Be testifying not republican Governor Rick Snyder, nor flints former unelected emergency manager Darnell Earley. On tuesday, earley announced his resignation from his current job as emergency manager of the detroit Public Schools. Well get the latest. Then Michael Eric Dyson on the black presidency barack obama and the politics of race in america. What is interesting is obama has faced extraordinary levels of obstruction. No other president has been subjected to what he is been subjected to. Used in an incredible he has done an incredible job. On the other hand, his own selfimposed gag order when it comes to race is not benefited the nation or given us the opportunity to see his mind on the issue of race. Amy and who was behind the publication of yesterdays fake New York Times declaring the paper was rethinking its coverage of israel and palestine . You will find out here on democracy now all of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Officials in texas have reported the first case of zika virus contracted in the United States, saying it was sexually transmitted. If confirmed, it marks the second known case of zika transmission through sexual contact. Zika has continued to spread rapidly across latin america, with chile reporting its first three cases. The mosquitoborn illness, while generally not lifethreatening , has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. The link has raised debates over restrictive abortion laws in countries like brazil, which has seen nearly 3700 suspected microcephaly cases. The World Health Organizations Anthony Costello announced the latest steps. We have set up a Global Response unit, which brings together all people across who in headquarters in the regions to deal with a formal response to using all of the lessons we have learned from the ebola crisis. The final results from the Iowa Democratic caucus show Hillary Clinton beating vermont senator Bernie Sanders by just. 2 with 49. 8 of the vote, compared to 49. 6 for sanders. But sanders swept the vote among Young Democratic voters, with 84 of people between ages 17 and 29 choosing sanders versus 14 for clinton. The candidates are now pressing ahead to next tuesdays primary in new hampshire, where sanders holds a doubledigit lead in statewide polls. Activists around the world have kicked off a series of protests over the signing of the Transpacific Partnership trade deal in new zealand, due to take place just hours from now. The tpp encompasses 12 pacific rim nations, including the United States and 40 of the worlds economy. Opponents say it will benefit corporations at the expense of health, the environment, free speech and labor rights. , a maori tribe refused a request to perform at a welcome ceremony for trade ministers, saying that tpp threatened sovereignty. Protesters are planning a nonviolent direct action to blockade the Convention Center in auckland, new zealand where , the signing is due to take place. In bangladesh, a massive fire at a sweater factory has renewed concerns over labor conditions. The factory supplied western retailers h m and jc penney. The blaze injured at least four people but most of the more than , 6000 workers had not arrived yet to work. In 2013, factory collapse in bangladesh killed over 1100 people. In pakistan, a crackdown by Security Forces on striking Airline Workers has killed at these two protesters at the airport in karachi. The workers have been protesting plans to privatize the national airline. The Obama Administration has proposed quadrupling its budget for european operations next year to address russian aggression. Obama reportedly plans to significantly ramp up deployment of heavy weapons to nato countries in central and eastern europe, even as Russian Military activity in Eastern Ukraine has calmed. Defense secretary ash carter also sought a 50 increase in spending on the u. S. Led fight against the selfproclaimed islamic state. Of ourbasic elements Defense Strategy remains valid, it has also been abundantly clear to me over the last year the world has not stood still since then. Versions of il and th resurgce of russia, being just a couple of the examples. This is reflective of a broader strategic transition underway, not unlike those we have seen in history following the end of other major wars. Amy congress is holding its first hearing today on lead poisoning in the water supply of flint, michigan. The crisis began after an unelected emergency manager appointed by republican Governor Rick Snyder switched the source of flints Drinking Water to the corrosive flint river. Flints former emergency manager Darnell Earley refused to testify at todays hearing despite a subpoena. ,on earley announced he was tuesday, resigning from his current position as emergency manager of the detroit Public Schools. Well have more on the story after headlines. Here in new york the family of , Ramarley Graham has held an allnight vigil outside the local Justice Department office to mark four years since the unarmed, africanamerican 18yearold was fatally shot by Police Officer richard haste. On february 2, 2012, haste shot graham inside his home, in front of his grandmother and sixyearold brother. Haste was initially indicted for manslaughter by a grand jury, but the case was dismissed over a prosecutors error. A new grand jury declined to indict him. Since the shooting, haste has received nearly 25,00 in raises. Grahams mother, constance malcolm, spoke outside the Justice Department. We really mean business. We want some answers. This office is the last place that can give us answers to why my son is dead. Amy Ramarley Grahams family has called for the city to fire officer haste. The federal investigation is ongoing. In saudi arabia, a court has overturned the death sentence against palestinian poet ashraf fayadh, instead sentencing him to eight years in prison. Fayadh will also be subjected to 800 lashes to be carried out over 16 sessions and forced to , renounce his poetry publicly. Fayadh had previously been convicted of apostasy and sentenced to beheading, sparking an International Outcry among fellow artists. European officials have unveiled a deal with the United States to allow corporations, including google and amazon, to continue moving user data back and forth overseas. The socalled e. U. U. S. Privacy shield comes after the European Court of justice struck down a prior agreement following revelations of u. S. Mass surveillance from nsa whistleblower edward snowden. The deal includes written u. S. Assurances that intelligence agencies will not have indiscriminate access to european user data. Snowden was among those to criticize the pact, tweeting its not a privacy shield, its an accountability shield. Immigrant rights advocates say an undocumented 32yearold mother of three has been deported from the United States, even though she had been granted a reprieve from deportation under president obamas executive action. Lesly sophia cortezmartinez came to the United States when she was 15. She was granted a reprieve from deportation under obamas deferred action for childhood arrivals program, or daca. Cortezmartinez had reportedly received permission to visit mexico. But Border Agents detained her when she returned to the chicago airport, apparently citing an old deportation order from 2004. She was deported to mexico tuesday with her infant and another one of her children. Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern about a new wave of violence against journalists in mexico. In the Southern State of oaxaca, two journalists have been murdered over the span of two days. Marcos hernandez bautista, a reporter for noticias newspaper who also worked for several radio stations, had reportedly expressed safety fears after reporting on the interests of bosses in the region. The second victim, reinel martinez cerqueda, presented musical programs for a Community Radio station. Both journalists were shot to death. In california, los angeles prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the Southern California gas company over a massive ongoing methane gas leak. The Company Faces misdemeanor charges for failing to report the release of Hazardous Materials from the leak, which has been called the worst u. S. Environmental disaster since the bp oil spill. California attorney general Kamala Harris also sued the gas firm for violating health and safety laws. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate as methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, continues to leak more than three months after the breach was revealed. And a new autopsy result shows former nfl quarterback dennis stabler had stage three chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or cte , the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. Austin University Researchers have found cte and 90 of the 94 former nfl players they examined. Stabler had requested his brain be examined after he experienced cognitive decline before dying after a battle with cancer at the age of 69. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Congress is holding its first hearing today on lead poisoning in the water supply of flint, michigan. The crisis began after an unelected emergency manager appointed by republican Governor Rick Snyder switched the source of flints Drinking Water to the corrosive flint river. Flints former emergency manager Darnell Earley refused to testify at todays hearing despite a subpoena from the u. S. , House Oversight and government reform committee. On earley announced he was tuesday, resigning from his current position as emergency manager of the detroit Public Schools. One person that will be testifying is snyders handpicked appointee to run the state department of Environmental Quality, keith creagh. According to the detroit free press, creagh is expected to fault the federal Environmental Protection agency for contributing to the flint crisis saying it did not display the sense of urgency that the situation demanded. Amy while many michigan residents have called on Governor Rick Snyder to resign over the crisis, he was not asked to testify at todays hearing. Newly discovered emails show michigan officials began trucking clean water to a state building in the city of flint last january, long before admitting to residents the water was poisoned. Progress michigan, which obtained the emails, told mother jones they blow a hole in the governors timeline for when they knew or started to have concerns about flint water. Karen weaver called for the lead contaminated types to be replaced. To talk more about flint and the resignation of detroit Public Schools emergency manager Darnell Earley, who was the emergency manager for flint as the water was contaminated we , are joined by two guests. Thomas stephens is a member of detroiters resisting Emergency Management. Hes an attorney who has long been involved in the Environmental Justice movement. Hes also a member of the National Lawyers guild. And were joined by tawanna simpson, an elected member of the detroit board of education. Before we talk about Darnell Earley who is just left his position as the head of the detroit Public Schools, we are going to turn to Thomas Stephens to talk about these latest developments around flint. A congressional hearing, Darnell Earley, refusing to testify, he was subpoenaed late yesterday. And this news of the Michigan State building getting water more than a year ago this was well before Governor Snyder says they knew there was a problem with the flint water. Talk about the significance of all of this. Good morning, amy. Thank you for having us on. Yes, this story just keeps getting bigger and bigger and more and more shocking. You mentioned a couple of the points. The question i think on everybodys mind is, how could they do this . Once the water started flowing in april 2014 and it was brown and yellow and tasted bad and smelled bad and gay people chemical burns, how could they possibly allow it to continue for 18 months and take no action, and even then, even since then, since october 2015, their action has been perhaps the clumsiest coverup that ive ever seen in my life . And i think it has reached a stage where the governors supporters are trying to narrow the question to, well, who was responsible for the decision to withdraw water from the flint river . For thewas responsible failure to include anticorrosive chemicals in that water . I think it is really important for people as these congressional hearings began and the fingerpointing between the epa the state department of Environmental Quality and the state officials and the Emergency Managers in the local officials in flint Gains Momentum for people to realize there is a wider historical significance in that in the 1990s, when for brief time, it seemed like there might be some relief in the offing from the environment authorities for environmental racism, that there was a president ial order the Clinton Administration early on, Environmental Justice, and there was a draft guidance by the epa i think in the late 1980s that begin the process of responding to this disproportionate and adverse environmental risk and contamination that low income people of color communities in particular are exposed to. It was in flint where with a republican governor, the previous republican governor and his director russell harding, leading the charge, the epa in the state of michigan decided, no, were not going to provide the kind of protection these communities need to have the kind of environment and Public Health that are enjoyed in white communities. In particular, in what is known as the infamous select steel decision, the epa under enormous political pressure from both democrats and republicans in congress threatening to cut their funding, determined they were not going to even apply civil rights analysis. It is a long and complicated story and requires an understanding of how civil rights and environmental regulation intersect. The important thing to realize, this is not the reason why the good explanation for what the Snyder Administration did is unbelievable incompetence is because, this was the policy that clinton place 25 years ago. Juan in terms of policy, this whole issue of water supplies, privatizing water supplies, the switch from the water supply by the detroit water system, talk about the privatization efforts that have been occurring. Sure. Youre in a state were this governor instituted the Emergency Management policy, which is like privatization on steroids. Total privatization of government. In southeastern michigan, we have two water authorities. Andthat is still being the great lakes Water Authority, which has taken over all of the old infrastructure and operations of the detroit water and sewers department. And while these authorities are being created, yet poisoning of the poor people of color communities and mass water shut offs come also in violation of human rights and detroit. What is happening is the resource the very essence of life itself, water, is been privatized and subjected to a corporate bottomline approach that is in violation of the human rights of the most Vulnerable People in the state. Amy a lot has been made or said , the the detroit switch Emergency Managers decision to take flint off the detroit water supply and as an interim measure before moving to a new system, just take the flint water. That that was done to save water. But you are investigating something house. The possibility that it was done, what, to bankrupt the detroit Public Water System . They were getting money to provide the flint water, so that it can be privatized . You should not say water, i think you meant to say money. It is not quite that conspiratorial. Remember, both flint and detroit were under state appointed and power toagers override contracts and laws. During the same timeframe, they approved and theres a story in the detroit news today that provides new details according to participants a behind the scenes meetings between the governor himself and the Emergency Managers and the water authorities in detroit and flint. The decision to start a new Water Authority in flint and invest all of the money and resources that is involved in that kind of an operation and the construction they still have not finished the pipe. The decision to cut it off, the detroit water and Sewage Department system at a cost of i think about 12 billion a year to the system, makes no economic sense. From the perspective of Emergency Management, which is supposed to be about fiscal integrity and municipalities, which im sure youll hear a little bit, it has done exactly worked out, it makes no sense to start a new authority and deprive the existing system of revenue. The question is, why did they do that . It almost certainly comes down to the economic and political power that local officials get im talking about in the flint area, which was still on the detroit system, by the way im a genesee county, still getting water from detroit the whole time if you can build a system like this and then you control development. Someone who owns a lot of property wants to do development and make a lot of money by creating a residential selling the property, they need water and drainage. If you have control over that in your area, you have an immense source of power and money. I think that is what is behind it. If Governor Snyder is ever tied to that in genesee county, that will be the end of his career. Juan i want to turn to tawanna simpson, an elected member of the board of education. You had extremely limited power because the School System has been under Emergency Management by the very same person, Darnell Earley, who is implicated in what has occurred in flint. Could you talk about what Emergency Management has meant to your School System and your response to the resignation of Darnell Earley . Yes. Good morning. I would like to give you a little history. Detroit Public Schools has been under a form of Emergency Management since 1999. At that time, we had a 1. 5 billion bond, 93 Million Rainy Day Fund when governor engler system first took over our Public Schools. E know it is about money you murdered said management is about taking over Emergency Management is about taking over our schools, suspending democracy, and not educating our children in detroit. Amy i want to turn to Detroit Public School student wisdom morales describing the conditions in his Detroit Public School. Ive gotten used to seeing rats everywhere. Ive gotten used to seeing the dead bugs. Ive tried to ignore the graffiti when im trying to use the bathroom. I am bothered by these things. It makes me feel sick and it doesnt feel good. I want to be able to go to school and not have to worry about being bitten by mice, being knocked out by the gases, being cold in the rooms. Amy that is wisdom or alice, speaking to reporter kate levy. You can link to the report on her website. Tawanna, teachers have protest. Ng out, major you have the flint water supply contaminating the children of flint and then you have these conditions in the detroit public ,chools under the same manager unelected emergency manager who just quit. It is overwhelming and disheartening. That democracyd is suspended here in detroit. You know, it is heartbreaking. I just went on a tour not too long ago and was actually locked out of a section of the schools because they did not want the School Board Members to see the deplorable conditions inside of the ddle schl. And atch preschoolers in class with their coats on and having to play in a hallway instead of being able to go into a g is veryishearteng. Uan you are saying you as an elected School Board Member were locked out of a Public School that youre supposedly in charge of . Yes, a section of the building, yes, i was. Juan Thomas Stephens, what about the Emergency Management across the board in michigan . The reality that almost all of the communities that are being under Emergency Management are largely africanamerican and latino. Yes, it is a racist policy. Under the statute, the elected school board in detroit has no power at all. The emergency manager has all of the power. They only have the power he chooses to give them, and he has given them none. This is why i agree with those int the appointment of orr march 2013 is the flint river catastrophe is really the realization of our fears. The idea that and this goes back to the Environmental Justice expense of the 1990s are referred to earlier. The idea that a white republican governor in lansing appointing a single individual of whatever race to run a city without accountability to anybody expect accept the governor the power to override laws and contracts was bound to be harmful to these committees. It has turned out to be, especially for the children of flint and also the children of the detroit Public Schools, even more harmful than we feared. Amy tawanna simpson, what are you calling for now . You have Darnell Earley who just quit. He is been subpoenaed to talk before the Republican Congressional Committee that is not calling for Governor Snyder for the others responsible for the flint water supply, but Darnell Earley is, the emergency manager in charge of the flint water added to a Public Schools and he is just left but says he is not testifying. What is going to happen to your school . Has an emergency manager been appointed . What are you demand for the detroit Public Schools . What i demand is to return the elected school board. Ive us our power back let us educate our students. Let us rebuild our school district. That is what im calling for. No d. C. Post of the governor is proposing to provide additional layer of democracy by creating another board that would govern charter schools, Public Schools, and eaa is ludicrous. Nowhere in america would you find three competing Companies Working together. So, you know, by making education providing choices, that also creates competition. And so we dont want to be a part of a dec. Localsys that after the return to governorates governance, there will be aboard in place. The law or to provide for oversight. So we dont want a dec or any other level of bureaucracy. We want in detroit Public Schools what every other Public School in the state of michigan has, and elected school board that elects their superintendent and governance the district. Amy i want to thank you both for being with us and of course we will continue to follow this story and cover the congressional hearing today on flints water supply. I want to thank tawanna simpson, joining us from detroit, elected member of the detroit board of education. And thank you to do top to Thomas Stephens, detroiters resisting Emergency Management. When we come back, who is responsible for printing a fake New York Times that was distributed all over new york yesterday . You will find out. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan a palestinian village has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize will step israel is throwing open its doors to refugees. Those were some of the headlines that appeared in a fake version of the New York Times distributed across new york city on tuesday. The paper carried the slogan, all the news we didnt print. The prank copy of the revered gray lady also announced democratic president ial candidate hilarity clifton planned to quit the president ial race to head up a womens nonprofit based in ramallah. The edition even has fake ads. Amy 10,000 copies of the fake paper were distributed but no group took responsible for the prank. That is, until now. Joining us to find out who was behind the paper, we are joined by Jane Hirschmann of jews say no. Also with us ben norton, journalist at salon who specializes in u. S. Foreign policy and in the middle east. He just published a piece titled progressive jewish groups make New York Times parody issue to protest newspapers biased israelpalestine coverage. Above the New York Times logo that says rethinking our 2015 coverage on israelpalestine a supplement. Who arejews say no new york . There were two groups they came together, our group and also jewish voice for peace in new york city. We are to organizations that are trying very hard to get out the real news about israel and palestine. The media bias is extraordinary. Months ago, we came together to discuss, what can we do about this . The fact the coverage never has any context to what is going on in israel and palestine . People are not aware there is a 67 year occupation, that not two equal peoples will stuff it is not just the New York Times, but all the press. There was typecast the palestinians as terrorists. And the poor israelis are the victims. We felt the time had come to really put out the news, the real news about it. People dont know that our government is complicit, that we get 3 billion a year to israel and we dont give it for social services, education, for research. We give it to them for military reasons. It is a largest contribution we make to any country in the world. So we are fighting the occupation. People dont know there is an apartheidlike state in israel. Outorked for months to get this paper. Yes, it is a parody, but all of the facts about israel and palestine on the ground are correct in the paper. Juan im sure many people in the New York Times, would say they provide some of the most balanced coverage, obviously, you may differ with that, but some of the articles are amazing. You had the headline blame Israeli Government for recent violence. You even had the advertisements as well, old dealing with political reversal of how people here in the United States, many are fed the news on israel and palestine. Some of the generals did come forward recently ended question what the Israeli Government was doing. And that it may be the cause for the violence. That is what they question in the New York Times. Were saying after 67 years of stealing peoples homes, water, not letting them across borders and have checkpoints to go to work, not getting the hospitals, that this is violent. And even the generals that article is pretty factual about the generals. Juan what was the reaction when you gave it out yesterday . It was amazing. We at over 60 volunteers at places like the Staten Island ferry, grand central, and people took the paper and said, thank you. The first paper handed out at 7 00 in the morning, this guy laughed left. A minute later he conducted said, who did this . This is fabulous. He said, im a teacher and i teach about media and terrorism, and im going to teach today, can you give me more copies . Amy you also have a fake editorial in this four page supplement will stop and this is one of the quotes you pulled for your salon piece. You write in addition, we are a disproportionate number of our news stories in the past year and a half has focused on Israeli Government statements and positions or their views of israelijewish citizens, only small fraction have featured palestinian speakers, whether officials and advocates are residents expense the effects of israeli policies in everyday life. Was the clip you chose for the piece in salon to layout where the times says theyre going with this, although, it was fake of course. As jane said, it is important to recognize the New York Times is not unique in these regards. As the u. S. Names paper of record, it epitomizes the tendency throughout American Media stop the essential idea is, israel is a close u. S. Ally and a democracy, etc. , so we need to give their side of the view, the vast majority of the time, and what that does is it normalizes this notion that palestinians are violent and theyre reacting against this more civilized democratic country. When you look at the media coverage, very often what you see is, you will see close from Israeli Government officials, sometimes they are anonymous, and at most there will be one or two quotes from palestinians. Even then, the quotes will be very timid and poultry and you wont see any kind of quote that discuss the reality of the military occupation, for example. You wont see discussion in significant detail of israels illegal activities. As jane mentioned, when were talking about context, context and media is everything. The New York Times and many other publications very often refuse to acknowledge theres been an illegal military occupation of the territory since 1967. The u. S. And all countries in the world, excluding israel, have admitted this. The New York Times rarely acknowledges when theyre discussing the recent wave of violence, more than 165 palestinians have been killed since october. In a few months, talking about approximately 170 deaths. A few minutes ago this morning i was looking at the headlines, three more palestinians were in east jerusalem. When we are looking at this kind of coverage, it is important to understand that when the american newspapers quote Israeli Government officials, when they kind of dont acknowledge the daily quoted me in violence violence that palestinians are subjected to, that is a subtle but very clear form of bias that must be overcome. This whole notion of having balanced coverage is very important, but what it often means is it normalizes and essentially creates an equivalency between the people who are under military occupation and have been illegally for decades and the people who are carrying out the illegal military occupation. Any media that make that clear delineation are actually being balanced. If you dont make that jolene nation delineation, your normalizing the violence. One coat there were two the pieces that were not parities, they were oped pieces by two writers. Im wondering if you could talk about them and the decision to include them as well in this issue. Without it was important to put in pieces, as you said, the whole paper is not a parody. There are facts that are absolutely correct. We thought it was important to put in pieces theres only one person that is named correctly in this paper, and that is aurora. We wanted to make it accurate as well. We did not wanted to just be a joke paper. We wanted to show what real coverage would look like. We did that. I also want to mention what ben said, would an israeli child is killed and you have a whole story about that child and you have the picture of that child, they tell you but the family, you know, so we listed the palestinian children who recently were killed and grownups, because we thought it was important to get their names. You never see it in the papers at all. Amy ban kimoon actually did write a strongly worded New York Times oped criticizing israels continued occupation of the west bank in gaza. I also want to ask you about the ads. On the front page, were used to sing various ads, the perfume of power. Af skunk. Oe to i can you read what is underneath . I dont have my glasses, sorry. Perfume. Ad for this is since 2008, the Israeli Defense forces idf have routinely sprayed toxic skunk water on and to palestinian home and schools, its smell has been described as worse than raw sewage and like a mixture of excrement, noxious gas, and decomposing donkey. Washeref my children when they sprayed skun it wasorrific d people got veryery ill,ne person has di. Th is whatheyprayed t disper the cros. It islso impoant regnize, and tspoken nviolentost unioactivist in the wt bk has diussed hothey alssprayed to home th sometim break ndows this ishe israe occupatn forc will brk windowand spray unk wat into pele homes,hich rui the furnire and kes her use smell rrific f wee and if gets iyour hai it can be stuck for months. Amy did you get a response from New York Times . They were quoted. We do not call them for the quotes, but all of our sites have been taken down. Our facebook, our twitter amy by . Even our domain. Well, we are not exact wisher. The domain we know because they were called by the New York Times and threatened. We will not be stopped. We will be up and running. We will let your viewers know through you how to see the paper online. D you go want tohank you both foreing wit uss jew sameo jews sanote realedheir take paper distributive yesterday drug the city, 10,000 copies made. Ane hirschmann and ben norton back, my glared dyson joins us to talk about the black presidency, barack obama and the politics of race in america. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan as the 2016 president ial race heats up and the nation marks black history month, we turn to look back on president obamas legacy as the nations first africanamerican president. George some professor Michael Eric Dyson has just published a new book titled the black , presidency barack obama and the politics of race in america. Antigovernment protests in ferguson to the Church Shooting in charleston, South Carolina to the controversy over the arrest of harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, he explores how president obama has changed how he talks about race over the past seven years. He is joining us here in new york was a welcome back to democracy now why dont you talk about what you wrote the black presidency. And on how to relay race has been used against obama, how he has used it, how he has avoided it to how section is been racially pitched but not articulated. And what is has been pretty rancid, but even the more subtle stuff has to be taken into account. And his hesitation, his procrastination when it can to racial discourse i think hurt the nation in ways that were certainly unintended, but nonetheless very important to note. And to look at his presidency in the broader landscape, if you will, of both the resistance he faced in the selfimposed gag order on race that he suddenly observed for most of his presidency. And a look at the evolution of obama on race from the bad lesson he learned after the gates gate, which was dont say anything about race because folks get mad. Amy Henry Louis Gates was arrested as he was walking into his own home. And would on the porch and they arrested him. The reality is, after that kind of sustained argument for a week about whether or not obama should have waited as the police are being acting stupidly, he pretty much from then was kind of chill on weight race and it had an impact on the stations racial discourse. Juan youre saying his conclusion from that was that he had made a mistake in the way he dealt with the issue. Well, right. The lesson he learned is if you speak about race, stuff gets really radioactive very quickly. Then again, how does that distinction anything else that the president says . The objection he confronted in congress was of such a nature that if he said left, they said right. If you said what, they said drive. Amy i want to go to what president obama said around the arrest of harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, arrested again at his home by white Police Officer. Gates had lived there for years had just him home from a trip, responding to a report of a possible burglary. The incident sparked a debate about race relations. President obama was asked about it turned his fourth primetime white house news conference. Know not having been there and not sing all the facts what role race played in that, but i think it is fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. Number two, that the cambridge stupidly in arresting somebody when theyre was already prove that they were in their own home. And number three, what i think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of africanamericans and latinos being stopped by Law Enforcement disproportionately. That is just a fact. As you know, when i was in the state legislature in illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in this society. The doesnt lessen incredible progrs that has been made. Im standing here is testimony to the progress that has been made will stop and yet the fact of the matter is, this still haunts us. Amy so there was president obama saying the arrest was pretty stupid. What they ended up with was a beer summit between Henry Louis Gates and officer james crowley. Vice President Biden and a friend of the sergeants were there. No medical marijuana was cited, d at the beer summit. It was a personalization of what was suitably a structural issue. In retrospect, this was probably the least Lethal Encounter between a black person in the police that obama would confront during his presidency because soon afterward, as we all know, the pileup of bodies and the extraordinary, if you will, resistance to Police Brutality on the parts of activists would be ignited because black people were being routinely mistreated and abused by the police. And obamas slow to a respond engagement with this issue certainly, i think, tend to exacerbate what was already a profound structural problem. Juan michael, one of the most fascinating themes throughout your book is the battle that has occurred among the leadership of the black community in terms of how to properly raise criticism or questions about the obamas policies. The amazing battles that occurred between the intelligentsia and american to take different perspective. Can you talk about that . I know a little about that. It is a huge problem. I know people outside of the committed to, either youre going to say obama is a horrible guy and doing drones and verbal antiprogressive stuff you know, which could be true when people are making an argument, but they dont take into account what he is up against, how he is being viewed. 54 of republicans dont even think is a christian as he says. Asy think he is a muslim, Jerry Seinfeld was a, not that theres anything wrong with that. But the point is, this is a guy who says he is a christian. They believe he is not an american. They dont believe in abortion, but they want to retroactively you race him from birth. He is facing this kind of obstruction on the one hand, and the black people are saying, look, give him a break because if he is facing all of that stuff, dont say anything that is going to give a stronger hand to the opposition. I understand that, but the problem is simultaneously while the president was being buffeted and assaulted, he turns around and makes some lecturing comments to African American people. He goes to Morehouse College and tells graduating seniors they should make no excuses. I dont think they did because theyre actually graduating. He says, look, you cant talk about racism as an excuse. Make no excuses and nobody wants to hear that. When he went to college you did not tell Donna Lee White women, he was empathetic. When you want to bernard college, he did not tell white. Omen he was empathetic. It was a difficult thing for black people to acknowledge, number one. Number two, to try to engage in a constructive debate with a president. Theres very little room, even for political figures as well as social and culture critics. Juan most of his lecturing is been about blackmails and the failure of the community to do with the problems of black males, but then africanamerican women are saying, hey, why all of this emphasis just him what is happening among black males . It is a bit ironic and paradoxical because after ferguson and the jurys decision even before president obama said, look, some black people to commit crimes and nation be held accountable. People thought that was tone deaf. Secondly, what he recommended was my brothers keeper. You are the president. You might put forth Public Policy that might address this more than charitable organizations that could do so. In anow, obama was difficult situation, but the lectures for africanamerican men, you dont show up, so on and so forth probably his own pain abandoned by his father. Listen to most rap music and many of these figures have been abandoned by their father. The reality is, that is a staple and black masculine culture, but the public assault upon these Vulnerable People from the bully pulpit along with a finger wagging lectures did not play too well among black people who are sensitive to the fact that he was reinforcing stereotypes. Again, we know he is facing extra near instruction. We know anytime he mentions race it is radioactive. It anything this black president mentions is radioactive, so there is tremendous empathy for him even among some of the elected officials and social culture critics of but also the demand that principled criticism. I have spoken out some of the bitter rants upon obama that are criticized by desperate allies by certain critics. And he got a month after the shooting death of unarmed team trayvon martin. President obama addressed his death. I think all of us have to do soulsearching to figure out how do Something Like this happen. That means we examine the laws in the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident. My main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. If i had a son, he would look like trayvon. Right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness that it deserves and were going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. Thank you. Amy of course, the man who killed trayvon martin, george zimmerman, was acquitted. Trayvon martin, freddie gray, michael brown, walter scott. Talk about whether you see president obama evolving through these years, and what he himself said to you in your interview with him. I think he definitely has evolved. Look, he always believed privately that these things were problematic and horrible. You can look at his time as the state senator and even some of the things as he entered the United States senate to know the man was sensitive to and understanding about some of these changes. There wasrose higher, a greater reticence for obvious reasons, but that selfimposed cap order so to speak, especially when operating in the white house, has a destructive or at least, debtor no consequences. He has evolved. He is in the necessity of not simply fingerpointing and lecturing black people, but to empathize with them, to understand with her plight is. He often has said, im not the president of black america. But you are the president of black americans. That means we are citizens of the state as well, deserving equal protection under the law. I think obama got that message, and it wasnt silly the structural issues that he needed to be made more sensitive to, it was, shall we say, the folklore of racism, which operates in the culture. Might hear said that if theyre doing this for me, if theyre saying im a monkey, a black box, a nothing, wh will they do to erage blk peopleho dont have bodyguards were secret service to protect them . I think its and the quotient went up and he began to speak about police fertility. You Megyn Freddie great. He says in a press conference with the japanese Prime Minister he says, seems like every week there is a new story. So you could feel for him some of the blood boiling and his empathy with black people and saying this is enough, weve got to stop it. And then with the deaths of jordan davis, trayvon martin, and especially the nine innocent souls who wermurderein South Carolinaleading that speechinary sermo ere he sg amazing graceo healhis nation apart of the grf it hadndured ithe aftermath of that heins crime, obama foundis sea ls, so to speak, on race to mix metaphors, and began to articulate much re powerful politics of empathy, but also an understanding of what the state must do, not just offer charitable programs. Martin luther king jr. Said, justice is more important charity. He began a look at the cminal justicsystem, nkering ith th, sing that certain things arnot righ not correct, offering or partners, talking about people in detention and the like. So the president certainly has evolved. He told me, of course, you know, he felt his own election would have some and calculable benefits. Young people who never knew anything other than a black president have their mind set. It is true. You think about eight years, kids were born and rely, was a white person in the white house. That doesnt seem normal. That is unimaginable for my generation, but it would have that kind of impact the boldly speaking. The symbolism must be tethered to profound substantive structural issues. Juan in terms of the whole issue of him not only being the butident of black americans the head of the imperial state of the United States, which obviously, you alluded obliquely to the debates you have had with other africanamerican figures like cornell west over this issue of, how do you deal with the substantial and fundamental questions that people have about some of the policies he is implemented as president , while at the same time, dealing with the reality that there is enormous backlash against him by many americans. The 64,000 question. Those kinds of arguments should be made. My argument with professor west wasnt about the substance of his argument to a certain degree it was the tone. Dont copy but names, talking to but they are scared of a real black man. Part of the consternation professor west in part when obama saw him at the urban league, he cussed him out, is that street enough for you . The me get up in your grits and your chest and thump you and away a black man will understand, is that authentic for you . I think that led to resentment. Black people dont cotton to will to black people who are talking about the bodies of figures like obama in public when the history of assault upon black females and males not only freddie gray, but sandra bland and many other black women who have been abused by the police, that suggests a history that i think professor west was at least denying in deference to his righteous anger and outrage at what he saw as policies that should be opposed. Opposed them like you would any other president s. Speak articulate lee and clearly about what you think is a problem. I have a chapter where i talk about black patriotism and obama being the blackface of an american empire and the consequences that that brings, which means the internationalism that paul robeson and marlins looking junior put forth has been muted under this presidency. I say those things as well but im not talking about his mama or his dog or the Public Housing he lives in. Amy and the whole issue of the latino community. You had one of the closest , the shop that president obama expressed when they called him the reporter in chief. Well, look at the record. It was unverifiable claim that they put forward. Did the white house expect the price of support for certain issues and being a symbolic representative of minorities would be the silence and the meeting of the will muti of the voiceng . That would be just when she made that statement among those who pushed back even gently, there was obvious resentment for that and resistance to that but the drop of a social and culture critic is to put that forth. Amy we have to break, but we will continue the conversation and post it at democracynow. Org. Michael eric dyson our guest, Georgetown University professor. His book the black presidency , barack obama and the politics of race in america. [captioning made possible by democracy now ]
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.