It’s All About Race

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

“It’s the economy, stupid!” Bill Clinton used to say that this was the winning strategy in electoral politics. People vote based on how they are doing in the moment in regards to personal finances.

Historically that seems to be true. In presidential years, it is generally a referendum on how the economy is that determines whether or not a sitting president is reelected. In the middle of a president’s term members of Congress are elected or rejected based on how the economy is doing.

It’s the Economy, stupid seems to be a winning formula. Except when it isn’t. The midterm elections coming up in less than three months in November 2022 are not going to be about the economy. For the first time in my lifetime, members of Congress and governors will. be elected based on another factor.

It’s not climate change or women’s reproductive rights. It’s not the price of gas or the cost of pharmaceutical drugs. It’s not about whether the former president stole classified documents or tried to steal an election. It isn’t even about Blue and Red.

If its not one of those things, then what is this election about?

I say it is about race.

It really always has been about race and we as Americans have been unable to address the fact that every election since the 18th Century in this country has been based on race. That this is the case isn’t really a secret. It’s that we just don’t want to talk about it as a people, as individuals as liberals or conservatives, as Caucasians or as people of color. We simply don’t want to address the issue of race.

Why? One thought is that we … Let me stop here for a minute to define “we.” “We” are those of us of European ancestry that for reasons of wealth, power and birthright have taken the position that we are superior to people whose skin is a different color than ours.

Let me break it down a little further to “I.” “I” am one of the “we.” I, for reasons of wealth, power and birthright have been granted a position of unearned superiority in American life. “I” did not even know that I had been granted this position until starting about 12 years ago while sitting on my church Board of Directors, I took an inventory (questionnaire) about where I stood on race.

I believed that I was one of the good guys. I was accepting of people of color that I have since learned to identify as BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color). I was not one of those people that hated people based on the color of their skin. I was a good person.

This inventory found that I was not where I wanted to be regarding the issue of race. I was not a KuKluxKlan racist. I was good religious person. I met and taught children of many races in my career as a middle school teacher and worked with their parents.

But, I was missing something. Somewhere along the line someone had neglected to tell me that I had a certain privilege simply because my skin was pale. I had been granted an unspoken but institutionally enforced superiority or privilege based on the color of my skin. It is called “White Superiority.”

Those words were hard to assign to myself. White Superiority. It sounded harsh. I was fragile and didn’t know how to handle the label. Yet, as time has gone on, I have come to embrace the label. White Superiority is not the same as White Supremacist or White Nationalist or Racist. I have learned that those labels don’t belong to me.

But I have been a part of the White Superiority Culture for my entire life. I accept that label.

I started to address this label and lack of awareness and understanding through my church and through school trainings and experience. I have toughened my skin, so to speak, and have begun my work on leaving White Superiority Culture behind and working toward bringing it to an eventual end.

This upcoming election is about race. This is as clear as clear can get. The rest is smoke and mirrors. Address race in America and all the smoke gets cleared. All the secondary issues will be seen more clearly and the real healing can start.

Civil Rights Attorney Jeffrey Robinson addresses the issue of race in his hard hitting Netlix film “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.” Two hours of hard to watch reality that I highly recommend viewing before this next election. Robinson talks about the film in this YouTube clip.

Bill Clinton is probably right when he says “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” He’s right for every other election. Just not the election in 2022.