A conversation about what's going on in the world at any given point in time…and what I think about it. Occasionally, guest bloggers may appear. Viewer comments are welcome. Peace! Alpha Heel
“May you live in interesting times,” is an English expression, often mistakenly attributed to the Chinese. The use of the expression is meant to be Ironic, suggesting that “interesting” times are often times of trouble. I think it’s fair to say, We are there.
Today’s post is intended to depict a few of the ways our times are “interesting,” by reviewing several metrics associated with a certain leader of the free world. Let’s get right into it.
64 Times Mentioned in Epstein Report.
97 Times Pleaded the Fifth.
34 Felony Convictions.
91 Criminal Charges.
26 Sexual Assault Allegations.
6 Bankruptcies.
5 Draft Deferments.
4 Indictments.
2 Impeachments.
2 Convicted Companies.
1 Fake University Shut Down.
1 Fake Charity Shut Down.
$25 Million Fraud Settlement.
$5 Million Sexual Abuse Verdict.
$2 Million Fake Charity Abuse Judgment.
$93 Million Sexual Abuse Judgements.
$400+ Million Fraud Judgment.
First President in history to serve a full term increase the deficit every year he was in office.
First President in history to maintain a debt to GDP ratio over 100% for his entire term.
Highest annual budget deficit.
Most added to the national debt in a single term.
Most new unemployment claims.
Largest single day point drop in the history of the Dow.
First major party candidate in half a century to lose the popular vote twice.
Longest government shutdown in history (and he did that while his own party controlled both chambers of Congress).
First President in the history of approval ratings to maintain a net negative approval rating for his entire term.
First President to be impeached twice.
First President to have bipartisan support for his conviction after impeachment (which happened both times).
Most indictments, guilty pleas, and criminal convictions of members of an administration.
Yesterday was March 11, 2025. Five years ago, on March 11, 2020, after more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries and 4,291 deaths, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, the number of COVID-19 deaths surpassed 1 million in the U.S., according to data compiled by NBC News — a once unthinkable scale of loss even for the country with the world’s highest recorded toll from the virus.
The number — equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. — was reached at stunning speed: 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus.
As the epicenter of the pandemic, 1,826 days later, COVID-19 remains a source of disparate opinion, and rancorous division. Established as a pandemic in the final year of the first Trump administration, the Coronavirus became a bright yellow line that divided Americans between pro and anti-Trump factions. Donald Trump at one point called the virus a Democratic hoax, subsequently was hospitalized due to contracting it, later proposed several not scientifically supported remedies, and hosted at least one function deemed to be a superspreader event.
Trump supporters frequently dismissed the severity of the virus and disparaged almost all proposed strategies for keeping people safe, whether wearing masks, social distancing, frequent handwashing, and especially closing businesses and institutions. Doctors, scientists, and people supporting such safety measures were frequently at odds with Trump and his devotees.
Five years later, COVID-19 is still with us. We learned early on that like the flu, it will probably always be around.
The COVID-19 Vaccine became widely available in 2021. It was a two-shot regimen, with two primary deliverers, Moderna, and Pfizer. In an interview with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, Trump admitted he had gotten a Covid vaccination. This was, not surprisingly, cause for derision, among his supporters.
Over 81% of the population has had at least one covid vaccination, 70% of the population is considered fully vaccinated, 97% of the population over age 16 has at least one shot, and 82% over 16 years of age are fully covered. As a result of the high number of vaccinated Americans, the frequency of the disease has been greatly diminished. Test Positivity for the week ending March 1st, was 3.9%. Remember, the incidence of the disease may be low, but it is, and will be still with us. “Five Years Later: Covid 19!”http://“Five Years Later: Covid 19!”
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There’s no easy way to frame this, so I might as well just rip off the band-aid. Forget the Constitution, never mind history, legacy, and tradition. We are entering a new frontier.
The Founding Fathers would be apologetic. The great experiment is bordering on being null and void. Done. Finis.
Republicans laud Trump as transactional, the ultimate deal maker. His bona fides in the bizarre are legendary and need no recounting.
Musk is the wealthiest man in the world. After buying Twitter and converting the platform into a conservative safe space where conspiracy theories abound, hate speech is welcome, and Trump support is the coin of the realm, he is to Trump, what Trump is to MAGA, the source of all things indisputable.
For all practical purposes, Musk injected enough money into the electoral process, on behalf of Trump and Republicans to equate to more than a million dollars per electoral vote. In turn, Trump has provided Musk the latitude to convert America into his wholly owned subsidiary; AmericaX. A land in which federal agencies are being neutered, with the prospect of their functions being outsourced to Oligarchs…like Musk. “Are we there yet?”
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The United States is the most powerful nation in the history. Through its leaders, it has long proclaimed itself to be exceptional. To be fair, in many ways, it is. By dint of will, intellect, ingenuity, ambition, perseverance, grit, and a healthy helping of God’s grace, we have attained a standard of living that is the envy of the world.
For more than a decade, Americans have been growing increasingly weary of, and disenchanted with historical norms and traditions, especially in government and media spaces. A cynical view of what fueled this rapidly emerging tempestuous reaction holds that the election, and subsequent re-election of Barack Obama was a mind-exploding catalyst.
In 2008, Obama was a relatively new US Senator from Illinois, who had dramatically entered the national political consciousness four years earlier with a stemwinder of a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Still, his auspicious introduction notwithstanding, he was a decided underdog when he entered the 2008 Democratic Primary. At that time, Hillary Clinton was considered the odds-on favorite to capture his Party’s nomination. To shorten the story, that didn’t happen. Senator Obama went on to win the nomination, and would later defeat Arizona Senator John McCain, becoming the nation’s first Black President.
McCain ran a spirited campaign, but he faced significant headwinds due to the Great Recession. However, after Clinton conceded and withdrew from the race for the Democratic nomination, Obama was able consolidate his Party’s support. Winning the 2008 Presidential Race was a seminal moment for both the Democratic Party and for the United States. The 43 Presidents before Obama had all been White, and if truth be told, it’s likely no one had first Black President on their Bingo Card in 2008.
While the dawn of the Obama era proved to be a prodigiously pivotal moment in time and history, not everyone celebrated. Democrats exulted in having stopped a third consecutive Republican administration from occupying the White House, and for having won both the House and the Senate. Black America was euphoric. Most in the community thought they might never see a Black Man in the Oval Office.
Conversely, Republicans were gobsmacked. They were in utter disbelief, and for many, McCain became a pariah for having lost…to the Black guy. After all, it was not unheard of to be out of power for four years, or even for eight, but never in the history of “exceptional” America had anyone among them seriously considered the prospect of ceding occupancy of 1600 PA Ave. to a Black man.
The opposition fortified immediately. On the evening of January 20, 2009, after President Obama’s inauguration earlier in the day, a group of 15 high-ranking Republicans, including Senators and House members met for dinner to plot the plan of action for the official GOP resistance to Barack Obama. The strategic assault continued throughout both of Obama’s terms in office. Author Robert Draper, wrote a book about the GOP exploits, entitled, Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives (later republished under the title: When the Tea Party Came to Town). Spoiler Alert, judging from the second title, you can infer, the Tea Party sprang up in response to Obama’s presidency, at least in part because nothing else was successful in neutralizing him.
The resistance, while unable to derail his re-election bid, did reduce his numerical support, advantage, and leverage in Congress. That opposition grew increasingly mean spirited during the Obama years and was often racially tinged. It was common for the evening news to capture depictions of Obama effigies, and other negatively racialized images of the President.
Enter Donald Trump. Some people debate whether Donald Trump created the Birther trope. I will not split hairs on this matter. The fact is Trump was in on the use of it, early, and often. This slight, which was rooted in Trump’s oft-repeated assertion that President Obama was not born in America, served to further exacerbate racial tensions.
Since those days, we’ve seen the end of the Obama administration, the Trump administration, the Biden administration, and the advent of a second Trump presidency. Along the way, Trump, Congress, and SCOTUS have taken turns engaging in escalatory actions.
Now, the President, armed with the aid of Senate and House majorities, a collection of malleable cabinet members, a heavily conservative-skewed Supreme Court, and a director of disruption, appears poised to change the very nature of the way the United States operates its government. I believe a legitimate question is, “Will we continue to be a constitutional federal republic?
Trump and his gofers are actively engaged in pushing, pulling, and prodding to consolidate more and more power in the hands of the Executive. Congress, which technically controls the purse strings, has consistently, willingly ceded its authority to Trump. Perhaps, when all is said and done, the most radical result of the assorted machinations will emerge from the slashing and burning of federal agencies and their staffs, which currently, is a concept that seems to find favor among people who call themselves conservatives. What remains to be seen, is how these self-proclaimed conservatives will view it when Musk and the Oligarchs assume the role of heads of privatized formerly governmental functions?
Unless there is a quick and decisive turn, I sense, We The People, are in for a…”Hard Reset!”
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On the evening of January 29th, an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 while the plane was on approach for landing at Reagan National Airport. As a result of the collision, both the plane and the copter plunged into the Potomac River. All souls on both aircraft were lost.
On that Thursday evening after the crash, Donald Trump, ambled into the White House press room to face reporters and execute his solemn duty as consoler-in-chief. After a few on-task opening remarks, Trump pivoted sharply, and in his own idiosyncratic style, commenced the combative, unscripted, finger-pointing, scapegoating blame game madness that he has elevated to an art form.
He started by admitting, “We do not know what led to this crash,” but quickly added, “but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.”
He then speculated, absent evidence, that lowered standards of hiring (usually referred to as DEI) for air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration during the Joe Biden and Barack Obama presidencies may have been a factor in the disaster. Naturally, this speculative scenario conveniently omitted the fact that he served a four-year term between Presidents Obama and Biden.
Trump, his GOP congressional coterie, and Republicans in general have regularly attacked “Diversity, equity and inclusion” programs in the federal government. He and his team have made demagoguing and eliminating such programs a central priority during their first days in office, arguably, even more that lowering the price of eggs, and reinvigorating the economy that he sold as faltering during his campaign…saying he’d fix both on day 1.
He said DEI has divided Americans and weakened the country. Less than 24 hours after the first major US air disaster in more than a decade, coincidentally, on his watch, Trump, with his secretaries of transportation, and defense, and with the Vice President, all took shots at hammering this point, and all with zero evidence, that federal hiring practices had any connection to this crash.
When asked by a reporter how he could blame diversity programs for the crash when the investigation had just started, Trump responded: “Because I have common sense.”
However, at other moments, he acknowledged there was no confirmed cause, saying, “It’s all under investigation.”
Because he has common sense? More than a few people would enthusiastically debate that assertion. But not me. At least not here, not now. Instead, I submit an alternative contemplation for your consideration.
An interesting thing happened on January 20th, nine days before the crash. Michael Whitaker, the leader of the Federal Aviation Administration stepped down, months after Elon Musk demanded that he quit. As of January 29th, the FAA had no Senate-confirmed leader. Whitaker quit before Donald Trump took office. He had run the FAA for just a year, but said in December that he would step down as the new President was being sworn in.
Whitaker and Musk clashed over SpaceX. It was one thing when Musk was merely the richest man in the world, and the owner of SpaceX. But when he also became the leading voice behind the newly formed Department of Governmental Efficiency, aka DOGE, his personal influence on all things governmental, including the FAA expanded exponentially.
Last September, Whitaker proposed levying over $600,000 in fines for SpaceX. Musk responded by demanding his resignation and threatened to sue. Whitaker told a congressional committee fines are the only tool the agency has, that enable it to get compliance on safety matters.
Musk continued his attack via X, while campaigning with Trump. He accused Whitaker’s agency of harassment, posting “The FAA space division is harassing SpaceX about nonsense that doesn’t affect safety while giving a free pass to Boeing even after NASA concluded that their spacecraft was not safe enough to bring back the astronauts.”
Further, in response to an Australian YouTuber who posts about space and who has said the FAA “should not exist,” Musk accused Whitaker of standing in the way of his vision of putting human life on Mars.
Upon announcing in December that he would leave the agency, Whitaker wrote to FAA staff:
“The United States is the safest and most complex airspace in the world, and that is because of your commitment to the safety of the flying public.”
He called his time at the federal agency “the best and most challenging job of my career.”
The FAA was already wrestling with persistent shortages of air traffic controllers. More recently, air traffic controllers were included in the Trump administration’s offer of buyouts to federal employees.
Investigation of the plane-copter crash will be led by the independent National Transportation Safety Board, which is chaired by Jennifer Homendy. For the record, she has also clashed with Musk, over the safety of self-driving software in his Tesla vehicles.
Trump flatly blamed DEI and his Democratic predecessors for the crash. He credited common sense for his conclusion, and he did so without corroborating evidence. SOP?
Considering the flurry of activity across the federal government, prompted by Trump’s budget slashing imperatives, DOGE’s planned disruptive effects and firings, in general, and Musk’s running off the FAA head, in particular, it occurs to me, that factors other than DEI may have contributed to the crash. Feel free to draw your own inferences. Meanwhile, I leave you with, “(DEI) That’s one theory, but…!”
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In the great emotional ruse that is anti DEI, anti CRT, anti-affirmative action, anti-Civil Rights Act, anti-Voting Rights Act, anti LGBTQ, anti-disabled, etc., we are told the motivation for opposing initiatives and programs to right past wrongs, some which endured for centuries, is the pursuit of merit-based selection. The inherent implied premise for this obsessive compulsion is, that merit is a special sauce possessed, only by white men.
The return to power of the 47th President has resulted in celebratory exultation among many of his adherents, who believe all their various and sundry shortcomings have been visited upon them because some unfair practice or methodology intervened and redirected benefits that should have inured to them, to some Black, Brown, non-cisgender, or disabled person.
It’s as if, in their incontrovertible view, the world, especially America, is divided into two sides; one side comprised of white men, and the other side, everybody else. Interestingly, with the certainty of this same uncontestable truth, they believe Team Everybody Else has severely damaged them, taking more than they could possibly have ever deserved, and leaving them, the only deserving ones, with a mere pittance. Inexplicably, they harbor this notion, despite the fact, they control the vast majority of everything of value in a free enterprise and capitalistic society. They have by far, most of the wealth, most of the property, most of the CEO offices, most of the college and university presidencies, most of the tech businesses, most of the highest corporate titles…you name it, white men dominate it (OK, maybe not Basketball, American Football, and track and field sprint events…most of which were segregated until the mid-20th century).
And yet, the whining and complaining dominates the landscape. The argument is turbocharged by a rightwing echo chamber that is so inescapable, it persuaded many individuals and groups not naturally on that side of the line to vote against their own interests. While it’s conceivable, time will enable many, if not most, to see the light, the damage will have long been done. But that’s a convo for another day.
Darren Beattie, a “Make America Great Again” ideologue has reportedly been hired to run the State Department’s worldwide public diplomacy efforts. Beattie shared with readers of Revolver, a conservative website he worked for, that he would be the acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. It was unclear whether he would assume the position on a permanent basis; that would require Senate confirmation. All things considered, in the current environment, there is no reason to believe he wouldn’t gain confirmation.
He first achieved notoriety when he was fired during his tenure as a White House speechwriter for the first Trump Administration. He lost his position after it was revealed that he spoke at a conference attended by white nationalists. More recently, on October 24, 2024, he wrote on the Revolver website: “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”
This is emblematic of what one writer called a blatant, dangerous, insulting, gaslighting lie. I wish he could have made his sentiment a little more explicit.
Over the course of couple of the months since the election, Trump has been moving expeditiously to install members of his new Cabinet…and to “unemploy” tens of thousands of federal workers from the previous administration. As the head of the Executive Branch, or as some argue, as the Executive Branch, he has wide ranging leeway to appoint whomever he wants. Wide leeway is not the same as unlimited control. His first pick for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, was such an unpopular selection that he withdrew his nomination. White guy notwithstanding, I guess, even Team Trump conceded he was not a worthy candidate for that position. Perhaps, miracles do happen.
There are other controversial nominees. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, is a noted anti-vaccine activist, and conspiracy theorist. Still, he’ll probably gain confirmation. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence has allegedly parroted Russian talking points and has met with then Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Although opposed by most democrats, she cleared a Senate Intel Committee vote, 9-8, and she will likely be confirmed by the Senate later today.
By traditional standards, neither Kennedy, nor Gabbard, not to mention Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, who’s highest attained rank was Major, qualify for the positions to which they have been elevated. Anyone arguing that they are is being transparently dishonest, or quite simply, lying. If anyone with their respective resumes were presented by Democrats, for those same positions, Republicans heads would explode; they’d be summarily dismissed as being unqualified, and presented by unserious, if not clueless, Democrats. But such is the nature of the game, when the President, House, and Senate are of the same Party. It is what it is. “Merit: Not Really, Not at All!”
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Today is my father, the late Reverend Albert Miller’s 105th Birthday. Happy Birthday dad; I love you and I miss you!
Last year, Beyoncé teased her then upcoming new Country Album, “Cowboy Carter,” during halftime of Super Bowl LVIII, held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ten days later, I blogged about Queen Bey’s foray into Country Music. Presciently, at the time, I mused what it might be like for Beyoncé to be nominated for Grammy’s or Country Music Awards this year. She was nominated by both, and while she received 12 nominations for People’s Choice Country Music Awards, she was snubbed, going 0-for-12. Conversely, after garnering 11 Grammy nominations, she captured 3 Awards, winning for best Country Duo/Group performance, (along with Miley Cyrus), for the Top Country Music Album Award, and for the pièce de resistance, Album of the Year. Her 11 nominations elevated her record for total Grammy nominations to 99, and her 3 wins pushed her record total Grammys to 35. With that, kick back, and check out what I wrote about Queen Bey, QB1 of the music world, and Country Music a year ago.
I am well on the way to my 17th year as a Blogger, Content Creator, or whatever other term you choose as your preferred euphemism. In sixteen and a half years, I have made over 850 blog posts. The range of topics I have tackled run the gamut, and include, among other things, politics, history, sports, holidays, healthcare, education, race, America, labor, wars, personalities, and travel, just to cite a dozen categories. One thing I have never written about, and in full disclosure, have never contemplated writing about, is Country Music. Decades ago, I heard a Country Music singer say, “The Country in Country Music, is America.” While admittedly, not a fan of the genre, then or now, I must admit, the moment I heard the guy say that I thought it was profound. I still believe that to be true.
Yesterday, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter’s new song, “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted as the Number 1 song on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Even if it’s only a paragraph, I must write about that. Imagine Bey being featured/nominated for one or more awards in the Country category at the 2025 Grammy’s, or at the Country Music Association Awards Show next year. We all know Bey & Jay are music royalty. When they make music, they make news. That’s been the case, since long before the two became the power couple they are today. For them, grabbing headlines in the music world is virtually de rigueur. But even by that standard, this is different.
Let’s not get it twisted though. Black folks are not new to this country music thing. The first “string bands” in this country were comprised of enslaved people. Moreover, the root of country music is blues, of which Santi Elijah Holley said, “It’s Black as hell.” When I was growing up, Charley Pride, was the Country sensation of the era. In 1962, Ray Charles released his 17th album, entitled, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. He went on to earn a Grammy for Album of the Year. Oh yeah, lest I forget to mention it, Beyoncé’s other new country song “16 Carriages” ranks No. 9 on the Billboard Country Music chart. Yes, in addition to debuting at Number 1, she also has a second Billboard Country Music chart Top 10 hit.
Today, there are several successful Black artists, popular for their singing country music, including Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown, Jimmy Allen, Brittney Spencer, and Willie Jones. They are all fine artists. However, none of them is Beyoncé, who has collected 88 Nominations, and 32 Grammy Awards: both, the most in history. Incidentally, Jay-Z has also garnered 88 Nominations, tying “his Bey” for most ever, to accompany his 24 Grammy Awards. Yes, that’s right, between the two of them, they have earned 176 Grammy Nominations, and 56 Grammy Awards.
In landing her first-ever No. 1 single on the country charts, Beyoncé enters rare air. She became only the second solo woman with no accompanying artists to achieve the feat. Taylor Swift, whose songs “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” hit No. 1 in 2021.
Bey is also the first woman to have topped both the Hot Country and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts since the lists began in 1958. Morgan Wallen, Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Ray Charles are the only other artists to have reached No. 1 on both charts.
Her current hits, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” were released Feb. 11, after Beyoncé teased the release of new music in a surprise Super Bowl ad for Verizon. She also announced her eighth solo studio album “Renaissance Act II” is scheduled for release March 29, 2024. “Bey Watch: This Is My “Country Redux ‘25!””
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We are eleven weeks removed from the 2024 Election, and ten days post inauguration. As I reflect on the passage of time, especially the last week and a half, I am mindful that eight years ago, every utterance out of the mouth of the then newly elected President seemed mind numbingly outrageous, and the catalyst for all manner of protestation. Fast forward to today. Something is different.
The President is the same now, as then. He is equally loquacious, just as prone to make off the wall utterances, and certainly no less controversy friendly. So, what has changed? To be perfectly honest, America has. The President, who has been the GOP Nominee for three consecutive elections, increased his share of virtually all demographics, including Black men, Hispanics, and young Americans. Those increases enabled him to capture a plurality (let’s be clear, not a majority) of the popular vote, the first time Republicans led in that category in twenty years, and just the second time since the 1988 Presidential Election. The differential between him and his Democratic opponent was 1.61%, according to the Associated Press.
While all those things are significant, none of them accounts for the principal variance between 2017 and 2025, at least not in my world. I opted not to watch the Inauguration. In fact, I chose to forego the news altogether for the first three days of the week. I even limited my social media activity. I have a complete understanding of the outrage machine, including the recognition that the behaviors and actions that prompt that response are intended to elicit that exact reaction. Well, I’ve opted not to cooperate. With ten days gone, there are 1,451 days left of the madness, Nope, not this time. I’m keeping it ”Short, Sweet…and Different!”
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My original posting about the King Holiday dates-back-to January 19, 2011. In 2022, I amended the topic to add a perspective shared by Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Solomon Peña, who lost his 2022 bid for New Mexico state House District 14, was arrested by an Albuquerque SWAT team for allegedly paying and conspiring with four men to shoot at the homes of two state legislators and two county commissioners, authorities said. No one was injured but investigators said Peña intended to cause serious injury or death. Peña, who attributed his defeat to a “rigged” election, is accused of masterminding a series of shootings targeting the homes of elected Democrats.
But I digress. Consider this “batschitt” craziness an FYI! It’s not the topic of today’s post.
Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Over the years, I’ve written a post about Dr. King, the holiday, and how it came to pass. Today, I am again revisiting a post I initially wrote and posted Wednesday, January 19, 2011, and that I reprised January 18, 2017, January 17, 2018, and again, January 23, 2019, examining the advent of the King Holiday. It’s been 39 years since the initial observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (MLK DAY), and just over 41 years since President Reagan signed the MLK, Jr. Holiday bill into law. Contemporary events continue to remind us that now is an apt time to look into the rearview mirror of time.
After over three decades of inculcation into the very fabric of our society, it may be largely forgotten that the conceptualization, submission and continual resubmission of the idea, the enactment, and the gradual national observance, was not the product of universal acceptance of a grand and enlightened concept, but rather, was emblematic of the civil rights struggle itself; steeped in controversy, and the eventual victory of a relentless movement to achieve richly deserved, and long overdue social justice.
Several members of Congress, a few states, and even a President, using a host of creative means, sought to undermine, outmaneuver, sabotage, subvert, and otherwise derail the efforts of the measure’s proponents. Ultimately, the movement was consolidated, snowballed, and would simply not be thwarted.
The effort to create a King Holiday was started by U.S. Representative John Conyers, Michigan, shortly after Dr. King’s death, in the spring of 1968. It was first introduced in the House of Representatives in 1979 but fell 5 votes short of the number needed for passage in the Lower Chamber.
High profile opponents to the measure included Senator Jesse Helms, NC, Senator John McCain, AZ, and President Ronald Reagan. Both Senators voted against the bill, and Senator McCain publicly supported Arizona Governor Evan Mecham for his rescission of MLK Day as a State Holiday in Arizona. The campaign however, reached a critical mass in the early 1980’s. Spurred on by Stevie Wonder penning a song in King’s honor called, “Happy Birthday,” a petition drive to support the campaign would attract over 6 million signatures. It has been called the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. History.
Buttressed by what had become a wildly successful public campaign, Congress soon followed suit. The proposal passed in the House by a vote of 338-90, and in the Upper Chamber by a vote of 78-22. Given the dimensions of this overwhelming support, in the form of bicameralveto-proof votes, President Reagan signed the provision November 2, 1983, and it became Federal Law. The first observance under the new law took place January 20, 1986, rather than on January 15th, Dr. King’s birthday. A compromise in the legislation specified that the observance take place on the Third Monday in January, consistent with prior legislation (Uniform Monday Holiday Act).
Of course, that was not the end of the story. It would take more than 30 years after Dr. King’s death before the Holiday was fully adopted and observed in all 50 states. Illinois holds the distinction of being the first State to adopt MLK Day as a State Holiday, having done so in 1973. Twenty years later, in 1993, for the first time, some form of MLK Day was held in each of the 50 States.
It was not until 2000 that South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges signed a bill to make MLK Day a paid holiday for State employees; giving the Palmetto State the dubious distinction of being the last of the 50 States to do so. However, Mississippi also sets itself apart by designating the Third Monday in January as a shared Holiday that honors the memory of Robert E. Lee and Dr. King…two fine southern gentlemen.
Three summers ago, after entertaining a whirlwind, on again off again, job offer from UNC, journalist, McArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize winner, and UNC alum Nikole Hannah-Jones opted to choose Howard University as her next employer, over UNC. Ms. Hannah-Jones, who gained notoriety for her work on the 1619 Project, has become a lightning rod for discourse around issues of civil rights, and the much-ballyhooed topic known as Critical Race Theory, #CRT.
Two years ago, NH-J was invited to give an MLK speech on the Monday Holiday. She discovered that a few members of the group hosting her wrote and subsequently leaked emails opposing her giving the speech. Those who opposed her felt it dishonored Dr. King to do so and characterized her as a “discredited activist” “unworthy of such association with King.”
This insight motivated her to call an audible. She scrapped her original speech and spent the first half of her speech reading excerpts from several of Dr. King’s speeches…without revealing that they were his words. She subbed BLACK for Negro, to avoid dating the material and giving away the fact that it was from over half a century ago. Literally, that’s all it took to transport to 2022.
Here is some of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 2022 MLK, Jr. Day speech:
“It was in the year 1619 that the first BLACK slave was brought to the shores of this nation. They were brought here from the soils of Africa and unlike the Pilgrim fathers who landed here at Plymouth a year later, they were brought here against their will…”
“White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society…The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism…”
“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power. A nation that continues year after year to spend more $ on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
“The crowning achievement in hypocrisy must go to those staunch Republicans and Democrats of the Midwest and West who were given land by our government when they came here as immigrants from Europe. They were given education through the land grant colleges…”
“These are the same people that now say to black people, whose ancestors were brought to this country in chains and who were emancipated in 1863 without being given land to cultivate or bread to eat; that they must pull themselves up by their own bootstraps…”
“What they truly advocate is Socialism for the rich and Capitalism for the poor. We know full well that racism is still that hound of hell which dogs the tracks of our civilization.”
“Ever since the birth of our nation, White America has had a Schizophrenic personality on the question of race, she has been torn between selves. A self in which she proudly professes the great principle of democracy and a self in which she madly practices the antithesis of democracy.”
“The fact is, there has never been a single, solid, determined commitment on the part of the vast majority of white Americans to genuine equality for Black people.”
“The step backwards has a new name today, it is called the white backlash, but the white backlash is nothing new. It is the surfacing of old prejudices, hostilities and ambivalences that have always been there…”
“The white backlash of today is rooted in the same problem that has characterized America ever since the black man landed in chains on the shores of this nation.”
“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance…with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that BLACK AMERICANS HAVE come far enough.”
“…for the good of America, it is necessary to refute the idea that the dominant ideology in our country, even today, is freedom and equality and that racism is just an occasional departure from the norm on the part of a few bigoted extremists.”
“If America does not respond creatively to the challenge to banish racism, some future historian will have to say, that a great civilization died because it lacked the soul and commitment to make justice a reality for all men.”
“Why do white people seem to find it so difficult to understand that the Black people are sick and tired of having reluctantly parceled out to THEM those rights and privileges which all others receive upon birth or entry in America?”
“I never cease to wonder at the amazing presumption of much of white society, assuming that they have the right to bargain with BLACKS for their freedom…”
Oh, the uncomfortable silence as I read Dr. King’s words at a commemoration of his life when people had no idea that these were his words. When I revealed that everything, I said to that point was taken from his speeches between ’56 and 67… Can you say SHOOK!
Then I read all the names that white Americans called King: charlatan, demagogue, communist, traitor — and brought out the polling showing more than three-quarters of Americans opposed King at his death while 94 percent approve of him now.
I left them with this: People who oppose today what he stood for back then do not get to be the arbiters of his legacy. The real Dr. King cannot be commodified, homogenized, and white-washed and whatever side you stand on TODAY is the side you would have been back then.
In fact, most white Americans in 1963 opposed the March on Washington where Dr. King gave the “I Have A Dream” Speech with that one line that people oppose to anti-racism like to trot out against those working for racial justice.
When the speech was over, Father Pfleger, who had been cheering me on from the crowd, whispered in my ear: That’s what you call the “You Gone Learn Today” speech.
“This is why the 1619 Project exists. This is why the decades of scholarship that undergirds the 1619 Project exists. Because if we do nothing, they will co-opt our history and use it against us.”
Dr. King was a radical critic of racism, capitalism, and militarism. He didn’t die. He was assassinated. And many, including Reagan, fought the national holiday we’re now commemorating. “If you haven’t read, in entirety, his speeches, you’ve been miseducated & I hope that you will.”
Occasionally, I run across a printed story so compelling, that rather than write about it, I instead, shard in whole cloth an already written story. This Department of Justice (DOJ) press release on Tulsa’s Black Wall Street was one of those stories. At its core, this piece is emblematic of why so many conservatives line up in opposition to DEI, CRT, and inclusion policies and practices.
This week, the Justice Department issued a report on the Tulsa Race Massacre. The report documents the department’s findings, made during its review and evaluation of the Tulsa Race Massacre, undertaken pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act. The Civil Rights Division previously announced it was undertaking this review during a Cold Case Convening held on Sept. 30, 2024.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said, “The Tulsa Race Massacre stands out as a civil rights crime unique in its magnitude, barbarity, racist hostility and its utter annihilation of a thriving Black community.” White Tulsans murdered hundreds of Greenwood residents in 1921, burned their homes and churches, looted their belongings, and locked the survivors in internment camps.
The Justice Department has not previously spoken publicly about this race massacre, nor officially accounted for the horrific events that transpired in Tulsa. This report breaks that silence by rigorously examining and providing a full accounting of one of the darkest episodes of our nation’s past.
This report reveals new information and shows that the massacre was the result, not of uncontrolled mob violence, but of a coordinated, military-style attack on Greenwood. Now, more than a century later, there is no living perpetrator for the Justice Department to prosecute. But the historical reckoning and the need for it, of the massacre continues. This report reflects our commitment to the pursuit of justice and truth, even in the face of insurmountable obstacles. We issue this report with recognition of the courageous survivors who continue to share their testimonies, acknowledgement of those who tragically lost their lives and appreciation for other impacted individuals and advocates who collectively push for us to never forget this tragic chapter of America’s history.”
The report discloses the department’s findings on the Tulsa Race Massacre and examines events that occurred between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when white Tulsans mounted a concerted effort to destroy a vibrant Black community, remembered today as Black Wall Street. During the massacre, hundreds of Black residents were murdered, their businesses and homes burned to the ground and their money and personal property stolen. Survivors were left without resources or recourse. Subsequently, the City of Tulsa resisted offers of meaningful help to the victims and utterly failed to provide necessary aid or assistance. At the same time efforts to seek justice through the courts foundered.
Despite the gravity of the department’s findings, no avenue of prosecution now exists for crimes that occurred during the massacre — the youngest potential defendants would today be more than 115 years old, and the relevant statutes of limitations expired decades ago. Nevertheless, as the federal government’s first thorough reckoning with this devastating event, our review officially acknowledges, illuminates and preserves for history the horrible ordeals of the massacre’s victims. As antilynching advocate Ida B. Wells said, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” This report aims to do that very thing.
The Nature of the Review
A team of career lawyers and investigators from the Emmett Till Cold Case Unit of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division conducted the review. Members of the unit spoke with survivors and with descendants of survivors, examined firsthand accounts of the massacre given by individuals who are now deceased, studied primary source materials, spoke to scholars of the massacre and reviewed legal pleadings, books, and scholarly articles relating to the massacre. The team produced a thorough, 123-page, sourced report.
Factual Findings
The review revealed that, on the night of May 31, 1921, a violent attack by as many as 10,000 white Tulsans destroyed Greenwood, a uniquely prosperous Black community. The attack was so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence. The review found that the trigger for the violence of the Tulsa Race Massacre was the kind of unfounded condemnation that, at the time, was commonly employed to justify unspeakable treatment of Black men; a white man alleged that a Black man, 19-year-old Dick Rowland, assaulted a white woman who operated an elevator he used. After Rowland’s arrest, a local newspaper then sensationalized the story, and soon, a mob of white Tulsans gathered outside the courthouse, demanding a lynching.
The local sheriff called on Black men from Greenwood, many recently returned from service during World War I, to come to the courthouse to prevent a lynching. The white mob saw this effort to protect Rowland as an unacceptable challenge to the social order. The mob grew. A confrontation broke out, and when someone fired a shot, horrific violence erupted. The Tulsa police deputized hundreds of white residents, many of whom — immediately before being awarded a badge — had been drinking and agitating for Rowland’s murder. Law enforcement officers helped organize these special deputies — as well as other white Tulsans — into the forces that would eventually ravage the Greenwood community.
Violence was initially unorganized and opportunistic. But at daybreak on June 1, a whistle blew, and the violence and arsons that had been chaotic became systematic. White Tulsans, many of whom had recently drilled together as the “Home Guard,” formed to replace members of the National Guard who had gone overseas during the Great War, became organized and efficient in their destruction. They looted, burned and destroyed 35 city blocks while Greenwood’s residents tried desperately to defend their homes. As the fires consumed Greenwood, many Black families fled for their lives, leaving behind their homes and valuable items. White residents chased them across and beyond the city, taking into custody men, women, children, the elderly and the infirmed, and looting the homes they left behind. The destruction of the district was total. The survivors were left with little to nothing.
Law enforcement officers (both from the Tulsa Police and the National Guard) disarmed Black residents, confiscated their weapons and detained many in makeshift camps under armed guard. In addition, there are credible reports that at least some law enforcement officers did more than arrest and detain Black men; some participated in murder, arson and looting. After the devastation, city officials promised to help Greenwood rebuild, but the government of Tulsa not only failed to do so, it also put up obstacles to residential reconstruction. White local leaders rejected outside aid, claiming they could handle the recovery, but then provided little to no financial support. Instead, claiming the area was best suited for industrial use, they imposed harsh new fire codes that priced residents out of the area.
Legal Findings
The department’s report concludes that, had today’s more robust civil rights laws been in effect in 1921, federal prosecutors could have pursued hate crime charges against the massacre’s perpetrators, including both public officials and private citizens. In addition, if modern interpretations of civil rights laws were in effect in 1921, police officers, public officials and any who acted in concert with such persons could have been prosecuted for willfully violating the civil rights of massacre victims. Many of these legal avenues, however, were not available in 1921. The few avenues for federal prosecution that were available in 1921 were not pursued.
Now, the statute of limitations has expired for all federal civil rights offenses. Moreover, the team could find no living perpetrators, and prosecution under any law (federal or state) would almost certainly be foreclosed by the Constitution’s Confrontation Clause, which requires the government to provide live witnesses who can be cross examined by the accused. Such witnesses would need to have sufficient knowledge to prove a particular defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The report recognizes that some may find the department’s inability to prosecute a painful or dissatisfying outcome. However, the review recognizes and documents the horrible events that occurred as well as the trauma and loss suffered by the residents of Greenwood. While legal and practical limitations prevent the perpetrators of the crimes committed in 1921 from being held criminally accountable in a court of law, the historical reckoning continues. Legal limitations may have stymied the pursuit of justice, but work continues to ensure that future generations understand the scale and significance of this atrocity.
Following issuance of the report, Assistant Attorney General Clarke will convene with members of the Greenwood District, survivors and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Tulsa civil rights community and other stakeholders.
For further information please contact the Office of Public Affairs. If you have information about a civil rights cold case, meaning a hate crime or other civil rights offense that resulted in death and that occurred on or before Dec. 31, 1980, please contact the Civil Rights Division’s Cold Case Unit at Coldcase.Civilrights@usdoj.gov.
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