You are on the cspan radio app. Continues. Host we are back and we are joined by Ohio State University professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries, who is here to give us some Historical Perspective on the march on washington and the rights in the United States. Professor jeffries, good morning. Guest good morning. You. To be with host thank you so much for being with us. First, lets get your impressions of yesterdays march on washington and how it original. O the guest it was very interesting, because there are certainly a lot of parallels. Certainly in terms of what was being asked of the nation as a whole, what was being asked of the government. The march on washington that we saw yesterday was essentially organized around this idea of a justice,t to racial specifically focusing on ending Police Violence. Think abouten we the original march on washington in 1963, we only focus on that portion of dr. Kings speech that focuses on his imagining a different future, a different america, in the second half of the speech, and we dont Pay Attention to the first half of the speech in which he called for an and to Police Violence, and and and police brutality. Cannot bet we patient and we cannot rest until Police Violence comes to an end. In that sense, there were parallels. There were parallels in terms of demand for legislation, in this iteration on the march of washington, demanding the Voting Rights reforms, the john lewis act, police reforms, federal inislation, and of course, 1963, those 200,000 plus came to marshal support for what would become the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Difference, and notable improvement, i would say, would be the presence of women. Women speakers from the podium. Versus inin 2020, 1963, where you did not have that representation. But unfortunately, one of the reason why you had so many women who were speaking is that so many of the women were mothers and sisters of those who had fallen victim to Police Violence, who had been murdered by police. So it is important to put at least that aspect of the difference into perspective. Host . Is a little bit of what you wrote a few years ago about the march on washington. I want to read that to you and then well talk a little bit about it. You wrote leading the march was a call for meaningful civil rights laws. At the time, federal civil rights measures lacked teeth, prosecutorial power was limited, and punishments for Racial Discriminations were light, if they existed at all. Major civil rights legislation was passed before the Civil Rights Act. But many complained that it too lacked teeth. Today, it remains externally difficult to bring to justice or potatoes of crimes where racial bias and discrimination work bring to justice perpetrators are crimes where racial bias and discrimination were clearly at play. March . Ust an anniversary guest it is certainly more than a anniversary march. It is important to point out, there is already before the senate, major legislation to deal with the kind of policy issues that people on the ground are being animated by, the George Floyd Justice and policing act, the john lewis Voting Rights act. These are two pieces of legislation that those who much on washington yesterday were calling for. It remains to be seen that if, certainly this legislation is being held up by a republicancontrolled senate, and Mitch Mcconnell will not even bring it up for a vote, it remains to be seen that even if they were, what it would look like in its final iteration. Certainly, under the present administration, and the present republicancontrolled senate, whatever would come out of it would be less than satisfactory in terms of what people are animated for and are demanding. That is partly Politics Party politics. But i dont doubt that those who marched yesterday would not be content or satisfied with anything less than measures that fully address the issues that people are demanding. At the same time, it is important to note that even during the original iteration of the march on washington in 1963, there were those who felt that whatever would come out of washington in terms of legislation in the Civil Rights Act and eventually the Voting Rights act, would be insufficient to deal with the weres luck black folk facing. We saw that yesterday. Many were like, this is more than a reform issue. We need to fully defined, to defund. To reimagine what america looks like. So it is a spectrum of demands and concerns. But there are real parallels in terms of what people are asking for. And although this certainly will not be the end of it, rest assured that people will continue to fight afterwards. Host we want to let our viewers join in the conversation. We will open up regional lines for this segment. That means that if you are in the eastern or central time zones, we want to hear from you 2027488000. If you are in the mountain and pacific time zones, you can call in at 2027488001. Google open up a special line for those who remember the 1963 march on washington. We want to know what you remember and what your impressions were of the 1963 march on washington. The line for those who remember the 2027488002. March, keep in mind, you can always text us at 2027488003, and we always reading on social media on twitter at cspanwj, and on facebook. At facebook. Com cspan. Professor jeffreys, one thing we havent talked about yet this morning is the racial unrest going on around the country right now because of the Police Shooting of africanamerican men and women. Tell us what you think about what is going on in kenosha, for example, and the unrest going on in this country, and how it 1960s. To the guest just like the march of washington between 1963 and today, there are parallels. There is a through line. When people are angry and upset and frustrated with the slow progressa, when they feel unheard, they will protest and demand change. What we are seeing whether in kenosha or minneapolis is not different than what we saw when people were demonstrating in the 1960s. It is important that we be clear that the vast majority of people who are taken to the streets are doing so in nonviolent ways. We cannot allow those who want asspin what they are seeing being a function of anarchy and violence and domestic terrorism, because that is certainly not the case. At the same time, we ought not whoiss out of hand those are choosing to express themselves politically by targeting property, specific kinds of property such as those elements that are connected to the state federal buildings or police cars and the like. But too is political expression of frustration and rage in and that of change. I dont think we should be cavalier about dismissing that were lumping it together. We should look at the full spectrum and take people seriously and listen to what they are saying and what they want. Host do you think protesting is still effective in this day and age . We have a lot of people who talk about moving from protesting to politics. But is protesting even effective anymore . Guest absolutely. We have already seen some of that effectiveness already just within the last couple of months. From memorial day to the present, we have actually seen, if you go by the crowdcounters of the new york times, they produced a nice piece in july, you are talking about 25 million americans have taken to the streets in just a couple of days in june. With this being the largest protest in american history, they are occurring right now. As a result of that, we have democrats in congress, in control of the house of representatives, putting Forward Police reform legislation. It is important as well not just to look at what is happening at the federal level but also look at the local level, the ways in which cities have already reimagined and begun to at least talk about reallocating resources away from overlyfunded Police Departments and disturbing that the social services and schools and the like. You have universities, university of minnesota, saying that they are going to sever their relationship with the Police Department in minneapolis. That was unheard of and unthinkable an until people took to the streets. Protest is still a viable and effective. It is important to put pressure on elected officials. You cant move from protest to politics and have effective politics, unless you have effective protest, and that can take many forms. Host i have seen several of our social media followers ask. Your older brother is congressman Hakeem Jeffries of new york and chairs the House Democratic caucus. How often do you t get together and talk aboutwo politics . Guest congressman jeffries is a busy man. [laughter] i am fortunate, he has been kind enough to share with me his personal phone number. [laughter] so when things come up, i am entitled to text the congressman and to get his thoughts. We talk as much about politics as we do about sports. But here, again, there is an intersection between sports and politics, and we do get to share ideas and whenever time allows. Lets go to the phone lines. Lets go to regina from norfork, virginia. You for taking my call thank you for taking my call. I loved the march yesterday. It brought back a lot of memories about my own father, talked to me about a lot of things after that march. I even had to talk to my own children about the things that were going on. Going back to what i remember from that time, i remember malcolm x. Retrospect, he was absolutely right. You need to go to the u. N. With this. This is a human rights violation. You dont have police in those cities. You actually have a situation where you have gang wars. Blackpeople are calling people like they are calling a herd. Then there is a situation with this coronavirus. There is no testing. You dont know what black people are actually dying from, but you know they are dying. There is no difference between what is going on with people and the coronavirus and the people who are being gassed and a lot of these things. You have a government who will not take any serious responsibility. They are cutting off everything. You dont have any outside people to actually test to say what is going on with this coronavirus. Go ahead and respond, professor jeffries. Guest what we are actually seeing is human rights violations. We are not talking about one or two bad actors or apples, we are talking about systemic racism and the ways policing it self is a violation of basic civil rights and human rights. Banner did raise the that Racial Discrimination and segregation was a fundamental human rights violation, but it wasnt just malcolm. Presentamericans to the have not only advocating for also rights, reforms, but for gaining basic civil rights granted by government also basic human rights. There is nothing in the constitution that says anything about decent housing or education or equal pay, fair wages, but these are all human rights issues that africanamericans have been and continue to advocate for and organize around. Have a couple versions of this question that i will ask my social media followers and i want you to respond both about now and in the past. This one twitter follower wants to know how much of the violence and Property Damage in kenosha and other places is because of White Supremacy provocateurs and can your guest talk about the possibility of wingnce from right agitators and playing into the hands of trumps be afraid mantra. There is someone who is thinking those are from outside, perhaps right wing provocatuers peer what you think about that theory and that happened provocatuers. Do youu think think that happened . Guest there are white provocatuers who are infiltrating the crowds during the night to promote violence, who are stirring violence and engaging in violence. We saw that lead to literal murder. I am not talking about the militia gangs specifically targeting africanamericans and activists, but what we saw in oakland, california. A white supremacist killing people in the name of black lives matter. We know for a fact in the current moment that you have, and has been social media documentation of this, white organizations who are using the cover of nonviolent protests to destroy property to attack and engage in violence into blame africanamericans, blame black lives matter protesters for this. There is certainly a major element of that here. You have always had that when it comes to the African Americans in the struggle. In the past, it was different s towhite provocatuer infiltrate because they were fewer white people willing to take to the streets. The context was slightly different. You still had africanamericans who were sent in to infiltrate by the police for various reasons. It has always been an element of provocatuersand any time people have taken to the streets and fight for justice, and we are seeing that this time. And because you have these white supremacist groups who are organized and there are more white folks in solidarity taking to the streets, so it becomes harder to distinguish one group to the other. Host lets go to john from new york. Good morning. Caller good morning. Time i went to the march in washington. Was politically active, suggested to me and my brother that we go. And at the time we were living in the bronx. I remember it being a very hot day. Quite polite and it was almost like going to church, that feeling. People were there best. Really am proud of what i saw yesterday and i wanted to Say Something about that. Host go ahead and respond. Guest it is interesting, because one of the reasons why 1963arch on washington in appeared as it did is because it was very planned and coordinated. March, theers of the proverbial big sick sixnizations, big organizations, were aware that you could not bring 250,000 black full and their allies to washington, d. C. And them not burn down washington, d. C. It was not a prediction for a great day. The prediction was for violence to overtake the streets. The organizers worked very hard at controlling. They knew that was never going to happen, but the messaging was there. Hardrganizers worked very to control the messaging and to make sure that people looked respectable and engaged in these politics of respectability. That was very much a factor of the performative aspect of the march on washington. After the march was over, the headlines across the nations were not like folk black folk come and demand justice and freedom and labor and jobs. It was black full didnt destroy d. C. Lets go to robert, who is calling from aurora, indiana. Caller i think i and the first white person who has called in this morning. First of all, i dont believe in protests and marching. I believe if people want to get this country straightened out, is get together and go into the the black,talk to white, red, whatever color they are, and get this straightened out. I would have every policeman country and see what these people come up with. It is nothing but destruction. Our country is being destroyed by you guys always talking about racism. I love what people. I am 83 years old. I dead and brother served this country. They fought for this and you guys want to always say it is the white people that are killing the black. It is the black killing the black. If you had been a black cop that sit on this guys knee, where would we be today . It would be a lot different situation. It is hard to imagine that you could be american and not embrace protest. Of nation was born out protest. The American Revolution was nothing but protest. The question of policing is not colorblind. We saw, for example, that in new york and nypd. That the nypd has been engaged in Police Violence when people take to the streets paired the ind is the most multiracial, the u. S. It is not black and white in that instance, it is black and blue. It is important to separate that that this is a question of policing. This is bad actors. It is not black or white it is because the policing has been so bad in regard to the africanamerican community. T i will redo the tech text we got. This person said mlk was a conservative republican who opposed democratic policies. Mostly peaceful is an interesting way to say violent and instructive. More damages have been done to minority businesses across america due to riots in any other national disaster. Respond to that. Guest that is false. That is not even hard. Conservativesto trying to blame her and let the King Martin Luther king for themselves. The time get to the mid1960s, Martin Luther king is clearly here comes the word people dont like, a democraticsocialist. He said, how can you have the richest nation in the world and still have so many people in poverty . He said we cannot continue to engage in these wars of imperialism and destruction. Critiqueid he have a of democratic policies . Wasntt his critique that they were problematic that his too far, he critique was they didnt far enough. Whoave two be clear about they were and what they believe. It is clearly not a secret because they said what they believe. We just have to read the text and we would have a better idea of who he was and what he believed. The time he was murdered believed at the time he was murdered in 1968. Att you may want to look other cities that were earned where others were lost in the past. Lets go to john from greensboro, north carolina. Good morning. Caller how are you doing . Host just fine. Hakim. I love him. Guest he is my older brother. I am sure that i am my mamas favorite. We will leave it at that for today. Host i have to mention the great poster behind you as i bring up sports and the activism we have seen over the last week or so behind the kenosha shooting. We have seen activity from the wnba, majorleague baseball, the National Hockey league. What message does that send that major fractional sports leagues are now talking and taking some action toward what is going on in america right now. Moment really a historic when we think about sports. We have seen individual athletes protest over the decades, so that is not particularly new. What is new is the number and how widespread it is, and the fact that the professional organizations, professional leagues in which they play are taking a stand on behalf and backing up the athletes. That is fundamentally different. What the athletes are saying, whether it is the view nba, is that we will not entertain why are people die in the streets. That is powerful and there leagues are standing behind them for the most part. That is new. This is within the last couple of months. Just four years ago when Colin Kaepernick to the simple act of protest and took a knee, you cannot find a job after that. The fact that we moved from being blacklisted and then colluded against not get a job to the league taking a stand in support of the athletes is nominal. The Baltimore Ravens came out with a very strong statement. The ravens as an organization or talking about the need to Pay Attention to the legacy of slavery and racism and calling for expanding Voting Rights. And it a powerful moment is yet to be determined where it takes us, but i know we cant go back in the athletes are not going back to the moment of silence. The time for that is over. Talk to barbara from oklahoma city, oklahoma. Caller thank you for taking my call. Im a little nervous. I have a few things to say. I keep hearing about these two people jump has let out of the risen, and i have never heard anyone out of prison, and i have never heard anyone say that obama let out 300 from prison. He came to oklahoma and he is the first president to visit the prison and talked to the black people. Some of them were white but most were black. I was so proud of him for doing of them sayingk he helped what people. Has had to pay a legal. He had to pay 25,000 to illegals. He wont pay them and thinks they cant get money. It was 20 years they work for him and they finally got their money this year. He is acting like he closed the border. He has that border open for his businesses. They are streaming through. He has done it one than anyone. An education, wanting let to pay for charter schools. Do you think that poor people can pay for going to school for their kids . Respond,ahead and professor jeffries. Guest the president of the United States is playing a very unique kind of racial politics, he says he has done more for black folks than any other president. In a month, i wouldnt be surprised if he said himself he signed the emancipation proclamation. We have to be careful what he says around race, because he is using these kinds of racial claims for being progressives to overshadow the horrendous politics that he played when it comes to race and sewing Racial Division and using racism as a little rallying by. He signed legislation but was not the author for providing additional funding. But lets meet clear and put it in perspective that there are far more things that need to be and fart he hasnt done more horrible things that he has done that he isnt standing up for and claiming credit for. Host Civil Rights Activist Clarence Anderson presented his own perspective on what the administration has done for africanamericans during the Republican NationalCommittee Last week. Politicians are a dime a dozen. The leaders are priceless. Gaveunding that trump hbcus and so is the number of jobs you gave for the black community. The investment and tax incentives and opportunity zones, and so are the lives that heat saved bypassing criminal justice reform, where 91 of the inmates released our black. These achievements demonstrate that donald trump truly cares about lack lives. Black lives. He has done more for black americans for 40 years then joe four has done in 50 in years then joe biden has done in 50. That embraces the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, a place where people are judged by the content of their character, talent, and ability, not by the color of their skin. Host i want you to respond to what he said. Guest i appreciate mr. Henderson and his commitment to civil rights. But in so many ways he is wrong and the spin coming from what he is saying needs to be slowed down. It is clear that the Trump Administration inherited an economy that was surging upward and he doesnt acknowledge that in any way, shape, or form. Theyetends as though brought into being this American Economy and they pretend as though the inaction on the part of the Top Administration to slow things down and respond that has led to the collapse of the economy and the surging employment numbers has somehow nothing to do with the policies or lack of policies that the Trump Administration took. You cant have it both ways and you cant take credit for an economy they inherited. It is important to went out the question of policing or incarceration. America has an incarceration problem that was born of the Republican Party, starting with nixon and reagan with the war on drugs that was exacerbated. , they the clinton years began to increase funding for policing and expanding policing. There is enough wrong to go around on both sides. Lets be clear that momentum had shifted by the time trump had taken office, partly as a result of the Great Recession and people realizing it makes no sense to spend billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars not locking up nonviolent drug offenders when in many instances, those who find themselves misusing or addicted to substances need medical help rather than imprisonment. Trumpf those kings that wants to claim credit for, if you will, are things he more or less inherited and was certainly not initiated. He is a showman and he likes to hang his hat on these one or two highprofile things and an immigration ceremony, when the is, that hey reinstituted the federal government moving in terms of prisons, moving towards prison privatization which the Obama Administration had moved away from. You have to look at the whole picture and not just the snapshot of the candy that trump tosses out to soothe the ache we may have in our souls. Host i am going to ask you this western, because i have seen several versions this question, because i have seen several versions of it on our social media. It is a question related to the protests over the shooting of unarmed lack men and women in the United States. Unarmed black men and women in the United States. When is a Police Officer justified in using lethal force on a black man . Guest when that officers life is in danger. It is not just about a black man. When can an officer use lethal force . When that officer might end in danger, when there is a credible threat. The problem is the officers are using lethal force when it is not a legitimate credible threat to their lives. It is not like they cant do it. They do it all the time. They apprehend white men who are armed and murderers and have killed people peacefully doubt using violence themselves. It is not that they cant do it, they do it all the time, something gets triggered when they see africanamericans that there is a sense of threat or they dont recognize them and resort to coward acts of violence. When there is a real threat to ones life, then the courts have said the use of lethal force is justified. Too many police are resorting to lethal force when it is clear that there is no threat. The fact that you can shoot an africanamerican man seven times , and the fact that you can do that when there is no credible threat, that is problematic. So many people are saying, this with lawst doing away , just abolishing laws. This is about getting the police to actually police in fair and adequate ways so they actually protect and serve rather than doing harm. Host thats get some more calls. Lets start with anna from texas. Caller morning to both of you. Good morning to both of you. Televisions where people put them on layaway and got them out. I lived in the country in the community would come to whoevers home who had a tv and we would watch it, the family, and the neighbors, everybody. We knew after the march that the ku klux klan was going to rise. The part that bothers me when you asked the question about the march yesterday, the march had a bunch of screamers. Not anybody who is coming up with any type of ideas on how we are going to ourselves we first have to look at ourselves. That is what Martin Luther king was talking about. His granddaughter was cute, but the one thing was that president johnson put out the Great Society. Asking they were asking come of this Great Society and what is great with us . We cant get jobs or loans. Grandson, who is 20 years old and who is a policeman. The reason he came became a isiceman after he graduated because my 25yearold nephew was killed in iraq and really recognized and i called a senator, and yes, people were republican. Jeffries,e thing mr. That you have to stress, we were republicans before we were democrats. Those sort ofwas like donald trump took over the party, completely. 54 because, i attended a segregated school. Our teachers made us write about what we have seen and what we have heard. Nowadays, it doesnt happen. Host we will get you to respond before we run out of time. Guest there was a lot there. About the points was Party Politics and clearly we know that africanamericans have switched parties over the years. But the core truth that has always driven ever can american political decisionmaking africanamerican political decisionmaking was who was going to be texting civil rights and extending human rights. When that was the Republican Party, African Americans were in the Republican Party and when it was the democrat party, they switched over and they are still there because the republic and party does not offer them which would help them move forward as a community. People have to take personal responsibility. Black folks have always burden. Ed the we are not assumed that black folks havent been doing the work. They have been always doing the work and been called upon and had no choice but to do the work. Freeing the government, local, and national to provide services and protection to its citizens, which what folk are. From one last call roswell, new mexico. Debbie, good morning. Caller i know this is short and i will ask the question straight out. Book about the system in the United States. How do we get rid of this system that was created from day one in the United States by skin color by the europeans who came here with a country that doesnt believe the system exists . Guest the first thing that we have to understand is that race as a construct is not real. There is no significant difference between anybody in the world when it comes to their dna on what is on the inside. So race biologically is meaningless. But socially it is meaningful, because over the last 500 years in global history, we have used race to create a hierarchy in our society. Because of that, we cant ignore it. We use race in america as a standin for Cultural Heritage and inheritance. Race is very meaningful in that way as well. We have a problem of racism in the society, because we have used it to structure our society. That doesnt mean in order to get rid of it that we can pretend it doesnt exist, because we use it as a standin for culture. We cant fall into the. Olorblind trap when we say as a society that we need to get colorblind, no, we need to recognize and appreciate and celebrate the racial heritage and culture, we just dont need to discriminate against people on race. The latest get rid of the racial class this to him is to celebrate the race but celebrate peoples cultural inheritance and then do away the ways in which racism has been embedded in our system and structures. Bad actorsout how it perpetuates we need to change the ways we have created inequality in our lives and in our political systems and structures, then we can move forward to where that more perfect union. Host we would like to thank Hasan Kwame Jeffries , a professor at ohio cspans washington journal. Every day, we are taking your calls on the air. We will discuss policy issues that impact you. Analyst Discusses Campaign 2020. A Foreign Policy analyst and author talks about his latest book on the important of american dominance in space. Watch cspans washington journal, live at 7 00 this morning. Join the discussion with your phone calls, Facebook Messages and tweets. The white house did not release a weekly address this weekend. However, senator jacky rosen of nevada delivered the weekly democratic address, discussing the u. S. Postal service. Sen. Rosen hi, im senator jacky rosen. I am proud to represent the great state of nevada in our great United States senate. The coronavirus pandemic has taken a devastating toll on our country. Every corner of america, people from all walks of life are struggling to get by. However, as we work to address the virus impact, we cannot ignore the growing issues surrounding the postmaster generals actions at the United States postal service