .
In the same poll , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an equal or better opportunity for a good education than whites did .
Even in the 1850s , during a period when black bodies were enslaved on forced labor camps known as plantations by the moral equivalent of kidnappers , respected white voices saw no issue worth addressing .
According to Dr. Samuel Cartwright , a well-respected physician of the 19th century , enslavement was such a benign institution that any black person who tried to escape its loving embrace must be suffering from mental illness .
In this case , Cartwright called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that could be cured by keeping the enslaved in a “ child-like state , ” and by regularly employing “ mild whipping.
” In short , most white Americans are like that friend you have , who never went to medical school , but went to Google this morning and now feels confident he or she is qualified to diagnose your every pain .
As with your friend and the med school to which they never gained entry , most white folks never took classes on the history of racial domination and subordination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about it than those who did .
Indeed , we suspect we know more about the subject than those who , more than merely taking the class , actually lived the subject matter .
When white folks ask , “ Why are they so angry , and why do some among them loot ?
” we betray no real interest in knowing the answers to those questions .
Instead , we reveal our intellectual nakedness , our disdain for truth , our utterly ahistorical understanding of our society .
We query as if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us , it did not .
We needn ’ t know anything about the forces that have destroyed so many black lives , and long before anyone in Minneapolis decided to attack a liquor store or a police precinct .
For instance , University of Alabama History Professor Raymond Mohl has noted that by the early 1960s , nearly 40,000 housing units per year were being demolished in urban communities ( mostly of color ) to make way for interstate highways .
Another 40,000 were being knocked down annually as part of so-called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the creation of parking lots , office parks , and shopping centers in working-class and low-income residential spaces .
By the late 1960s , the annual toll would rise to nearly 70,000 houses or apartments destroyed every year for the interstate effort alone .
Three-fourths of persons displaced from their homes were black , and a disproportionate share of the rest were Latino .
Less than ten percent of persons displaced by urban renewal and interstate construction had new single-resident or family housing to go to afterward , as cities rarely built new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which had been destroyed .
Instead , displaced families had to rely on crowded apartments , double up with relatives , or move into run-down public housing projects .
In all , about one-fifth of African American housing in the nation was destroyed by the forces of so-called economic development .
And then , at the same time that black and brown housing was being destroyed , millions of white families were procuring government-guaranteed loans ( through the FHA and VA loan programs ) that were almost entirely off-limits to people of color @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it out to the suburbs where only we were allowed to go .
But we can know nothing about any of that and still be called educated .
We can live in the very houses obtained with those government-backed loans , denied to others based solely on race , or inherit the proceeds from their sale , and still believe ourselves unsullied and unimplicated in the pain of the nation ’ s black and brown communities .
As much of the country burns , literally or metaphorically , it is time to face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others to fight for their lives on our terms , and remember that it is their collective jugular vein being compressed .
It is their windpipe being crushed .
It is their sons and daughters being choked out and shot and beaten and profiled and harassed .
It is their liberty and freedom at stake .
But by all means , white people , please tell us all the one again about how having to wear the mask at Costco is tyranny .

The moralizing has begun.
Those who have rarely been the target of organized police gangsterism are once again lecturing those who have about how best to respond to it.
Be peaceful, they implore, as protesters rise up in Minneapolis and across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd. This, coming from the same people who melted down when Colin Kaepernick took a knee — a decidedly peaceful type of protest. Because apparently, when white folks say, “protest peacefully,” we mean “stop protesting.”
Everything is fine, nothing to see here.
It is telling that much of white America sees fit to lecture black people about the evils of violence, even as we enjoy the national bounty over which we claim possession solely as a result of the same. I beg to remind you, George Washington was not a practitioner of passive resistance. Neither the early colonists nor the nation’s founders fit within the Gandhian tradition. There were no sit-ins at King George’s palace, no horseback freedom rides to affect change. There were just guns, lots and lots of guns.
We are here because of blood, and mostly that of others. We are here because of our insatiable desire to take by force the land and labor of others. We are the last people on Earth with a right to ruminate upon the superior morality of peaceful protest. We have never believed in it and rarely practiced it. Instead, we have always taken what we desire, and when denied it, we have turned to means utterly genocidal to make it so.
Even in the modern era, the notion that we believe in non-violence or have some well-nurtured opposition to rioting is belied by the evidence. Indeed, white folks riot for far less legitimate reasons than those for which African Americans might decide to hoist a brick, a rock, or a bottle.
We have done so in the wake of Final Four games, or because of something called Pumpkin Festival in Keene, New Hampshire. We did it because of $10 veggie burritos at Woodstock ’99, and because there weren’t enough Porta-Potties after the Limp Bizkit set.
We did it when we couldn’t get enough beer at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, and because Penn State fired Joe Paterno.
We did it because what else do a bunch of Huntington Beach surfers have to do? We did it because a “kegs and eggs” riot sounds like a perfectly legitimate way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Albany.
Far from amateur hooliganism, our riots are violent affairs that have been known to endanger the safety and lives of police, as with the infamous 1998 riot at Washington State University. According to a report at the time:
The crowd then attacked the officers from all sides for two hours with rocks, beer bottles, signposts, chairs, and pieces of concrete, allegedly cheering whenever an officer was struck and injured. Twenty-three officers were injured, some suffering concussions and broken bones.
Twenty-two years later, we wait for academics to ruminate about the pathologies of these whites in Pullman, whose culture of dysfunction was taught to them by their rural families and symbolized by the recognizable gang attire of Carhartt work coats and backward baseball caps.
Back to the present: To speak of violence done by black people without uttering so much as a word about the violence done to them is perverse. And by violence, I don’t mean merely that of police brutality. I mean the structural violence that flies under the radar of most white folks but which has created the broader conditions in black communities against which those who live there are now rebelling.
Let us remember, those places to which we refer as “ghettos” were created, and not by the people who live in them. They were designed as holding pens — concentration camps were we to insist upon plain language — within which impoverished persons of color would be contained. Generations of housing discrimination created them, as did decade after decade of white riots against black people whenever they would move into white neighborhoods. They were created by deindustrialization and the flight of good-paying manufacturing jobs overseas.
And all of that is violence too. It is the kind of violence that the powerful, and only they, can manifest. One needn’t throw a Molotov cocktail through a window when one can knock down the building using a bulldozer or crane operated with public money. Zoning laws, redlining, predatory lending, stop-and-frisk: all are violence, however much we fail to understand that.
As I was saying, it is bad enough that we think it appropriate to admonish persons of color about violence or to say that it “never works,” especially when it does. We are, after all, here, which serves as rather convincing proof that violence works quite well. What is worse is our insistence that we bear no responsibility for the conditions that have caused the current crisis and that we need not even know about those conditions. It brings to mind something James Baldwin tried to explain many years ago:
…this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it…but it is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime.
White America has a long and storied tradition of not knowing, and I don’t mean this in the sense of genuinely blameless ignorance. This ignorance is nothing if not cultivated by the larger workings of the culture. We have come by this obliviousness honestly, but in a way for which we cannot escape culpability. It’s not as if the truth hasn’t been out there all along.
It was there in 1965 when most white Californians responded to the rebellion in the Watts section of Los Angeles by insisting it was the fault of a “lack of respect for law and order” or the work of “outside agitators.”
The truth was there, but invisible to most whites when we told pollsters in the mid-1960s — within mere months of the time that formal apartheid had been lifted with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — that the present situation of black Americans was mostly their own fault. Only one in four thought white racism, past or present, or some combination of the two, might be the culprit.
Even before the passage of civil rights laws in the 1960s, whites thought there was nothing wrong. In 1962, 85 percent of whites told Gallup that black children had just as good a chance as white children to get a good education. By 1969, a mere year after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., 44 percent of whites told a Newsweek/Gallup survey that blacks had a better chance than they did to get a good-paying job. In the same poll, eighty percent of whites said blacks had an equal or better opportunity for a good education than whites did.
Even in the 1850s, during a period when black bodies were enslaved on forced labor camps known as plantations by the moral equivalent of kidnappers, respected white voices saw no issue worth addressing.
According to Dr. Samuel Cartwright, a well-respected physician of the 19th century, enslavement was such a benign institution that any black person who tried to escape its loving embrace must be suffering from mental illness. In this case, Cartwright called it “Drapetomania,” a malady that could be cured by keeping the enslaved in a “child-like state,” and by regularly employing “mild whipping.”
In short, most white Americans are like that friend you have, who never went to medical school, but went to Google this morning and now feels confident he or she is qualified to diagnose your every pain. As with your friend and the med school to which they never gained entry, most white folks never took classes on the history of racial domination and subordination, but are sure we know more about it than those who did. Indeed, we suspect we know more about the subject than those who, more than merely taking the class, actually lived the subject matter.
When white folks ask, “Why are they so angry, and why do some among them loot?” we betray no real interest in knowing the answers to those questions. Instead, we reveal our intellectual nakedness, our disdain for truth, our utterly ahistorical understanding of our society. We query as if history did not happen because, for us, it did not. We needn’t know anything about the forces that have destroyed so many black lives, and long before anyone in Minneapolis decided to attack a liquor store or a police precinct.
For instance, University of Alabama History Professor Raymond Mohl has noted that by the early 1960s, nearly 40,000 housing units per year were being demolished in urban communities (mostly of color) to make way for interstate highways. Another 40,000 were being knocked down annually as part of so-called urban “renewal,” which facilitated the creation of parking lots, office parks, and shopping centers in working-class and low-income residential spaces. By the late 1960s, the annual toll would rise to nearly 70,000 houses or apartments destroyed every year for the interstate effort alone.
Three-fourths of persons displaced from their homes were black, and a disproportionate share of the rest were Latino. Less than ten percent of persons displaced by urban renewal and interstate construction had new single-resident or family housing to go to afterward, as cities rarely built new housing to take the place of that which had been destroyed. Instead, displaced families had to rely on crowded apartments, double up with relatives, or move into run-down public housing projects. In all, about one-fifth of African American housing in the nation was destroyed by the forces of so-called economic development.
And then, at the same time that black and brown housing was being destroyed, millions of white families were procuring government-guaranteed loans (through the FHA and VA loan programs) that were almost entirely off-limits to people of color, and which allowed us to hustle it out to the suburbs where only we were allowed to go. But we can know nothing about any of that and still be called educated. We can live in the very houses obtained with those government-backed loans, denied to others based solely on race, or inherit the proceeds from their sale, and still believe ourselves unsullied and unimplicated in the pain of the nation’s black and brown communities.
As much of the country burns, literally or metaphorically, it is time to face our history. Time to stop asking others to fight for their lives on our terms, and remember that it is their collective jugular vein being compressed. It is their windpipe being crushed. It is their sons and daughters being choked out and shot and beaten and profiled and harassed.
It is their liberty and freedom at stake.
But by all means, white people, please tell us all the one again about how having to wear the mask at Costco is tyranny.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-06-01--Begun The Civil Wars Of 2020 Have

Begun The Civil Wars Of 2020 Have

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DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY `` B '' This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama wo days ago a policeman in Minnesota , who was well known for his brutality , murdered a black man , George Floyd , by suffocating him during an arrest for allegedly paying with a fake $ 20 bill .
( video longer version ) It was one of many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in its provocateurs .
One of allegedly six was a white man in black clothes , masked with a professional gas mask and carrying a black umbrella .
He was filmed as he started to smash shop windows even while protesters told him not do do that .
( video ) .
When people got suspicious of him the man walked away , his umbrella still up .
( video ) .
He was later identified as a member of the St. Paul police department .
Into the night the protests grew and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started to communalize the goods offered at a local Target market known for its extensive surveillance .
Later the local McDonald 's restaurant was also liberated by fire .
The regime gave up .
Police fled from the 3rd Precinct in a large convoy ( video , video ) .
Soon after that the precinct was set on fire .
( video ) These are not race riots .
Many of the protesters are young people of white color .
( video , video ) Throughout the night more buildings were set on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his national guard to intervene .
The president threatened to kill the unarmed protesters : Twitter marked the president 's tweet as 'glorifying violence ' but did not remove it .
Early this morning Minnesota State Police had come back to the scene .
It arrested a dark skinned CNN reporter in front of the running camera ( vid ) .
The reporter had asked the police where they wanted his crew to setup .
He did not get a response .
No reason for his arrest was given .
Another CNN reporter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was also approached by police but was permitted to stay : CNN 's Josh Campell , who also was in the area but not standing with the on-air crew , said he , too , was approached by police , but was allowed to remain .
`` I identified myself ... they said , 'OK , you 're permitted to be in the area , ' '' recounted Campbell , who is white .
`` I was treated much differently than ( Jimenez ) was . ''
After CNN called on the governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Here he explained what happened .
The police did not apologize to him .
The British government protested against the arrest of the journalists .
There are now public calls for further protests in many more cities .
Those are likely to escalate .
Calls for President Xi of China to provide the American rebels with the means to defend themselves against the regime have not yet been answered .
Posted by b on May 29 , 2020 at 12:14 UTC | Permalink '' b '' is Moon of Alabama 's founding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ site 's purpose is to discuss politics , economics , philosophy and blogger Billmon 's Whiskey Bar writings .
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent , open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community .
Bernhard ) '' b '' ) started and still runs the site .
Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators .
You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA @ aol.com .
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS

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DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
T
Millions of people have seen the video of George Floyd struggling to breathe while pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis Police Officer. But what happened in the minutes leading up to the deadly arrest?@_esaliba got security footage to help piece together what happened. pic.twitter.com/fyy54lQZNU — NBC News NOW (@NBCNewsNow) May 28, 2020
wo days ago a policeman in Minnesota, who was well known for his brutality , murdered a black man, George Floyd, by suffocating him during an arrest for allegedly paying with a fake $20 bill. ( video longer version ) It was one of many such murders
Spontaneous peaceful protests against the regime ensued.
Yesterday afternoon the regime sent in its provocateurs. One of allegedly six was a white man in black clothes, masked with a professional gas mask and carrying a black umbrella. He was filmed as he started to smash shop windows even while protesters told him not do do that. (video). When people got suspicious of him the man walked away, his umbrella still up. (video). He was later identified as a member of the St. Paul police department.
Into the night the protests grew and took on a socialist tone when people started to communalize the goods offered at a local Target market known for its extensive surveillance. Later the local McDonald's restaurant was also liberated by fire.
The regime gave up. Police fled from the 3rd Precinct in a large convoy (video, video). Soon after that the precinct was set on fire. (video)
These are not race riots. Many of the protesters are young people of white color. (video, video)
Throughout the night more buildings were set on fire.
The local regime governor order his national guard to intervene.
The president threatened to kill the unarmed protesters:
...These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
Trump's wordplay had an historically racist undertone:
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” is a threat coined by Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who promised violent reprisals on black protesters in 1967. He also said: “We don’t mind being accused of police brutality. They haven’t seen anything yet.”
Twitter marked the president's tweet as 'glorifying violence' but did not remove it.
Early this morning Minnesota State Police had come back to the scene. It arrested a dark skinned CNN reporter in front of the running camera (vid). The reporter had asked the police where they wanted his crew to setup. He did not get a response. No reason for his arrest was given. Another CNN reporter, this one of white color, was also approached by police but was permitted to stay:
CNN's Josh Campell, who also was in the area but not standing with the on-air crew, said he, too, was approached by police, but was allowed to remain. "I identified myself ... they said, 'OK, you're permitted to be in the area,'" recounted Campbell, who is white. "I was treated much differently than (Jimenez) was." Jimenez is black and Latino.
After CNN called on the governor the reporter and his crew were released. Here he explained what happened. The police did not apologize to him.
The British government protested against the arrest of the journalists.
There are now public calls for further protests in many more cities. Those are likely to escalate.
Calls for President Xi of China to provide the American rebels with the means to defend themselves against the regime have not yet been answered.
Posted by b on May 29, 2020 at 12:14 UTC | Permalink
NOTE ^1000Careerist lackeys serving the elites control the American press. Ever pushing for war and inequality, covering up the oligarchy's crimes... They are in reality shameless disinformers. No wonder the world is in such terrible disarray.
About the author(s) "b" is Moon of Alabama's founding (and chief) editor. This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings. Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community. Bernhard )"b") started and still runs the site. Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators. You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA@aol.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-06-01--Racist Killing and Impunity

Racist Killing and Impunity

A social culture where perception of others is not conditioned by skin tone is obtainable .
In the process of getting there , a system of law with no impunity for racism and with exemplary punishment for agents of the state in contravention is essential .
A social culture where perception of others is not conditioned by skin tone is obtainable .
In the process of getting there , a system of law with no impunity for racism and with exemplary punishment for agents of the state in contravention is essential .
court will judge whether there was intent to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was certainly no intent by the police to preserve his life or health .
It is also plain that the force used was wildly disproportionate for the alleged offence .
It is further undeniable that police violence in the USA impacts particularly on black people , and that in dealing with black people the police act with an arrogance founded on anticipated impunity .
The societal change whereby the majority of adults have camera phones at the ready has given a new power of resistance to the public in this regard .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The law currently takes the opposite approach : Police who kill in the course of their duties are given every latitude by the courts and far lower sentences than others who kill .
That attitude needs to reverse .
Police need to understand that their duty to protect and deal fairly embraces both the alleged victim and the alleged criminal .
Breach of this public duty to protect should be an aggravating factor when the police kill , and sentences should be stiffer than for the general public .
There are moments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come down off the fence and decide which side you are on ; I am on the side of Black Lives Matter .
Here are two murdered men who have even less chance of receiving justice than George Floyd .
There is a stark contrast between the justified international outrage at Floyd ’ s death , and the unremarked killing of just a couple more Palestinians .
I recommend this twitter thread by the ever excellent Ben White , and the links it gives .
Ben does not mention that Iyad , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to classes for those with special needs when he was chased and gunned down by Israeli soldiers .
This may surprise you .
The police in the USA have less impunity for killings than the police in the UK .
Even as straightforward a case as the murder of Jean Charles De Menezes , who did nothing wrong whatsoever , brought no action against the police in the UK .
The killing of Sheku Bayoh in Fife had obvious parallels with that of George Floyd , yet nobody was charged .
457 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , from all causes .
From 2005-2015 10 % of 294 deaths were “ restraint related ” .
That is 30 people in the UK in ten years who have died at the hands of police in much the same way George Floyd died .
That figure excludes those shot by the police .
Not one British policeman has been convicted of an unlawful killing in all these deaths .
– not one .
The last British policeman convicted was in 1969 .
That is what I call real impunity .
And that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even by private contractors in the UK responsible for the many deaths in the prison system and in immigration detention .
Impunity is a major problem all round the world , and everywhere it enables disproportionate use of state violence against minorities .
But it is most sinister in a state like the United Kingdom , where the support of the prosecutorial and judicial institutions of the state for those who enforce the state ’ s monopoly of violence is absolute , and where the public are so conditioned to the power of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the impunity .
The United Kingdom is full of people , right now , looking at the images of unrest from the USA and telling each other that the way the police kill black people in the USA is terrible .
We do not process that in the UK law enforcement officers enjoy still greater impunity than in the USA .

A social culture where perception of others is not conditioned by skin tone is obtainable. In the process of getting there, a system of law with no impunity for racism and with exemplary punishment for agents of the state in contravention is essential.
A social culture where perception of others is not conditioned by skin tone is obtainable. In the process of getting there, a system of law with no impunity for racism and with exemplary punishment for agents of the state in contravention is essential.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] court will judge whether there was intent to kill; what is absolutely apparent is there was certainly no intent by the police to preserve his life or health. It is also plain that the force used was wildly disproportionate for the alleged offence. It is further undeniable that police violence in the USA impacts particularly on black people, and that in dealing with black people the police act with an arrogance founded on anticipated impunity. The societal change whereby the majority of adults have camera phones at the ready has given a new power of resistance to the public in this regard. That must be reinforced by exemplary sentencing.
The law currently takes the opposite approach:
If a police officer unlawfully harms a citizen, the officer is subject to assault or homicide charges—no different than if the officer committed these crimes off duty. [2] However, if a citizen unlawfully harms a police officer, the citizen is automatically subject to aggravated assault or aggravated homicide charges, which carry more severe punishment. [3] In fact, some states make the intentional killing of an on-duty officer a capital offense. [4] Enhanced charges in police encounters are thus asymmetrical. They only apply if a citizen harms an officer but not if an officer harms a citizen.
Police who kill in the course of their duties are given every latitude by the courts and far lower sentences than others who kill. That attitude needs to reverse. Police need to understand that their duty to protect and deal fairly embraces both the alleged victim and the alleged criminal. Breach of this public duty to protect should be an aggravating factor when the police kill, and sentences should be stiffer than for the general public. There are moments in public discourse where you need to come down off the fence and decide which side you are on; I am on the side of Black Lives Matter.
Here are two murdered men who have even less chance of receiving justice than George Floyd.
There is a stark contrast between the justified international outrage at Floyd’s death, and the unremarked killing of just a couple more Palestinians. I recommend this twitter thread by the ever excellent Ben White, and the links it gives. Ben does not mention that Iyad, on the left, was on his way to classes for those with special needs when he was chased and gunned down by Israeli soldiers.
This may surprise you. The police in the USA have less impunity for killings than the police in the UK.
Even as straightforward a case as the murder of Jean Charles De Menezes, who did nothing wrong whatsoever, brought no action against the police in the UK. The killing of Sheku Bayoh in Fife had obvious parallels with that of George Floyd, yet nobody was charged. 457 people have died in police custody since 1998, from all causes. From 2005-2015 10% of 294 deaths were “restraint related”. That is 30 people in the UK in ten years who have died at the hands of police in much the same way George Floyd died. That figure excludes those shot by the police.
Not one British policeman has been convicted of an unlawful killing in all these deaths. – not one. The last British policeman convicted was in 1969. That is what I call real impunity.
Source
And that is without examining the similar impunity enjoyed even by private contractors in the UK responsible for the many deaths in the prison system and in immigration detention.
Impunity is a major problem all round the world, and everywhere it enables disproportionate use of state violence against minorities. But it is most sinister in a state like the United Kingdom, where the support of the prosecutorial and judicial institutions of the state for those who enforce the state’s monopoly of violence is absolute, and where the public are so conditioned to the power of the state they do not even notice the impunity.
The United Kingdom is full of people, right now, looking at the images of unrest from the USA and telling each other that the way the police kill black people in the USA is terrible. We do not process that in the UK law enforcement officers enjoy still greater impunity than in the USA.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-06-01--Colombian Political Figures, Activists Reject US Troops’ Arrival

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he U.S. military `` can not enter Colombian territory above Congress ' to advise the fight against drug trafficking , '' Senator for the Patriotic Union party Aida Avella said .
Political figures in Colombia along with activists continue to reject and condemn the arrival Monday of U.S. Army 's 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade ( SFAB ) in the South American nation , for allegedly helping in the fight against drug trafficking .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ if 800 U.S. soldiers are coming for counternarcotics operations in the region , they should “ start with the case of drug trafficker Ñeñe Hernandez , who financed a presidential campaign . ''
For his part , former President Ernesto Samper warned that allowing foreign troops into the country without the Senate ’ s authorization could lead to disciplinary and criminal proceedings against President Ivan Duque and his Defense Ministry , for `` ignoring jurisprudence of the Constitutional and the State Council . ''
Likewise , Samper said the country ’ s Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to legally permit the permanence of foreign troops on national soil .
The former president , who currently serves as the Union of South American Nations ( UNASUR ) Secretary-General , also shared a message from the Colombian organization for peace “ Vivamos Humanos ” ( Let 's Live Human ) which also rejects the entry of U.S. troops into the country .
The organization stressed the need to submit this matter to Congress for consideration , because `` the troops do not come in transit but rather to settle in conflict zones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Patriotic Union party , Aida Avella urged the president of Congress , Lidio Garcia , to convene a session as soon as possible to discuss the matter .
The U.S. military “ can not enter Colombian territory above Congress ' to advise the fight against drug trafficking , ” she wrote on Twitter , recalling that alleged support from the U.S. military always leave countries looted .
“ We reject the use of the country for wars and invasions to other countries , ” Avella also said as some think the troops are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of threat to neighboring Venezuela .
Recently , Colombia has served as a base of operations for a foiled invasion , kidnapping and assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by mercenaries .
The botched operation was officially contracted by Venezuelan lawmaker and opponent Juan Guaido who is supported by Washington .
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License Do people get the government they deserve ?
• remember : ALL CAPTIONS , IMAGES , PULL QUOTES AND ANNOTATIONS BY THE EDITORS , NOT THE AUTHOR—

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A TeleSur dispatch The US has injected its military into many nations in Latin America under cover of fighting drug cartels, or "defending democracy". The real target has always been leftist guerrillas fighting to overthrow criminal regimes...
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he U.S. military "cannot enter Colombian territory above Congress' to advise the fight against drug trafficking," Senator for the Patriotic Union party Aida Avella said.
Political figures in Colombia along with activists continue to reject and condemn the arrival Monday of U.S. Army's 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) in the South American nation, for allegedly helping in the fight against drug trafficking.
Former Senator Piedad Cordoba ironically tweeted that if 800 U.S. soldiers are coming for counternarcotics operations in the region, they should “start with the case of drug trafficker Ñeñe Hernandez, who financed a presidential campaign."
For his part, former President Ernesto Samper warned that allowing foreign troops into the country without the Senate’s authorization could lead to disciplinary and criminal proceedings against President Ivan Duque and his Defense Ministry, for "ignoring jurisprudence of the Constitutional and the State Council."
Likewise, Samper said the country’s Congress is the only authority with the power to legally permit the permanence of foreign troops on national soil.
The former president, who currently serves as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Secretary-General, also shared a message from the Colombian organization for peace “Vivamos Humanos” (Let's Live Human) which also rejects the entry of U.S. troops into the country.
The organization stressed the need to submit this matter to Congress for consideration, because "the troops do not come in transit but rather to settle in conflict zones."
Similarly, senator for the Patriotic Union party, Aida Avella urged the president of Congress, Lidio Garcia, to convene a session as soon as possible to discuss the matter.
The U.S. military “cannot enter Colombian territory above Congress' to advise the fight against drug trafficking,” she wrote on Twitter, recalling that alleged support from the U.S. military always leave countries looted.
“We reject the use of the country for wars and invasions to other countries,” Avella also said as some think the troops are in fact being deployed as a message of threat to neighboring Venezuela.
Recently, Colombia has served as a base of operations for a foiled invasion, kidnapping and assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by mercenaries. The botched operation was officially contracted by Venezuelan lawmaker and opponent Juan Guaido who is supported by Washington.
Addendum Recruiting ad for the SFAB: Probably 100% of the guys who sign up understand nothing about the true purposes of this unit.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Do people get the government they deserve?
This bloodsoaked monster is probably the most evil person on planet earth https://t.co/nGq2H1EPHt — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 9, 2020
• remember: ALL CAPTIONS, IMAGES, PULL QUOTES AND ANNOTATIONS BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHOR—


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-06-01--Fires Rage in Canada as Professor Attacks the Myth of Holodomor

niversity of Alberta Assistant Professor raised hell on November 20 by writing in a personal Facebook post that the 1932-33 genocide of Ukrainians referred to as Holodomor ( Ukrainian for `` death by hunger '' ) never happened but was rather a “ myth fabricated by Hitlerites ” .
If such remarks were made in most nations today , it wouldn ’ t be such a big deal ( as only 16 nations have chosen to recognize this event as an act of genocide rather than the tragic act of nature which MacDonald and countless eminent scholars maintain . )
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” , but has rather had the misfortune of hosting some of the most virulent groups of rabid ultra-right wing Ukrainian fascists who were transplanted into the Prairies by Anglo-American intelligence networks in the wake of WWII .
Today , many of these 2nd and 3rd generation Banderites control powerful institutions like the Ukrainian Congress of Canada ( UCC ) and have bred such confused and dangerous fascists as Canada ’ s own Deputy Prime Minister ( and leading Rhodes Scholar ) Chrystia Freeland .
Acting from the epicenter of this fascist nexus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decided that “ enough is enough ” writing on the topic of the famine which Ukrainian fascists have mis-labelled a “ genocide targeting Ukrainian nationalism ” .
In his controversial facebook post , MacDonald wrote that “ it was the Hitlerite Nazis who created the famine myth in 1933 to discredit the Soviet Union , the enemy they most feared .
The Nazis wrote front page stories in German newspapers , which were then taken up by the reactionary British press.
” Within his very useful writings , there is something vital which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The British Hand Behind Holodomor ( and Nazism ) For those who are not aware , the two figures most responsible for the “ on the ground evidence ” of Holodomor were two journalists named Gareth Jones and Malcolm Muggeridge .
By looking at these two figures , we should not be surprised to find ourselves bumping into the highest echelons of a British think tank named the Round Table , which acted as the guiding hand behind the rise of Nazism .
Both Jones and Muggeridge were deployed to Ukraine for several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ controlled famine were the primary kindling for the anti-Russian fires which fueled the rise of Nazism which British Imperialists then hoped would lead to a German-Russian war of annihilation .
Jones ’ entry into the Round Table ’ s sphere of influence occurred early in his years at Trinity College Cambridge when he led the Cambridge League of Nations Union promoting an end to nation states under supranational government .
The League of Nations was the brainchild of the Lloyd George government which was installed through a coup run by the Milner Round @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s government in 1916 in order to steer the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in the hopes of designing the post-war world .
Lloyd George ’ s entire cabinet was staffed with Round Table leaders from Lord Milner ’ s Kindergarten such as Leo Amery , Lionel Curtis , Lord Lothian and F.S .
Oliver .
It was also at that Paris venue , that the group created the Royal Institute for International Affairs ( RIIA ) with an American branch staffed with Rhodes Scholars set up in 1921 named the Council on Foreign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important to keep in mind that the CFR which so disfigured 20th century history was never American , but always followed the mandate set out in 1877 by Cecil Rhodes : After American nationalist resistance proved fatal for the post-WWI global governance agenda , plans for a new war between fascism and communism was put into motion .
While fascist governments were installed in Spain , Italy and Germany as “ solutions ” to the financial woes of the 1920s ( and as fascist coups were planned in the USA , Canada , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was recruited to become Lloyd George ’ s private secretary on January 1 , 1930 .
In 1931 , Jones ’ training as a perception manager for the empire took him to New York where he served as personal assistant to the infamous Ivy Lee .
Ivy Lee was a founding member of the Council on Foreign Relations and worked with Edward Bernays as the head of public relations for the Rockefeller Family , IG Farben and Westinghouse , Charles Lindberg and other fascists who had supported Hitler throughout the war and arranged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was exposed by General Smedley Butler .
Upon returning to his old post under Lloyd George in England , Jones became the first journalist to fly with Hitler and Goebbels upon the Fuhrer ’ s overthrow of Gen. von Schleicher in January 1933 .
After this , Jones was deployed to Russia , slipping covertly into Ukraine in March 1933 alongside another British Agent named Malcolm Muggeridge .
Muggeridge was the son of Fabian Society founder Henry Muggeridge and married the niece of Fabian leader Beatrice Webb .
My recent paper What is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was it Created features a fuller picture of the dual role played by the Round Table/Rhodes Scholar networks of Oxford and the Fabian Society networks of the London School of Economics in jointly infiltrating all aspects of modern society with the single objective of undoing the American revolution and earlier 15th century golden renaissance .
Together , Jones and Muggeridge ’ s “ on-the-ground ” reports were published in the Manchester Guardian , Nazi press , and William Randolph Hearst press machine .
When Hearst began publicizing Holodomor , he had already become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ in September 1934 , multi-millionaire William Randolph Hearst , the leading U.S. publisher of the ‘ yellow press ’ and an open supporter of Nazism , met with Hitler and Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in Berlin and signed a cash deal to promote a positive image of the Nazis in the U.S .
The Hearst papers soon carried columns paid for by Hitler , Goering and Mussolini.
” Gareth Jones ’ life was cut short in China in 1935 for reasons we may never know .
What we do know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a monster which an allied victory in 1945 was not able to destroy .
This monster has grown throughout the post WWII years to reach incredible heights of power in Ukraine , the USA and Canada which brings us back to our current story .
In his controversial remarks professor MacDonald asked how could such a myth continue to be perpetuated for 70 years after the defeat of fascism to the extent that Canada has passed bills which recognize Holodomor memorial days ?
Here , the professor noted the Anglo-American operation to transplant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Of course the Ukrainian Student Association has demanded the Professor be fired saying in an open letter “ we call upon the University of Alberta to immediately reprimand and terminate Dougal MacDonald for anti-Ukrainian hate speech and denial of Holodomor ” .
The UCC has organized vast pressure on the University to bend the knee resulting in public denunciations of MacDonald ’ s assertions by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney who condemned “ western , supposedly-progressive voices who were complicit in one of history ’ s great cover ups ” .
Meanwhile the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s claims .
Yet , in spite of this pressure , 46 University of Alberta teachers have rallied support for Professor MacDonald signing a letter endorsing his right to free expression .
Meanwhile the University itself appears to fear the public relations disaster which an expulsion could cause ( and perhaps there is a fear that additional scandal would only put a spotlight on the myth of Holodomor which may cause more people to discover the ugly truth of Canada ’ s Nazi problem ) .
The author can be reached at @ @ @

[dropcap]U[/dropcap]niversity of Alberta Assistant Professor raised hell on November 20 by writing in a personal Facebook post that the 1932-33 genocide of Ukrainians referred to as Holodomor (Ukrainian for "death by hunger") never happened but was rather a “myth fabricated by Hitlerites”.
If such remarks were made in most nations today, it wouldn’t be such a big deal (as only 16 nations have chosen to recognize this event as an act of genocide rather than the tragic act of nature which MacDonald and countless eminent scholars maintain.)
Canada is not however “most nations”, but has rather had the misfortune of hosting some of the most virulent groups of rabid ultra-right wing Ukrainian fascists who were transplanted into the Prairies by Anglo-American intelligence networks in the wake of WWII. Today, many of these 2nd and 3rd generation Banderites control powerful institutions like the Ukrainian Congress of Canada (UCC) and have bred such confused and dangerous fascists as Canada’s own Deputy Prime Minister (and leading Rhodes Scholar) Chrystia Freeland.
Acting from the epicenter of this fascist nexus in Alberta, Professor MacDonald has courageously decided that “enough is enough” writing on the topic of the famine which Ukrainian fascists have mis-labelled a “genocide targeting Ukrainian nationalism”. In his controversial facebook post, MacDonald wrote that “it was the Hitlerite Nazis who created the famine myth in 1933 to discredit the Soviet Union, the enemy they most feared. The Nazis wrote front page stories in German newspapers, which were then taken up by the reactionary British press.”
Within his very useful writings, there is something vital which Professor MacDonald fails to bring up.
The British Hand Behind Holodomor (and Nazism)
For those who are not aware, the two figures most responsible for the “on the ground evidence” of Holodomor were two journalists named Gareth Jones and Malcolm Muggeridge. By looking at these two figures, we should not be surprised to find ourselves bumping into the highest echelons of a British think tank named the Round Table, which acted as the guiding hand behind the rise of Nazism.
Both Jones and Muggeridge were deployed to Ukraine for several weeks in 1933 and their reports of controlled famine were the primary kindling for the anti-Russian fires which fueled the rise of Nazism which British Imperialists then hoped would lead to a German-Russian war of annihilation.
Jones’ entry into the Round Table’s sphere of influence occurred early in his years at Trinity College Cambridge when he led the Cambridge League of Nations Union promoting an end to nation states under supranational government. The League of Nations was the brainchild of the Lloyd George government which was installed through a coup run by the Milner Round Table group which overthrew Herbert Asquith’s government in 1916 in order to steer the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in the hopes of designing the post-war world. Lloyd George’s entire cabinet was staffed with Round Table leaders from Lord Milner’s Kindergarten such as Leo Amery, Lionel Curtis, Lord Lothian and F.S. Oliver. It was also at that Paris venue, that the group created the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA) with an American branch staffed with Rhodes Scholars set up in 1921 named the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
It is important to keep in mind that the CFR which so disfigured 20th century history was never American, but always followed the mandate set out in 1877 by Cecil Rhodes:
“Why should we not form a secret society with but one object the furtherance of the British Empire and the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule for the recovery of the United States for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire…”
After American nationalist resistance proved fatal for the post-WWI global governance agenda, plans for a new war between fascism and communism was put into motion. While fascist governments were installed in Spain, Italy and Germany as “solutions” to the financial woes of the 1920s (and as fascist coups were planned in the USA, Canada, UK and France), Gareth Jones was recruited to become Lloyd George’s private secretary on January 1, 1930.
In 1931, Jones’ training as a perception manager for the empire took him to New York where he served as personal assistant to the infamous Ivy Lee. Ivy Lee was a founding member of the Council on Foreign Relations and worked with Edward Bernays as the head of public relations for the Rockefeller Family, IG Farben and Westinghouse, Charles Lindberg and other fascists who had supported Hitler throughout the war and arranged the failed 1934 coup in America which was exposed by General Smedley Butler.
Upon returning to his old post under Lloyd George in England, Jones became the first journalist to fly with Hitler and Goebbels upon the Fuhrer’s overthrow of Gen. von Schleicher in January 1933. After this, Jones was deployed to Russia, slipping covertly into Ukraine in March 1933 alongside another British Agent named Malcolm Muggeridge. Muggeridge was the son of Fabian Society founder Henry Muggeridge and married the niece of Fabian leader Beatrice Webb. My recent paper What is the Fabian Society and To What End was it Created features a fuller picture of the dual role played by the Round Table/Rhodes Scholar networks of Oxford and the Fabian Society networks of the London School of Economics in jointly infiltrating all aspects of modern society with the single objective of undoing the American revolution and earlier 15th century golden renaissance.
Indecency pays: the success of William Randolph Hearst (l) and British toady Malcolm Muggeridge
Together, Jones and Muggeridge’s “on-the-ground” reports were published in the Manchester Guardian, Nazi press, and William Randolph Hearst press machine. When Hearst began publicizing Holodomor, he had already become a devout Hitlerite. Professor MacDonald notes that “in September 1934, multi-millionaire William Randolph Hearst, the leading U.S. publisher of the ‘yellow press’ and an open supporter of Nazism, met with Hitler and Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in Berlin and signed a cash deal to promote a positive image of the Nazis in the U.S. The Hearst papers soon carried columns paid for by Hitler, Goering and Mussolini.”
Gareth Jones’ life was cut short in China in 1935 for reasons we may never know.
A Return to Professor MacDonald’s Battle
What we do know is that his anti-Soviet propaganda has fed a monster which an allied victory in 1945 was not able to destroy. This monster has grown throughout the post WWII years to reach incredible heights of power in Ukraine, the USA and Canada which brings us back to our current story.
In his controversial remarks professor MacDonald asked how could such a myth continue to be perpetuated for 70 years after the defeat of fascism to the extent that Canada has passed bills which recognize Holodomor memorial days? Here, the professor noted the Anglo-American operation to transplant leading SS war criminals into Canada saying:
“In Canada, former Nazi collaborators and their spawn have long led the phony Holodomor campaign. After the Second World War, Canada became a haven for Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis and killed their own citizens to serve Nazi aims. Once in Canada and with the help of the Canadian state, these war criminals built reactionary domestic organizations (e.g. the UCC) which persist to this day. These organizations displaced already-established progressive Ukrainian organizations. Some collaborators achieved high positions, for example, Waffen SS member Petro Savaryn served as VP of the national PC Party and was Chancellor of the University of Alberta for four years.”
Of course the Ukrainian Student Association has demanded the Professor be fired saying in an open letter “we call upon the University of Alberta to immediately reprimand and terminate Dougal MacDonald for anti-Ukrainian hate speech and denial of Holodomor”. The UCC has organized vast pressure on the University to bend the knee resulting in public denunciations of MacDonald’s assertions by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney who condemned “western, supposedly-progressive voices who were complicit in one of history’s great cover ups”. Meanwhile the University’s dean has denounced MacDonald’s claims.
Yet, in spite of this pressure, 46 University of Alberta teachers have rallied support for Professor MacDonald signing a letter endorsing his right to free expression. Meanwhile the University itself appears to fear the public relations disaster which an expulsion could cause (and perhaps there is a fear that additional scandal would only put a spotlight on the myth of Holodomor which may cause more people to discover the ugly truth of Canada’s Nazi problem).


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-06-01--Nationwide Uprisings Against Failed States Triggered by Police Killings

Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report puts the mass revolt in the context of the long history of white supremacy that has existed since Africans were brought to the United States .
Chattel slavery was enforced by the earliest form of policing , with the first formal slave patrol created in the Carolina colonies in 1704 .
After the Civil War and a brief period of Reconstruction where African people could participate in civic life , Jim Crow followed with white racists , often allied with Southern police , inflicting terrorism against the Black population through lynchings and other means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like vagrancy and then punished by being forced to work picking cotton or other jobs .
This new form of slavery continues as inmates are forced to work for virtually no pay in prisons , are leased out to dangerous jobs like meat processing , or are used as scabs .
George Floyd ’ s murder enraged people who have seen too many deaths as a result of police violence .
The murder in broad daylight with cameras filming and scores of witnesses showed the impunity of police who are used to not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ During the uprising , police have used extreme violence and targeted people with cameras and the media even saying they were the problem .
The root of the problem is a failed state that does not represent the people and has a deep history of racism and inequality that are being magnified by the current crises .
The failure to respond to these crises is resulting in an ungovernable country as the social contract has been broken .
Lawlessness among the wealth class , corruption of politicians by campaigns financed by the wealthiest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has set the stage for no respect for the law .
As one protester exclaimed , “ Don ’ t talk to us about looting , you are the looters .
You have been looting from black people .
You looted from the Native Americans .
Don ’ t talk to us about violence , you taught us violence.
” The Failed State Can not Reform Itself George Floyd ’ s final words , “ I can ’ t breathe , ” echoed the same words of Eric Garner , who was killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police officer .
Although there were protests then , not much has changed .
The system failed to respond .
Failure starts at the top .
There have been years of inaction at all levels of government .
The New York Times reports “ The administration has largely dismantled police oversight efforts , curbing the use of federal consent decrees to overhaul local police departments .
Mr. Barr has said that communities that criticize law enforcement may not deserve police protection , and Mr. Trump has encouraged officers not to be ‘ too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poured gasoline on the current fire with incendiary rhetoric promising ‘ looting leads to shooting ’ echoing racists of the past and promising to send in the US military if Democrats can ’ t stop the uprising .
Trump has put the military on alert to deploy to civilian protests .
He maintains power by dividing people praising armed protesters who demanded reopening the economy despite the pandemic and calling unarmed protesters against police violence “ thugs ” .
On Friday , the White House locked down on security alert because of protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters to come to the White House .
They did not come but protests at the White House have continued to increase .
Both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the current rebellion .
Joe Biden has described himself as a ‘ law and order ’ Democrat from the beginning of his career .
He was the primary architect of the federal mass incarceration of Black people and helped add hundreds of thousands of police with militarized equipment to urban communities .
He courts police unions that defend killer cops .
And Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failure of leadership continues at the state and local levels with politicians closely tied to the Fraternal Order of Police , which aggressively defends police who kill civilians .
Every city can point to a series of police killings with no prosecutions or acquittals and few convictions .
Minneapolis is a city with a long history of race-based police violence .
Indeed , violence against Indigenous peoples led to the formation of the American Indian Movement .
Tne Intercept summarizes some of the cases : • None In 2015 , the police killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Protests lasted two weeks but led to no prosecution .
• None In 2016 , Philando Castile , a 32-year-old black motorist , was killed in a Minneapolis suburb .
More than two weeks of protest followed and two years later the officer was acquitted .
• None In 2017 , Justine Ruszczyk , a 40-year-old white woman , approached a Minneapolis police car to report a sexual assault .
The police officer , Mohamed Noor , who shot and killed her was sentenced to 12 years in prison , and her family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ settlement .
• None In 2018 , body camera footage showed Minneapolis police chasing Thurman Blevins , a 31-year-old black man , and shooting him to death .
Prosecutors refused to file charges against the officers who killed Blevins .
Protests have led to some changes but they haven ’ t solved the problem .
Money has been spent on body cameras , which have rarely had any impact .
Similarly , training on de-escalation and racial sensitivity has made little difference .
Over the last six years , cities have increased funding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health , education , and other underfunded urban programs .
Rather than providing people with necessities , the government has relied on controlling neglected communities with an occupying police force .
Some of the police are even trained by the Israeli occupiers .
Even in the midst of a pandemic and economic collapse , the government can not give people access to healthcare , protect their jobs , suspend their rents or control food prices .
As Rosa Miriam Elizalde writes in her comparison of the United States to Cuba , the difference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States government spends more than 60 percent of the discretionary budget on weapons and war .
It should be no surprise that the government acted more quickly to suppress people with militarized police , thousands of National Guard troops , and curfews than it did to protect their lives when the pandemic and recession started .
Reform Is Not Enough : Defund The Police , Give Communities Control , Build Alternatives To Police The country must look more deeply at policing .
Retired police major , Neill Franklin , the executive director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Intercept , “ We need a new paradigm of policing in the United States .
It needs to be completely dismantled and reconstructed , not changing a policy here or there.
” The Minneapolis group , Reclaim the Block , wrote a statement calling on the city council to defund the police department .
Last week , they made four demands of their city council : • None Never again vote to increase police funding .
• None Propose and vote for a $ 45 million cut from MPD ’ s budget @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shortfalls .
• None Protect and expand current investment in community-led health and safety strategies .
• None Do everything in their power to compel MPD and all law enforcement agencies to immediately cease enacting violence on community members .
This is an agenda that makes sense for cities across the country .
A growing movement demands the defunding of police departments .
It is evident that the way to reduce police violence is to fund alternative non-law enforcement approaches to conflict resolution , safety strategies , and mental health as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement calls for democratic community control of the police where communities elect a Civilian Police Accountability Council ( CPAC ) .
The critical difference between this and Civilian Police Boards is that the Accountability Council is democratically elected not appointed by the police chief or politicians who are allied with the police .
Neill Franklin urges a national database of officers terminated for misconduct so they will not be hired by other police departments .
The New York Times reports that “ in 2012 , the civilian board in Minneapolis was replaced by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Conduct Review .
Since then , more than 2,600 misconduct complaints have been filed by members of the public , but only 12 have resulted in an officer being disciplined.
” The most severe censure was only a 40-hour suspension .
Derek Chauvin , who killed George Floyd , has at least 17 misconduct complaints , none of which derailed his career , in nearly two decades with the Minneapolis Police Department .
Chauvin was involved in the fatal shooting in October 2006 when Senator Klobuchar was Minneapolis ’ district attorney .
Rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case to a grand jury that declined to indict Chauvin .
In 2011 , Chauvin was involved in a high-profile shooting of a Native American .
He was placed on administrative leave but was reinstated to the force when no charges were brought .
If democratic community control of the police were in place , it is highly likely Chauvin would have been removed as a police officer and George Floyd would still be alive .
Support for change is growing .
Bus drivers refused to transport arrested protesters for the police in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote transit union leaders nationwide are instructing members not to cooperate with police in arresting protesters .
And Universities are dropping their contracts with the Minneapolis Police Department .
Protests continue nationwide .
Thus far escalating police violence and the use of the National Guard has failed to stop them .
The government may use the military , although by law there are restrictions on that .
There will be efforts to pacify the protests by political leaders and non-profits who will try to take over the leadership .
These must be rejected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , people must stay in the streets and connect the problems we face to the demand for systemic changes .
We will need to support each other as many are doing by distributing food and providing medical care , jail support and legal representation .
We urge people to meet in assemblies to discuss what their goals are , their vision of how communities could be organized differently and what actions they can take .
We need to build confidence in each other that we can work together for the future we want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there .
All images in this article are from Popular Resistance unless otherwise stated

Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report puts the mass revolt in the context of the long history of white supremacy that has existed since Africans were brought to the United States. Chattel slavery was enforced by the earliest form of policing,with the first formal slave patrol created in the Carolina colonies in 1704. After the Civil War and a brief period of Reconstruction where African people could participate in civic life, Jim Crow followed with white racists, often allied with Southern police, inflicting terrorism against the Black population through lynchings and other means. Black people were arrested for laws like vagrancy and then punished by being forced to work picking cotton or other jobs. This new form of slavery continues as inmates are forced to work for virtually no pay in prisons, are leased out to dangerous jobs like meat processing, or are used as scabs.
George Floyd’s murder enraged people who have seen too many deaths as a result of police violence. The murder in broad daylight with cameras filming and scores of witnesses showed the impunity of police who are used to not being held accountable for their violence. During the uprising, police have used extreme violence and targeted people with cameras and the media even saying they were the problem.
The root of the problem is a failed state that does not represent the people and has a deep history of racism and inequality that are being magnified by the current crises. The failure to respond to these crises is resulting in an ungovernable country as the social contract has been broken.
Lawlessness among the wealth class, corruption of politicians by campaigns financed by the wealthiest with payoffs to their children and relatives has set the stage for no respect for the law. As one protester exclaimed, “Don’t talk to us about looting, you are the looters. You have been looting from black people. You looted from the Native Americans. Don’t talk to us about violence, you taught us violence.”
The Failed State Cannot Reform Itself
George Floyd’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” echoed the same words of Eric Garner, who was killed six years ago by a New York police officer. Although there were protests then, not much has changed. The system failed to respond.
Failure starts at the top. There have been years of inaction at all levels of government. The New York Times reports “The administration has largely dismantled police oversight efforts, curbing the use of federal consent decrees to overhaul local police departments. Mr. Barr has said that communities that criticize law enforcement may not deserve police protection, and Mr. Trump has encouraged officers not to be ‘too nice’ in handling suspects.”
Trump poured gasoline on the current fire with incendiary rhetoric promising ‘looting leads to shooting’ echoing racists of the past and promising to send in the US military if Democrats can’t stop the uprising. Trump has put the military on alert to deploy to civilian protests. He maintains power by dividing people praising armed protesters who demanded reopening the economy despite the pandemic and calling unarmed protesters against police violence “thugs”.
On Friday, the White House locked down on security alert because of protests. Trump responded by calling for MAGA protesters to come to the White House. They did not come but protests at the White House have continued to increase.
Both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the current rebellion. Joe Biden has described himself as a ‘law and order’ Democrat from the beginning of his career. He was the primary architect of the federal mass incarceration of Black people and helped add hundreds of thousands of police with militarized equipment to urban communities. He courts police unions that defend killer cops. And Biden opposed the integration of schools.
The failure of leadership continues at the state and local levels with politicians closely tied to the Fraternal Order of Police, which aggressively defends police who kill civilians. Every city can point to a series of police killings with no prosecutions or acquittals and few convictions. Minneapolis is a city with a long history of race-based police violence. Indeed, violence against Indigenous peoples led to the formation of the American Indian Movement. Tne Intercept summarizes some of the cases:
In 2015, the police killed Jamar Clark a 24-year-old black man. Protests lasted two weeks but led to no prosecution.
In 2016, Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black motorist, was killed in a Minneapolis suburb. More than two weeks of protest followed and two years later the officer was acquitted.
In 2017, Justine Ruszczyk, a 40-year-old white woman, approached a Minneapolis police car to report a sexual assault. The police officer, Mohamed Noor, who shot and killed her was sentenced to 12 years in prison , and her family was awarded a record $20 million settlement.
In 2018, body camera footage showed Minneapolis police chasing Thurman Blevins, a 31-year-old black man, and shooting him to death. Prosecutors refused to file charges against the officers who killed Blevins.
Protests have led to some changes but they haven’t solved the problem. Money has been spent on body cameras, which have rarely had any impact. Similarly, training on de-escalation and racial sensitivity has made little difference.
Over the last six years, cities have increased funding for police departments at the expense of health, education, and other underfunded urban programs. Rather than providing people with necessities, the government has relied on controlling neglected communities with an occupying police force. Some of the police are even trained by the Israeli occupiers.
Even in the midst of a pandemic and economic collapse, the government cannot give people access to healthcare, protect their jobs, suspend their rents or control food prices. As Rosa Miriam Elizalde writes in her comparison of the United States to Cuba, the difference is a matter of values. The United States government spends more than 60 percent of the discretionary budget on weapons and war. It should be no surprise that the government acted more quickly to suppress people with militarized police, thousands of National Guard troops, and curfews than it did to protect their lives when the pandemic and recession started.
Reform Is Not Enough: Defund The Police, Give Communities Control, Build Alternatives To Police
The country must look more deeply at policing. Retired police major, Neill Franklin, the executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership told the Intercept, “We need a new paradigm of policing in the United States. It needs to be completely dismantled and reconstructed, not changing a policy here or there.”
The Minneapolis group, Reclaim the Block, wrote a statement calling on the city council to defund the police department. Last week, they made four demands of their city council:
Never again vote to increase police funding. Propose and vote for a $45 million cut from MPD’s budget as the city responds to projected COVID19 shortfalls. Protect and expand current investment in community-led health and safety strategies. Do everything in their power to compel MPD and all law enforcement agencies to immediately cease enacting violence on community members.
This is an agenda that makes sense for cities across the country. A growing movement demands the defunding of police departments. It is evident that the way to reduce police violence is to fund alternative non-law enforcement approaches to conflict resolution, safety strategies, and mental health as well as investing in neglected communities.
Another growing movement calls for democratic community control of the police where communities elect a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). The critical difference between this and Civilian Police Boards is that the Accountability Council is democratically elected not appointed by the police chief or politicians who are allied with the police. Neill Franklin urges a national database of officers terminated for misconduct so they will not be hired by other police departments.
The New York Times reports that “in 2012, the civilian board in Minneapolis was replaced by an agency called the Office of Police Conduct Review. Since then, more than 2,600 misconduct complaints have been filed by members of the public, but only 12 have resulted in an officer being disciplined.” The most severe censure was only a 40-hour suspension. Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd, has at least 17 misconduct complaints, none of which derailed his career, in nearly two decades with the Minneapolis Police Department.
Chauvin was involved in the fatal shooting in October 2006 when Senator Klobuchar was Minneapolis’ district attorney. Rather than prosecuting Chauvin, she sent the case to a grand jury that declined to indict Chauvin. In 2011, Chauvin was involved in a high-profile shooting of a Native American. He was placed on administrative leave but was reinstated to the force when no charges were brought. If democratic community control of the police were in place, it is highly likely Chauvin would have been removed as a police officer and George Floyd would still be alive.
Support for change is growing. Bus drivers refused to transport arrested protesters for the police in Minneapolis and New York. Payday Report wrote transit union leaders nationwide are instructing members not to cooperate with police in arresting protesters. And Universities are dropping their contracts with the Minneapolis Police Department.
Protests continue nationwide. Thus far escalating police violence and the use of the National Guard has failed to stop them. The government may use the military, although by law there are restrictions on that. There will be efforts to pacify the protests by political leaders and non-profits who will try to take over the leadership. These must be rejected.
To achieve the changes we need, people must stay in the streets and connect the problems we face to the demand for systemic changes. We will need to support each other as many are doing by distributing food and providing medical care, jail support and legal representation. We urge people to meet in assemblies to discuss what their goals are, their vision of how communities could be organized differently and what actions they can take. We need to build confidence in each other that we can work together for the future we want. That is how we will get there.
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers co-direct Popular Resistance where andco-direct Popular Resistance where this article was originally published..
All images in this article are from Popular Resistance unless otherwise stated