   WHENEVER THE DEBATE IS OVER "IF" RACE THEORY IS INCLUDED IN SCHOOLS' CURRICULA (IT IS NOT, BUT TRUTH SHOULD BE), opponents of Critical Race Theory argue that guilt and shame would overcome White students for being born White, but no concern about learning the truthful history about America's lack of Racial Justice, and Christian White American Racism. Perhaps they know the truth?
Since its inception in 1787, America's government was directly responsible for the enslavement, rape, murder of, and discrimination against, its African citizens, and the forcible and murderous removal of Native Americans from their ancient lands. It is truthful American History. TODAY, Racist White Christian Republicants DO NOT want Black students to learn how their ancestors were brutalized and enslaved. TODAY, Racist White Christian Republicants DO NOT want White students to learn how their ancestors brutalized and enslaved Africans and Black Americans. In their minds, they do not wish White children to carry the burden of their forefathers' sins and be made aware of exactly how brutal the United States was to enslave Africans and Indigenous peoples and to learn anything other than America is a benevolent land of freedom and opportunity. Conservatives, aka Racists, lament the teachings of a complete and accurate American history. In their minds, White children learning about the role racial subjugation and slavery played in the founding and building of this country is divisive. It is critical for them to preserve White supremacy culture so that White students do not become educated on just how flawed America is and has been concerning its treatment of its non-white citizens, particularly its Black citizens. It was and is White Christian America Racism. It is also of equal importance that you do not educate students of color, primarily Black students, on just how inequitable and unequal the United States was at its inception or how the dehumanization of Black people has been in America's narrative from day one, persisting to present-day. But the thing about American racism is that its "slip is always showing," therefore, it does not matter if White students are learning about it in class or not, because the real-world models racism daily. The right-wing propaganda machine's version of "critical race theory" is a lie, made to mean almost anything the racist propagandists and their audience want. Once objective truth and reality are destroyed or abandoned, democracy and human freedom become impossible. Supporting Republican Racists who tell evil fairytales and LIES about "critical race theory" — or, more directly, about the teaching of America's history — is by definition an act of white supremacy and racism. And those real-world lessons in evil bigotry and insidious racism always make their way back to school campuses.
0 Comments
MRS. RUBY HURLEY WAS THE SOUTHEAST REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE NAACP during the 1960 Jacksonville Youth Council sit-in demonstrations and Ax Handle Saturday. She came to Jacksonville the day after Ax Handle Saturday (see picture) and ran the NAACP's Southeast Regional Office from Jacksonville for more than 2 months while things were "hot and heavy"(my words).
Most of us in the Youth Council were high school students, and Mrs. Hurley became our NAACP "surrogate mother." She advised me as Youth Council President, and Mr. Rutledge H. Pearson, our Youth Council Advisor, as you would expect a Regional Director to do, but Mrs. Hurley never made decisions for me or for the Youth Council generally. She and Mr. Pearson allowed us, even during the circumstances of this Ax Handle Saturday race riot and our subsequent actions, to make our own decisions. In 1943, NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White appointed Mrs. Hurley Youth Secretary of the NAACP. During her tenure, the Youth Chapters grew from 86 to over 250, with a total membership estimated at 25,000. Walter White tapped Hurley again in 1950, this time with a temporary assignment coordinating membership campaigns in five southern states for the NAACP. She was living in New York and relocated to Birmingham, Alabama, where she opened the first permanent NAACP office in the deep south. The following year, White appointed Mrs. Hurley to the position of SouthEast Regional Director. Hurley's work in the Southeast Region brought her together with many leading activists of the time, such as Medgar Evers, a martyred NAACP hero killed in 1963. Evers, the Field Secretary in the Mississippi State Office, and Hurley jointly investigated the murder of NAACP Mississippi activist Reverend George Lee in 1955. Also that year, they joined in the investigation of the notoriously brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmet Till, killed in the small town of Money, Mississippi, after reportedly whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, which did not happen. Bryant's husband, Roy Bryant, and J. W. Milam took Till from the home of his Great-uncle, brutalized and tortured him before eventually killing him, wrapping an industrial fan around his neck, and throwing his body in a river. Some credit the murder and ensuing trial with launching the modern Civil Rights Movement, as the acquittal of the suspects was a blatantly racist miscarriage of justice that attracted international attention. Both Milam and Bryant admitted they DID kill Till after being acquitted; and years later, Carolyn Bryant admitted she lied. Hurley also worked on the case of Autherine Lucy, who in 1956 became the first Black student to attend the segregated University of Alabama. In addition, she worked actively at the national level with Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins and Legal Defense Fund head Thurgood Marshall. MRS. RUBY HURLEY In the 1960s, local and national television featured Mrs. Hurley in connection with her efforts and the Jacksonville Youth Council 1960 sit-ins and Ax Handle Saturday. Mrs. Hurley and Ella Baker, another Great Unsung Civil Rights Legend, are featured on one of the 2009 United States Postal Service issue stamps, Civil Rights Pioneers.(see picture) Mrs. Hurley passed in 1980. She is one of my She-roes and was indeed a Great Lady.  Someone on Quora asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response: A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down. So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: • Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. • You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created? If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.  One of the honors in my life was nominating former State Senator and my friend, Dr. Arnett E. Girardeau to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame. I nominated "Doc," he was inducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in June of 2017, and he passed 4 months later in October 2017. Although Doc could have spoken, he and his wife Dr. Carolyn Girardeau asked me to speak at his induction ceremonies. It was an honor. Fast forward 4 months and I was at The Bethel Church saying heartfelt remarks over my friend at his Homegoing Celebration of Life. Two sweet and bittersweet moments in a 4-month span. Whenever I am in a somber moment thinking about the passing of beloved family members and great friends, I always think back to the words of Bishop Rudolph McKissick Sr., when I asked him to give Words of Comfort at my wife Ann's Homegoing Celebration of Life, almost 6 years ago. After praying with me over the phone, Bishop said, "Rodney, grieve and mourn whatever you want. Do not let anyone take that away from you. And in the midst of your grieving, thank God for the more than 52 years he gave you and Ann together." Those words stay with me. Using that blessing, I thank God for the friendship he allowed me and Doc to share since the 1960 Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP Sit-ins and Ax Handle Saturday. A time span of 57 years. Dr. Arnett E. Girardeau was a trailblazer. Dr. Girardeau is the only Black to serve as Senate Pro Tempore of the Florida Senate. Were it not for Dr. Girardeau as the chair of the Florida Senate's Redistricting Committee in 1990, there would not have been two Black access seats for Blacks to elect Black representatives to Congress from the State of Florida. Seats that saw the election of Carrie Meek in Miami, and Corrine Brown in Jacksonville. Doc was responsible for those seats. The seat that Florida's Racist-in-Chief is trying to eliminate with the help of Racist elected officials in the State legislature. Doc dedicated his life to fighting Racism for his, and my, and your Black Human Dignity and Respect. Chapter 10 in my second book, "Unless WE Tell It...It Never Gets Told!" is about Dr. Arnett E. Girardeau. We are all much better in Jacksonville, the State of Florida, and this country because of him. He made a difference. Indulge me while I list some photographic memories of my good friend, the Honorable Senator Dr. Arnett E. Girardeau. Thank you, God, for giving us Doc for a short time but a dedicated time, to make a difference in our lives; and thank you, Carolyn Girardeau, Arnetta Girardeau, and Arnett Girardeau, Jr. for sharing your husband, and your father with a grateful Jacksonville community.       
     Ron Desantis' Florida redistricting map is a deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, and underhanded throwback to "Jim Crow" days, and is a move that is designed to dilute and weaken the power of Black voters. There is no logic behind the DeSantis disrespectful and insidious segregation map. Just plain White Racism.
It Shouldn't Have to Happen to you, for it to Matter to YOU! If you were the CEO of a major company looking to locate to another state, or if you wanted to substantially expand your company in a state, and you are using "quality public education" as one of the criteria to help you make your decision, with the Racist political shenanigans out of Tallahassee, WOULD YOU MOVE TO FLORIDA? "Look, my uncle, Donald Trump is dangerous. He came into power sowing division and stoking a racist conspiracy theory about Barack Obama’s place of birth. He left office spreading a dangerous conspiracy theory that the election was stolen." - Mary Trump
NOTE THIS STATEMENT BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION TO THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE on trump appointed judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle who just ruled the "CDC cannot require masks."
"The following nominee was rated not qualified by a majority or a substantial majority of the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary of the American Bar Association.: -Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a nominee to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.-" (Special note-Mizelle's husband is Chad Mizelle. He worked as an acting General Counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security during the administration of Donald Trump. He was appointed to oversee 2,500 attorneys, less than 7 years after he graduated from law school, which many critics said was driven by his loyalty to White House advisor Stephen Miller.) NOTE THIS EXCERPT FROM A LETTER BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION TOTHE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE on Ketanji Brown Jackson- March 18, 2022 Via Email Via Email The Honorable Dick Durbin The Honorable Chuck Grassley Chairman Ranking Member Committee on the Judiciary Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510 Re: Nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court Dear Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley: The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has completed its evaluation of the professional qualifications of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has been nominated by the President to the United States Supreme Court. As you know, the Standing Committee confines its evaluation to the qualities of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament. The Standing Committee is of the unanimous opinion that Judge Jackson is “Well Qualified” to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Very truly yours, Hon. Ann Claire Williams (Ret.) Chair, Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary Racism is not like a faucet to turn on and off. If you have a question about a Republicant elected official's Racist stripes, just wait, and eventually through their words and actions, they will REMOVE ALL DOUBT. donald trump, the Racist 45th president of the United States trump has taught his Racist minions well.
TO WIT:
-Congressional redistricting maps intentionally drawn to eliminate Black representation in Congress, and to disenfranchise Black voters, -a special state "police force under control of the governor to investigate voter fraud" (allegedly) but is, in fact, designed to intimidate voters, especially Black voters, -passage of bills like Florida Senate Bill 148 which censors honest dialogue about systemic racism, gender, and race discrimination. -the censoring and banning of books, especially books by Black authors across all disciplines that tell the truth about Racism, -passed a law which "prohibits" teaching and workplace training about diversity. Racist comments by Florida's governor- "monkey-up," racist actions out of Florida governor’s office, and laws passed by the Florida legislature make it quite evident that in the state of Florida, Blacks Are Not Wanted. And in an opinion that spans almost 300 pages, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker for the Northern District of Florida permanently blocked Florida’s new voter suppression laws from going into effect by issuing a blistering ruling that said the bill unfairly and unconstitutionally violated minorities’ voting rights. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked three major components of the sweeping bill from going into effect because they suppressed Black voters: *A requirement that third-party voter registration drives include warnings, such as telling voters their registrations might not be done in time to vote; *New limits on ballot drop-boxes including confining them to early voting hours unless they’re in a supervisor’s office and requiring them to be guarded at all time, and; *A new law criminalizing the act of helping voters in line, even if it’s something as simple as handing out water or snacks. Judge Walker, perhaps more importantly, took the rare step of placing the state under preclearance protection for certain changes it may want to make to its election laws. These issues, these pronouncements from Florida's White elected officials have literally "pulled the covers" off of Florida's so-called "moderate" state image. It comes as no surprise to Black Florida that historically, traditionally, and contemporarily, Florida is very much a Racist state. MOVE OVER ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI, AND MAKE ROOM FOR YOUR RACIST FLORIDA COUSIN. Some outstanding pictures of Jackie Robinson. Show them to our young ones with explanations of Jackie's greatness and the greatness of the Black persons with him in these pictures. Unless WE Tell Them...THEY Will Not Know.  Jackie Robinson inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, 1962.  Jackie Robinson and Althea Gibson.  Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby.  Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis. |
AuthorRodney. L. Hurst, Sr.
Archives
June 2024
Categories |
RODNEY L. HURST, SR. - THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
RSS Feed
