(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Black Kos, Week In Review: Stop it! It's hate, not fear. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-28 Help me identify the fear in this picture. I've been looking but am coming up empty. By Black Kos editor JoanMar In reporting on the truly heartbreaking shooting of a black teen by an 84-year-old white man, the media felt obligated to inform us that the man’s actions were motivated by fear. In a discussion on CNN the night the story broke, both white and black panelists used the same language to describe what happened. Athena Jones, a black reporter, lamented that “historically, white people have feared black people.” A sentiment that was echoed by everyone on the panel. CNN was not alone. From The Washington Post: “The fear some people feel upon seeing a Black face has been documented in studies and investigations for years, experts say. One of the White men who lynched Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955 testified that the 14-year-old Black teen, who was about 5-foot-5 and weighed about 160 pounds, “looked like a man.” From none other than the esteemed Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP: In the aftermath of Yarl’s shooting, the focus should not only be on curbing gun violence, but also on addressing the fear attached to Black men and boys, said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP. Otherwise, he said, “we have to tell our kids when it comes to ringing the doorbell to make sure they go to the right household.” From our own Dartagan: “But Lester is more than simply one individual: He’s the sad product of centuries of American racism, fed and encouraged in his fears and beliefs by an American culture that’s never come to terms with its most egregious, fatal flaw.” I want to scream every time I hear or read the words “fear” and “afraid” after an act of racist violence. Zimmerman was afraid of Trayvon. Derek Chauvin was afraid of George Floyd. Eighty-four year old Andrew Lester armed with a gun was afraid of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl standing on the outside of a locked door. I suppose that you may think that you that you have valid reasons to be afraid of Black people if, when you look at them, you see not actual human beings, but THIS, or THIS, or THIS, or THIS. Darren Wilson, who made the decision to murder Michael Brown after he’d shot him multiple times and he was still stubbornly breathing, tried to justify the execution-style final shot with this: “And then after he did that, he looked up at me and had the most intense aggressive face. The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that’s how angry he looked.” Implicit in the suggestion that racists are motivated by fear is the idea that there’s something inherently terrifying about Black people. Show me the fear in the video below. Go ahead; I’ll wait. x Jail Time? Sherriff Body Slams a Female Student for Refusing to leave her seat after being "Disruptive" in Class... No Charges were Filed Against Him... pic.twitter.com/iN3bgNCh58 — Fight Mate (@FightMate) April 25, 2023 It’s hate. Hate, not fear. Vile animus in action. Hate rooted in white supremacy. And yes, I know that any minute now some psychologist will be coming along to inform me that “fear is the root cause of hate.” I’ve heard that assertion before and I’m not convinced. As if I’m going to buy into the theories and philosophies of dead white “fathers of psychology” who well understood their assignment to provide the language — the psychological framework — for white supremacy to establish, maintain, and promote itself. No, I don’t believe hate is always a by-product of fear. I do not believe it is always a secondary emotion. Need some evidence to support the theory that the use of the euphemism “fear” is an effort to infantilize, coddle, and protect racists? Take a look at this scholarly article implying that the Ku Klux Klan had hate in their hearts because they “viewed their targets as essentially bad and threatening.” What we do know is that hate is intense and enduring, and it seems to be based on a view of its targets as essentially bad and threatening. For example, when the Hutus slaughtered the Tutsis in the Rwanda genocide of 1994, the hate they experienced appears to have been based on the perception that the Tutsis were essentially evil and that they should be eliminated. The hate embodied by the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups often goes back decades or longer, transcending generations and sometimes lying dormant until finding a new trigger. What we do know, I agree, is that hate is intense and enduring. (It didn’t escape my notice that the authors went to Africa to find evidence of hate.) Let’s talk about the hate that the vanquished South felt for its liberated victims, for example. How dared Black folks aspired to own land, to build communities, or to create generational wealth? It wasn’t going to happen if racists had anything to do with it. Visceral hate drove them to want to destroy every black man, woman, or child they could get their hands on… to destroy them physically, emotionally, and financially. It was that kind of hate, in the first place, that had Europeans sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to go grab them some Africans to be used as beasts of burden and slave breeders. I’ve been looking, but I just can’t seem to find the fear in any of their actions. You will never convince me that the newly-departed Carolyn Bryant Donham and her fellow murderers were afraid of 14-year-old Emmett Till. You are not going to persuade me that Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, and donald trump fear black people. The sons and daughters of the Ku Klux Klan do not fear people of African descent; they hate them. They want to see them dead. To see them hanging from trees, mutilated, grotesque fruits. So don’t tell me Andrew Lester feared that child that night. I’m not buying it. Had he been afraid, he’d have kept his ass in his g-damn house. Had he feared him, he’d not have walked out and attempted to administer a kill shot. Thank goodness he’s a lousy shot. You demonize and dehumanize us to give racists the justification they need. Stop it. Racists don’t fear us. They’ve never feared us. They f**king hate us. Call it what it is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An EEG is a test to measure the electrical activity of the brain. It can find changes in brain activity that can help in diagnosing conditions including epilepsy, sleep disorders, and brain tumors. During the procedure, electrodes consisting of small metal discs with attached wires are pasted onto the scalp using adhesive, or attached to an electrode cap that you wear on your head. A little over a week before her EEG, Lewis was given instructions that she didn’t remember getting before a previous EEG appointment. To Lewis’ surprise, patients were told to remove all hair extensions, braids, cornrows, wigs, etc. Also, she was to wash her hair with a mild shampoo the night before the appointment and not use any conditioners, hair creams, sprays, oils, or styling gels. “The first thing I literally did was text it to my best friend, and I was, like, this is kind of anti-Black,” Lewis said. “I just feel like it creates a bunch of confusion, and it alienates patients who obviously need these procedures done.” The restrictions could discourage people with thick, curly, and textured hair from going forward with their care. People with more permanent styles like locs — a hairstyle in which hair strands are coiled, braided, twisted, or palm-rolled to create a rope-like appearance — might be barred from getting the test done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ KELLY: The new movie "Chevalier" hopes to introduce a wider audience to Joseph Bologne, a man that some have dubbed the Black Mozart. When we spoke the other day, I asked Kelvin Harrison Jr. for his thoughts on that nickname. HARRISON: I think it's fascinating that everybody wants to compare simply because Mozart was the notable composer that we all know of. But arguably, Joseph kind of came first. You can see certain lines from Joseph's work that Mozart actually took and just raised it up two, three whole steps. You hear the same melodies and some of the inspiration, and he had so much flavor. But Mozart was the acceptable guy to listen to at the time. He was the one we could look at as the hotshot, the celebrity of the moment. And... KELLY: Yeah. HARRISON: Joseph was still just a man who was lucky enough to be even knighted as a chevalier at the time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In her first remarks since her running mate announced their reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris blasted the U.S. Supreme Court and Republican lawmakers who are restricting access to reproductive health care across the country in a speech at her alma mater, Howard University. “These extremist so-called leaders would dare to tell us what is in our own best interest. Well I say, I trust the women of America. I trust the people of America,” Harris said to the crowd. “So don’t get in our way because if you do, we’re going to stand up, we’re going to organize and we’re going to speak up and we’re going to say we’re not having that, we’re not playing that!” At one point Harris did something rarely seen from the vice president, grabbing the microphone and walking around the stage as she lambasted attacks on abortion. Aides say she had an outline on the podium but that the vast majority of the more than 20 minute speech was off the cuff. “They’re also saying they’re going to ban abortion. Six weeks into a pregnancy? Well, clearly most of them don’t even know how a woman’s body works because most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at that stage of a pregnancy,” Harris said to a raucous applause. For Harris, the event was a bit of a homecoming. The first vice president to hail from a historically Black college or university spoke to a packed auditorium of students and reproductive rights advocates on Howard’s campus in Washington, D.C., to multiple standing ovations and shouts of “H-U!” She responded: “You know!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another reason why local elections matter. The Legislature approved the measure in the wake of the 2020 election. Politico: Appeals court upholds Florida voting restrictions approved by GOP lawmakers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A federal appeals court sided with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday when it overturned a lower court’s decision on a controversial voting law. That law, approved by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature in 2021, placed restrictions on the use of drop boxes and set new requirements for voter registration groups, among other things. A federal judge in March 2022 ruled that the law was discriminatory against minorities and placed unconstitutional burdens on voters. In an extraordinary move, the judge in the 2022 decision, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, ordered the state to get court approval for a decade before it enacts changes in three areas of election law. But on Thursday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Walker’s 288-page order was based on legal errors and “clearly erroneous” findings of fact. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court for review. It also reversed the requirement that Florida needs prior clearance to change parts of voting law. It affirmed Walker’s ruling that a restriction on soliciting voters within 150 feet of a ballot drop box was unconstitutionally vague. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/28/2166184/-Black-Kos-Week-In-Review-Stop-it-It-s-hate-not-fear Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/