4/30 Class Notes

4/30/19

  1. Preliminary Notes
    1. Discussion Questions
      1. What are the roots of the BLM movement? To what other movements/readings/issues should we connect it?
      2. What does “Black Lives Matter” mean? How raciducal is this phrase? Why?
      3. How is the historical moment – Obamacare, 2008 recession, trayvon, ferguson–impt?
    2. Ideas to think about
      1. Feminism
      2. Obama
        1. Reality vs aspirations of the Presidency
          1. Page 24
            1. “A coming to terms with the limits of what a Black leader at the helm of this country could, or would, really achieve for the masses of Black people set the stage for the expulsion of protests and organizing the began in 2012,  reemerged with even greater strength in 2014, and was sustained throughout 2016.”
          2. Page 23
            1. “It was with the understanding that there was an optimist and a sentiment of progressivism that his platform at least sought to achieve. And shortly after, there was a wakeup call, again, about the power of politicians in actually transforming society… And so what I’ve learned and what I hope many of us learned again are the limitations of any politician to change our lives.” Charlene Carruthers
      3. Carceral state
        1. Incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of white
          1. Discussed later in notes
      4. Capitalism
      5. Economic crisis
        1. Hurricane Katrina
          1. The national guard was not called in to fix the problem
            1. Left to fix themselves on their own
          2. The storm wasn’t the thing that hurt them the most, they were already suffering before
  2. Class discussion
    1. What is the difference between saying black lives matter and all lives matter?
      1. Looking at the statistics, it shows that black lives are disproportionately targeted/oppressed
      2. Going back to slavery
        1. Economic imbalance
          1. Intergenerational transfer of wealth
        2. Red lining
      3. Causes of poverty
        1. War on drugs
          1. Political tactic with politicians coding
          2. Separating families--- black families
          3. Drug use
            1. It is about the same percentage (28%) admit to using drugs
              1. White and black population
            2. 1986 drug act
              1. 5 gram of crack –– 5 years
              2. 500 grams of cocaine ––– 5 years
              3. Law that lets off white dealers more easily but targets black users
    2. What does the term mean in conjunction or resistance to all lives matter
      1. Black lives are targeted systemically more than whites
        1. The precarity of lives yet we have lots of things that protect us
          1. Health insurance, clothes, food, etc.
            1. But not everyone has access to these same things
      2. Lack of good schools, lack of economic prosperity, etc. the list can go on and on
    3. Incarceration and policing
      1. Because of a culture that black men are disportioptionaly locked up in the criminal justice system, is someone like Zimmerman able to relate an unarmed kid to a criminal?
        1. How do you explain the shooting of Trayvon Martin?
          1. What are the forces that conspire to give us that event?
            1. Racial profiling
            2. Suburbia
              1. The narrative that someone is coming to hurt you and you need to protect yourselves
                1. People moving to suburbs to get away from the city
              2. Location of shooting
                1. If he lived in a gated community, the policing wouldn’t be happening like this
              3. Neighborhood watch
            3. Gun culture
              1. The right to be armed
            4. Self-defense
              1. “Stand your ground laws”
                1. For a person to claim self defense even if the victim is unarmed
                2. Backed by gun lobbyists
      2. Showing all the pressures that Black people face
        1. People are tired of it but now that it is in the public view, the response is ‘wow, I didn’t realize that’-white people
        2. Showing the pushback that there were people backing Zimmerman
    4. Obama
      1. Discussion of quotes page 21-24
        1. What is the difference between a Black body in the oval office vs a president that is good for Black people?
          1. You can have a Black president that isn’t trying to make changes in Black communities
            1. What do Black communities need?
              1. Better access to jobs, resources (Education), healthcare, policing reform
            2. What is the relationship between the president you got and the president you need circa 2008 with Obama and BLM
              1. People feeling the need for these changes and there was hope that Obama would implement them where he could
                1. Expectation that he would do things for Black communities and create policies that would eliminate the mismerization of these communities
                2. He can change somethings in the system but it is the system itself that needs changing
                  1. Has blockades that he has to fight against
                3. One Black person in power doesn’t do a lot for the other 99% Black people

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