CBS SUNDAY Morning had several excellent pieces on a Flag Day Sunday, at a time when America is having an agonizing reappraisal about race, and what path this country is on. Two in particular are worth watching.
Bringing a discussion about racial bias in the military to social media
"You may be wondering what I'm thinking about the tragic events surrounding the death of George Floyd. Here's what I'm thinking about…" And with that, Air Force General Charles Q. Brown began an emotional social media soliloquy on the racial bias he has dealt with all his life.
"I'm thinking about my Air Force career, where I was often the only African American in my squadron, or as a senior officer the only African American in the room," he said.
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“CQ” Brown is the first African American Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
National security correspondent David Martin asked, "What is the importance of Gen. Brown becoming the Chief of Staff of the Air Force?"
"It's historic, but part of me also says, you know, why didn't it happen before?" replied Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the top enlisted soldier in uniform, who took to social media to talk about his own battle against racism:
"Here's part of my story. I was born in 1968. My father was black and my mother was white. … Racial identity is something that I've struggled with my entire life."
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Grinston can ‘pass’ for caucasian — and he has had to struggle every time he’s been asked to check the box on paperwork.
Grinston obviously succeeded in the Army, and says his race never held him back, but it's always there. "From the day I joined 'til the last time I got the question was in 2014, 2015, where you got the 'What are you?,' it's like the worst thing you could ever ask me."
"And what would you say?" Martin asked.
"A human being," he replied.
Here’s another: Charles M. Blow on race and the power held by police
Recently, I reposted a meme on social media: "How old were you when a cop 1st pulled a gun on you?" I captioned it, "I was 18. You?”
In fact, I was a college freshman in Louisiana, president of my class, and an officer had manufactured a reason to pull me and a friend over. When attempting to retrieve my license and registration, a comb fell out of the glove box that the officer mistook as a weapon.
Out came the gun, and up went my hands.
When my friend objected to the stop, the officer made clear his power: he told us that he could make us lay down in the middle of the road, shoot us in the head, and no one would say a thing.
Hundreds of people responded to my post, many with equally horrific stories, some saying they were as young as five years old when their incident occurred. One commenter said that he was in his father's arms and the gun was aimed at his father.
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At a time when we are recognizing the horrific abuses of police power that have become all too visible thanks to smart phone cameras, police body cameras, and surveillance cameras, there’s a particular kind of abuse that deserves more attention — and it’s not something cameras can catch.
Medical examiners under fire details how criminal misconduct by the police can be concealed just by the choice of words for cause of death: Homicide, Suicide, Accidental, Natural Causes. Reports can leave out important facts.
When Barbara Steward's 47-year-old former husband Daniel Humphreys died in July 2008, in central California, she feared she wasn't getting the full story. "I was told that he had run from the police on his motorcycle and crashed," she said.
The injuries from that crash were minor, so Humphrey's death following that police chase made no sense to Stewart or their two children.
"He had no life-threatening injuries," said Steward. "In fact, he didn't have any broken bones."
...It took nine years for the truth to finally be made public: A highway patrol officer had tased Daniel Humphreys 31 times. Steward believes that's what killed him, and what was called an accident should have been called a homicide.
After learning what really happened in Humphrey's case, and others, Dr. Omalu quit in 2017, and wrote an angry resignation letter, in which he claimed the sheriff, on occasion, requested that he modify his autopsy reports.
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There’s more examples, including what happens when medical examiners try to tell the straight story. It’s not just about race; it’s abuse of power pure and simple.
The Cover Story is about the new book on Melania Trump; it’s not a puff piece, and it is an overdue look at the First Lady.
The stories about Eisenhower’s example as president and Biden’s choices for VP pick are definitely worth a look. The look at Father’s Day is also a good one.
The full episode for June 14, 2020 can be seen here, and via other channels: CBS All Access, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Amazon FireTV/FireTV stick, and X-box.
ELSEWHERE...
ICYMI, there’s other recent stories worth a look, if not from CBS. Both of these were featured here at Daily Kos. A White Woman, Racism, and a Poodle is one. Teacher Ken recommends an article at National Review: America Begins to See More Clearly Now What Its Black Citizens Always Knew.
A recent NY Times commentary is brutal: I’m a Black American. I Had to Get Out. The Racism was too much. I fled. America is now generating refugees. Think about that.
We’re also on a world watch as a flawed democracy. Tom Sullivan at Digby’s Place writes Make America greater than Chile again?
Political scientist Rachel Bitecofer last night pointed to the Economist’s Democracy Index 2019, dubbed “a year of democratic setbacks and popular protest.” In its survey of democracies in 165 independent states and two territories, the United States ranks 25th in the world, somewhere below Chile and into the “flawed democracy” category.
Jordan and Kuwait tie for the top position in the “authoritarian regime” category at 114, making that either something for the Donald Trump administration to crow about or else to shoot for.