White History Month
Every February, like clockwork, whitefolk emerge from the depths complaining about Black History Month and demanding a white one. Our completely understandable response has been, “Every month is white History Month. We don’t need a special designated month.” However, I beg to differ. Whitefolk (and all folk) absolutely deserve an annual spotlight on white history. There’s too much white history that never gets taught in our schools. White history like the 1999 King vs. Jowers case that saw a jury conclude a conspiracy involving unnamed government agencies contributing to MLK’s murder. White history like evidence laid out in multiple places including Stuart A. Reid’s book “The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination” that verify America’s hand in the assassination of the democratically elected leader of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba.
White history like the 1963 terroristic bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. The stealing of over 12 million acres of Black-owned farmland. The denial of GI benefits to Black vets. The eating of revolt leader Nat Turner. Yes, they ate him after they tortured, lynched and mutilated his body, per scholarship shared in the book “The Delectable Negro” by Vincent Woodard. The real Thanksgiving story of pilgrims engaging in cannibalism. The USA serving as the model and inspiration for Nazi Germany according to eye-witness accounts shared in James Q. Whitman’s book “Hitler’s American Model.” The two men who murdered Emmett Till getting off scot free, then getting paid handsomely by Life Magazine to tell the story of how they killed Emmett Till. The fact that I could go on and on underscores why we really do need a white History Month.
It’s not the economy, stupid
For the gazillionaires behind the Trump/Vance ticket, last November’s election was never about the economy or the price of eggs. It was about the hyper-wealthy enjoying unincumbered, unchallenged power forever. And for them, democracy was a problem. Enter VP Vance, who is a disciple of Curtis Yarvin. All of Vance’s political viewpoints and ideas come from Yarvin. Vance said in an interview that he wanted to rip out the current political system “like a tumor.” Yarvin called the U.S. government a large system that needs to be destroyed. Same thing. Like Yarvin, Vance believes the current U.S. system of democracy is ineffective at removing people from political power who he and his crew despise: folk who believe in equality, democracy, civil rights and equal protection under the law. The solution? A CEO to run the U.S. corporation. Yarvin publicly said, “An actual CEO is what’s called a dictator. It’s the same thing. There’s no difference between CEO and dictator. If Americans want to change their government, they’re gonna have to get over dictator phobia.” This is what’s driving the Trump/Vance/Musk bus… as the price of eggs continues to soar.
Shrinking citizens
FYI, DEI hires aren’t “unqualified.” Just the opposite. As thought leader Lurie Daniel Favors puts it, DEI math shows that because Blackfolk have always had to be twice as good to get half as much in this country, by the time we get hired, we’re four times more qualified than our professional counterparts. But ending DEI also means ending the part of DEI that always gets ignored. DEI is actually DEIA: diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. The 1973 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that buildings are wheelchair accessible. It also requires K-college teachers, doctors, etc. to provide their information in ways accessible to individuals with various disabilities. Most people reading this have never known a world where such accessibility provisions weren’t the norm.
But the anti-DEI folk are hellbent on ending accessibility (even Texas Gov. Greg Abbott). In their world, the disabled, like Blackfolk and other POC, aren’t worthy of full citizenship. There are even reports of retailers discontinuing the sale of plus-size clothing, shrinking even more the definition of “acceptable American.” They (MAGA Republicans) have already targeted unwed women, childless women, liberals and the college-educated as targets for having rights restricted, leaving only white males with unfettered access to full citizenship. If only they had written about their nefarious plans before we voted last November (cough, cough… Project 2025).
