If we can’t organize to stop the appointment of Steve Bannon, a known white nationalist, we’re not going to be able to do anything to stop Trump

By Mark | November 17, 2016

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Earlier this week, as we discussed a few days ago, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would be appointing Steve Bannon, the race-baiting head of Breitbart News, his chief White House strategist. And this, my friends, is something that we, as civilized people, who value things like civil rights and diversity, should do everything in our power to fight against. We just can’t afford to sit idly by and allow the man credited with bringing white nationalism into the mainstream under the banner of the “alt-right” to take a position of power in the same White House where the Emancipation Proclamation and Civil Rights Act were signed, and where, for the past eight years, our first black President has served our country with grace and dignity in the face of unrelenting racist attacks from the far right that Bannon has worked over the past half decade to empower and give voice to. This is a line that we absolutely should not cross as a nation. We simply cannot allow the man who bragged of creating “the platform for the alt-right,” to move into the White House, where he would not only have constant access to our President, but also likely establish Breitbart News as the de facto communications arm of our Executive branch. [Trump, as I’m sure you’ve seen, has broken with tradition and stopped communicating with legitimate press, and several people are speculating that we may see Breitbart News evolve as a state news agency, not unlike Pravda.]

This is the battle, I suspect, that will determine the course of our next four years, and possibly even the course of our lifetimes. If we allow them to win on this, I just don’t see how we’ll be able to stop them on anything else.

And I should state right up front that, yes, I know keeping Bannon out of the White House will be an uphill battle. As this isn’t an appointment that would require the “advice and consent” of the Senate, it’s not a situation where we would have any real, direct legislative leverage. We can’t just count on our elected Democratic representatives to filibuster, stall and obstruct on our behalf. No, we the people need to actively create so much pain for the Republicans that they have no choice but to back away from the nomination, for fear of derailing their larger legislative objectives. That means swamping their phone lines, shaming them at every opportunity for their connection to Bannon, and bombarding them on social media until they have no choice but to rescind the nomination just to make it stop.

For what it’s worth, though, it’s not hopeless. Or, at least, there’s a precedent. About seven years ago, as you might recall, the Republicans were able to successfully organize and drive Van Jones from the White House. And, in that instance, all Jones, who was Obama’s Green Jobs Czar, had done, was refer to Republicans “assholes” and suggest that now might be the time for us, as Americans, to get serious on the subject of race. And, if they can get someone forced out of the White House for that, then surely we can stop Bannon, a man who, according to Forbes, built Breitbart News into an online news company known above all else for reliably pushing stories that are “openly anti-women, anti-semetic, anti-progress, anti-immigrant, and anti-nonwhites”.

Bannon, for those of you who don’t know the history, was a Breitbart News board member when company founder Andrew Breitbart died unexpectedly of apparent heart failure in 2012. He then, at that point, moved into the role of executive chairman, where he made a name for himself by catering to white nationalists, and publishing articles with titles like “Hoist It High And Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims A Glorious Heritage,” which, by the way, ran just two weeks after nine people were murdered in an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina by a confederate flag-loving white supremacist. [A former Breitbart News staffer has said that while Andrew Breitbanrt “despised racism,” all of that changed with Bannon took over and began “pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness“.]

Some political types who I respect very much have suggested to me that a coordinated campaign against Bannon, even if successful, wouldn’t accomplish much. Bannon, they say, would still have the President’s ear, and Breitbart would still likely become the administration’s press department. While I suspect they’re right, I still can’t help but think that, all things considered, this is the correct first move in this epic chess game we’ve just started. Not only is getting Bannon our of the White House the right thing to do, but it makes good strategic sense. While I’m sure we’ll be able to build alliances to fight the Trump administration on other issues, I can’t imagine that any of them would get the same kind of support that a campaign against Bannon would get. Bannon, after all, even by conservative standards, is an abhorrent human being, and I suspect that a broad coalition could be built for the purposes of limiting his role in the administration, a coalition that could help us going forward, as we fight on other fronts. [Bannon is so bad, even Glenn Beck thinks he’s “terrifying”.]

So, with all of that said, and with all due respect to Secretary Clinton, who said in her concession speech that, “We owe (Trump) an open mind and a chance to lead,” I am 100% of the belief that we need to put everything we’ve got into stopping this, his first appointment… While it’s true that half of those who voted last week cast their ballots for Trump, they did not vote for Bannon, and I cannot help but think that several, especially those Trump supporters in the Jewish community, might be persuaded to join us in this one particular cause, given Bannon’s well-documented history of antisemitism. While it might be difficult to build coalitions around more abstract issues, like tax policy, I think this fight is relatively straightforward. A man, who, in the words of Breitbart’s former editor-at-large, Ben Shapiro, “openly embrace(s) the white supremacist alt-right,” has no place in the White House, and I’d like to think a majority of Americans would agree.

Speaking of how the Trump administration is being viewed by the wider Jewish community, I’d encourage you to read the op-ed in yesterday’s Jewish Journal, signed by dozens of prominent Jewish historians, which suggests that we have to start building alliances and begin fighting back immediately. Here, from their letter, is the section most relevant to our discussion about Bannon. “We condemn unequivocally those agitators who have ridden Trump’s coattails to propagate their toxic ideas about Jews,” they say.”More broadly, we call on all fair-minded Americans to condemn unequivocally the hateful and discriminatory language and threats that have been directed by him and his supporters against Muslims, women, Latinos, African-Americans, disabled people, LGBT people and others. Hatred of one minority leads to hatred of all. Passivity and demoralization are luxuries we cannot afford. We stand ready to wage a struggle to defend the constitutional rights and liberties of all Americans. It is not too soon to begin mobilizing in solidarity.” [It’s estimated that 24% of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Trump.]

The bottom line is that this, I believe, is not only a fight worth having, but the best strategic shot we’ve got at building a significant movement against the Trump administration. And, in my estimation, if we can’t organize for this, we’ve got absolutely no chance when it comes to fighting Trump on more specific elements of his plan to “make America great again,” like instituting mass deportation programs and creating a national registry for Muslim immigrants. And every day we sit on the sidelines, licking our wounds, successful resistance becomes a little less likely. The normalization of Bannon and what he stands for has already begun in the press, and, you can be sure, it will only get worse. And we cannot allow white nationalism to become something that is acceptable in any form. We have to tear it out by the roots immediately, and demonstrate our willingness to fight it wherever it might show itself.

Thankfully, some of our elected officials are already fighting back. Over the past few days, since the announcement of Bannon’s position was made public, a number of Democrats in Congress have come forward to urge that President-elect Trump dump Bannon. Among those to come forward and join the Dump Bannon caucus so far are Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow and Representatives John Conyers, Debbie Dingell, Dan Kildee, Brenda Lawrence, and Sander Levin, all of whom signed the so-called Cicilline letter, which “strongly urge(d)” Trump to consider the fact that he’s now a representatives of “millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities,” and “reconsider (his) decision.” [Video of Senator Harry Reid asking that Mr. Trump “rise to the dignity of the office” and do the right thing by rescinding the appointment of Bannon, can be found here.]

So, what can we do?

First, you can call your elected representatives and urge them to join the fight to “Dump Bannon.” [You can find the phone numbers for your elected officials here.] Call you Representative and both of you Senators. While, as I mentioned earlier, they don’t have a vote as to whether or not Bannon is appointed, they do have influence, and they should exercise that influence in this case. [You’ll find tips and strategies for how to engage with your elected officials here.] So, if you didn’t go door to door for Hillary, and now feel bad about that fact, this is something very tangible that you can do. You can call and express your anger over the appointment of Bannon to the President’s cabinet, and you can urge your friends and neighbors to do the same.

For those of you who have never called the office of an elected official, here’s a bit of advice from our friend Andy LaBarre, who used to be a staffer for John Dingell… “When you call any office,” he said, “you should simply yell.” He also advises that you keep it simple, as the people who you’ll be talking with are just keeping running tallies on what their constituents think about given issues. “When I was a Congressional staffer, some of the best calls I fielded were from folks who would lead by loudly and angrily stating: ‘No Amnesty!’,” LaBarre said, “They were the best because, right away, I knew 1. What they were calling about; 2. Their opinion on the matter; 3. Their intensity of opinion; and 4. That useful discourse wasn’t going to happen. They were efficient callers.” So keep that in mind. Be clear. Be efficient. And yell. [LaBarre also suggested that you not call Debbie Dingell, as she’s already out front on this. He suggested, instead, you call Tim Walberg’s office. Or better yet, reach out to his constituents, and have them call Walberg’s district office themselves.]

And don’t stop there. If you’re a member of a church, or any community of faith, bring people together around this issue and organize. Write letters to the editor. Put #DumpBannon signs in front of your house. Organize a #DumpBannon parade around your neighborhood. Tag you elected representatives on social media with posts about Bannon, demanding that they join the Dump Bannon Caucus, if they haven’t already. [While all of our Democratic Representatives in Michigan have come out to say that Trump should dump Bannon, I’ve yet to see any of our nine Republican Representativesn take a stand. So call Tim Walberg, Candice Miller, Fred Upton, and all the rest of them, and demand the stand up against bigotry and racial violence. And call your Democratic Reps as well, asking them to do more.] And, if you have other ideas as to how we mobilize people against Bannon, leave a comment here, and let us know. The more ideas, the better.

As for why this is important, I wanted to share the following clip with you from an article that I just read on Vox:

…For a long time, our society marginalized these hateful views by being clear that they were not normal. We all collectively understood that there were certain behaviors that were not okay, certain things that decent, civilized people in a modern society did not do to each other. Those norms are now being shattered.

When Trump ran for president, he gave these people a voice. He told them they had been stymied by “political correctness,” and it was perfectly appropriate for them to say all the things they had been told not to say. He shattered norms. Bannon, the man who ran Breitbart.com, built up its viewer base “by catering to the alt-right, a small but vocal fringe of white supremacists, anti-Semites, and Internet trolls,” (I’m quoting here from National Review, not some lefty site). He is now the top adviser to the president of the United States. Please take a minute to let that sink in.

And, I know I don’t need to tell you this, but people are already suffering the consequences of this Bannonization of America. Among other things, it’s being reported that a Muslim man was set on fire today in Houston, and, here, in Ann Arbor, a University of Michigan student was reportedly made to remove her hijab under threat of violence. These kinds of events are really happening, and they will only get worse if Bannon is accepted into the White House. If we legitimize what he stands for, it’s the end. And we cannot allow that to happen. We have to fight back against the normalization of these radical, dangerous views with everything that we’ve got. We need to stop this insanity now, before it’s too late. America, and what it stands for, is too important.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments

Does this safety pin make you feel unwelcome or unsafe?

By Mark | November 15, 2016

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After Trump’s victory of last week, as incidents of racial intimidation started to become more commonplace across the United States, some on the left began wearing safety pins as a sign of solidarity with members of those communities most at risk that. [This practice, for what it’s worth, was borrowed from British progressives, who began wearing safety pins after the Brexit vote, as anti-immigrant violence began to spread across their country.] While the practice has been criticized by some in the U.S., who say it’s a hollow gesture on the part of white people who just want to feel better about themselves, others think it’s a relatively simple and effective way to convey to the people of color around them that you not only value their presence in society, but would have their back if something were to go down. Personally, I can see the merit on both sides of the argument, and, for that reason, I’ve chosen to stay away from the subject of safety pins… that is, until tonight, when two very different, very local safety pin related stories were brought to my attention.

First, I got news through a friend that, at 2:20 this afternoon, someone cut the face of young woman walking in front of the Michigan Theater, likely, we’re told, because she was wearing a safety pin. [A friend of a friend posted the following to Facebook about the incident: “My coworker’s daughter was slashed in the face while outside the Michigan Theater, apparently for wearing a safety pin. She’s okay (wound was minor), but understandably shaken.”] And, second, I got word from a reader of this site who works at a large, local university, that everyone in their department was instructed not to wear safety pins because they were making pro-Trump students “uncomfortable.” [This, by the way, comes shortly after Trump supporters on the campus of the University of Michigan launched a #NotMyCampus campaign intended to draw attention to how unwelcome and persecuted they’ve been made to feel for supporting our racist President-elect. [In their letter, which has now been signed by 358, these students claim that the “University’s response to President-elect Trump’s victory is perpetuating a hateful climate that makes students feel ashamed for voting for Donald Trump.”]

So, here, on one hand, we have a young woman who was physically assaulted, she thinks, because she was wearing a safety pin, indicating that she’s made the decision to come out publicly against racial intimidation. [I believe, from what I’ve heard over the past hour, that the man who cut her did so with a safety pin, which would seem to indicate that this was, in fact, related to her wearing of the safety pin.] And, on the other hand, we have conservative university students who apparently don’t feel as though they should have to confront people wearing safety pins because it makes them feel as though they’re being attacked… Think about that.

Here we are, just a few days after a Muslim student at the University of Michigan reported that a man in downtown Ann Arbor forced her to remove her hijab, saying that, if she didn’t, he would set her on fire, and we’re discussing the fact that the sight of safety pins are making Trump supporters feel “uncomfortable.” How absolutely bewildering is that? We’ve had these two racist attacks reported just blocks from one another, in what we’re told is one of the most liberal communities in the midwest, and yet we’re concerned about the feelings of those individuals who, despite the violent, hateful rhetoric, chose to vote for Donald Trump.

I should reiterate that this story that I heard about university employees being asked to remove their pins, for fear that they might offend conservative students, could well be an isolated thing. I haven’t heard of a university-wide edict on safety pins. So it could just be a single department somewhere. Regardless, though, it just bothers me that, while some people are facing very real threats in post-Trump America, we’re spending even a single minute worrying about the feelings of those who don’t want to be made to feel bad about their choice to put this man in White House, where, by the way, he’s already announced that his chief strategist will be a white nationalist. And, yes, maybe it makes me a bad man, but I find it difficult to summon too much empathy for people who voted a bully into office, when they say that, by being forced to look at safety pins, they’re being bullied, as though that’s even remotely the same as being physically threatened.

There is a huge difference in my opinion between having one’s face cut open, as happened today, and feeling frightened by the mere existence of liberal students. One of the young men who signed the #NotMyCampus petition, if you can believe it, told the Detroit Free Press, “I’m not even safe at my own home.” [To my knowledge, he had neither been slashed, or forced to disrobe to avoid immolation.] And, meanwhile, people on the right are suggesting, as Trump did yesterday, that these very real instances of racial intimidation that we’re seeing across the U.S. are, in fact, relatively trivial. [Trump said on 60 Minutes that he’d only heard of “one or two instances,” “a very small amount.”] So, on the one hand you have real cases being downplayed, while, on the other, you have people on the right saying that action needs to be taken immediately because they’re being forced to consider how their votes may have unleashed all of this on the world, as though those two things are even remotely equivalent.

Posted in Ann Arbor, Civil Liberties, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 107 Comments

The mother of the Royal Oak 7th grader who shot the “Built the Wall” video talks about the climate of racial intimidation within the school

By Mark | November 14, 2016

Last Wednesday, the day after Donald Trump was elected our 45th president, Alicia Ramon’s 7th grade daughter Josie texted her from the cafeteria of Royal Oak Middle School, where several white students had begun pounding on their tables and chanting “Build the wall,” while staring at their hispanic classmates. In her text, Ramon’s daughter, who was one of those Hispanic students being addressed, included the short video you’ll find at the end of this post, which has since been seen by thousands on social media. Thanks to a mutual friend, I was put in touch with Ramon shortly after the incident, and we’ve been exchanging messages ever since. What follows is our conversation.

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MARK: Can you tell me what happened at Royal Oak Middle School last Wednesday?

ALICIA: My daughter Josie informed me that, during lunch, a student went around to the tables and told his fellow white students to start chanting at a specific time. Then, she said, the chanting began. It started low, but it grew, as her fellow students began pounding their fists and raising their voices. According to her, and another non-Latino friend – to protect her identity, I’ll call her “K” – as time went on, more tables began to join in, chanting “Build The Wall.” And this was directed at the Latino students in the cafeteria. Josie said she looked over at her friend Isabel’s table, and saw that all of Isabel’s friends were chanting as well, pounding their fists on the table. It appeared, according to Josie, that they were focusing it directly at her. She then saw Isabel get up and leave the cafeteria crying. Josie said she recorded it, even though she was hurt, upset and afraid of the other students. She said she knew that it was wrong, and made a decision that she wasn’t going to tolerate it any longer!

MARK: And how did you hear about this? Did Josie contact you to tell you what had happened, or did you receive word from the school?

ALICIA: My daughter sent me the video via text Wednesday at 11:15 AM, with the caption “build a wall.” There were also crying emojis. Her text continued, “Mom they were chanting it.” She then asked, “Are you there?” …I went to the school immediately.

MARK: How was she when you got to her?

ALICIA: I didn’t see her immediately, as I was in the office waiting to speak to the Principal. When I did see her, after school, her eyes were swollen, as if she’d been crying. She appeared to be in shock. She was numb. I gave her a hug, and together we began to write the Facebook post.

MARK: Would I be right to assume that the video we’ve all seen on social media is the video that Josie shot and sent to you on Wednesday morning?

ALICIA: Yes, it’s the same video.

MARK: Was it a difficult decision to go public with the video, knowing how Josie’s classmates might respond?

ALICIA: Yes, the decision was very difficult for us.

MARK: And what did your Facebook post accompanying the video say?

ALICIA: I’ve tried to locate the post, but it might have been taken down. Basically, in the post, we provided background on the incidents that pre-dated the election — the instance where a student said “Mexicans are dumbasses,” the time a “Mexican Joke of the Day” video played for all of the students during the student news hour, the time when a student replied to a question posed by Josie by saying, “I don’t speak taco,” and the incident a week prior to the election when racial slurs and jokes were said to Josie in class. We posted it to shed a light on a systemic problem within the school. We wanted to make it clear that this was not an isolated incident, and that it shouldn’t be solely blamed on the rhetoric of the election. There was also a prior post that asked parents to have conversations with their children about the incident.

MARK: It would seem, based upon what we can hear the children chanting in the video, that this most recent incident is directly tied to the rhetoric of the Trump campaign, which focused largely on the idea of building a wall along the southern border to keep Mexicans out of the United States. But, as you say, this started earlier. When did Josie first start experiencing things like this happening?

ALICIA: We’ve encountered ethnic and racial intimidation at the school since she was in the 6th grade.

MARK: While, as you say, this isn’t an altogether new phenomenon in your daughter’s school, do you get the sense that things are getting worse right now due to the racist rhetoric surrounding the election?

ALICIA: Possibly… She and other minority students have endured racial slurs, “jokes,” intimidation in the past, but the election certainly didn’t help. There was another incident a week ago. But perhaps the election gave these students a louder voice. Maybe they felt further entitled and empowered to use the platform to send a louder message to the minority students.

MARK: Has the school made an effort to ensure that things like this don’t continue to happen?

ALICIA: They’ve put out a statement, and a video announcement to the students, which is available on their website. While I was encouraged initially, I understand that not all teachers spoke with their students about the incident, as the principal’s email update had stated. Also, some students, rather than focusing on their own actions, have further bullied and intimidated Josie. And it was apparently discussed in the some of the classrooms that, since Josie took the video, she should be suspended. Teachers either initiated these conversations, or did nothing to correct the students who proposed the idea that Josie be suspended. On Friday, her science teacher told the entire class, including her, that “the person who took the video is immature, and the person who posted it is irresponsible.”

MARK: She must be a strong kid… What, if anything, has she done to fight back, other than posting the video, of course? Have she and her fellow students of color started to organize in any way?

ALICIA: She suggested to the Assistant Principal that the students be able to create a diversity club, and Josie is working on making that happen. And, at the same time, a group of parents and community stakeholders have started organizing to address the district and the school directly. Also, a student group independent of the school is being created. Their first meeting will be this Saturday, and Josie, along with some of her friends, will be participating.

MARK: I don’t suspect it’s any comfort to hear this, but I was talking with Mark Fancher of the Michigan ACLU last night and he mentioned that, since the election, he’s received “an avalanche” of correspondences from across the state, alerting him to incidents like the one your daughter experienced.

ALICIA: That is heartbreaking, sad and un-American. Perhaps our efforts here in Royal Oak can be replicated across other communities… We have to rise up and stand for our children across this country.

MARK: If you’re interested, I’d be happy to put you in touch with Mark. I know that he and the ACLU are actively looking to hold districts with histories of ignoring such things accountable.

ALICIA: Thank you, but I contacted the ACLU immediately following the incident. They’ve been responsive, and they’re assisting in this effort.

MARK: What can you tell us about the racial diversity within the school? Would I be right to assume that the school is predominantly white?

ALICIA: Yes, the school is predominantly caucasian.

MARK: What kinds of action has the school taken since this happened? And do you think it’s sufficient?

ALICIA: Initially, none. The day it happened, I asked the 7th grade principal for an apology for all the students affected, and for a letter to be sent home to inform all parents about the incident, so that they could talk with their children, and let them know that this type of behavior isn’t be be tolerated. He said the request was not unreasonable, but that he had to clear it with leadership. As no letter has come home with my child, that apparently hasn’t happened.

It is unclear to me whether or not the school has reprimanded that students involved.

In today’s conversation with a reporter, Josie stated that she felt the “whole thing was minimized” -at school. Understandably so, the response was that it was shut down immediately. Josie and her friend, however, recall it differently. Josie said that it died down on its own, and not because of teacher intervention. She says it went on for about three minutes, and that the Principal was present in the lunchroom when it happened. Also, she’s told me that the chant happened again at the end of the school day, in the gym.

MARK: And would I be right to imagine that the school’s response changed somewhat once you went public with the video?

ALICIA: Yes and no. The district Superintendent sent out an email in the morning. And the Principal created a video message for students. And some teachers did initiate classroom discussions about the incident, race, etc. But it wasn’t universal. And they sent out an email at the end of the day, which is also available on the website. However, on that very day Josie was further intimidated by other students, who were saying that she should be suspended. Josie texted me at 10:50 AM on Thursday, saying, “Mom, the video is in the Detroit Free Press, and I think everybody’s mad at me.”

It was alleged in Saturday’s parent meeting, that an 8th grade social studies teacher at the school, as part of her lesson plan, told the only African American student in her class to demonstrate how the slaves danced for their masters. The student refused, and the teacher threatened her grade. The student went to the office in tears, and was not in school on Friday.

Josie went to school again on Friday, and it was in her science class that her teacher said that the person who took the video of the chanting was immature and the person who posted it was irresponsible. Josie said it made her feel bad, because everyone knew that she recorded the video, and that I posted the video.

So, again, I went to the school today, to discuss the issue of a teacher bullying and intimidating a student–Jose. I did meet with both the Assistant Principal and Principal. It was a very tense meeting, in the end we found common ground –Josie’s safety. It was encouraging and we agreed that we’re going to work together to make sure that every student feels safe.
In the days to come, the newly created parent group will also meet with the District Superintendent.

MARK: How has the student body reacted to this incident? Have any students, since this incident took place, come forward to offer support to the child or children being targeted for harassment?

ALICIA: Josie had a core group of friends with her at the lunch table that day, and none of them joined in on the chant. The other Hispanic/Latino/Brown students were not as fortunate. It seems like the minority students, and the students who don’t agree with the racism but don’t necessarily know how to stand up the the bullies, are glad that she did. They are supporting her, and each day that list is growing.

MARK: I’m curious as to how different schools around the state of Michigan are dealing with the election. The morning after Trump was announced the winner, my daughter’s middle school Principal sent out the following note… “We are writing to let you know that (our) staff are sensitive to the overwhelming emotions that many of our students may be experiencing after a particularly divisive presidential campaign,” she said. “We remain committed to our International Baccalaureate mission of preparing open-minded, caring, and reflective citizens of the world. We sent staff the following message below and encourage you to contact our counselors and teachers if you have any specific concerns about your child, so we can support them appropriately. We care deeply about the academic, social, emotional, and mental well being of all students and we will be vigilant about ensuring we maintain a culture of inclusion and respect of all perspectives and voices.” Attached to this note, was the following letter, which was sent to staff earlier that same morning.

Dear staff,

Please be mindful of the fact that many of our students (and colleagues) have been up all night watching the presidential election and are likely overwhelmed with emotion. This election year has been particularly divisive and we ask you to provide consistency and security for students at a time of uncertainty. Given our richly diverse student body, with a number of students who represent, and stand up for, marginalized groups who were targeted during this election, we will have to assure our students that we will continue to stand up for our values and work within the democratic system to promote social justice and equality.

Please do not share your political views with students. This is a time for us to focus on seeking understanding and promoting unity. Below is a quote from the huffington post. Feel free to reference it in your response to students and encourage students to get involved with the social justice alliance and other clubs at school that promote productive discussion of world issues. Please do your best to be positive and provide students with normalcy, especially in the next few days.

How to respond to students after the election:
“Teach (students) how to be responsible members of a civic society. Teach them how to engage in discussion—not for the sake of winning, but for the sake of understanding and being understood. Students need to learn how to check facts, to weigh news sources, to question taken-for-granted assumptions, to see their own biases, to take feedback, to challenge one another. We need to teach students how to disagree—with love and respect. These skills will be priceless in the coming months and years as we work to build a democratic society that protects the rights of all people ― regardless of the cooperation or resistance those efforts face from the executive branch.”

Please be kind and patient with each other today and everyday. Offer and ask for support knowing we are united in our commitment to students and staff.

Are you aware of anything similar having been shared with faculty and staff at the Royal Oak Middle School? I’m just curious as to whether this caught them completely off guard.

ALICIA: No, I am not aware of anything like this.

MARK: What advice do you have, if any, for parents who are worried about sending their children to school in the current environment?

ALICIA: The intimidation of children based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religious affiliation or legal status is un-American. No child should be afraid of going to school.

It takes all of us to keep our children safe in school. The parents, teachers, school administrators, and extended community. Let’s stand united and not in fear. Join a parent group or create one that will protect all children. Within that group there will be many roles you can fill. Participate at the level you are comfortable at. Sometimes, that means behind the scenes, writing letters, organizing, or whatever contribution you can. You are not alone, Stand, Unite and Fight for our children.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 67 Comments

Before you thank Trump for finally telling the violent racists emboldened by his victory to “Stop it,” you should know that he also announced his chief White House strategist would be Steve Bannon, the man who brought white nationalism into the mainstream with the alt-right

By Mark | November 13, 2016

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Since the election, as I’m sure you know, a number of non-white Americans have come forward to report instances of racial intimidation. Last night, Mark Fancher of the Michigan ACLU, who was one of my guests on the Saturday Six Pack, told us that, over the preceding 48 hours, his office had received an “avalanche” of such reports coming in from across the state. He then proceeded to share several examples, including the story of the University of Michigan student who reported Friday night that a man near the intersection of East William and State Street had forced her to remove her hijab, saying that, if she didn’t, he would set her on fire. According to Fancher, so many reports have been coming in that the ACLU simply doesn’t have the resources to look into all of them. I suppose it could all be a coincidence, but it seems likely, given the timing, and some of the things being reported, like the fact that white Royal Oak middle school students were just caught on video chanting “build the wall” at their Hispanic classmates, that there’s a direct tie to the race baiting rhetoric of the Trump campaign.

Given how many racist events we’ve seen these past several days, a number of people have been urging President-elect Trump to come out and publicly urge his supporters to stop celebrating his victory by lashing out against people of color. Well, up until this evening, at least as far as I’m aware, he didn’t feel that it was necessary to do this. While he did tell the Wall Street Journal yesterday that he “want(ed) a country that loves each other,” he refused to either take responsibility for the increasingly hostile environment in America, or ask for his followers to stop acting out in such ways… When asked by the Wall Street Journal point blank if his rhetoric during the campaign had gone too far, Trump, if you can believe it, responded, “No. I won..” [Take a second and think about that statement, and what it implies.]

Well, tonight, during 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl continued to push the matter with Trump, and he finally acquiesced, essentially saying, if it’s true that such things are happening, then people should “Stop it.” The following comes from CBS News.

…Trump told CBS News’ Lesley Stahl that he hadn’t heard about the acts of violence carried out in his name either by his supporters or targeting his supporters. He also told Stahl that he hadn’t heard about reports of racial slurs or personal threats by his supporters that have targeted African Americans, Latinos and gays.

“I am very surprised to hear that,” he told Stahl, “I hate to hear that, I mean I hate to hear that.”

And he added that he he had seen only “one or two instances” but “I think it’s a very small amount.”

Stahl asked whether he wanted to say anything to those perpetrators.

“I would say don’t do it, that’s terrible, ‘cause I’m gonna bring this country together,” he responded. Told that they were harassing Latinos and Muslims, he added, “I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, ‘Stop it.’ If it– if it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it”…

I’m angry, of course, that it took this long for him to say “Stop it,” and it disgusts me to hear him downplay the severity of what’s happening right now in America, but I suppose we should be thankful that he finally asked those racists emboldened by his victory to “stop” harassing gays, Latinos, Muslims, and other people of color. And I might be willing to accept that as a step in the right direction, if not for the fact that Trump also announced today that Steve Bannon, the white nationalist head of Breitbart News Network, would be his chief White House strategist. [Ben Shapiro, who worked with Bannon for four years as Breitbart’s editor-at-large, has said that Bannon “openly embraced the white supremacist alt-right.”] And I think that should make it clear to anyone paying attention what Trump is really all about.

If Trump actually cared about those facing the brunt of the newly emboldened alt-right, he wouldn’t have to be coerced into saying “Stop,” and he certainly wouldn’t have then announced that the man who brought the alt-right to the mainstream in America would be his chief strategist.

I know there are many out there who don’t think this election was primarily about race, and they may well be right. Regardless of why people voted for Trump, though, they are now part of this. In my mind there’s very little distinction between someone who is actively racist, and someone who turns a blind eye to racism, voting for a candidate who engaged in dangerous race baiting throughout the campaign, who surrounds himself with men like Bannon, and who now stays quiet on incidents of racial violence and intimidation. I understand that some of you voted for Trump because you didn’t think that your lives got better under the Obama administration. You wanted change, and you were willing to take a gamble on Trump. Well, this is what your gamble has gotten us. You may have climbed down into the swamp with the racists for the best of reasons, but you’re still in the swamp, rubbing elbows with the likes of David Duke and Steve Bannon.

I know it hurts to hear. Several of you who supported Trump have told me since the election that you are not racists, and that you’re offended by the suggestion that you might be, just because you supported Trump against Clinton. Well, if that’s true, now’s your chance to prove it. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but, if you sit quietly by as Trump fills the White House with men like Bannon, and don’t speak up on behalf the people who are, at this very minute, being harassed by your fellow Trump supporters, you are no better than they are. You can hide behind your claim not to be a racist, but, if you do nothing, it’s meaningless. As someone who voted for this man, you now have a responsibility to speak up. We need to to join us in standing up and declaring that this is unacceptable. If you sit by and do nothing, you might as well be a member of the Klan.

And, here, because I’d rather end this post with something beautiful than with a video of our new President-elect on 60 Minutes, is video of Kate McKinnon performing the late Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah on last night’s Saturday Night Live. If nothing else, I hope it reminds you, as it did me, that you’re not alone in this. A lot of people realize what’s happening right now, and they’re just as upset, confused and scared as you are. And there’s some comfort in that.

[If you should see incidents of racial intimidation, after calling the police, “report the hate” to the Southern Poverty Law Center, who are doing their best to track the spread of post-Trump violence.]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

#RestockTheSwamp

By Mark | November 12, 2016

Hey, guys. I created a hashtag. Feel free to use it online, free of charge… I’ll be charging for the red hats though. I’m looking for a Chinese supplier right now.

restocktheswamp

Here’s the link to the Washington Post story noted above, which goes into some detail about how, despite his anti-establishment campaign trail promises to “drain the Washington swamp” of lobbyists and career politicians, Trump is building a team comprised almost exclusively of lobbyists and career politicians.

Posted in Local Business, Mark's Life, Marketing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

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