Keep these coming, Tracie. I try to keep up with the literature but so often don't have the time. There's a local neighborhood park that I frequent and the shoot the shit with the other locals.😊 But others come in from time to time and sometimes they decide to engage with me on race issues under the guise of being on " my side". This past winter a non-local try to inform me about the problems in the black community. I explained that to her where she was going terribly wrong and depending entirely upon the equivalent of high School rumor-mongering. I wish I had had this one in my arsenal of the time.
There are so many of these, that I think a channel could operated ONLY on pointing out the history of marginalized people, and the injustice they face, and how their efforts are destroyed, and never run out of content.
Wow, just wow. I was listening to your podcast the other evening during a late-night grocery shop by myself. I find your story-telling always to be really though-provoking and emotive so I was settled in to listening and learning about something I knew nothing of - another place, another time, another group of people. As I enjoyed the relative privilege of going about my routine I was reflecting upon how this group of villagers had too established what might have been harmonious lives despite the incredible hardships they'd emerged from and the discrimination they still faced. It was the moment you first said "Central Park" that my jaw dropped. What was already becoming a tragic tale suddenly had an iconic contemporary recognition. My upbringing in middle-class Australia is filled with American and English geographical references and Central Park has always evoked positive thoughts of sanctuary amidst the chaos of a vibrant city. Whilst I was initially shocked at the realisation, I felt embarrassed that I be shocked knowing most prosperity of colonial empires was built on the back of other's loss. I reflected upon how there is a small but not insignificant effort to recognise the indigenous custodians of the land I now live upon. I was really impressed that contemporary historians have been able to rediscover the lost history of Seneca Village and that people can commemorate it in some small way. It is very easy for the privilege to hand-wave away history when we've benefited from it. I really appreciate these stories as a reminder to resist the urge to take that 'easy' route and instead ensure we recognise past injustice, provide reparations where possible and ensure we don't contribute to similar injustices we encounter. Thanks again.
Your comment means a lot on a couple of levels. First, I worry that these "history" lessons are too dry or too filled with names and dates, and difficult for a listener to follow. So when I hear you say that "Central Park" was the give away, and I realize that was the impact I was going for--I know at least some people are hearing what I intend to convey. And it's good to know that people aren't just spinning with too much detail, and are able to follow along. But also, I filter comments, because I want to create a positive and productive space. So anything that seems to be baiting or outright ugly, I don't allow on here. I could let anyone comment, and that would create discord and that outrage would feed the algorithm, and I'd score a lot of points and get promoted more--but that would mean throwing marginalized people under the bus by making this space a hot bed of bigots (like many people do). And in this case, I did get such a comment. Someone commented to say that since Black neighborhoods are trash and wyte ones are nice, why not destroy the slums? I was happy to delete that shit show of a comment and not give it any more oxygen than the mention of it here. But just to say that I really like the fact that although this channel may experience extremely slow growth--it's good growth from people who really want to learn and expand their understanding of others and their contexts. Your comment, and the comments I've been getting mainly, show me there is a market for positive spaces that don't feed on the outrage of bigots to fuel their popularity.
@@athomeinmyhead thank for taking the time to respond. I'm hoping to find ways of injecting the sentiment from your content into 'polite' conversations when I can sense bigotry. I think it often only takes one person to speak up when a group is dog-piling a horrible narrative. At the very least it shows solidarity with those that have suffered historically, and at best it can open and change minds. Tough work but necessary as change doesn't happen without hard work.
Love it. One minor quibble mentioned in the piece. It wasn't an "Irish Famine", but a genocide. It may not seem related, but it's also an "erased history".
It sticks out for me because I'm an American that lives in the UK. I've recently been digging into my Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English heritage and the culture (and the history that formed it). I started down this journey when I heard "indentured servitude" being compared to slavery by people who self-identify as "Irish-American" but only do so on March 17th and when they're defending white supremacy. Many of our ancestors traded their culture for whiteness when they immigrated.
And that includes our history. Right now I'm reading The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan that documents how the English made the famine happen. It's truly ugly stuff.
Believe it or not, I have also read about it. I can't remember what brought me to it, but I did see how the starvation was manipulated by wealthy and powerful people.
I mean, technically we still have not abolished it. The amendment that "abolished" it, simply said you have to convict people before they can be enslaved. That loophole was the reason for Black Codes, which made it illegal for Black people to do a lot of normal things that most citizens do. Then when they were arrested, they were just sent back to their "employers"--former masters--and made to work for free on the same plantations. To this day we have prisons that are former plantations and representatively disproportionate numbers of Black people in prison.
@@athomeinmyhead the penal system in the USA needs to be renovated and ideally needs to copy the Scandinavian model. Prisons should be used to rehabilitate people by giving them life skills and an education. Treating prisoners like slaves is wrong and should be ended. Also, private prisons should be abolished.
Yes, and according to our Constitution, they are not just "treated as slaves", but are legally codified as "slaves". That's what is so stunning about it. We are taught that the US "abolished slavery". It didn't. It abolished race-based chattel slavery, but kept penal slavery. And it's called "slavery" under the law. We don't even need to make any equivalency--it's literal legal slavery.
Yes, and since the state taking the property gets to determine the "value"--they can either pay well or pay poorly--as demonstrated in this example. If you don't want to pay for the property, you just run it into the ground and call it a slum, and then pay nothing for it. And in this case particularly it was horrible, because they were erasing 20% of the Black vote as well.
I only just found your podcast, Tracie, so I haven't yet had time to listen to what you have to say. But I'm tremendously pleased to see that you're still going strong and that your voice can still be heard. Miss seeing your smile, though! 😊
@@athomeinmyhead I think it's refreshing to not always listen to Atheist debates for a change! They are vitally important, of course, but they do tend to repeat themselves quite a bit. So I'm looking forward to hearing your take on other issues. 😉
OK, so I had to google, because I honestly had no clue. And so, take this "answer" with a grain of salt, since it's just the result of a google search: Haiti (then Saint-Domingue) formally declared independence from France in 1804 and became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to eliminate slavery in the modern era, following the 1804 Haitian massacre.
For a minute there I thought you were going to take this in another direction. The doctrine of eminent domain can be abused as it has in the past. But it also shows that the whole concept of "private property" is a lie. All property in the US belongs in the first place to the public. First and foremost it belongs to the nation, the country, us, we the people, not individually, but as a whole. That means that the rich have what they have only because and so long as we as a society allow them have it. They do not have a right to it more fundamental than we do. Technically, and in the final analysis, all the wealth and "private property" of the rich belongs to us. It's really ours. Again, not individually, but as a whole. They don't want us to know that. And they certainly don't want us to think about it. If we ever got our act together, we could legally and morally take it back. And it wouldn't be stealing. It would be taking back what technically has always belonged to us all. They are the ones who have taken it from us through the magic of the "free market" and are pretending it is theirs. But that "magic" is just prestidigitation. It's a smoke-screen, a veneer of legitimacy to an unjust outcome. This could solve the housing crisis. But again, we would have to get our act together and become a real democracy first.
Yes. Like "money"--we just buy into it. And it's especially interesting how eminent domain didn't just fail when it tried to go up against wealthy people's property. But when it went up against less wealthy communities, they not only couldn't stop it, but also couldn't even get fair compensation. Our laws are hard pressed to lay even a finger on the wealthy, because it's the wealthy who create the laws.
@@athomeinmyhead Exactly. The "founding fathers" didn't want a king, but they also didn't want a democracy. What they wanted was a society where rich white men like themselves would be in charge. And they did a remarkably good job of creating such a system. It was a stroke of genius to let people vote, so they would think they were in a democracy and that the system was fair. Every four years the rich present us with two candidates to choose between, and they call that a democracy! What we need, what we've always needed is a real democracy.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Adding a comment to feed the TH-cam algorithm. 🙋🏻♂️
Thank you!
@@athomeinmyhead you're welcome. 😘
As always great video. Super important to know this, thanks
Thank you!
Keep these coming, Tracie. I try to keep up with the literature but so often don't have the time. There's a local neighborhood park that I frequent and the shoot the shit with the other locals.😊 But others come in from time to time and sometimes they decide to engage with me on race issues under the guise of being on " my side". This past winter a non-local try to inform me about the problems in the black community. I explained that to her where she was going terribly wrong and depending entirely upon the equivalent of high School rumor-mongering. I wish I had had this one in my arsenal of the time.
There are so many of these, that I think a channel could operated ONLY on pointing out the history of marginalized people, and the injustice they face, and how their efforts are destroyed, and never run out of content.
Wow, just wow. I was listening to your podcast the other evening during a late-night grocery shop by myself. I find your story-telling always to be really though-provoking and emotive so I was settled in to listening and learning about something I knew nothing of - another place, another time, another group of people. As I enjoyed the relative privilege of going about my routine I was reflecting upon how this group of villagers had too established what might have been harmonious lives despite the incredible hardships they'd emerged from and the discrimination they still faced. It was the moment you first said "Central Park" that my jaw dropped. What was already becoming a tragic tale suddenly had an iconic contemporary recognition. My upbringing in middle-class Australia is filled with American and English geographical references and Central Park has always evoked positive thoughts of sanctuary amidst the chaos of a vibrant city. Whilst I was initially shocked at the realisation, I felt embarrassed that I be shocked knowing most prosperity of colonial empires was built on the back of other's loss. I reflected upon how there is a small but not insignificant effort to recognise the indigenous custodians of the land I now live upon. I was really impressed that contemporary historians have been able to rediscover the lost history of Seneca Village and that people can commemorate it in some small way. It is very easy for the privilege to hand-wave away history when we've benefited from it. I really appreciate these stories as a reminder to resist the urge to take that 'easy' route and instead ensure we recognise past injustice, provide reparations where possible and ensure we don't contribute to similar injustices we encounter. Thanks again.
Your comment means a lot on a couple of levels.
First, I worry that these "history" lessons are too dry or too filled with names and dates, and difficult for a listener to follow. So when I hear you say that "Central Park" was the give away, and I realize that was the impact I was going for--I know at least some people are hearing what I intend to convey. And it's good to know that people aren't just spinning with too much detail, and are able to follow along.
But also, I filter comments, because I want to create a positive and productive space. So anything that seems to be baiting or outright ugly, I don't allow on here. I could let anyone comment, and that would create discord and that outrage would feed the algorithm, and I'd score a lot of points and get promoted more--but that would mean throwing marginalized people under the bus by making this space a hot bed of bigots (like many people do). And in this case, I did get such a comment. Someone commented to say that since Black neighborhoods are trash and wyte ones are nice, why not destroy the slums? I was happy to delete that shit show of a comment and not give it any more oxygen than the mention of it here. But just to say that I really like the fact that although this channel may experience extremely slow growth--it's good growth from people who really want to learn and expand their understanding of others and their contexts. Your comment, and the comments I've been getting mainly, show me there is a market for positive spaces that don't feed on the outrage of bigots to fuel their popularity.
@@athomeinmyhead thank for taking the time to respond. I'm hoping to find ways of injecting the sentiment from your content into 'polite' conversations when I can sense bigotry. I think it often only takes one person to speak up when a group is dog-piling a horrible narrative. At the very least it shows solidarity with those that have suffered historically, and at best it can open and change minds. Tough work but necessary as change doesn't happen without hard work.
I hope anything I'm doing helps. Thank you for the feedback.
Love it. One minor quibble mentioned in the piece. It wasn't an "Irish Famine", but a genocide. It may not seem related, but it's also an "erased history".
You are correct. And thank you for pointing that out. I think it's absolutely the perfect place to post that comment--on a history erased segment.
It sticks out for me because I'm an American that lives in the UK. I've recently been digging into my Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English heritage and the culture (and the history that formed it). I started down this journey when I heard "indentured servitude" being compared to slavery by people who self-identify as "Irish-American" but only do so on March 17th and when they're defending white supremacy. Many of our ancestors traded their culture for whiteness when they immigrated.
And that includes our history. Right now I'm reading The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan that documents how the English made the famine happen. It's truly ugly stuff.
Exactly. In the US it's a racist narrative. I learned that the hard way, when I raised the issue, and was educated. Context matters.
Believe it or not, I have also read about it. I can't remember what brought me to it, but I did see how the starvation was manipulated by wealthy and powerful people.
Similar to the Africville struggle in Halifax N.S Canada.
In the US we have loads of these sorts of stories.
Thank you for sharing this with us. It still amazes me that both Mexico and the British Empire abolished slavery before the USA.
I mean, technically we still have not abolished it. The amendment that "abolished" it, simply said you have to convict people before they can be enslaved. That loophole was the reason for Black Codes, which made it illegal for Black people to do a lot of normal things that most citizens do. Then when they were arrested, they were just sent back to their "employers"--former masters--and made to work for free on the same plantations. To this day we have prisons that are former plantations and representatively disproportionate numbers of Black people in prison.
@@athomeinmyhead the penal system in the USA needs to be renovated and ideally needs to copy the Scandinavian model. Prisons should be used to rehabilitate people by giving them life skills and an education.
Treating prisoners like slaves is wrong and should be ended. Also, private prisons should be abolished.
@@athomeinmyhead I must admit that I was unaware of how the US government abuses eminent domain. That was quite a surprise!
Yes, and according to our Constitution, they are not just "treated as slaves", but are legally codified as "slaves". That's what is so stunning about it. We are taught that the US "abolished slavery". It didn't. It abolished race-based chattel slavery, but kept penal slavery. And it's called "slavery" under the law. We don't even need to make any equivalency--it's literal legal slavery.
Yes, and since the state taking the property gets to determine the "value"--they can either pay well or pay poorly--as demonstrated in this example. If you don't want to pay for the property, you just run it into the ground and call it a slum, and then pay nothing for it. And in this case particularly it was horrible, because they were erasing 20% of the Black vote as well.
I only just found your podcast, Tracie, so I haven't yet had time to listen to what you have to say.
But I'm tremendously pleased to see that you're still going strong and that your voice can still be heard.
Miss seeing your smile, though! 😊
I hope you enjoy the content. It's pretty different than what I did with AxP, but if you were a fan of the old GB & GB2.0 you'll probably enjoy it.
@@athomeinmyhead I think it's refreshing to not always listen to Atheist debates for a change! They are vitally important, of course, but they do tend to repeat themselves quite a bit.
So I'm looking forward to hearing your take on other issues. 😉
👍
Thanks for the feedback!
I agree w/ John Burn. 💯
For the alg. 👍👌
By the way, which country was the first to abolish slavery, by law ?
OK, so I had to google, because I honestly had no clue. And so, take this "answer" with a grain of salt, since it's just the result of a google search:
Haiti (then Saint-Domingue) formally declared independence from France in 1804 and became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to eliminate slavery in the modern era, following the 1804 Haitian massacre.
For a minute there I thought you were going to take this in another direction. The doctrine of eminent domain can be abused as it has in the past. But it also shows that the whole concept of "private property" is a lie. All property in the US belongs in the first place to the public. First and foremost it belongs to the nation, the country, us, we the people, not individually, but as a whole.
That means that the rich have what they have only because and so long as we as a society allow them have it. They do not have a right to it more fundamental than we do. Technically, and in the final analysis, all the wealth and "private property" of the rich belongs to us. It's really ours. Again, not individually, but as a whole.
They don't want us to know that. And they certainly don't want us to think about it.
If we ever got our act together, we could legally and morally take it back. And it wouldn't be stealing. It would be taking back what technically has always belonged to us all. They are the ones who have taken it from us through the magic of the "free market" and are pretending it is theirs. But that "magic" is just prestidigitation. It's a smoke-screen, a veneer of legitimacy to an unjust outcome.
This could solve the housing crisis. But again, we would have to get our act together and become a real democracy first.
Yes. Like "money"--we just buy into it. And it's especially interesting how eminent domain didn't just fail when it tried to go up against wealthy people's property. But when it went up against less wealthy communities, they not only couldn't stop it, but also couldn't even get fair compensation. Our laws are hard pressed to lay even a finger on the wealthy, because it's the wealthy who create the laws.
@@athomeinmyhead Exactly. The "founding fathers" didn't want a king, but they also didn't want a democracy. What they wanted was a society where rich white men like themselves would be in charge. And they did a remarkably good job of creating such a system. It was a stroke of genius to let people vote, so they would think they were in a democracy and that the system was fair.
Every four years the rich present us with two candidates to choose between, and they call that a democracy!
What we need, what we've always needed is a real democracy.