Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20160728

The in philadelphia, Democratic National convention has entered its final day. Last night at the wells fargo center, president obama called on americans to support Hillary Clinton. Askident obama tonight, i you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me, because you are who i was talking about 12 years ago when i talked about hope. It has been you who fueled my dog faith in our future, even when the odds were great, even when the road is long. Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope. Amy as obama spoke, hundreds of people held signs protesting the tpp. Some protesters also unfurled a banner reading tpp kills america. This is california delegate alex white. When the full text released, it was made known to the public that there was a death sentence that would basically Mean Companies would have a 20 having a monopoly on medications am a single medication the cost anywhere between 50,000 to 100,000 a year. My wife was dying this with a rare form of lung cancer three years ago. I have to do it for her and. Verybody with cancer i do not mean any disrespect to president obama, but i have got. O stand up to people when people are fighting for their lives, they should not have to fight to afford their medications. Amy thats california delegate alex white. On tuesday, Virginia Governor terry mcauliffe, who is close to Hillary Clinton, told politico he believed clinton would change her position and support the tpp if she is elected. Meanwhile, wednesday night also featured a primetime speech by clintons running mate, virginia senator tim kaine, who spoke about the historic nature of their ticket. Mr. Kaine my fellow democrats, this week we start the next chapter in our great and proud story. Thomas declared all men were equal, and abigail remembered the women. Peace, andkered the the barriers were broken down. Jack told us what to ask. Lyndon answered the call. Martin had a dream. And then there was si se puede. Harvey paid his life. A bridge into the 21st century, and iraq gave us and barack obama gave us hope. Now hillary is ready. Amy during his speech, senator kaine also spoke about the nine months he spent with jesuit missionaries in honduras in 1980 saying, i got a firsthand look at a different system, a dictatorship, he said. But what kaine failed to mention, as professor greg grandin notes, is that the u. S. Had installed that very dictatorship and then backed it with millions in military funding. We will have more on senator kaine with greg grandin friday on democracy now on wednesday, delelegates also disrupted former cia director and defense secretary leon panettas speech by chanting no more war. Todod [chanting] amy the arenana eventually tutd off the lights on the oregon delegation, where many of the chants were coming from. Bubut degates shone the lines on their cell phones anand contind chanting. Meanwhile, on the republican side, dodonald trump called on russia to hack Hillary Clintons email. Mr. Trump russia, if you are listening, i hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Amy this comes as u. S. Intelligence agencies continue to blame the hack of the 20,000 leaked dnc emails on russia. Speaking at the dnc wednesday, retired Navy Rear Admiral john hutson said trumps call to h hack clintons email was criminal intent. Meanwhile, donald trump also doubled down on his calls to defend nato allies only if they have spent enough of their gdp on defense. Speaking at a rally in scranton, pennsylvania, trump said, were protecting countries that most of the people in this room have never heard of and we end up in , world war iii give me a break. They have to pay. Trumps position squarely contradicts that of his running mate, indiana governor mike pence, who told pbs newshour last week well uphold our treaty obligations, including the mutual Defense Agreement that is nato. Former new york city m mayor ruy giuliani, who is now a National Security adviser to donald trump, has called for measures to force muslims on the governments terrorism watch list to wear electronic tracking bracelets. During the same News Conference wewednesday, giuliani also boasd about how he sent undercover agents to infiltrate mosques as early as 1994. Fox news bill oreillyly has doubled down on his comments that enslaved africans who built the white hohouse were wellfe he made the comments on tuesday, in response to first Lady Michelle obamas speech at the dnc monday night. Mrs. Obama i wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. Daughters, two beautiful intelliligent black young women, playing with their dog on the white house lawn. Amy that was Michelle Obama. This was bill oreillys response. Slaves that worked there were well fed andnd had decent lodgig provided by the government am a witch stopped hiring a slave deny in 1802, but the feds for bit subcontractors from usining slave labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially correct in saying slaves were builders of the white house, but therere were others working, as well. Amy the comments sparked widespread outrage and were e sn as a a defense o of slavery. Y. But on wednesday, oreilly claimed the statements were just a fact. Actually, primary sources contradict his claims. In a letter from november 28, 1800, first Lady Abigail Adams described enslaved africans forced to labor on the white houses construction as being half fed and destitute of clothing. Turkeys government has dismissed nearly 1,700 military personnel and closed more than 130 Media Outlets since a failed coup earlier this month. That number includes nearly half of all turkish generals and admirals. Human Rights Groups have also reported widespread arrests and torture of suspected coup sympathizers. The pentagon says it wilill opea formal investigation into what syririan monitors say is the u. S. s deadliest attack on civilians since it began bombing syria nearly two years ago. The strike took place 10 days ago near the city of manbij. The Monitoring Group airwars said the strike likely killed between 120 and 150 civilians. Until earlier this year, the pentagon claimed no civilians had been killed in its air campaign against isis, while at the same time claiming more than 20,000 isis fighters had been killeded. In new york city, all charges have been drdropped against democracy now s chararina nadua and juan c carlos davila. E e two werere arrested in a apl while filming a prototest at an antitrump rally in manhattan. The police grabbed their camera to theherophone, slamamming grground as they shohouted pre they had been charged with disorderly conduct. And the first African American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction has died at the age of 72. James Alan Mcpherson was awarded the pulitzer in 1978 for his book elbow room. Mcpherson grew up in attending segregated schools in georgia. He graduated from harvard law school. He pursued fiction instead of law after winning a short story contest. He was Professor Emeritus at the iowa writers workshop at Iowa University at the time of his death. And those are some of the headlines. This is breaking with convnvention war, peaeace, ande presidency. Im amy goodman. The Democratic National convention has entered its final day. Tonight t Hillary Clinton will , make history when she becomes the first woman to accept a major partys president ial nomination. On wednesday night, her running mate tim kaine, president obama, Vice President joe biden, and former new york mayor Michael Bloomberg urged the nation to back clinton over donald trump come november. Michael bloomberg described trump as a con man. Through his career, donald trump has left behind a welldocumented record of ancram sees and thousands a grip seize and thousands of lawsuits and angry stockholders and contractors who feel cheated and disillusioned customers who feel they were ripped off. Chop up says he wants to run the nation like he is running his business . God help us. I am a new yorker, and i know a con when i see one. Amy the democrats Vice President ial nominee tim kaine took a stab at impersonating donald trump. Dontine you know who i trust . Hmm, i wonder. Trump] donald trump. Donald trump. Not impersonating] works everysame two time he makes his biggest, hugest promises. Mepersonating trump] believe. It is going to be great, believe me. Were going to build a wall and make mexico pay for it. Believe me. We are going to destroy isiss of us, believe me. There is nothing suspicious and my tax returns, believe me. Amy thats Vice President ial nominee tim kaine. Current Vice President joe biden warned of trumps lack of empathy. Vice President Biden his cynicism is unbounded. His lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in a phrase i suspect he is most proud of making famous youre fired. Really, i am not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child no matter where you were raised. How can there be pleasure in . Ying youre fired us he cares to tell about the middle class. Give me a break. That is a bunch of malarkey. Amy president obama implied trump is a homegrown demagogue who threatens american democracy. President obama he is betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election. Crowd no. President obama and that is another bet donald trump will lose. And the reason he will lose it is because he is selling the American People short. We are not a fragile people, not a frightful people. Our power does not come from some selfdeclared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We do not look to be ruled. [cheers and applause] president obama our power, our power comes from those immortal put to paper right here in philadelphia all those years ago we hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equaual, tht we the people can form a more perfect union. Amy one of the most moving moments of the night occurred in a section focused on gun violence. Former arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords, who was wounded in a shooting, briefly 2011 spoke to the crowd. In congress, i learned a powerful lesson strong women get things done. [cheers and applause] hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer. In the white house, she will stand up to the gun lobby. That is why i am of voting for hillary. [cheers and applause] speaking is difficult for me, but come january, i want to say these two words madame president. Amy protests on the floor of the convention continued on wewednesday. Theyey reached a peak when formr cia director leon panetta took the stage. While panetta was criticizing Donald Trumps appeal to the russians to hack Hillary Clintons emails, many delegates started chanting no more war. Donald trump asks our troops to commit war crimes, spurns our allies from europe to asia, suggests that cocountries have nuclear weapons, and he praises dictators from Saddam Hussein to vladimir putin. [chanting] today amy just after leon panetta stopped speaking, democracy now s deena guzdeder caught up with one of the delegates who took part in the protest. My name is alexis edelstein. I am a bernie delegate. Who is speaking, and what happened here right now . Former director of the cia leon panetta was speaking to the oregon delelegation started to chant no more war. Others were chanting with them. As soon as that kept going and going, the dnc shut off the lights to the oregon delegegati. I do not know if that is a way of showing they want to silence them. Why did this action happen when leon panetta was speaking . Cia, youanetta and the know, the cia has supported foreign wars nonstop continuously. Hillary clinton is a warmonger. She wants to continue all the wars in the middle east be Hillary Clinton is with israel on the palestinian issue appeared we are for a free palestine. Hillary clinton once to continue , and a secretary of state, she was responsible for reporting honduras. N being from argentina, i am sensitive to south american issues. I was born under a military dictatorship that was supported by henry kissinger. Antiwar,hy we are antiHillary Clinton half of the budget goes to the war budget. That really sacrifices investment in infrastructure, education,n, health care, with a country is lacking and what bernie sananders is fifighting. Amy that is Bernie Sanders delegate alexis edelstein. When we come back, we host a debate between professors Michael Eric Dyson and eddie glaude. Stay with us. [music break] amy salt silver oxygen by antony and the johnsons. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org we are breaking with convention war, peace, and the presidency. Twohour specials daily. I am amy goodman. We are broadcasting this week from the Democratic National convention here in philadelphia. To talk more about the convention, Hillary Clinton, donald trump, and president obamas legacy, were joined by two guests. Eddie glaude is chair of the department of africanamerican studies at princeton university. Howost recent book is race still enslaves the american soul. He recently had a article with the headline, my democratic problem with voting for Hillary Clinton. Also, Georgetown University professor, Michael Eric Dyson, who authored many books, including the black presidency barack obama and the politics of race in americica. He wrote an article titled yes she can why Hillary Clinton will do more for black people than obama. Professor dyson, on this issue of why Hillary Clinton, you say, will do more for africanamericans than president obama. Making the argument in the , notxt of a host of things the least of which that president obama, for a variety of reasons, has been disinclined to deal with racism, has been hesitant about engaging race. I think that Hillary Clinton come a for many of those reasons, will be more forthcoming. She spoke very intentionally about implicit bias. She asked white people to hold themselves accountable, visavis White Privilege. She has talked about systemic racism, as well as individual acts of bigotry and violence. In the aggregate, when we look at the degree to which she is capable because of that very White Privilege is be good but race in a way of obama, even if he chose to be more forthcoming, would be categorized and put in a black box in a certain way, she has both the drive, intelligence, the ability, and the privileged to speak about it in a way that he perhaps is not only disinclined to do so, but may be restricted in his own way. Amy professor eddie glaude. The limits and constraints obama faced, but the claims around Hillary Clinton are basically aspirational. There is no real evidence in her immediate past of any kind of genuine and deep concern about the material conditions of black lives. What i am suggesting is that part of the problem is that we cannot infer from anything she has done that when she gets in office, she is going too change and address the circumstances of black folk in any substantive way them are the most vulnerable in a aubstantiveve way. At the end of the way, i think Hillary Clinton is a corporate to book read, and she is committed to a nilo neoliberal economic velocity. Amy what is a neoliberal philosophy . It is an understanding that the notion of the under good the notion of the greater good is what turns is all and rivalry defining who we are, and the states principal function is to secure the functioning of the economy and the defense, and creating Market Conditions whereby you and i can pursue our own self interests. Part of what that does, we only need it as an economic philosophy, and we have to understand it as a political rationale. There are those that are selfish and selfinterested, who are always in competition with one another, and we lose sight of how neoliberalism attacks the political imagination. What i ask of Hillary Clinton is, will she fundamentally change the circumstances that are at the heart of the problems facing this country . And fact, i think she is illustrative of the problem. That is interesting. Obviously, i agree with your analysis on neoliberalism. But in terms of taste acting in terms of dissecting making up with that is, we have to say Bernie Sanders exhibits, in a profound way to my some of the if that becomes a litmus test. If we are all in it, then the distinction makes no difference because, ultimately, if youre talking about affecting material conditions of black people, not only does she vote 93 the same way Bernie Sanders voted, say, as one lodestar for what progressive politics might look like, it is not simply about inference. It is the fact she spent her time working with mayor edelman, the way she championed causes that black people cannot only be concerned about but were involved with as first lady. It is not only the fact that come as a senator and then as a secretary of state, her awareness of what ethnicity and race and, of course, gender, those differences might make, at least provide the platform for her to articulate that vision, and more especially, in the aftermath of racial crisis in america, she has responded in a way to mobilize the public understanding of those instances. For me, if material instances of the predicate of determining the legitimacy of a particular policy, yeah, it is aspirational, but i want that as per ration to be about taking black lives seriously, about what we can do to transform the financial conditions of our people, and i know, given the fact that cory booker has a prominent blurb on your book that he is supporting you, right . I know you disagree, but youre still in lead with him in terms of your analysis of what happens, and i am a fan of cory booker, but the devastating analysis of the consequences of neoliberalism in newark. So all of us will be associated with people who are not perfect, but we have to transform. Occupy a is trying to pure, pristine space. We are all dirty and here. Lets be honest, right, in terms of her work with edelman. We know about brother pete elect. We know senator Edward Kennedy would lead the charge, supporting chip and we know what welfare reform did. It moved on as poverty increased, and it increased extremely and deeply. Part of that we need to understand. How do we talk about her response to those things, those children, who are leaving the violence, fleeing the violence . To ane got to respond economic philosophy, right, that holds wall street in high regard and main street. Part of what i am suggesting here is not that i am trying to defend Bernie Sanders. That is just one balloon of the blossom of the democratic awakening taking place in this country. What i am saying is we need to understand who Hillary Clinton is, just as we need to understand who barack obama is. Part of what these folks are are representatives of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. These folk, it has been on their watch, welfare bill, glasssteagall been on their watch her aint no doubt about that. But here is the bottom line, with basketball, you have to deal with what the defense gives you. Were talking about donald trump, Hillary Clinton. Bring it back to reality. We have been in a series reality that is abstract and looking at the philosophical consequences of particular ideologies. In light of the reallife circumstances we face no, we are talking about the choice between donald trump and the Hillary Clinton, and of course jill stein and the libertarian candidate, but i am talking about this with a real chance to win. If we are concerned about the very people youre speaking still be looking at material conditions no matter who is president. But we have to amplify the voices by our conditions confronted. No doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton represents the only possibility to at least address the undeniable messages of a political system, neoliberalism in particular, more broadly, the kind of tide of capital and its impact on the conditions of workingclass and poor black people. Nobody got aand possibility of doing none of that. In a context where donald trump is the president , it may mobilize and galvanize grgrassroots movevements that l articulate resistance against him, but it will not leverage the Political Authority of the state in defense of those vulnerable bodies here it has not been perfect, but it represents a huge advantage over a possibility of a donald trump president. Case that wehe have to keep donald trump out of the white house. That it is also the case that, under Current Conditions, 38 plus 40 of children and the United States under poverty. In my own state, 50 of black children are living in poverty. Under these Current Conditions with barack obama in office. Freddie grays mother is still grieving. Other mothers are still grieving. Call the roll. We have to do two things simultaneously. Keep donald trump out of office. Two, an ounce of business as usual is unacceptable an that business as usual is a necks a double. It will mean the fear of electing donald trump cannot be the principal motivation of how we engage politically. Your ideals will be subverted, undermined, marginalized if donald trump this is the demon i am talking about, and in my mind, that is donald trump. If we do not make that the minority of preventing the forging of a conception of the state, much less the global theaters within which america operates, if we do not prevent donald trump from ascending, so to speak, to that throne, all the legitimate stuff you and i agree on, if you read my book on president obama, i lay all that stuff out there, i lay out the way in which black lives have been decentered in terms of economic and social stability. Furthermore, when you talk about the degree to which black lives matter, do you think in a donald Trump Presidency not only can we not an knowledge black lives matter, we cannot even see that black lives exist on a particular plane that represents anything like democracy. That is a priority. If that is addressed i do not want to reduce all the compliment desk obligated politics, but it is a crucial wedge that can be inserted into the contemporary political scene to at least make a change. Basic claim is that we need to keep donald trump out of office. No doubt, as a priority. And as an additional priority, not secondary, we need to announce it is not business as usual. But you need to be supporting business as usual, because tolary clinton trying rebrand her, no matter how they try to branch or as a change maker, she is the poster child of the corporate takeover in the Democratic Party, the poster child of blue dog democrats, i would even say, a certain conservative side of being a democrat. We can debate it. I might have overstated the case. But what does it mean for us to be committed to the conception of democracy . Im down. You seen be supporting some unreal is him. Hold up. Existential in the face of creeping demagoguery that renders our philosophical differences abstract. Because in the real world you claim to be concerned about, what were concerned about is how black people and poor people and people of color and people across the board, get represented in the politics of representation in our democracy. What i am concerned about is what you know, as well as i do, what political scientists have said. The Republican Party does not have to o care about what we do, and the Democratic Party, every two, clutter, six years, come to the community and try to herd us to the polls. And then they have no obligation to deliver on policies. She shows up in a church. They come to churches, come into our communities. But when we talk about politics, how are you addressing things . If you are with me on that, how is it that a democratic candidate can come into our community where all this suffering has been laid out, all the suffering is engulfing our communities, and when we look at the back of Barack Obamas head, behind it are the ruins of the black communities. Then we get business as usual. Only because we are afraid of donald trump and not understanding our power night, obamasday said no one is more qualified than hillary c clinton to serves president. President obama even in the midst of crisis, she listens to people, and she keeps her cool and treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds, no matter how much h peope try to knock her down, she never ever quits. That is the hillary i know. That is the hillary i have come to admire. And that is why i can say with confidence, there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not bill, nobody, more qualified asn Hillary Clinton to serve president of the United States of america. And me prop that is president obama on wednesday night addressing, oh, 17,000, 18,000 people who packed into the wells Fargo Convention center. Professor dyson . First of all, the important of that statement was to mitigate the vicious, lethal legacy of sexism that has become so normalized that we do not even Pay Attention to it. Let me get back to the point we break ofng before the obamas rhetoric. The point is that, why is it we reduce the complicated legacy of our freedom struggle to present moments . Howard thurman said, refuse that intention to reduce the level, to reduce your dreams to the level of the event, which is your immediate experience could what i am arguing for is that we pull up on the very romantic parts of that word, conceptions of selfdetermination, and the flourishing of like agency. In other words, for black people to get stuff done under impossible circumstances. The reason i can maintain the hope, and i talk about the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is a shallow virtue. Hope is a deep verge you. I havent to believe that in a religious and spiritual reality that has motivated black people from the getgo, that says, i do not care what is going on, i am not going to give in to what is happening. If you talk about it is tough enough, Martin Luther king, junior, ralph abernathy, ella baker come up like people do not even have the franchise. If black people were able to leverage the Political Authority and their moral compelling arguments, their narratives and stories, in defense of their vulnerable bodies, who are we now . We have enormous access to the vote to limit the possibility of the situation, as if this choice between maintaining a conception of flourishing of black people under impossible circumstances versus putting donald trump in office, lets do both. Lets both ignited the donald trump is the most immediate priority to be prevented, and at the same time, as you say, speak about these other interests. A does not mean you have to be either or. Why cant we do both . Why cant we put hillary in office, like you have conversations with cory booker, why you have engagements with elite white institutions . All of our hands are dirty my son graduated from there. My point is, it is not an either or situation. I think what you say i agree with, but i do not agree with deferring the right ready of donald trump being stopped from occupying space if it is bad now, if you think you are lonely now, wait until the night. Amy who do you want to see as president , eddie glaude . In this election . I have no interest. Amy you do not think it matters . I do not want donald trump to be in office. I can only put it in the negative. Amy if you do not want donald trump to be in office, how would you prevent that from happening . With aote a piece political scientist at columbia about that we should vote strategically. If you are an africanamerican, a person of color, a progressive conscience am in a swing state, it makes all the sense in the world that you vote for Hillary Clinton. It is to keep donald trump out of office. But if you are in a red state like my mom and dad, theyre democrats, but they know the state will go whole donald trump. Rou can actually blank out o vote for third Party Interested what will happen . In that moment, you actually have 2020. It will end that the number of delegates a come from that state to the convention in 2020. Ime in a blue state. We are to shift this and are of gravity on how africanamericans engage the political process. 1924, it was said it is almost as if the negro vote has already been prepackaged and sealed to be delivered the four they vote. 1956, why i will not vote, the the two evils. 1965, malcolm x. , the ballot is like a bullet. Our ballot in our pocket. All i am saying hold up. I will give an example here it what does it mean to think strategically about the vote . What does it mean to embrace a radical democratic vision . If urs interest liberal if you are a centrist liberal you have a centrist liberal on your books. Let me finish. If youam saying to you, aint claiming a pure space, do not claim that space. This is the problem with these negro intellectuals, you talk about an abstract representation of brand principles. When a woman asks who youre going to vote for, you are stumbling and stammering. You had a pregnant pause. It delivered that is not neutral. That is not a neutral thing. Black people were political scientists who could educate adjudicate rationale and demagoguery. The people you are concerned about cant make decisions like that, lou state, red state. Intodonald trump coming office, that has to be resisted. Though out and vote for Hillary Clinton, because a vote for Hillary Clinton preserves the possibility that the dialogue but the professor and i are tradition, butnd they did not get you to vote. Martin luther king, junior, thurgood marshall, ella baker, those are the linchpins in the narrative of black resistance to White Supremacy, social injustice, and economic inequality and we should study this in class, but on your ass, you go out and vote for Hillary Clinton, who makes a tremendous difference. We have to have a financial thing for everyday ordinary people. What you are representing as abstract, i can imagine black Youth Project 100 organizing in chicago around this issue. Do what you need to do. Do not worry about who will be selected by the democratic primary. What young to get try to suggest that everyday ordinary people cannot distinguish between blue and red. It is about organizing. I am not. Youre talking about abstract individuals. I am saying organizing. Organize. It is not either or. This is the case is it either or . The Strategic Land is not either or. Ok, we agree. But you are out here stumping for clinton. I am stumping for a tradition of black liberation. It is not that i have to abstractly link it. I am the embodiment of that. Everyreaching in churches sunday. I am telling you that i am in churches with black people preaching every sunday. I am talking about the way in which we leverage the political, moral, and Spiritual Authority of ordinary black people. When we walk out of this place, ordinary black people going to see me as the embodiment of their dreams. I am sure they will see that in you, as well. They tell me thank you they congratulate me for having the courage and authority. I do not take it seriously, but when i take seriously is their identification with me as a voice for their aspirations and hopes. What i say to you is i agree with you in the full sweep of your analysis. I am saying that everyday, ordinary black folk i know, that im in contact with, that i am in political organizations with, on the front line with, when i spoke yesterday for the black caucus of the Democratic National convention, when those 2000 people said, what you say represents that, all i say to you is that at the end of the day, we cannot afford the luxury of engaging in abstract reflections on the conditions of black people when what is at stake is a demagogue that you and i both resist and thing is problematic getting into office. Once that happens, then we begin to leverage and articulate a narrative that says it aint either or. It is bototh and. I believe that we can overcome and prevail against the odd. By princetonined professor eddie glaude. His article in time magazine. And profofess so might go professor Michael Eric Dyson Georgetown University professor, political analyst and author. P piece this is democracy now [music break] amy president obama singing Amazing Grace as he delivered the eulogy a at the funeral for south carorolina state senatorod reverend clementa pinckneyey, te pastor of emanueuel ame, who was murdered by white shooter dylann , along with eight other parishioners. Charleston, south carolina. This is democracy now ,. Two weeks of specials, breaking with c convention war, peace, d the presidency. We are broadcasting this week from philadelphia at the Democratic National convention. In a minute, we will return to the bait with Michael Eric Dyson and eddie glaude. First, i want to turn to first Lady Michelle obamas addressed to the dnc monday night. Mrs. Obama i wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. I watch my daughters, two beautiful intelligent black young women, playing with their. Ogs on the white house lawn amy so that is first Lady Michelle obama speaking monday night here in philadelphia. Talks news bill oreilly responded to this comment on tuesday by claiming the slaves who built the white house were well fed. Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor for802, but the feds deny bids of contractors from using sle labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially correct inn saying slaves were builders of the white house, but there were others working, as well. Amy that was foxs bill oreilly. Our guests, george town professor eric dyson, and professor eddie glaude. Your response . Well, it is ludicrous for bill oreilly to deny the fact that slave labor built that institution, in fact, built america. Toni morrison said, on the backs of blacks. , institutionsects all rest on what black people provided. Not just physical labor. Plans were drafted and they extended what was begun with another architect, or the fact that black intellectual and social and moral vision made possible the realization of the very Democratic Energy that that building embodies and represents. The point professor glaude made earlier about what black people have done in this country, that white house represents such a powerful moment in locus of such competing energy, and the reason bill oreillys is upset and many white people are responding is because Michelle Obama, without saying so, without saying i am engaging in a powerful articulation of blackness in reaction to the rise of White Supremacy and a culture that the doors whiteness norm for america, she was invading that. She talking about children on the white house lawn is messing with the mindset of those looking in the broader scope of thing and just how lethal the presence of obama and mrs. Obama and their children represent. It is stupid. Yeah, what he said. It is just stupid, but it is revealing. Part of what is at the heart of the problem in our discussions around race in the country is a fundamental that faith. There is a sense in which the ways folks engaged in the conversation around racial inequality, believes in assumptions are never made explicit. Some people are always invaded. Another trying to find account of what is going on. So it is stupid, and it is bad and so it is revealing. Let me say this, it t was a powerful speech, but what is so disturbing to me is the way in which the Democratic Party has created an insidious american exceptionalism or did so when she talks about my beautiful intelligent black daughters playing on the lawn of the white house, that is symbolic, but that was deployed in the context of a narrative of america being the greatest country on the planet. They were, in some ways, reclaiming, retooling the shining city on the hill. Of john revision winthrop you even get joe biden last night talking about the 21st century will be the american century. Intomost thirtysomething ill most through something into the television. It looked like the Republican Party of the 1980s. No wonder Melania Trump could wager is Michelle Obama, because it fits perfectly. The instances of pleasures him of black people by white people are not reduced to that. I am saying to you, make no mistake about what Michelle Obama was saying. We might engage in a philosophical argument about what is going on, but the bottom line is, they got the message real loud and clear. It was not about american exceptionalism, which i agree should become a sized, or the degree to which barack obama is like the other negroes, what Michelle Obama was saying, i am just like the other negroes. She was presenting a color narrative to the have jiminy saying that slaves are manifest in their ancestors, showing what her children represent. Amy two minutes left. What about Supreme Court justice choices, whoever will be president . This is critical. In some ways, this is part of why i have to have a strategy. Is why we have to get donald trump out of office, and we have to announce business as usual, and we have to shift this at your of gravity of Democratic Politics in black communities. I am continuing your point about the importance of the Supreme Court, and this is why we have to engage in a dual strategy. What is ultimately at the heart of it is we have to understand what is at the heart of this country, and our current way of living is no longer sustainable. The crisis in black c communitis require a different kind of politics. The black Political Class has become identical, a decisive role indecipherable from the democratic policies. The book and talk about race and gender in all this stuff, but we know that is the policy of neoliberalism. We need a lot of reimagining. I am down with all that stuff, but at the end of the day, i am with her, he is with me, we with us. Gettingto keep from into office a demagogue who changed the landscape of american representational and Democratic Politics, but also the nature of fabric of the conversations, the conditions of emerging. At the end of the day, Hillary Clinton has to be put into office because the Supreme Court justices will make a difference, the policy recommendations will make a difference, the presence of a person open to challenging White Supremacy, white dominance , and White Privilege through her own rhetoric. We can take that rhetoric amy we have to leave it there. Thank you both for being with us. I want to thank Michael Eric Dyson for being with us. Michael eric dyson is a Georgetown University professor, author of many books, including the black presidency barack obama and the politics of race in america. And professor eddie glaude, who teaches at rinsed University Per at his most recent book democracy in black how race , still enslaves the american soul. I will be doing a report from the convention and two talks. Friday, july 29, in massachusetts. Saturday, martha its a vineyard. Check our website, democracynow. Org. Happy birthday to rob jang. Special thanks to [captitioning made possible by democracy now ] amy f from the Democratic National convention in philadelphia, this is democracy now substantiveeal, reform to the criminal justice tem, we can try to change this case 100 times and cases just like it and we would have the same result. Amy prosecutors in baltimore have dropped all chaharges agait the polilice officers s connecto the deatath of freddieie gray, o died last yeyear of spinalal injuries a after he was s arresd anand transported d in a polici