Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal Michael Eric Dyson

CSPAN Washington Journal Michael Eric Dyson December 24, 2017

Georgetown university socioprofessor and now author of his 19th book, peers we cannot stop, a sermon to White America. Welcome, whitey think White America needed a sermon. I think everybody could use a sermon. This is an uplifting exhortation to do good and reply critically upon ones life. To really understand that we are members of this universe together, cosmic citizens as dr. King talked about, spiritually talked about, i will do just talked to talk about the issues that so many of us think about and argue about and private spaces but those bases dont have a sense of security. What i wanted to do was to remind what americans that they are equal partners in this conversation on race, even more known for the historic legacy, their participation now in matters of race that require her conscious commitment to serious conversation. This is a call to worship, taking that a little further, what do you hope why people remember after reading and hearing the sermon . What is the biggest take away you want people to know . What it sounds like when it speaks in public. Message, itonly one is that public expression of love, and justice is important for us as american citizens to arrive at and the only way we is social and justice, economic inequality and gore vidal says we lived in the United States are in asia. Im trying to get us to revoke our citizenship in the United States of amnesia and become members of the kingdom of memory. In your book, you write in part that you dont get whiteness from your genes, is a social inheritance that is passed on to you as a member of a particular group and it is killing us. Quiet as it is cap, it is killing you as well. Race has no meaning outside of , whiteness is an advantage and privilege because you have made it so, not because the universe demands it. Right. I think it is extremely important for white people to is a fiction. It is a political projection, it is an identity that is arrived at as we arbitrarily within our culture and society, systems and structures assigned value or demerit to any given race, color, nationality or sexual orientation. What i wanted to suggest was that whiteness is the product of not your genetic inheritance, not what your parents pass on to you, it is what the culture assigns to you, it is the value in place upon it. It is not about a phenotypic over gino typical examination of ones own lineage, it is about understanding power, discretion, ethical insight, moral persuasion, is about Understanding Economic inequality. All the stuff is related to whiteness, whiteness is the byproduct of an attempt of a strength, impose constraint and its own weight of particular people. Case, africanamericans, latinos, whiteness has served as a kind of force that needs to be undone, it needs to be examined. People themselves are victims of it. When we look at president donald trump, appealing to the white working class, that kind of whiteness, that indivisible unanimity that President Trump has generated that we are white together, White Nationalists, i think this is a scourge to the nation and i want americans to think about that. You wrote about race and a lot of your other boats, you commented on it in multiple television programs, your former npr program, what was the motivation for writing this book . My motivation was i wrote this book, it grew from an oped in the New York Times and i wrote that because linda twog black men were killed. Killed by the police. And i had had enough. I had enough before then but now i knew i had to write something. I do put something in the against theargue unthinking kind of assignment of devaluing blackness. Dehumanizing blackness that was going on. Blacke ways in which people had to speak up and white people had to own our guest is Michael Aaron weon, his latest book fears cannot stop, a sermon to White America. We welcome you, calls and comments. Democrats, call 202 7488000. Independents and all others, 202 7488002. We welcome your comments on facebook. We look for your tweets as well. We are cspanwj. Talking about the shootings over the past several years, there is a palpable sense of fear that you write about in your book. You phrase this book and structure it as a church service. In this prayer, you say dont let it happen more. Ofannot bear the thought seeing another black person perish because of the weaponize fear, armed hostility of a society in its guts. Itt happen to anyone can happen to any of us, thats what we are all scared. Afraid forways felt your kids . Your kids are not adults. I have, yes. Society, thes weapon i think of fear among White Brothers and sisters. Especially those who are charged with upholding the law. The rancorous relations between Police People and communities of color have been there for a wild. The smartphone has revolutionized our understanding that many times black people have been telling the truth without recognition. You must have done something, you must have challenged the police, done something to make them feel that their life was in danger. What we often see is that what white people can usually take or granted, there are many instances in which they have been victims of unarmed Police Aggression. The reaction the reality is it happens in communities of color. We were being disbelieved, even barack obama was to say it are not making this up. We live in a fear, because we know that one twitch of the hand, one wrong movement, one wrong gesture, a black life can be ended without culpability on the part of the Police Person who acts often in on behalf of spite and ends up executing judge and jury a black life that doesnt get brought to justice in the courts of america. Thats what creates a lot of fear. Same you think that palpable fear is there in that generation . I think it is being learned. The videos we see that dont often result in a conviction for , or even before that, a Police Person being charged. Art these and of being snuff films of black life for the world. Executions in broad daylight of black people who were unarmed, or unjustly murdered at the behest of a Police Person. When you see the repetition and that execution, dehumanizing of black bodies, that has a deleterious and negative effect on young people and on my grandchildren. Joining us is michael eric dyson. Calls. O to your we will hear from robert in immaculate, california. Independent line. Veteran. Vietnam war i was injured in vietnam. And did law enforcement. I worked in the water desk Maxine Waterss district. The black people there didnt were told was go on welfare, live on welfare. This is going on with the democrats. Entitlements, and you, mr. Dyson, icu doing the same thing. Pushing, stay on entitlements. People iof white dont know why you have so much hate. You should call him down a bit, you dont see it. You are both zebras at one time or another. Learn how to love the other side, once you do that, write a book not about hatred, but about getting together. Both countries. Mr. Trump is doing the best he can, but you are doing the worst you can. We will get a response. I dont know where robert he must be a magician or houdini to see inside of my soul to magically and chemically produce a fiction of his imagination. Operates, godce bless you for your service, sir. As an apache, a native person and indigenous person, i would suggest that he think about the history of extermination and systemic removal of indian and native peoples in this country. I suggest he read some history. I have said nothing to date or before about the entitlements of black america. What i was speaking about was a Police Problem existing in america that needs to be addressed. More broadly, a system of racial inequality that needs to be solved. What i didnt say it is america has benefited from the unpaid labor of black people in america for quite a wild. Certainly we have to address that issue of race in this country. Our caller underscores the inability to hear or see nothing that said. He took me as a trope, a metaphor for his own sense of grief about what it means to be black and the resentment as a Police Person working in Maxine Waters district and all the people are on welfare. Theel its like all haitians have aids, or all of the nigerians wont go back to africa. That kind of trauma that has been delivered to the body of thes is indicative vicious White Supremacy that needs to be called out. Paul is on the democrat line. Hello. I just want to say we learn to judge people by their character and the actions they take. Together,d to work because we all bleed the color red. Time, our ancestors were slaves. We need to get to the point where no one claims victimhood. I dont think that is a good premise for any discussion to get advancement in our togetherness for the whole country. Lets all quit being victimhood and claiming victimhood and realized that at one time, everybodys ancestors were slaves at one time. Not just the blocks, the whites were slaves of the whites, the whites were even slaves to the blacks at one time. We need to get over it. I think he is doing a good thing, but it is not as bad as what he thinks. Myself, and many others, we judge people by character and actions. Good, thats derived in a way, a riff on Martin Luther kings juniors words when he was 34 years old. Live in a nation of children where they were not be judged by the color of their skin, but their character. That, it meansor we can all be judged by our character. What the caller doesnt understand is that sometimes contraception of a persons character is colored by their race. That one instance of behavior that is seen one way through the lens of whiteness of a White American is seen differently for a black american. When we look at the opioid addiction that we know is bleeding across the body politics into africanamerican culture. For arguments sake, when black people in the late 80s were victims of drug carnage and addiction, they were criminalized. They were seen as nihilistic worstes of americas side, the underbelly. Super predators who needed to be washed away with drug laws and put in jail. Now the opioid addiction has suggested we are not going to criminalize them, we are going to medical eyes them. Sisters,thers and whether they are on math or other forms of drugs, or this opioid addiction that is a scourge in america, the president stands up and begs for, pleads for empathy. Character of the two people is the same, these are hardworking americans who are victimized by addiction. We often see the other through the lens of our own perception, our own extreme tos. I wish we can judge people on character, but that character is colored. Notice the unanimity of vision, the apache brother, i think if the white brother who just called, democrats, independent, whiteness for a connection between the victimhood. You people are making claims. What affirmative action was like, the white middle class was created by the g. I. Bill. Extrae returning soldiers points on a test for employment, extra help to get into school, and extra help and money to buy house. Thats affirmative action, thats the predicate of your selfhelp, your bootstrap mentality, your john wayne i will do it by myself. Thats the mythology in america to believe without governmental assistance through projects and programs perpetuated by political bargaining, White Brothers and sisters were able to generate capital, buy a home, and then stabilize their families by telling everybody else to do it on their own. There is no victimhood, theres the recognition that others have been helped and we should help everybody. Some ofaller is echoing what you write, the black and white people dont merely have different experiences, we seem to occupy different universes with views that are fatally opposed to one another. The emergence of racial despaired easily petaled, it each body that gets snuffed out on a video and streamed on social media. We have selected the nations first black president and laced in the oval office the scariest racial demagogue, they make not be unrelated. In one sense, president barack obama was incapable of speaking as honestly and forthrightly about race as he may have otherwise desired. Some of it had to do with his own disinclination to be emotional, or invested about race. Hand, him not speaking honestly and obeying openly when a racial catastrophe occurred. He let from behind when it came to raise. Existed, his loathing of the need to get involved with race because he didnt want to be ghettoized as a black president. You have a guy disinclined to speak about race, if that didnt permit us to have the greatest intelligence of barack obama brought to bear in a productive and i think productive fashion about race. That left a vacuum in the void. Aboutnt want to talk race . Here is a guy who talks about race all the time. Donald trump, the mexicans, the muslims, the xenophobia we hear. In that sense, it creates a vacuum and a void. My bible tells me that if you kick a demon out and dont put something in its place, seven more will come in. We have kicked out the demon of race, but we didnt speak about it in a straightforward fashion. Now we have seen the replacement at the house of american identity, a vicious amplification of the demonology of racial bigotry that i think our president , unfortunately, continues to engage in. We will go back to calls. Good morning, cspan. Mr. Dyson, and america. Tonight at 7 00 Pacific Standard 720, the phony race baiters will be exposed in our government left and right. Very realistic about the problems during this country apart, i hate to say it, but you sound like an elitist. Why does he sound like an elitist question mark why does he summit can elitist . Trump has never said anything racist that i have heard in my life. I think you are pushing this race is a bit too all ofke tearing down our statutes. I think you are a person who would like to tear down all of our statues. You sound like a black elitist like farrakhan, and reverend wright, you are taking a few racists in this country and making it look like the majority of white people hate black people. That is a big mistake. I am addressing this already, but anything else . Its astonishing, again. The magical powers of our callers to discern my intent or my sociale anatomy of recommendations without reading the, talking to me, assuming that i am saying things that i havent said. On the other hand, when we talk . Bout racism, you never heard racism from donald trump read the New York Times story yesterday that appeared about immigration, and the critical claims that donald trump in the wasouse was limiting lamenting. The statistics in the haitians, 2. 1 is not great, but not every haitian has aids. His disparaging comments about nigerians, africans. Even more broadly. The reality is that we have a president who has been xenophobia, who has a travel ban that targets muslim countries in an unjust and unfair manner, a man who spoke about mexicans as the scourge of american democracy, a man who has talked about black people who participated in private business in practices that had to be scorned by the department of justice and others and was sued for his racial practices. A man who took out a fullpage ad against perpetrators of the crime in central park. When discovering that they did not commit the crime, he refused to repent. Who has trafficked in more than white supremacist and White Nationalist ideology. Perpetuated this legacy. I am trying to talk about my perspective on donald trump. In terms of being elitist, thats another word for being it nigga. ,eres an uppity black person you say you want intelligent black people, you say what happened was. When we go to school, now we are elitist. First we were down, now we are too smart. We are american citizens trying to deplore the gifts that have been given to us by god and earned by hard work to make it way to shoehorn our way into the larger privilege and circle of American Society and to say to White Brothers and sisters that White Privilege is real, lets share some of it and stop being blind and defensive about calling into questions the practices of racism in america. Is referring to is out of chaos, trump reshapes findion and find that at nytimes. Com. From florida on a republican line. On our republican line. Would justn, i wonder if you think you coming on tv and preaching to us whites about our whiteness and White Privilege. It may make us hate you even more than we may hate you. Just thenot, thats way you feel about things. This is just the way it is. I dont believe there is such a thing does privilege. I can go along with that. Thank you. I cant go along with that. Thank you. How would you define white with mark a lot of people say you have how would you define White Privilege . Let me to you of the greatest privileges of whites. To go down the street, me a cop, and live meet a cop, and lived to tell about it. You have to have the right color, not only the right cover, you have to have the presumption that you are not out to do me harm. That the presuppositions and the pretext of your humanity is not rooted in stereotypes or the belief that you as a white person are out to do damage to Human Community and therefore must be treated with a kind of disregard for your humanity. The reason black lives matter rose up is because the lives of black people were being recognized. For me, White Privilege is participating in a society that thinks you are a decent human being that will reward you for hard work as it should. It discourages others from recognizing the rewards of their hard work and that creates a segregated spheres of recognition that give some people more than they give , without even a signing value in terms of money or capital. The presumption that on an everyday basis, this person before me wants the same thing i want, thinks the same way i do, therefore i should treat that person with respect and assume they have integrity. Thats hardly what we talk about in terms

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