Sunday, July 11, 2021

Bill Crawford: Mississippi's Favorite Issue to Dominate National Elections

Get ready. The next national election cycle is upon us with 34 Senate seats and 435 House seats up for election. With a 50/50 split in the Senate and a 222 to 213 split in the House, control will be up for grabs in 2022.

With soaring spending and related debt, continued COVID concerns, awakening inflation, surging ransomware attacks, and a myriad of economic, social, and international issues at play, what will be the critical issue?

Looks like it may be Mississippi’s favorite issue – race.

“Race central to Republican strategy for 2022 and beyond” was the headline to an article from Axios.com that began: 

“With or without Donald J. Trump atop the party, the Republican strategy for the 2022 elections and beyond virtually assures race – and racism – will be central to political debate for years to come.  In an era when every topic seems to turn quickly to race, Republicans see this most divisive issue as either political necessity or an election-winner — including as it relates to voting laws, critical race theory, big-city crime, immigration and political correctness.”

“The Ideas That Are Reshaping the Democratic Party and America” was the headline to an article at five-thirty-eight.com that began:

“Many Americans probably don’t know exactly what terms such as anti-racism, cancel culture, racial equity, white privilege and systemic racism mean. And it’s likely even fewer could explain such concepts as woke ideology, critical race theory or intersectionality. But these terms are now regularly invoked by activists, pundits and even some elected officials….American institutions and voters, particularly on the left — who have become more attuned and liberal on racial issues amid the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and increased attention on police killings of African Americans — are now making a similar shift on other issues invoking equality and identity.”

Moderate elements in the Democratic Party may want to focus on issues like the economy and infrastructure rather than progressive positions on voting rights, social justice, and reparations. But Republicans’ clear focus may leave them boxed in.

Lately, with school boards and state legislatures getting involved, it looks like “critical race theory” will be the hot button for Republicans.

Hmmm. What is that exactly?

Critical race theory is a 40-year-old theoretical approach to understanding what its legal scholar authors saw as persistent racial inequality and racism in America. It contends that this racism has infested our legal, financial, and education systems.

Its critics see it as more than a scholarly theory. A Texas Tribune article on the new state law outlawing it in public schools said, “Conservative lawmakers, commentators and parents have raised alarm that critical race theory is being used to teach children that they are racist, and that the U.S. is a racist country with irredeemable roots.”

As with many things concerning race, it doesn’t really matter what critical race theory really is, but how politicians and talking heads ‘splain it to us.

And it looks like hopeful politicians of all sorts will be ‘splainin’ away for the next 16 months.

“And there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” –  Revelation 7:9-10.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

 

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

The racism in this country towards blacks is no longer about skin color like it shamefully was. It's now about their actions and they are the ONLY ones who can correct that. If they choose to continue to act like they are now all the other races will continue to dislike them and refuse to be around them. All the other gibberish is just that...gibberish.

Anonymous said...

Another way to define CRT, It is the truths you ignored all your life rammed through your thick skull.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:27 what am I supposed to do, kiss your ass call you master what?

Anonymous said...

CRT will never succeed.....except to bring everyone down to the same level of suffering. Because budgets are always limited - no amount of money/reparations, etc. could ever make things right - nor will the present upper classes voluntarily and systematically relinquish their wealth and power to "even the playing field". So, socialism will be, and is being - attempted - but violent push back will ensue.

And when they (CRT/BLM) fail, it will be anarchy - and every person for themselves and their families because the noble professions of law-enforcement and military service are being demoralized and dismantled before our very eyes. No one to save you but yourself.

Anonymous said...

Creating
Racial
Tension

Krusatyr said...

One of the myriad of myths posing as "truth" in woke ideology is that the American War of Independence from Britain was fought to preserve slavery. This is pure joke woke, utter mental diarrhea.

In fact all of CRT, Cancel Culture, BLM and the related surge of marxism is an indictment of colleges, teachers' unions and mostly black public schools.

Anonymous said...

The charge/blame/accusation of racism is widely used and overused. It is a scourge. It is akin to being called a bigot in the 60's and 70's.
The word is used in churches and places of worship which should be teaching that judgmentalism is wrong.
Those who are mislabeled as racists legitimately take umbrage.
Those who overuse it may suffer from the sin themselves.
The media is complicit.
RMQ

Anonymous said...

The real concern with Critical Race Theory is not just those debatable facts on which it is based, but where it will ultimately lead. It's acceptance would mean the institutions of the United States would almost ALL have to be fundamentally scrapped. Overturned. Racism and injustice are built in and can only be changed by revolutionary upheaval. First comes the acknowledgement, then comes the change. We are currently at the acknowledgement stage which our young spoiled kids and the sensationalist media will embrace with enthusiasm. After all, "they are not rednecks." Once the country, especially academics, accept their guilt comes the changes, which will effectively give the Marxists their chance to remake as many American institutions as they can before sane people fight back. This is a very specific strategy which is now well funded and being promoted unwittingly by many who only see the handful of "racist" historic facts cited by it's promoters. If you agree with the injustice inherent in these historic images you might then foolishly agree with the CRT and follow the path to revolution which it leads. After all, you don't want to be called a racist. You become co-opted. This shit is diabolical.

Anonymous said...

8:53 O.K. ram it through my thick skull. What's next?

Anonymous said...

I love stuff like "theoretical approach to understanding what its legal scholar authors saw as persistent racial inequality and racism in America."

I don't use much "theoretical approach" in my own personal business decisions. I stick with facts and things I can understand, in a word demonstrable stuff.

As for "legal scholar authors" I always think that a law degree is a "license to steal" metaphorically speaking. "Legal scholar" is, I fear, code for law professor. We all know that law professors are folks with licenses to steal who are too stupid to figure out how to take anything. Law professors, in my view, are good for one thing, populating concentration camps or target practice for training young firing squads.

Anonymous said...

The "racism" which surely existed in 1960 has morphed into almost exclusively a "culturalism" today . The Dems have done, I'm afraid, irreparable damage to the black two parent home and their "culture" has been in a downward spiral due to it's demise.

Better Than Ever said...

@8:27 And actions are based off how someone (or their ancestors) has been treated: educated, viewed, ostracized, marginalized, etc. So, we've now circled back to the core problem.

And it's hard to get ahead while you've got your boot on the neck of the black/brown man. Why else do you think MS is dead last by every measure? Mississippi's racism has destroyed us all.

Anonymous said...

The world is unfair. It has always been unfair. It always will be. It's
man who makes it that way. Jesus Christ shows us the correct way to deal with an unfair world. Problem is....these CRT types don't believe in Jesus
or God.

Anonymous said...

10:12 AM , exactly right.

Anonymous said...

A couple of things people should already know.

First, every single person seen carrying a black lives matter sign is a racist and out to steal what they can. If they thought black lives really mattered there would not be so much black on black crime. The only time a black life matters is when it is some thug killed by a white person while committing a crime. A black person killed by another black person does not matter in the least.

Second, reparations are a joke. Who is going to decide who gets reparations? Where is the money going to come from? What about all of those blacks that are mixed with a white race? Who is going to decide who is going to receive and who is going to pay?

Third, affirmative action should be stopped immediately. Why should any person be given special considerations just because of their skin color? For those who argue the point, are you willing to admit blacks cannot compete with the other races?

Anonymous said...

@10:26

The 80% out of wedlock birth rate among black women in this state is a "boot" on all of necks. Perpetual poverty and crime caused by this is killing us all.

Anonymous said...

Looks like literally Hitler entered the chat @10:19am.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Crawford, I don't think the GOP would be needing to gerrymander and make voting more difficult if CRT was such a winning issue. More than a few suburban and educated people and young people have actually read it.

9:58 am You obviously have not read about the debates our Founders had over slavery and the conflict between New Englanders ( who were opposed to slavery...particularly Quakers and Lutherans and Methodists and Presbyterians ) and Southerners. If you don't understand that compromise was necessary to get the South ( Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia in particular) on board with Revolution, you are deliberately ignorant. The beginnings of our Revolution started long before the Declaration of Independence. Defiance of and displeasure with of Royal Governors and their officials began long before but slavery was a barrier to the unity needed or else the war would have started sometime 1765 and 1771 . Just because Boston took credit for rebelling, doesn't mean it was anymore true than Paul Revere sounding the warning. You do know the British came in force in 1775, at least, I hope. You think they anticipated the Declaration over a year later? And, immediately hopped on ships that sped across the ocean? Do you know when slavery started to be an issue in Britain?

10:12 am Guilt? Actual history is " guilt" producing? I would suggest it is accepting reality and not repeating historical failures to solve problems rather that let them continue to ferment and cause conflict. So, you think if some else inflicts harm and causes them to bleed and they get arrested, the person who cleans up the blood has to feel guilty? That'd only be true if you pretend the blood isn't there and allow the stink to remain and keep saying you don't see a problem with the stain and don't notice the smell anymore.

I learned the history. I don't feel guilty. That's probably because I've learned to choose my friends and the people I do business with based on their honesty, sense of fairness and behavior towards me and others.

My grandfather was the Grand Dragon in another State. He was an SOB to his family and community and especially brutal to African Americans. I don't feel guilty. He died before I was born and my kin were not sorry but relieved. We refused to offer excuses for him or attempt to justify the terror he reigned on others.

And, that's why children who learn actual history won't feel guilt. They won't be insecure and cowardly as they won't deliberately ignore truth and reality. They will form friendships with other children without noticing the color of their skin. They will learn that honor is important. CRT includes the history of honorable people of all races and religions trying to do the honorable thing from the founding of our country on.

You learned your racism and will own your guilt if you continue to delude yourself. Nobody can make you FEEL anything. How awful it must be to be so afraid and angry just seeing a human that doesn't look like you. How awful not to be able to recognize behaviors and actions that should cause alarm.















Anonymous said...

This stuff is way beyond both political parties. The Democrats are naturally going along because they can't see past their petty ambitions. They get to claim anything "progressive". But this Critical Race Theory is the ultimate Trojan Horse and neither party can survive it. There will be no Democrats or Republicans. Research those who originally espouse it. Democrats? Republicans? Marxists. Call a spade a spade.

Kingfish said...

Just Democrats gerrymander? Wow. Have you checked out Illinois lately? What happened to Arnold's initiative in California for fair redistricting. Remember Louisiana and Cleo Field's district. Then there is Hinds County ten years ago. Want me to show you the video of that one?

Kingfish said...

Ok, Proud Mississippian, I was going to approve your comment except for one word, even if there were **** for all but two letters. I'll approve it if there is just a blank or is the military phonetic alphabet is used.

Proud Mississippian said...

Some people are so full of shit, it must come out somewhere, ain't that right, 10:26?

I would rather be in the state of Mississippi, rated number 50, in the United States of America, than ANY other country you can name. If you don't feel that way, you are free to leave. Carry your unhappy ass somewhere else.

The only boot on the black/brown man's neck, what a misogynist way to phrase it, belongs to the black/brown man. The only one standing in the way of the black/brown man is the black/brown man. You look around, you racist. Every educational opportunity afforded to any other race is also afforded to the black/brown man you singled out. Why did I mention education, because it is the only way to improve a person's position in life? This also applies to the poor of other races. It's idiots like you, living in the past, that prohibit people from seeing their opportunities. You may be too stupid to see, but America is still the land of opportunity. Last time I checked, Mississippi was still part of America.

Another loser on a message board that can't face the reality that some people don't want to do better. If the desire for improvement was there, improvement would come. Peer pressure, a black/brown man wanting to improve themselves, their peers call them an uncle Tom, maybe worse accuse them of being a house you know. Does this happen? All the time. Oh no, it's not the white man that's the problem anymore. You can believe what ever you choose, but it's not the nasty past that's got a boot on the black/brown man's neck, you nasty misogynist. It's the nasty now, the boot of his black/brown peer's.

Thank you Kingfish.

Krusatyr said...

@July 11th 11:40am:
These causes, not slavery, led to the American War of Independence:

1.Defective Administration: ...
2.Restrictions on Colonial Trade: ...
3.Influence of Seven Years War: ...
4.Role of the Writers and Philosophers: ...
5.The Stamp Act (1765): ...
6.The Declaratory Act (1766): ...
7.Townshend's Policy: ...
8.Lord North's Measures, and four other causes.

See: https://www.historydiscussion.net/wars/top-12-causes-of-the-american-war-of-independence/1879

The Declaration of Independence established a right to Freedom which ultimately benefitted blacks (until many became enslaved by dependency and self enabled victimhood).

Anonymous said...

11:40 Yes sir. Critical Race Theory and the context of history as espoused by it's promoters and BLM DOES wish to foment GUILT. It seeks the critical recognition that current institutions of THIS society were established and
are NOW perpetuated to continue a system of racism and injustice. If you DO NOT admit they were/are unjust and racist YOU are guilty of racism. So they must be destroyed. If you do not now change them you are just as racist as the racist who started them. It's for whites to change. Is that not eliciting GUILT? (Is this hard to understand?)

Sorry about your granddad.

Anonymous said...

Nah, it'll be all about the economy.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, I have no skin in the game, I am an immigrant, but y’all’s brains are clearly gone all mushy with this race stuff… many blacks see disadvantages at every turn, and most whites still shit their pants at the thought of interacting with black folks. And all these emotions are just self-inflicted… it would be entertaining to watch if it wouldn’t be so sad.

Anonymous said...

Mississippi's Democrat party voters gave George Wallace 65% of their vote in 1968 for the same reason that Donald Trump carried that margin here in 2016 & 2020 among the new Republican Party which was obviously racism.

Racism is as IN YOUR FACE in Mississippi today as it ever was and is similar to the LGBTQ Democrats in San Francisco in many ways.

Anonymous said...

@3:02

We didn't want to vote for an outright criminal (Hilary Clinton) or a dementia riddled old life-long crooked politician (Joe Biden) so that makes us racist ? Also most of us are going to fight socialism to the end.....the Dems openly embrace it. Can you not grasp how many people who voted for Trump were doing so because they felt they didn't have a choice ? OH BTW how do you like our new state flag that we overwhelming supported ? This ain't 1968 anymore so get over it.

Anonymous said...

Sorry BoZo at 3:02, but since I was actually born before last year I remember real racism in Mississippi and today's version ain't it. You must be joking. The opportunities available to Black people today are practically unlimited if you apply yourself and get off your ass. This was not nearly the case years ago when people like me were in real danger of life and limb for just wanting to live like a common citizen. People don't agree on all the issues and some are affected by race, some by economics, some by moral attitude. So what? There is still racism, and there always will be, but the only thing IN YOUR FACE is stupidity.

Anonymous said...

If socialism is Medicare expansion 4:22, just wait until the initiative process is fixed by the legislature . Maybe that’s what they are afraid of much less Medical/legal cannabis .

Better Than Ever said...

@1:02 These things take decades to fully manifest their consequences. So yes, we are seeing the effect of the 'boot on the neck' from years ago.

And MS is still dead last by any metric that counts: education, teen pregnancy, STD rates, incarceration levels, volunteerism, income, life expectancy, LITERACY, etc.

Anonymous said...

One thing I do love about Mississippi... it will never be crowded. Our smart kids keep leaving this shithole, and no one is moving here. It’s great.

Anonymous said...

Folks, I thought changing the Mississippi flag fixed everything.

Am I wrong?

Anonymous said...

In a recent July 4 article, former football coach Lou’s Holts wrote: “‘When I coached football, I’d tell my players that "life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it.’ It was a way to get them to focus on themselves and on the things they could control – and to get them to understand that they were ultimately the authors of their own destinies.”

But Holts went on to write: “‘ There are a lot of enemies of the American way these days – right here in America. They’re men and women, mostly elites from academia and media, who would, if they could, walk into a football locker room and tell the players the exact opposite of my counsel: "life is 90% what happens to you, and 10% how you respond to it.’”

To the extent this is what Critical Race Theory teaches, and I believe it clearly does teach it, then this is a pernicious lie which is a deadly poison to our very nationhood. The line must be drawn, and the pushback vigorous. It’s on us, people.

Anonymous said...

Bill under estimates his readership, I see there are countless experts on Critical Race Theory here. I bet there are some experts on Driving while Black too. Probably went driving around Pearl and Madison in Blackface just to get the feel of it.

Anonymous said...

@7:30

Hmmm and we're first in % of black population. You don't think there could be some correlation do you ?

Anonymous said...

7:30 Better Than Ever said...

"And MS is still dead last by any metric that counts: education, teen pregnancy, STD rates, incarceration levels, volunteerism, income, life expectancy, LITERACY, etc."

You're so full of crap. Every "metric" you list, with the exception of life expectancy, is a DIRECT RESULT OF IGNORANCE. Instill in people to get an education, and then make good life choices. It all starts with the parent(s).

Anonymous said...

Kingfish: Did I understand you to say posts will be approved if, instead of using certain words, one would use the military alphabet? Horseshit! You've allowed every one of George Carlin's seven words a hundred times, and more descriptive. What's up with this pretentious, anti-vulgarity bullshit all of a sudden? We all know you're in charge of the blog. Quit strutting around like an asshole.

Anonymous said...

12:58 The flag was simply a liability, not an asset. Even if it means nothing, nothing is better than a liability. Take a bath. You may not smell good, but you won't stink. Simple enough?



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