Ellis Cose
171 posts
Anti-Racists Spreading Racism?
Could one of America’s more revered civil rights organizations be actively supporting white supremacists? Is the Southern Poverty Law Center’s fight for equal justice just a cover for aiding random bigots, the KKK and American Nazis?
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche certainly seems to believe so. In indicting the Southern Poverty Law Center, Blanche accused SPLC of “manufacturing racism to justify its existence.” While “vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups,” the organization was actually funding the facilitation of “state and federal crimes.”
It’s a shocking accusation: a bit like accusing abolitionists of selfishly fighting slavery solely for financial gain. But is it true?
Certainly, SPLC’s crusade has sometimes focused on money. In 2008, SPLC’s lawyers won $2.5 million from Klans of America. The case focused on Klan members who had beaten and permanently injured a teenager of Panamanian descent. SPLC’s victory was celebrated in progressive circles and the organization proclaimed to be world-class Klan killers.
“Nearly six months after the Southern Poverty Law Center won a $2.5 million civil judgment against Kentucky-based Imperial Klans of America, the Klan group's membership has shriveled,” reported The Louisville Courier. After the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the verdict, Thomas Wells, a former president of the American Bar Association, dubbed SPLC co-founder Morris Dees, “the lawyer who bankrupted the Ku Klux Klan and effectively put them out of business.
Years before Blanche targeted the organization, critics accused SPLC of profiting from exaggerating the danger from largely harmless hate groups, of being obsessed with raising money, and of discriminating against its own staff. But Blache’s indictment goes far beyond that. It accuses SPLC of fostering the very evil it was created to combat. It’s a bit like blaming the NAACP’s undercover investigations of lynchings in the 1920s for Blacks being lynched in the South, or for blaming abolitionist critics and investigators for the myriad evils of slavery.
It nonetheless is a message that Blanche and many others in the Trump orbit seem determined to sell. As they see it, the biggest racial problem America has is people complaining of racism. And if those people would only shut up (and also stop stealing jobs and university slots from inherently more qualified white people), America’s racial problems would vanish. That such a view does not align very well with history only shows, in their eyes, that history must be rewritten. After all, is the notion that non-whites are the main perpetrators of racism any more farfetched than the notion that America was much better off when everyone understood it to be a white Christian nation that could only be diminished if it somehow tragically became less Christian and less white?
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Re-parenting Black children.
When I’m in a mood for righteous indignation, I often turn to broadcaster @Lawrence O’Donnell, who serves up outrage about as well as anyone. Last week when I caught his “The Last Word” (@TheLastWord), O’Donnell was so indignant I feared he might work himself up to a heart attack.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. had left O’Donnell in such an apoplectic state that he mused that even if he spent the entire rest of his career denouncing Kennedy, “it will be less than what he deserves.”
O’Donnell’s rant was in response to a heated exchange between Kennedy and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) of Alabama during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. Sewell confronted Kennedy with his statement in a 2024 interview that Adderall and other drugs had rendered Black youths so unfit for society that “those kids are going to … go somewhere and get re-parented.” Sewell asked what Kennedy meant by that, and whether he had ever “reparented or parented” a Black child. Kennedy denied he ever said such things made the statements and accused Sewell of “just making stuff up.” Unfortunately for Kennedy, numerous broadcasters, including O’Donnell, aired the recording in which Kennedy suggested that Blacks were incapable of raising their own children.
When Ed Koch was mayor of New York, he and I customarily had lunch once or twice a year. During one such lunch, Koch suggested that a solution to the racial achievement gap might be to send children stuck in urban ghettos to more nurturing communities modeled on a kibbutz. I told him I thought the idea was both impractical and absurd, and pointed out that a country willing to invest in kibbutz-like havens for poor people or color would never have created racially isolated ghettos in the first place. As far-fetched as Koch’s suggestion was, I did not take it as attack on Black parents but as his attempt to think outside the box.
I have no idea what Kennedy was trying to suggest, as he seems incapable of consistent, coherent thought. Apparently, it never occurred to Kennedy that if Black people really were so awful at raising their own, millions of affluent white parents would not be hiring Black nannies to raise their precious children.
Obviously, not all Blacks parents are good at the job. Neither are all white or Asian parents. And the state has the power and responsibility to remove abused and neglected children from harmful environments. But the way to ensure children have a decent life is not by building re-parenting centers to take the place of Black parents; it is by helping parents acquire the resources and skills they need to do the job.
Yes, children of color do face special challenges. Perhaps the most obvious one is retaining their faith in themselves and in their society when confronted by gatekeepers like Kennedy who unfailingly see and condemn their threat and inadequacy but rarely foster or acknowledge their promise or potential.Re-parenting Black children.
When I’m in a mood for righteous indignation, I often turn to broadcaster @Lawrence O’Donnell, who serves up outrage about as well as anyone. Last week when I caught his “The Last Word” (@TheLastWord), O’Donnell was so indignant I feared he might work himself up to a heart attack.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. had left O’Donnell in such an apoplectic state that he mused that even if he spent the entire rest of his career denouncing Kennedy, “it will be less than what he deserves.”
O’Donnell’s rant was in response to a heated exchange between Kennedy and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) of Alabama during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. Sewell confronted Kennedy with his statement in a 2024 interview that Adderall and other drugs had rendered Black youths so unfit for society that “those kids are going to … go somewhere and get re-parented.” Sewell asked what Kennedy meant by that, and whether he had ever “reparented or parented” a Black child. Kennedy denied he ever said such things made the statements and accused Sewell of “just making stuff up.” Unfortunately for Kennedy, numerous broadcasters, including O’Donnell, aired the recording in which Kennedy suggested that Blacks were incapable of raising their own children.
When Ed Koch was mayor of New York, he and I customarily had lunch once or twice a year. During one such lunch, Koch suggested that a solution to the racial achievement gap might be to send children stuck in urban ghettos to more nurturing communities modeled on a kibbutz. I told him I thought the idea was both impractical and absurd, and pointed out that a country willing to invest in kibbutz-like havens for poor people or color would never have created racially isolated ghettos in the first place. As far-fetched as Koch’s suggestion was, I did not take it as attack on Black parents but as his attempt to think outside the box.
I have no idea what Kennedy was trying to suggest, as he seems incapable of consistent, coherent thought. Apparently, it never occurred to Kennedy that if Black people really were so awful at raising their own, millions of affluent white parents would not be hiring Black nannies to raise their precious children.
Obviously, not all Blacks parents are good at the job. Neither are all white or Asian parents. And the state has the power and responsibility to remove abused and neglected children from harmful environments. But the way to ensure children have a decent life is not by building re-parenting centers to take the place of Black parents; it is by helping parents acquire the resources and skills they need to do the job.
Yes, children of color do face special challenges. Perhaps the most obvious one is retaining their faith in themselves and in their society when confronted by gatekeepers like Kennedy who unfailingly see and condemn their threat and inadequacy but rarely foster or acknowledge their promise or potential.Re-parenting Black children.
When I’m in a mood for righteous indignation, I often turn to broadcaster @Lawrence O’Donnell, who serves up outrage about as well as anyone. Last week when I caught his “The Last Word” (@TheLastWord), O’Donnell was so indignant I feared he might work himself up to a heart attack.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. had left O’Donnell in such an apoplectic state that he mused that even if he spent the entire rest of his career denouncing Kennedy, “it will be less than what he deserves.”
O’Donnell’s rant was in response to a heated exchange between Kennedy and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) of Alabama during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. Sewell confronted Kennedy with his statement in a 2024 interview that Adderall and other drugs had rendered Black youths so unfit for society that “those kids are going to … go somewhere and get re-parented.” Sewell asked what Kennedy meant by that, and whether he had ever “reparented or parented” a Black child. Kennedy denied he ever said such things made the statements and accused Sewell of “just making stuff up.” Unfortunately for Kennedy, numerous broadcasters, including O’Donnell, aired the recording in which Kennedy suggested that Blacks were incapable of raising their own children.
When Ed Koch was mayor of New York, he and I customarily had lunch once or twice a year. During one such lunch, Koch suggested that a solution to the racial achievement gap might be to send children stuck in urban ghettos to more nurturing communities modeled on a kibbutz. I told him I thought the idea was both impractical and absurd, and pointed out that a country willing to invest in kibbutz-like havens for poor people or color would never have created racially isolated ghettos in the first place. As far-fetched as Koch’s suggestion was, I did not take it as attack on Black parents but as his attempt to think outside the box.
I have no idea what Kennedy was trying to suggest, as he seems incapable of consistent, coherent thought. Apparently, it never occurred to Kennedy that if Black people really were so awful at raising their own, millions of affluent white parents would not be hiring Black nannies to raise their precious children.
Obviously, not all Blacks parents are good at the job. Neither are all white or Asian parents. And the state has the power and responsibility to remove abused and neglected children from harmful environments. But the way to ensure children have a decent life is not by building re-parenting centers to take the place of Black parents; it is by helping parents acquire the resources and skills they need to do the job.
Yes, children of color do face special challenges. Perhaps the most obvious one is retaining their faith in themselves and in their society when confronted by gatekeepers like Kennedy who unfailingly see and condemn their threat and inadequacy but rarely foster or acknowledge their promise or potential.Re-parenting Black children.
When I’m in a mood for righteous indignation, I often turn to broadcaster @Lawrence O’Donnell, who serves up outrage about as well as anyone. Last week when I caught his “The Last Word” (@TheLastWord), O’Donnell was so indignant I feared he might work himself up to a heart attack.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. had left O’Donnell in such an apoplectic state that he mused that even if he spent the entire rest of his career denouncing Kennedy, “it will be less than what he deserves.”
O’Donnell’s rant was in response to a heated exchange between Kennedy and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) of Alabama during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. Sewell confronted Kennedy with his statement in a 2024 interview that Adderall and other drugs had rendered Black youths so unfit for society that “those kids are going to … go somewhere and get re-parented.” Sewell asked what Kennedy meant by that, and whether he had ever “reparented or parented” a Black child. Kennedy denied he ever said such things made the statements and accused Sewell of “just making stuff up.” Unfortunately for Kennedy, numerous broadcasters, including O’Donnell, aired the recording in which Kennedy suggested that Blacks were incapable of raising their own children.
When Ed Koch was mayor of New York, he and I customarily had lunch once or twice a year. During one such lunch, Koch suggested that a solution to the racial achievement gap might be to send children stuck in urban ghettos to more nurturing communities modeled on a kibbutz. I told him I thought the idea was both impractical and absurd, and pointed out that a country willing to invest in kibbutz-like havens for poor people or color would never have created racially isolated ghettos in the first place. As far-fetched as Koch’s suggestion was, I did not take it as attack on Black parents but as his attempt to think outside the box.
I have no idea what Kennedy was trying to suggest, as he seems incapable of consistent, coherent thought. Apparently, it never occurred to Kennedy that if Black people really were so awful at raising their own, millions of affluent white parents would not be hiring Black nannies to raise their precious children.
Obviously, not all Blacks parents are good at the job. Neither are all white or Asian parents. And the state has the power and responsibility to remove abused and neglected children from harmful environments. But the way to ensure children have a decent life is not by building re-parenting centers to take the place of Black parents; it is by helping parents acquire the resources and skills they need to do the job.
Yes, children of color do face special challenges. Perhaps the most obvious one is retaining their faith in themselves and in their society when confronted by gatekeepers like Kennedy who unfailingly see and condemn their threat and inadequacy but rarely foster or acknowledge their promise or potential.
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Thoughts on President Dr. Jesus …
For those who find humor in the absurd, Donald Trump has become an essential and inexhaustible source of laughs. After launching a war that shut down the Strait of Hormuz, he declared the war’s mission was getting the strait open. He promised political liberation to the citizens of Iran and then threatened to wipe them from the face of the earth: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” He answered Pope Leo’s pronouncement that civilization destruction was “unacceptable” by calling the Pope “weak on crime.” He then cast himself as the Pope’s spiritual superior with a post of a glowing-hands Doctor Jesus Trump blessing a bedbound man surrounded by awestruck acolytes with an American flag, a bald eagle, and floating commandoes in the background. A Peace Prize aspirant playing at being the God of War. A self-proclaimed healer compelled to polarize.
It all would be rip-roaringly hilarious if people were not dying, the world economy was not tanking, and something more reliable than “My own morality. My own mind” protected the world from the president’s power and petulance. We can only pray that Trump’s unpredictable threats, ultimatums and incomprehensible ravings do not eventually lead to a world-threatening conflagration fueled by presidential prerogative, patriotic frenzy and madness.
November will mark the 81st anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials, the military tribunal convened by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States after World War II. In his opening statement, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnson, who served as chief U.S, prosecutor, declared, “The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated.”
Those proceedings, undertaken to hold the surviving Nazi leadership accountable, recognized that even war required rules, that the whims of political leaders could not be allowed to cancel basic human rights. The Nuremberg Charter was an antecedent to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which attempted to make clear that certain acts—including genocide and other crimes against humanity—could not be justified even by war.
Trump presumably would replace those international agreements with a consensus that the world would bow to his personal morality, which, as he put it, is “the only thing that can stop me.”
This summer, the United States will celebrate the 250thanniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which put the nation on the path to a constitution, ratified in 1788, that created a set of checks and balances of the sort that Trump disdains. Instead, his view is that the presidency should elevate one American above all others, with the right to persecute (and prosecute) his critics, enrich himself and his friends, and threaten pesky smaller nations with annihilation.
It’s sobering to realize that millions of Americans are coming of age in an era when their view of the American presidency will be shaped by a vain, cruel man who preens and pretends he is a god who respects no one other than himself and no law other than those with which he agrees.
In a few years, Trump will be out of office, and indeed, may even be dead—an event that many of his critics will treat the same way Trump treated former prosecutor Robert Mueller’s death. “Good. I’m glad he’s dead,” Trump declared.
But even death will not be the end of Trump. This country and the world will be coping with the consequences of redefining the role of the president for some time. What that means is that an aspiring democracy that once seemed on a promising path to equal opportunity, governmental compassion, and accountability will find itself in an agonizing battle for America’s soul, with no guarantee that decency and integrity ultimately will prevail.
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Coverage of Ellis Cose lecture at UC Santa Barbara, Feb 2023: hfa.ucsb.edu/news-entries/2…
Català
Why would a mother, who was also a slave. murder her own child?
youtube.com/watch?v=GTbTDo…
YouTube
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This is a historical piece I wrote on the ACLU, which just went up on their site.
aclu.org/news/civil-lib…
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Free Speech. Really? billmoyers.com/story/face-mas… via @BillMoyers
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You may find this interesting. It’s Bill Moyer’s last podcast of the year and focuses on my new book on Free Speech. billmoyers.com/story/face-mas…
Wishing you a lovely holiday.
Cheers,
ellis
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This column, just posted by USA Today, explores the question of whether Donald Trump’s behavior can be considered treason:
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
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This is my take on the election and the state of American democracy. It just went up at USA Today.
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
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