I keep seeing people mad at me about not letting my son dye his locks which confused me until I realized I cut my further explanation from this version. People who saw the Nebula version can verify that I explain that it isn't about his self expression it's about the police and how they view black boys. Just wanted to clarify that. All love yall.
@@DLewis-kt9ok I mean, I guess you aren't wrong per se. But he did open the door to that discussion when he brought it up on his public platform. What I don't understand is why, with all of the topics discussed in the video, anyone would seize upon whether or not his son is allowed to dye his hair. They're being stupid but not necessarily out of line, imo.
@@foiredede I mean all countries that called themselves communist became worse than the capitalists they fought against. USSR, North Korea, China, Cuba, etc. You can definitely argue if they actually are communist, but life got worse mainly from ideology. If anyone could have opposed capitalism and got away with it, it was the Soviet Union, but they cut deals with the worst capitalist countries and corporations, including literal Nazis.
@@richardarriaga6271 and just like when the nazis called themselves socialists, the ussr China and North Korea are all actually authoritarian which is antithetical to communism. I genuinely just don't know enough about Cuba to comment on it. also "got worse for the ideology" that ideology being authoritarianism, not communism. authoritarians appropriating leftist ideas and words for power grabs is very common because leftist ideas are better and more popular than "everyone obey me or else." communism, for the record, is a stateless classless moneyless society. there are many competing theories and beliefs about how to achieve it and organize it, but on its basic level those 3 criteria need to be met for any place to call itself communist.
I was a History undergrad major at Bowie State during the early 2010s. I think one of the most eye-opening things I learned is that ultimately it wasn’t MLK’s efforts to help end segregation that got him killed, but his efforts to unite the American Working Class. Keep in mind he was in Memphis in solidarity with the Sanitation Workers Strike. It was ultimately his threat to Capitalism that got him assassinated.
This is speaking way out of turn here for me, but: I have seen Liberal poli-sci scholar Ian Shapiro of Yale University say that some of the biggest supporters of affirmative action in the US were automakers (the lecture series in which he does so is on youtube, "Power and Politics in Today's World"). I can't remember exactly how he analyzes their motivation for doing so, but I would point people to "Elite Capture" by Olufemi O Taiwo for a better explanation -- elites understand that you can't govern by terror alone, you need to co-opt anti-racist action in order to maintain good enough labor relations to produce cars without interruption AND to be able to avoid boycott or sanctions from consumers. Shapiro claims, in that same lecture series, that mining companies were instrumental in ending apartheid in South Africa for the same reason -- basically, wildcat strikes were bad for business, and they saw that the only way they were going to be able to continue business unimpeded would be if they could convince the government to make concessions enough that they could get labor under control. He frames this as "a way that elites can be useful in fostering conditions for social progress" or something to that effect, which is just outrageous framing, but he is, after all, a White South African capital-L Liberal, what the fuck did I expect? Again, I recommend Olufemi O Taiwo's Elite Capture, the book is a ray of light (I haven't read another recent book of his, "Reconsidering Reparations," since I haven't found a copy at my local bookstore yet, but I'm willing to recommend it based on a lecture I saw him give on the subject). Elites are willing to tolerate just enough reform that lets them hold onto power, that's the whole point of "reform" -- it's a change in a positive direction, but fundamentally, the structure stays the same, and the people who were at the top stay at the top. Desegregation, while alienating to a racist white supremacist society, is ultimately tolerable to a capitalist system which would very much like to be able to exploit Black labor and sell products to Black people unimpeded. A unified working class, on the other hand -- that's something that can't be co-opted, and has to be violently suppressed. (Please don't mistake this as saying "America's not racist" or some class-reductionist "race is * just * a tool to divide the working class" b.s. -- I just think it's important to understand white supremacist and capitalist structures, and how they interact, in order to be able to fight them)
And there's a reason in school they focus on his "I have a dream" speech. It is an easy speech to use as a way to ignore class struggle and spin the narrative of MLK being about "meritocracy". There's a reason they don't even mention, what many black activists in the past consider his most important speech "Why I oppose the war in Vietnam" Sorry if he mentions it in this video, I can't help but read comments while it's playing, adhd
That is BULLSHIT! His tone was shifting towards reparations, the same as Johnnie Cochran. "Working class." You HBCU people are no different from these boot-slurping raccoons. You're just left-wing puppets.
Adam Smith is the famous Scottish philosopher who described the workings of money / capital and transactions In my opinion capitalism is a term used by marxists to invent an economic theory and ideology which they can oppose. People have done trading and transactions and used money all over the world, but people talked about Commerce and trade rather than capitalism prior to the dissemination of marxist theories. The sophistication of the uses of capital in western civilization has brought many benefits to people all over the world along with the Industrial Revolution. This is especially true of textiles to the point that no one in the world seems to be walking around in rags and no one is collecting Rags as a good way to make a living, and mountains of excess clothing are being dumped all over the world to the detriment of some environments and the people who see no beneficial way to make use of all this clothing Textiles in particular are rarely produced in North America what have been taken over by Asian countries where are the exchange rate makes it possible for doing the work to to make a living and for the companies to prosper from exporting. There's been a big influx of workers from China to I believe Milan Italy to run the famous high-end textile industry there people running companies also do work even if it's not physical and that work is also sometimes equally stressful or even more stressful due to the constant threat of loss of supplies and markets and labor needed to produce Goods at a particular price point.
What you said about MLK reminds me of a Pat the Bunny lyric. "Malcolm X never lived to see the government fall, but the state he opposed made him a stamp. Maybe that's the best you can hope for if you never give up, your enemies will teach your corpse to dance."
As American's....Did we really think the dualities of our country's foundation were going to be easy to....ya, overcome, didn't wanna quote that until I just realized how deep it was. No matter where we turn or what we do in this system, we're hypocrites by default, we live cognitive dissonance 24/7
It's all due to cowardice. Conservatives resent Dr. King, but they feel they can't dare criticize him. So they try to twist the truth so that it looks as if they don't have to criticize him at all. Then they can feel smug in the belief that King was really one of them all along. It's a case of reverse sour grapes.
They hear cherry-picked quotes that suggest he was blanket opposed to using violence, and the associate the left with violence due to decades of propaganda.
The edu sys is owned by the gov, and so is mlk’s image unfortunately: they killed him, named a holiday after him, made statues and plaques, but still no black liberation. The gov is subordinate to capitalism: capitalism co-opts resistance and absorbs it to further its own agenda. That’s why mlk is taught in a hollow way in school and why lumumba is never mentioned at all
@@irishscience580 it’s very obvious that you’re intentionally ignoring history and context to further your own political agenda. No one here is dumb enough to fall for it. Play those games somewhere else, we are not the ones
For the record uncle Tom maintained his integrity and refused to betray other slaves even when it meant accepting beatings and ultimately death. I always wondered why people use uncle Tom as a derogatory term for an excessively subservient Black person.
Why there a many different views on the Uncle Tom character, I think the negative aspects of it combines a couple of things: people being upset with the white woman who wrote the book and how she co-opted a black man story for her own financial benefit along with her taking liberties with his story and it plays into the notion that black people are only accepted based on the viewpoint of white people. With many black people, both man and women telling their own stories it makes sense why a segment of black people would be upset with so called allies feeling the need to fictionalize their experience.
This is actually kind of interesting. People in the South hated it so much they basically made fanfics of Uncle Tom being dumb and subservient until it overshadowed the original.
One of the things that keeps me coming back to you is though I'm not black, but Asian American, our conservatives have the same survival strategy. Assimilate, mimic whiteness, and discard your roots. And ironically, the roots they do keep, reinforce the social conservatism from our communities in a manner that performs for white people- which I should add, this social conservatism in our cultures are largely a result of colonialism. Our struggles against bigotry are not quite the same, but our conservatives are disturbingly similar.
Speaking as a fellow Asian American, I don't think this is isolated to conservatives. Even liberal Asian Americans (like I was for a long time) play the part of being a person of color that gives white friends a level of protection in exchange for being considered "basically white", whatever the hell that means. Getting out of that headspace was the beginning of me having real solidarity with other people. I don't know if I can unlearn mimicking whiteness though.
@@blanktester oh yeah, 100%. I was also the liberal Asian guy, and the token Asian friend in the white group. But I never was able to let go of any of my culture. Frankly, it was pulled from me a bit, but I guess I backlashed into holding on tighter. And I think that backlash also ended up pushing me further to the left. And then I went to college, meeting other people with different backgrounds but similar experiences. It should be noted, that I could never be "basically white" because I'm one of the darker types of Asians. Dante Basco said something about us getting the full platter of racism, where we experience everything that other people do, but not to the same level. And on top of that, we're told we have white privilege. The basically white thing reminded me of that.
In thomas sowell's book "Black rednecks and white liberals" his main argument is that blacks who emigrated from the South took the counter productive and self destructive culture of white people living there with them. The reason why asains are the richest demographic in America is because they apply themselves and develop skills which they can trade for a high quality of life. However, if some Black people do this, even doing something as simple as reading books, then they are accused of "acting white" Sowells argument is that those who accuse others of this are in fact acting white themselves by mimicking whites and their attitudes from the deep south There is a great video on TH-cam addressing this argument with sections of the audiobook itself, the video is called "Black Rednecks & White Liberals (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air examples)"
Have you read Glenn Omatsu's paper about the four prisons and asam activism? Great quote about asam neoconservatives being born from "the reagan-bush era of supply-side economics, class and racial polarization, and the emphasis on elitism and individual advancement."
@@pete5819 you have to understand that liberals are rightwing, they're simply moderate rightwing... dr king would've been the opposite of liberal, he was very, very, left-leaning
Thanks! Your videos are literally enriching my life. Growing up as a black man in the south in a white washed super right wing conservative and ultra religious household left literal psychological scars. Your videos are connecting dots for me and assisting with my self healing journey ✊🏿🥂
Oh, that's great to hear. Growing beyond what we were taught can be covering as hell and intense sometimes, but it's also necessary IMO. Best of luck to you, seriously.
@@RevShifty thanks 🙏🏾. It’s been a long 10 years but I’m seeing progress. I had some serious identity issues because of my childhood and I didn’t even realize it until I was almost 30. To this day I won’t step foot into a church because of what happened. I’m convinced that for all the good the church has done for the black community, it’s done twice as much damage that goes unnoticed because of respectability politics. The level of self hatred and lack of identity that comes with hardcore religious conservatism is staggering. I literally had PTSD. I would literally shake when I didn’t meet the expectations of anyone in authority. I was so docile that it has cost me my marriage, I’m in a better place now but it’s been a hard road.
@@RevShifty I hope people understand that I mean no disrespect and people can worship as they see fit. But I know it’s TH-cam so I may have summoned a troll by accident 😂🤣
i'm so glad the algorithm pushed your channel to my feed with the sports content overlap because everything you said here is absolutely correct. when people understand the US solely through race/racism instead of class/capital, their understanding and analysis falls apart when people like the Obamas, Oprah, Beyonce, Rihanna, etc., become "successful" - there's a distinct lack of critique of these figures because they "made it" EVEN THOUGH they benefit from the continued exploitation of the masses. subbed + looking forward to seeing your list
I also really loved and appreciated his explanation of Black 'social conservatism', and even how it relates to safety. I never bought the 'swelling numbers of black male conservatives' stories that show up every election cycle, but I never knew where it came from before. I just always assumed it was for-profit media doing its thing and inventing stories or making mountains out of molehills to keep eyeballs glued to the screen. I guess I wasn't completely wrong, but the added cultural history would've gotten right over my head otherwise.
I like the video & am a fan of F.D but I have a different perspective to his in this video. I dont think the problem is capitalism per se, but a racial cast system. Without a change in the racial make up of American institutions (ie a breaking of the caste system) the problems black Americans face will linger regardless of economic system. If America became communist today but the racial makeup of the institutions of America were to remain the same you would still see disproportionate negative outcomes for black Americans. You see this in communist societies across the world. The institutional bias of the dominant societies of pre-socialist governments persist into the institutions of the socialist governments too. Anti-Jewish, Ukrainian and Tartar sentiments within the institutions of the Soviet Union, the anti-Islamic sentiment in China, or anti-Tigray sentiment in derg Ethiopia are all examples. All these biases predate their respective socialist governments but continued into socialism because the ethnic/racial hierarchies in each case remained supremacist, exclusive and extractive. The ‘American Vanguard’ party that transitions away from capitalism to communism would be dominated by the Vaushist-white-college-educated-Marxist he speak off in the break bread videos. A country is built off its institutions and American institutions are built on nearly half a millennia of an anti-black caste system. Until that caste system is gone black Americans will continue to suffer regardless of economic system. This is just my op as a Ghanaian who grew up in America.
I’m white, so I don’t know the black experience, but I do agree that the democrats are center right. The ‘Tank with a BLM flag’ point was excellent. It’s much like Hollywood when they use virtue signaling in movies and TV. Rather then tell stories from the viewpoint of a black, asian, Latino, or lgbtq people, they just slap a character in the movie and crow about how progressive they are. Black Panther is the first one I can think of where the story was told almost entirely from a black perspective. They’re too concerned with making as much money as possible.
@@second2none914 so you’re saying the effects of American racism (caste) exists separately from the economic system we claim? I think i totally agree with you, but I’m not well informed about some of your international examples.
It's good point. Fundamental transformation would mean that those liberals could risk losing their positions of power and wealth. Symbolic representation allows them to keep it, or even get more.
Formally educated people today are the most brainwashed people in society, I'm fortunate not to be from doing EXTENSIVE research. Conservatives in 2024 judge 1000% by the content of one's character. Liberals judge everyone & everything by the skin color & superficial circumstances.
Formally educated people are the most brainwashed today actually. It's those who practice free thought & delve into countless hours of research that have a better understanding & mindset to the truth of the world around them. It also doesn't mean they have every answer, but they are actively pursuing every truth possible. 2024 Conservatives 1000% judge by the content one's character. Liberals judge everything by the skin color & superficial circumstances.
@@pete5819If there's ANY truth to your premise this should be easy... Give me the time and the name of the last candidate for office from the Democratic Party who earned an endorsement from ANY self avowed White Supremacist organization or publication? Now... Give us the same information about the Republicans. ... We will wait. Cuz if you are speaking reality it's obvious what the outcome should be.. . But since you are lying it's not going to reflect your beliefs at all.
@@Justanotherconsumer That’s a good one. I can’t remember which speech it was, but he has one where he mentions Great Britain and “the sun use to never set on the British Empire, now the sun barely rises over the British Empire” and his first address after the Ghanaian independence where he petitioned the crowd to move to Ghana to lend them their skills. Great orator and a hell more revolutionary than the average person even knows.
@@Somebaldguy the key portion of IBttM is his discussion of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, asking the question not “what will happen to me”(if I help this man)? but rather “what will happen to this man” (if I do not help him)? It is a call to action and to caring for others, not in an abstract sense but in a direct and practical sense.
As a white dude that worked a lot of jobs with older Conservative white men, I can’t even tell you how many of these guys loved black Conservatives. They referred to them as “true Americans” or “one of the good ones”. It’s amazing what racists will say in private when they feel like they’re surrounded by like minded people. That’s my random rant. Excellent video!
As a white man who grew up in a tiny white SW VA town, I’m grateful for FD Signifier for continuing to destroy misperceptions even after I thought they had already been destroyed.
@@hadessahf3549 Well, since my comment was in reference to FD shining a light on parts of society that didn’t impact people with my background, I think it’s pretty relevant. Yes, my whiteness is relevant to my ignorance.
@@inkartridge Should I not have included the identifiers? Honestly I didn’t see anything wrong with acknowledging the difference between the two Americas. Let me know if I could word it better.
@@hadessahf3549 normally identifiers dont matter but in context, of a white person learning more about black people and theur lives and struggles, yes, it is relevant
I'm a white French-Canadian from Québec and the revelation that MLK was not considered leftist in the US came as a complete shock to me. Thank you for your video.
Don't know where this came from. King is and has always been known in the US as a leftist. The FBI followed him and labeled him as a communist sympathizer in the early 1950s. The label dogged him throughout his career despite denouncing communism as a way to lower the heat. The idea that white people homogenized King and his message is over-simplified.
In my experience, Americans think he's liberal which, in the mind of most Americans, is on the left. I think the real disconnect is that liberal democrats actually think they are on the "left" (they do lean left socially for the most part). It's just that both parties want everyone to forget that there is an economic axis to politics, so they see capitalism as the only answer. It has been very effective too.
@@OLExGREG i always say, the difference between the Dems and Republicans, is how they feel about POC and the LGBTQ community. Still capitalist and taking money from billionaire donors, still engaging in foreign intervention, so on and so forth
I was a union organizer. Within my union, it was the Democrats/good Republicans/bad propaganda meme all the time. When I would explain King was a socialist and anti-imperialist to other staff and to members, it was always new information to them.
@@OctEddie Clearly, media in the US are essentially all right wing. And when I say media, I'm not referring to the right wing propaganda machine, Fox et. al. King's legacy has been purposefully scrubbed of an content related to his economic and larger political ideologies.
As a Puertorican who grew up with parents who understood the tyrannical ways of the American imperialism and racism, it would be amazing to have a conversation with you about the ways our cultural differences are extremely related.
I’m Puerto Rican to but sadly not as well versed in my culture, always having to look to back America as a point of reference for what life in this country was like under these institutions as someone English-speaking, brown, and American. I would LOVE a discussion like this, fantastic idea
48:00 she hit the nail right on the head as to why I started watching your channel. For the longest time my “political leanings/life outlook” was simply “I don’t bother anyone, I just want to be left alone” and at some point it occurred to me how many people aren‘t allowed the priviledge of being left alone.
The left wants to be "left alone", and the radical right wants to "control their neighbor's lives, morals, values"... The left is mostly apolitical until their rights are so trounced upon that they are forced to participate in the process.
It's a hell of a realization that your privilege allows you to ignore politics. That even if you are somehow engaged, you can always disconnect, 'take the uniform off', and relax for a bit. That realization that other people never get to 'take off the uniform', because they're being explicitly targeted by social wars, low key development projects, watered down histories, etc, is what guarantees I'll always be as ardent a supporter as I can be. The fact that I am blessed enough to be able to turn away if I wanted to, even just temporarily, means I never will.
I like this analogy: Democrats are like your sweet aunt that promises to take you to Disney World but then never takes you. Republican are like you're grumpy uncle that says he will never take you to Disney World but then you find out he went without you.
Democrats will massage your neck say I love u and stab you in the back. The republication will flip you the bird to the face . I rather you show your true colors up front.
Bless you from a 64yr old white guy… a first generation immigrant to the UK, able to hid in plain sight because of the colour of my skin. I want to thank you for fleshing out issues that as a dyed-in-the-wool socialist, I felt intuitively for decades. Never too old to learn or be educated. 🙏🙏🙏
I watched a documentary about the leaders of the Civil Rights movement on, like, Netflix or something a few years ago and it blew my mind to learn about the 5 years following the Dream speech. My K-12 education literally had me believing that he was assassinated *DURING* the speech. And, like you said, they taught that sh!t every single February. I even went to university from age 22 to 26 and majored in epidemiology in the mid 2010s. The curriculum format even used what I now understand to be, critical race theory (which changed my understanding of the world, but did not radicalize me nor make the brown half of me bigoted against white people... It did cause the white half of me to feel a lot of offense followed by guilt and shame tho). But somehow it still took a full decade of me exploring and learning on my own to learn that he wasn't m*rdered at the end of that damn speech. Man *WTF*?? That said, I did take Native American studies courses for those diversity requirements. Now I wish I had looked at a few different cultures, but I was drawn to the NAS courses due to my own heritage.
I find the sanitization of Civil Rights figures interesting as an Indian person who grew up in America, because teachers went out of their way to mention how MLK’s tactics were inspired by Gandhi. As an adult I learned that neither were opposed to violence all of the time and about how MLK was more radical than I was taught, though I never knew he was not supposed to be at the March on Washington. I also learned some really horrific things about Gandhi as a person but that’s a separate issue.
@@remy3064 Racist, misogynist, possible pedophile. The way he talked about how Jews after the holocaust and black South Africans was indefensible. That does not discount his activism against the oppression of the Dalits and against the British empire, but I wish he wasn’t reified into this wise monastic figure
@@remy3064 Also Gandhi the adulterer xD To be clear that one isn't really "bad" but it's always interesting to add some like actual human qualities to these modern-day "saints". Gandhi and MLK have transcended being human in the written history and I think that does a disservice to us all as these people were very human, with very human desires and motivations.
@@Defenestrationed it actually is considering ghandi used to ask his teenage grand-niece to lie naked next to him in bed, so that he could test his ability to control his sexual urges 🤮
I know people who put the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bidens, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and the "antifa" rioting on the streets in the same boat ideologically. I believe this is insulting to both progressives and radicals (most of whom are pacifists, by the way, although right-wing Republicans will then turn around and zap them for THAT). I get very angry when I hear this, and I say, "That's not fair. I've never thought that John McCain and Mitt Romney were no different from Donald Trump."
That elaboration isn't for us, it's for the uneducated rhetoric repeaters that use words like "socialism, marxism, communism" interchangeably. They don't know what the words mean, they don't care what the words mean, because their understanding of those words come from right wing propaganda.
As a white european dutch leftwinger/progressive person I always find it very weird when people call the liberals left wing. Our rightwing party is the liberal one. Which makes American politics very weird, as to get near the GOP policy wise in a comparison with Dutch politics, you start with the party of Wilders and everybody to their right. It is odd that all our political variety (we have a lot of parties) all fit into the Democrats. So it is strange how less ways of expressing political differences the US system has. (And it is worrying that our political system is taking over American style culture war bullshit (This does give me the ability to see partially into the future however, just look wat the US GOP is doing and see our far-right also shout about it a while later, we had our own 'groomer' panic for example)).
I remember watching a video in which the person talking considered themselves a moderate. When watching his videos you can understand through context that moderate for him is on the global political scale (so basically like a social democrat). However, there was someone in the comments that was confused because they thought he was "too liberal" to be a moderate from their perspective. It was unfortunate to see someone stuck in that binary democrat-republican worldview and truly didn't realize there was an issue, especially since I had only very recently broken out of that very same view.
Of all reasons you listed that you could be considered socially conservative, the only actually conservative thing you do is not letting your son dye his hair, and even that is only for his safety. Being conservative isn't about your lifestyle. It's about forcing your lifestyle on others.
From my Brazilian perspective, it always amazes me to see how tough it is for Americans, specially when coming from blacks, to realize that socialists existed and still exist in the US. Of course, this cooptation happens over here too, though it mostly results in a segment of people blindly assuming every one and everything not in agreement with the bourgeois status quo is communist. The American political elites have had a frightening degree of success in hiding or erasing almost all facets of leftism of the country's political history. Resurfacing this history and awakening the people to the ever-present political force of American leftists is a long and arduous road that needs to be pathed.
@@majesticmajestic7058 I really would like to know the benefits of voting democrat because blk ppl have voted democrat for the last 60 yrs and what have the benefits been???
@@truthbtold8697 There's really no major benefits to voting for either party, because each parties represent White people's so called interest and are just to opposing groups of the same race vying for power. Black people might vote for the Democratic party because their issues are acknowledged and not demonized like Republicans tend to do. Democrats will throw a couple of crumbs their way, but noting to change the situation that they are in, because in truth, both parties actually benefit from the situation staying the same. There's a lot of money to be made and no one is in a rush to correct a problem that they directly/indirectly benefit from.
@@truthbtold8697 Hmmmm, either you didnt watch the video or you are actually trying to use a strategy he called you people out for using. Most blacks don't even engage in politics because they understand it's just 2 sides of the same coin. The ones that engage are more likely to vote democrat (97% according to your made-up stat) because the democrats are less blatantly racist. Democrats hate poor whites as much as they hate poor blacks and to some that seems more reasonable than the republican illusion of a white middle class.
One of the great things about "Abbott Elementary" is that it's been able to sneak these bits of knowledge into a mainstream popular sitcom. One recent episode had Mr. Hill's class talk about how Dr. King supported "Lefty" programs like Universal Basic Income, and had much more in common with Malcolm X than differences.
"Abbott Elementary" character Mr. Hill told Black Students that they should challenge everything, including him because he is a White Teacher. That was an in your face epic moment.
@@kingsweattv2465 'Closer to' doesn't at all mean 'the same as', brother. No idea where you got that idea after reading "... and had *much more in common with* Malcolm X than differences." Seriously, where in this did you read "they agree on EVERYTHING"? 🙄
Nigga he said Dr king was for universal basic income, he just also added that the views of Dr king, were a lot more aligned with Malcolm X, then most people know.
One of my favorite musicians had an opening line in one of his songs: "Malcolm X never lived to see the government fall But the state he opposed made him a stamp Maybe that's the best you can hope for if you never give up: Your enemies will teach your corpse to dance"
He met white Muslims in europe,told others in the United States . . . That signed his death warrant - "white devils" aren't supposed to venerate & worship ALLAH
as a white person, i gotta say, it's pretty odd how it seems like about 50% of the comments either start with or mention at some point the phrase "as a white person"
As a white leftist it seems to me that one of the conclusions made in this video is absolutely correct. The primary purpose of black conservatives in media and politics are not to win over anyone in the black community, but to reassure whites that they aren't racist and can go on supporting a structurally racist system without guilt.
Came here after sharing the Polygon article "The best video essays of 2023" with a friend who then immediately called out your content as excellent. Amazing work- I'm now an excited new subscriber who will be processing and talking about these topics with everyone in earshot.
Finally a place I can share this story I witnessed between my dad and my uncle a few months ago: I am not american. My dad is the son of a jordanian immigrant and a german woman and my uncle was finally visiting us after years of no personal visits. One evening they had quite the argument, because my uncle wanted to go on a trip only with his siblings back to Jordan, but my dad told him that he was kinda traumatized by prior plans of them to go on such trips. This turned into a discussion of how they as mixed people fit into german society. For my dad Jordan will never be his home, while my uncle seemingly rekindled this connection. My dad talked about how he "knows" that both here in Germany and in Jordan he isnt really welcome, but knew that he had to choose one day, and chose Germany. Over the past years he tried to cut any part of him out, that reminded him and others of Jordan. He always says that he is more german than the whitest Aryan, but if the AfD ever took power he probably would still leave the country. All of this is just the result of racism. What really stood out to me is a comment by my brother, who said he would like to hear arabian music and know more about our arabian heritage. When I was a kid, my dad was regularly working in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and travelling into other arabian countries. He was playing arabian music in the car, playing arabian music in bars and had friends from different arabian countries, like Syria or Lebannon. But all of this stopped when my brother was too young to remember. We moved into a different, less racist part of the country, but my dads identity as an immigrants son also lessened. He told us a story about how he was making music with someone and he asked him about his heritage and if he could show him something, but when my dad showed him some jordanian music the other guy was turned off by it. He says that was the point he decided to stop making arabian music. Apparently over the years he swallowed all these micro aggressions on top of overtly racist stuff (like finding no job in the more racist part of the country) and just rejected this part of himself. I didnt notice this until that moment. He became culturally very conservative in his atempt to become the best German. My brother has no clue about this part of us because of it and I didnt realize it. It is sad, because I quite like the music from this area and I bonded with other people because of it, even though my connection to Jordan is very limited except for the music. I decided to show my brother more of this heritage, if my dad refuses to...
Thanks, for your story I have a similar story but its kinda reversed... To sum it up I am half Puerto Rican and half white and what I found was my Puerto Rican family actually didn't accept my white family. Mainly, because they thought they were lower class (economically) because my white family is from Fruitvale in Oakland. It didn't matter that my white family accepted them. To my Puerto Rican family they were seen to only accept them because of their economic affluence. They, were deemed to be (trailer trash) by my Puerto Rican family. Even though I know this is not true. My complication, is because had this situation were reversed my white family would be seen as racist's. Thus, I had a weird fork in the road... Because I saw where my white family was not accepted even though I was... Which, has led me to embrace a more classicist type view of discrimination. Although, I can see from your story where it really depends on your story and what you have seen.
Also, my best friend and roommate is Lebanese and hearing what he says about his home country and seeing what he says about acclimating to a situation. Having to subdue his cultural roots in order to be accepted by the larger community I can say is a thousand percent accurate. Especially with music he is actually a DJ. Luckily, he has developed a community of other Arab's so he is able to play their weddings with traditional songs. Although, trying to get other gigs is a lot harder and takes a lot more assimilation.
My dad is an immigrant from Taiwan and absolutely refused to teach us Chinese :( I would beg him to take me back to Taiwan all the time (I’ve been three times) but after a while he just shut me down every time. It really sucks because I barely know anyone from my dads side of the family.
That's exactly been the Democrat motto over the past 70 or so years. Republicans have always been the good side, unfortunately people who dedicate their life's to lies and decieite, when they encounter real stand up people who could care less about the color of your skin it frightens those who don't understand what it's like to be judged off of your character and actions not your skin color. Hence why God has always blessed Republicans. We live in reality
@RP Pope lying rat. Conservatives have always been the enemy of freedom throughout the history of the world. The modern Black Conservatives are just their latest attempt to lie and obscure the truth.
Maybe because I already know the information being presented here, I’m a bit more critical of the implications in your arguments. 1. I’m tired of the generalization of any mass of people and the presumptions that come with it. Stop speaking for a whole population of people-“black” isn’t a monolith. 2. This myth of black solidarity needs to go. Good and evil runs through each and every person regardless of how they identify. Show me the content of your character etc. 3. No particular “ism” is going to prevent corruption and moral rot. Socialism is not the answer to capitalism because at the end of the day, all systems are run by humans. 4. Sustained non-violent protest and resistance with a clear set of demands is better than attempting a violent revolution. You’ll never out violence the state. 5. Capitalism isn’t the answer and neither is Socialism as mentioned in point number 3. What is needed is an overhaul of the current global construct and a mass spiritual awakening. 6. You talk of the church and church goers as if European monotheism isn’t another form of control and propaganda. It’s annoying that the descendants of slaves still participate in a religion that their ancestors were forced to believe in.
wow this was a such a powerful video. I still remember learning about MLK in school and how much they emphasized his pacifism and vilified Malcolm X. Thanks for sharing
MLK is so incredibly white washed I have friends who think he was a conservative and would be anti blm💀 like yeah fs bro mlk, the anti capitalist black revolutionary, would be anti black revolution.
Idk when u went to school but I'm a history teacher atm and it's still happening. One of the aims is to develop students' comparison skills but it's at the cost of ahistorically reducing the two men to stock characters.
When I feel like a strong emotion or something linked to a strong emotion is being shown to me (whatever it the emotion is) I feel the overwhelming urge to cry. It happens during really good musical performances or deep readings. I felt it after watching your intro. I’m excited to see the rest. Thank you FD🙏🏾
As someone who is moderately informed when it comes to political history, you are doing an incredible job of revealing the nuance of historical figures' beliefs. Thanks for making sure that these trolls get at least a bit of our beliefs.
I’m a queer Jewish man, and I’ve never been involved in churches in any sort of way, so the only times I’ve seen people using that sort of “pastor voice” like the guy at 16:19 is when clips are being spread around because they’re actively preaching hate. It’s honestly so moving seeing someone show that same sort of passion while *defending* us as others do while attacking us.
Sometimes they do it in jest and don't mean it, but of course that's not all religious people I as an atheist REALLY appreciate a genuinely loving and understanding and not bigoted theist
It's not preaching love. As a queer man that grew up in the black church. We were either demonized or tolerated. I have heard many sermons like the clip shown, but what isn't shown the part how being gay isn't worse than any other sin. We all have a our crosses to bear. Hate the sin not the sinner. Being gay is not sinful but living the lifestyle is. I have heard this so many times, and it's very triggering and gaslighting to see a clip like this to show that black churches arent homophobic. A pastor teaching not to hate gay people because their sinful lifestyle isn't worse then the sins we all make isn't openness and acceptence. It still argues from the position that being gay is sinful.
@@candorsspot2775except it isn't mentioned in the New Testament in any form and to bring about Old Testament rules and scripture is to literally deny Jesus' sacrifice for us. Conservatism is diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings yet those in power largely are not. The cognitive dissonance of people who go to church on Sundays listening to inherently socialist rhetoric to then follow capitalist ideology outside of their church's walls is astounding.
I do wanna say, that I have started my reedeucation on black social issues, and political history. Doing my own research instead of what was given to me by a curated system of white supremacy. It started when I first watched your Hamilton video. As while it is still my favorite musical ever. I do appreciate the discussion you had in your video and in the comment section. Yeah, I am an old head FD Signifier watcher. I do hope you and your family are doing well. Have a wonderful day.
I got you bro. "Being forced into conserving your resources while being conditioned to the understanding that large scale change results in harm does not make you a conservative politically." The constant push to present us as conservative is cognitive dissonance informed gas lighting. IMO. Good stuff as usual brother.
When you drop a video it’s like being able to take respite in a call with a close sibling or loved one. Truly affirming with so much information and complex navigation I always try to make time for your investigations! Also always inspires me to push forward into my own research. Much love to you.
As a mixed person but pass as white most of the time I can honestly say people are more racist then believed, even white people with black friends but when I lived in the south I was blown away how racist conservatives are
I was raised in a conservative white family in Texas and we were taught Malcom X was the anti MLK because MLK was a pacifist. I've found myself leaning further and further left in the last decade and hearing MLK past his I had a dream speech has been eye opening.
MLK is a loving Church Priest that really didn't judge people different from him. He just wanted all of us Free from oppression and discrimination.((from What I learned about him from my schools as a kid))I'm very sad he was killed, he is a Role model I look up to and highly respect.
I'd never seen that whole MLK quote together before and I get the feeling it's less about the ethics of rioting (though he does seem concerned about that) but the efficacy. And that makes a lot of sense. I can imagine looking at the civil rights movement and seeing insufficient numbers and weaponry to win an open fight, especially against a militarized police force. I wasn't there, I can't say if he was right or wrong. But I can see the logic.
I see it as being an acknowledgement that riots become inevitable when all other alternatives are made impossible. You know, if you have a bunch of oily rags and you keep throwing sparks around, you can't pretend to be shocked when a fire starts, yeah?
There is one conspiracy theory I do believe is true, that is they killed MLK because he started to really home into the economic justice = racial justice at the height of the CRM. They could tolerate giving black people some rights, but they would not never tolerate the downtrodden poor, black or white or any race to challenge the capitalism.
Like I don't think he would ever be in favor of riots, but it's like...hey, people who are squeezed and desperate are going to strike back when they see no other option. So if you really want to prevent a riot, you have to give other reasonable options!
As a young white man in Oklahoma this one of the most important videos I’ve seen as a leftist. You’ve got a subscription, I can’t wait learn more about history, politics, and philosophy. Beau of the Fifth Column is a fellow leftist that I’ve been following for a long time but it’s nice to find another thoughtful leftist with valuable content!
Same here from Heidelberg in Germany and black. I was on black Conservative platforms as well and it was sobering. There's too much anger, blaming and attempts to rewrite history (Slavery, MLK etc) or to distort historical content of black scholars. It's mind-blowing to even try it because you can research anything. This channel is what I was looking for to learn more and I just subscribed
One thing I’ve noticed about someone like Thomas Sowell is that he defends positions that no one has. There’s a video of him defending the Wright Brothers because apparently liberals ignore white inventors, which is a position I have never heard from anyone, liberals or otherwise. In fact, quite the opposite is true when it comes to the Wright Brothers. A life size replica of their plane can be found at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and also the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Furthermore, the Wright Brothers are in American Currency as the North Carolina Quarter honors their invention. So this whole view point that white inventors are being ignored or erased by liberals is not just wrong, but willfully inaccurate considering how much we actually do honor these inventors.
Sowell also wrote a book where he tried to blame liberals and the civil rights movement for every problem the black community has faced. As far as I can tell, his book makes no mention of redlining, discriminatory hiring, or the fact that most prosperous black communities were violently destroyed by white mobs.
There’s a college named after the brothers, a bank named after the brothers, and an entire ass airbase. You can’t live in Dayton, OH or nearby without having heard of the Wright Brothers.
OMG, I'm so glad I came across this video! FDSignifire, you have so incredibly articulated what's been stirring in my soul for so many years. I was churned through the American education system with engineering & MBA post graduate degrees. I had so little history let alone, Black history, in my formal education it's almost laughable. I've never been hugely interested in history or politics until the past decade. I've been a registered and active voter but never could get with registering as Democrat (& Republican - hell NO!). You've helped articulate exactly my issues. My thoughts are evolving as my knowledge expands but I'm realizing that capitalism is the root of much evil. Also, I love the details you've shared about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s history. I had no clue about this truth until reading The Radical King by Cornel West. Thank you for what you do & I look forward to checking out more of your content!
Thank you for helping give me a better understanding of these issues. I'll admit I'm a young white dude from a rich area, and even though I've had friends and coworkers who are black and never shown anything but love, I've never really had any real knowledge or understanding of history on this front. I won't stand around trying ever act like I know what is best for anyone, so I appreciate you at least helping me learn about the kinds of injustices that exist to stand against. I'm not a social or active politically dude, but I can at least be one more vote in the right direction.
Honestly, in a similar boat and that's kind of the point. The Democrat elites want to make everyone think that this is about respect and visibility and kinder words. But fuck that shit black people and poor people just need to be paid their due at the expense of rich people. No amount of minced words is as meaningful as paying someone's rent.
Most black people are more conservative than we think they are. I am a black conservative, and I am married to a black woman, I live in the black, and I send my kids to predominantly black schools. My conservatism comes from my relationship with my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I attend an all black church. Most black conservatives that I know are also married to black people and live in the black community. It’s just that black conservatives that you see on TH-cam, who do not fit your typical conservative, get all of the attention.
I have no idea how I found your channel but your content is phenomenal. It's concise and clear without sacrificing so much depth that its purpose is made void
I’ve watched videos an hour long where they said absolutely nothing. Like what did I just watch.🤦♀️ It’s always the ones with the least to say that talk the most (Trump is a prime example ).
This & the other video you did on Farrakhan Cosby and jay z are gems I wasn’t ready for. Thank you 🙏🏽 w my current vocabulary I don’t have the words to articulate the significance of what these videos mean to me man❗️ thank you & may you & your family always be blessed
I agree with most of this commentary. Moving further left is appealing in so many ways. My problem with all the erudite commentators on democrats and republicans is that every election, I have exactly two viable options, one bad option in the democrat and one absolutely unacceptable option in the republican. How can our society move away from the status quo when we're stuck in the binary party system on election day?
Because our political system is a "winner take all" system, splitting the vote does not "send a message". To the contrary, it effectively helps the absolutely unacceptable option gain more power.
The common Leftist™ refrain is points of departure and building dual power structures. You broadly say 'fuck it' to the presidentials, vote blue when necessary and effective. And focus your energies on the direct action and community building shit that WORKS, and begins to construct challenges to incumbent power and state reliance. FD already points out that black folks are already most of the way there. With strong community bonds and networks for resource sharing and spreading the burdens of Capitalism around so no one person suffers. Think global, act local! It's all well and good to worry about the Big House, but how many homeless people are in your neighborhood right now? Who needs their kids watched? Who's been skipping meals to keep the heat on? Who's been freezing to keep a meal in their belly? What local political action is going on? How can you help help THEM? The path to escaping the binary system is, effectively, one of abandonment. If they can't give us a democracy that works for us, we'll build our OWN damn democracy.
It always makes me scream when the right calls Biden a leftist. We are sooo far to the right in this country that our democrat party is literally on the right lol. Obviously thats exactly what you are saying. I'm so glad i came across your channel
FD you do incredibly significant work not only for the leftist movement but in helping reframe history for those who have only seen it from a capitalist and whitewashed lens. Please keep doing what you’re doing, every video I’ve seen of yours has been excellent. Solidarity forever
I get kind of depressed every MLK day because it’s a day I don’t even know what to do with. It’s not really a commemoration of MLK - it’s a day in service of erasing everything he said and did. I always end up feeling angry. And now it’s been done to Juneteenth, and again, I feel the same way, even as a white person who had not heard of Juneteenth until a few years ago. What is going to be done to the holiday? Am I supposed to celebrate a deed undone? Will it become just another sanitization of history, erasure of the centuries of suffering, betrayal, suppression - erasure of the erasure itself? Idk, just venting I guess. I suppose the answer is that it should be motivation to take action, educate people, organize, speak out, etc. - but I have to be particularly careful to keep a clean image because it could threaten my job, and it can be sometimes difficult to know where the line is when there is a propaganda machine assiduously looking to stamp out dissent and slander anyone advocating for even moderate reform. Straying outsides the boundaries of acceptable Liberal thought is still liable to put you in hot water, no matter how anodyne you feel your own critiques are.
I dont think race in this day and age is relevant unless u make it BETWEEN US THE PEOPLE- yes its racist everywhere against a certain minority from 1-3%/media....... we all humans man, nothing wrong to be white bro. U cant change that... You can def go do whatever u said u wanna do... u writing this in a YT section isnt the way to help the situation bro. Like why u even admitted u dont even know about shit until a few years ago - just be the social justice warrior bro, u cant do it on the internet like all the other idiots that pretend to care my guy... fr MLK wasnt afraid but ur afraid as a white male to stand up ... u dont see the irony in this at all? Americans so quick to bring up their race as if its TRULY matters about banding together as humans.
Dude. Chill out. You're too far in your own head. MLK, X, FH, and HPN, and many others of their era would have wanted us to believe in our radical points of view. So on MLK day, teach his actual anti-capitalist, anti-neoliberal, socialist point of view, and use that to teach about all of the others who agreed.
@@xX_Gravity_Xx You can encourage someone to find a different approach without stepping all over somebody's truth bro. Work on that. Not like you're wrong in the content of what you said, but yeah, don't dismiss dude's legit feelings.
@@BeastNationXIV Stepping all over somebody's truth? I was telling him to take it easy and not feel bad. I mean, I apologize if that offended anyone. I'm just speaking what I believe. Nothing wrong with conflicting opinions.
I'd like to let you know that the algorithm is now in your favor and I expect a boost in subs. You popped into my recommended feed tonight and I have not stopped watching your channel. I appreciate the time you put into your videos in both the content and the actual length. I feel like I take something away from everything I've watched so far. I'm addicted now and subbed.
I need to watch this a few more times. Thank you for putting this out there.. I grew up in the 70's, 80's.. middle-class, suburban, white neighborhood. Totally immune to anything outside of my white privileged narrative. Totally ignorant of the dual system, economically and politically, especially... vaguely aware of the racism. As I've grown older, I've been able to look farther behind the curtains of the stages of smoke and mirrors and educate myself, sometimes uncomfortably, as not to be ignorant of the issues that keep coming up year after year after year. I'd like to throw in an observation, since I also once belonged to the White Evangelical church, that they (the church ) contribute problematically to this issue. I've subscribed to this channel and hope to keep getting a clearer picture. Thank you, my friend.
"It is organized violence on top which creates individual violence at the bottom. It is the accumulated indignation against organized wrong, organized crime, organized injustice, which drives the political offender to act." ~ Emma Goldman
God this has so much fucking implications for many many many social justice movements as well as black civil rights. Genuinely, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this and opening my eyes and the eyes of others
I just want to say, thanks for making this video. I'm a white queer trans girl from a black family and scapegoating black people for social conservativism is patently anti black and unfair and untrue to me Also thanks for the clip of the pastor speaking up against hypocrisy in homophobia. That was extremely moving and important to see
@@Based-Anarcho-Syndicalist-Chad But I'm sure you can understand people's sensitivity to this when millions and millions of right-wing extremists are using that idea of "hate the sin, love the sinner" as a tag-line, while also being openly prejudiced towards the LGBT+ community, increasing public discrimination & bans and refusing to allow the teaching of tolerance towards "The Other" in schools, etc... especially while the rate of suicidal ideation among LGBT youth is so stunningly high! I'm straight, and a Recovering (former)Catholic, and I know _I'd_ be much more open to your point if it wasn't for right-wing fundamentalists making life _miserable_ for said community. I wish you weren't the minority among the Christian community, but it absolutely seems like you are. I _sincerely_ hope that changes! 🙏 I wish most Christians were like yourself & didn't believe they had the right to force their beliefs on the rest of us but, ever since the marriage of right-wing politics and the Evangelical community, in particular, that hasn't been the case.
@@diamondrg3556 right before that it was saying eating shrimp was an abomination... In that verse who was talking to who? Were they speaking to all mankind in that verse? No they were talking to a people in a foreign land telling them not to interact with the people into whose land the Jews were moving into. It is a interesting subject but cherry picking bible verses... May give you a false impression on what the bible says
I know you probably get comments like this all the time, but im a white kid, and id just like to say thank you. Ive been in the breadtube space for a while but you were the first black leftist creator to make their way into my recommended and its really helped open my eyes to a lot of things in a way people who are merely sympathetic to black people's cause, not wrapped up in it themselves, couldnt. My upbringing has been far from conservative but i definitely had a lot of things i didnt learn before finding you. I also appreciate how you prop up other creators of a similar ilk, its really helped me learn a lot recently. So i just thought id express my thanks for that here. Keep up the good work
You have no father do you? Blacks, like this idiot, in the USA are whiny brainwashed race hustlers. They listen to criminals and con artists like the BLM movement that take their money, and leave them in hell ghettos. The only thing you're gonna learn from this clown is to be a dumbass that hates himself.
I'm a little older now, but I wish that I had seen this video back when I was first starting to watch Ben shapiro and those types. That is four years of my life that I will never get back, Keep doing what your doing and. People do see and listen to this stuff and it really does make an impact
@@Depl0rable10 I hear you, but remember: a lot of people never get out at all, unfortunately. Even if you did lose 4 years to Shapiro and his ilk, you're here now and we're all better for it.
Hey F.D, I can't thank you enough for the discourse, resources, and ideas you provide on your channel. I know I'm not your target demographic--a white man from one of most homogenously white states in the US (South Dakota). But I married a black South African woman with whom I have a 3 year old step-son, and we live in South Africa currently. We began talking about the idea of moving to the US around the time you released your video about the Commodification of Black Athletes. I've never been more wrecked by a video on this platform--first because it was a jarring reminder of what I'd be asking of my three-year-old if I brought him to the States for schooling, and second because it became glaringly obvious to me that I don't have the tools, perspective, or experience to give my family everything they deserve to feel heard, validated, and safe back home. I knew I had blind spots. I didn't know you could drive a mac truck through them. I just wanted to say thanks. Creators like you and Khadija Mbowe have opened window through which my wife and I can observe and discuss the differences and challenges we face culturally and in our marriage both here and back in the US. We're so lucky to have thoughtful people like you in this world.
Hi, I'm full-blooded Filipino. Born and raised in Hawai'i, where I currently live. Millennial. Another fantastic video, but please answer me one question: Why do I find so much value from your videos? By no means do I think or feel I am one to conform to other ethnic groups' identities -- like, while I did grow up on underground hip hop, roots reggae, and punk rock being my favorite musical genres, I've never experienced life on the "mainland". I have had a few black friends growing up while in school, but at least where I live (middle income area, well-to-do FOB Filipino immigrant parents) -- there weren't many black people around. I grew up alongside people of Native Hawaiian ancestry and fellow Filipinos. One of my best friends growing up was Latino. I have never tried Soul Food, I grew up on plate lunches, Filipino dishes, sushi, hamburgers, and rice. But yet, whenever I watch your videos, FD, something about it hits -- fucking hard. My mind feels expanded and I feel a greater sense of knowledge about the world and how things work. I feel a certain connection to your videos, the information within them, and -- to an extent -- the movements you stand for. While I do not necessarily agree with 100% of things you say (it's probably like 99.9% to be fair lul), or have not experienced life in the mainland (I feel Hawai'i's culture is way different than the mainland in many regards), I guess I just wonder why your videos "speak to me", so to speak. In either case, awesome work. Thanks for your videos. Aloha, braddah, you one hammah.
You are exactly right my Nubian brother keep doing what you doing hopefully you will wake some of our community people up thank you so much for the eye opening information keep it coming.
@@ranjanbiswas3233 The beauty about liberals is we criticize each other endlessly. Conservatives otoh March in lockstep to your narratives even when they're demonstrably wrong, and/or bad for us. It's like the saying goes, "The left eats itself in a way the right never does." It's a value among many that make us just plain better than you tbh 🤷♂️
Bro it is infuriating as a Latino seing this phenomenon manifest in our communities as well. They get brain washed to vote against their own self interest .it’s sad scary and dangerous
The brain washing is happening to everyone. Doesn’t matter if they’re black, white, or latino- they all drink the koolaid and are brainwashed into voting against their own interests.
Here's a thing that never gets talked about when Black conservatives are mentioned, and that is why they have come to be resentful of the Black community in the first place. As African Americans we demand that everyone else be tolerant and accept diversity, yet we can not embrace diversity and different styles and personality types within our own race, which has certain Blacks who could actually otherwise be a positive influence in our communities running to other communities and undermining us as a whole, by siding with our oppressors. We end up creating enemies from within when we have enough opposition as is. I think most Black conservatives are right on many things they say in principle, but the problem is that they're not actively trying to connect with Black people to create an exclusively black discourse to demonstrate how their thought process can get us better results in our communities because they don't feel accepted and embraced in said communities.
I watched this on Nebula yesterday and it has to be one of the most informative videos in terms of truly framing the American political landscape. I moved to the U.S. from Iraq, having descended from a family that's very left-leaning and espousing leftist ideals from a very young age, I was very frustrated by the political landscape of the U.S. It continues to baffle me how narrow people make the political spectrum seem, and it's only after some deep digging that I started to understand the full breadth and depth of dysfunction of the current popular political landscape. This video truly just helped me learn so much and find a different angle to look at it. Thanks so much! I'm really glad I found your channel
Funny that. You didn't move to Cuba, Venezuela or North Korea where you would have found all the socialism you wanted. How about Russia or China? Why not make them a workers paradise and prove the capitalists wrong? They already agree with you. Nah, better transform the new place into the old place, I mean it worked so well so far.
This has been a very enlightening video. Not quite finished, but it has coincided with a a short Stuart Hall Lecture on "Race, the Floating Signifier." I just watched for a university course of mine. Hall mentions how race works as 'politics without guarantees.' Here's my favourite section: "[If you believe race is biologically verifiable then] a whole number of other things, cultural qualities, intellectual qualities, emotional and expressive qualities, follow from the fact of being genetically one race or another, if that’s your image of race, you think then that the very fact of race can actually guarantee a whole range of things, including just to name two, whether the works of art produced by a person who biologically belongs to that race is good or not. So, if they’re black it means that they’re also very expressive, it also means they’ll produce a certain kind of work of art and it’ll be good because it’s black. And similarly a certain kind of politics…defends the race, has to protect us against discrimination etc. in which all black people will be figured as people who are…holding the correct position…You will say, ‘They’re like that because they think like that because that’s what black people think, it’s right that black people should - so race functions as a kind of guarantee that the work…will be good because it’s black, and will be politically progressive because it’s black…[But we know that] some of the works are not good, though black. Made with the best of positive intentions to reverse negative stereotypes and praise the diversity of black people, it just don’t work aesthetically. And similarly, we know that black people have a range of diverse political positions, conservative, reactionary, progressive, and so on. And that these fall out in a way that is not defined by their genetic or biological disposition." I appreciate the coincidence (or perhaps algorithm) of having watched these two videos in conjunction --- it has really helped me identify the pervasiveness of American racial ideology; in this case linking "biological race" to a type of politics and even art. The latter being something I've identified as a truism I have for too long time lazily accepted.
White leftist here that was relieved FD didn't waste time on the individuals in the thumbnail. This kind of educational content that really explores political nuance and objective history is invaluable. Fantastic work!
I keep seeing people mad at me about not letting my son dye his locks which confused me until I realized I cut my further explanation from this version. People who saw the Nebula version can verify that I explain that it isn't about his self expression it's about the police and how they view black boys. Just wanted to clarify that. All love yall.
He’s your son; your parenting is precisely none of their business.
Mr. Signifier, I have to ask, why would kid dying their hair cause problems with the police?
@@DLewis-kt9ok I mean, I guess you aren't wrong per se. But he did open the door to that discussion when he brought it up on his public platform.
What I don't understand is why, with all of the topics discussed in the video, anyone would seize upon whether or not his son is allowed to dye his hair. They're being stupid but not necessarily out of line, imo.
We get it, you're good!
@@candorsspot2775 Dyed dreadlocks are very much associated with gang culture by police.
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” - Dom Helder Camara
Well said
Causing people to have no food is Communism, not allowing them the freedom to attain food.
Implying being communist is bad 💀
@@foiredede I mean all countries that called themselves communist became worse than the capitalists they fought against. USSR, North Korea, China, Cuba, etc. You can definitely argue if they actually are communist, but life got worse mainly from ideology. If anyone could have opposed capitalism and got away with it, it was the Soviet Union, but they cut deals with the worst capitalist countries and corporations, including literal Nazis.
@@richardarriaga6271 and just like when the nazis called themselves socialists, the ussr China and North Korea are all actually authoritarian which is antithetical to communism.
I genuinely just don't know enough about Cuba to comment on it.
also "got worse for the ideology" that ideology being authoritarianism, not communism.
authoritarians appropriating leftist ideas and words for power grabs is very common because leftist ideas are better and more popular than "everyone obey me or else."
communism, for the record, is a stateless classless moneyless society.
there are many competing theories and beliefs about how to achieve it and organize it, but on its basic level those 3 criteria need to be met for any place to call itself communist.
I was a History undergrad major at Bowie State during the early 2010s. I think one of the most eye-opening things I learned is that ultimately it wasn’t MLK’s efforts to help end segregation that got him killed, but his efforts to unite the American Working Class. Keep in mind he was in Memphis in solidarity with the Sanitation Workers Strike. It was ultimately his threat to Capitalism that got him assassinated.
Absolutely. He spoke truth to power and they killed him for it. Everything he said was true, and still is true.
Facts
This is speaking way out of turn here for me, but:
I have seen Liberal poli-sci scholar Ian Shapiro of Yale University say that some of the biggest supporters of affirmative action in the US were automakers (the lecture series in which he does so is on youtube, "Power and Politics in Today's World"). I can't remember exactly how he analyzes their motivation for doing so, but I would point people to "Elite Capture" by Olufemi O Taiwo for a better explanation -- elites understand that you can't govern by terror alone, you need to co-opt anti-racist action in order to maintain good enough labor relations to produce cars without interruption AND to be able to avoid boycott or sanctions from consumers.
Shapiro claims, in that same lecture series, that mining companies were instrumental in ending apartheid in South Africa for the same reason -- basically, wildcat strikes were bad for business, and they saw that the only way they were going to be able to continue business unimpeded would be if they could convince the government to make concessions enough that they could get labor under control. He frames this as "a way that elites can be useful in fostering conditions for social progress" or something to that effect, which is just outrageous framing, but he is, after all, a White South African capital-L Liberal, what the fuck did I expect?
Again, I recommend Olufemi O Taiwo's Elite Capture, the book is a ray of light (I haven't read another recent book of his, "Reconsidering Reparations," since I haven't found a copy at my local bookstore yet, but I'm willing to recommend it based on a lecture I saw him give on the subject). Elites are willing to tolerate just enough reform that lets them hold onto power, that's the whole point of "reform" -- it's a change in a positive direction, but fundamentally, the structure stays the same, and the people who were at the top stay at the top. Desegregation, while alienating to a racist white supremacist society, is ultimately tolerable to a capitalist system which would very much like to be able to exploit Black labor and sell products to Black people unimpeded. A unified working class, on the other hand -- that's something that can't be co-opted, and has to be violently suppressed.
(Please don't mistake this as saying "America's not racist" or some class-reductionist "race is * just * a tool to divide the working class" b.s. -- I just think it's important to understand white supremacist and capitalist structures, and how they interact, in order to be able to fight them)
And there's a reason in school they focus on his "I have a dream" speech. It is an easy speech to use as a way to ignore class struggle and spin the narrative of MLK being about "meritocracy".
There's a reason they don't even mention, what many black activists in the past consider his most important speech "Why I oppose the war in Vietnam"
Sorry if he mentions it in this video, I can't help but read comments while it's playing, adhd
That is BULLSHIT! His tone was shifting towards reparations, the same as Johnnie Cochran. "Working class." You HBCU people are no different from these boot-slurping raccoons. You're just left-wing puppets.
52:39 This was an 'aha moment' for me.
"If white capitalism doesn't help poor white people. Why the hell would it help poor black people."
in the US, thanks to capitalism, our poorest people are overfed, and have access to advanced high technology.
@@JefferyWWrightPoor people are working multiple jobs and are still not making enough money to survive.
@@Peasham yeah thanks to left-wing policies under Trump and his capitalist conservative policies. People had a better standard of living.
Which is how they designed it. They have to keep them majority poor to make them rich. Which is sad.@@Peasham
Adam Smith is the famous Scottish philosopher who described the workings of money / capital and transactions
In my opinion capitalism is a term used by marxists to invent an economic theory and ideology which they can oppose. People have done trading and transactions and used money all over the world, but people talked about Commerce and trade rather than capitalism prior to the dissemination of marxist theories.
The sophistication of the uses of capital in western civilization has brought many benefits to people all over the world along with the Industrial Revolution. This is especially true of textiles to the point that no one in the world seems to be walking around in rags and no one is collecting Rags as a good way to make a living, and mountains of excess clothing are being dumped all over the world to the detriment of some environments and the people who see no beneficial way to make use of all this clothing
Textiles in particular are rarely produced in North America what have been taken over by Asian countries where are the exchange rate makes it possible for doing the work to to make a living and for the companies to prosper from exporting. There's been a big influx of workers from China to I believe Milan Italy to run the famous high-end textile industry there
people running companies also do work even if it's not physical and that work is also sometimes equally stressful or even more stressful due to the constant threat of loss of supplies and markets and labor needed to produce Goods at a particular price
point.
What you said about MLK reminds me of a Pat the Bunny lyric.
"Malcolm X never lived to see the government fall, but the state he opposed made him a stamp. Maybe that's the best you can hope for if you never give up, your enemies will teach your corpse to dance."
yess, love that song
Seeing a comment referencing pat in a place like this lights up my soul man.
As American's....Did we really think the dualities of our country's foundation were going to be easy to....ya, overcome, didn't wanna quote that until I just realized how deep it was. No matter where we turn or what we do in this system, we're hypocrites by default, we live cognitive dissonance 24/7
Wasn't X killed by his own folks?
The trick is, you gotta watch it in the first hour it’s uploaded so you see all of the stuff he’s gonna have to cut out after TH-cam demonetizes it
+++
Shit, you're right. I'm going to have to do that.
Its ok ill just catch the second and third premier 😂
We made it to six hours, I think he beat the bots on this one
@@user-xsn5ozskwg new record 🥲🥲
It baffles me that people think Dr. King was a conservative. Our education system has failed us.
It's all due to cowardice. Conservatives resent Dr. King, but they feel they can't dare criticize him. So they try to twist the truth so that it looks as if they don't have to criticize him at all. Then they can feel smug in the belief that King was really one of them all along. It's a case of reverse sour grapes.
They hear cherry-picked quotes that suggest he was blanket opposed to using violence, and the associate the left with violence due to decades of propaganda.
The edu sys is owned by the gov, and so is mlk’s image unfortunately: they killed him, named a holiday after him, made statues and plaques, but still no black liberation. The gov is subordinate to capitalism: capitalism co-opts resistance and absorbs it to further its own agenda. That’s why mlk is taught in a hollow way in school and why lumumba is never mentioned at all
@@irishscience580how about you watch the video and find out what these terms mean in this context
@@irishscience580 it’s very obvious that you’re intentionally ignoring history and context to further your own political agenda. No one here is dumb enough to fall for it. Play those games somewhere else, we are not the ones
For the record uncle Tom maintained his integrity and refused to betray other slaves even when it meant accepting beatings and ultimately death. I always wondered why people use uncle Tom as a derogatory term for an excessively subservient Black person.
People just saw the title of the book and ran with it. That has always been the most misunderstood slur in history
It was the kind of thing where it was used sarcastically until people forgot it was sarcastic.
Minstrel shows
Why there a many different views on the Uncle Tom character, I think the negative aspects of it combines a couple of things: people being upset with the white woman who wrote the book and how she co-opted a black man story for her own financial benefit along with her taking liberties with his story and it plays into the notion that black people are only accepted based on the viewpoint of white people. With many black people, both man and women telling their own stories it makes sense why a segment of black people would be upset with so called allies feeling the need to fictionalize their experience.
This is actually kind of interesting. People in the South hated it so much they basically made fanfics of Uncle Tom being dumb and subservient until it overshadowed the original.
One of the things that keeps me coming back to you is though I'm not black, but Asian American, our conservatives have the same survival strategy. Assimilate, mimic whiteness, and discard your roots. And ironically, the roots they do keep, reinforce the social conservatism from our communities in a manner that performs for white people- which I should add, this social conservatism in our cultures are largely a result of colonialism.
Our struggles against bigotry are not quite the same, but our conservatives are disturbingly similar.
Speaking as a fellow Asian American, I don't think this is isolated to conservatives. Even liberal Asian Americans (like I was for a long time) play the part of being a person of color that gives white friends a level of protection in exchange for being considered "basically white", whatever the hell that means. Getting out of that headspace was the beginning of me having real solidarity with other people. I don't know if I can unlearn mimicking whiteness though.
If this ain't the truth.
@@blanktester oh yeah, 100%. I was also the liberal Asian guy, and the token Asian friend in the white group. But I never was able to let go of any of my culture. Frankly, it was pulled from me a bit, but I guess I backlashed into holding on tighter. And I think that backlash also ended up pushing me further to the left. And then I went to college, meeting other people with different backgrounds but similar experiences. It should be noted, that I could never be "basically white" because I'm one of the darker types of Asians.
Dante Basco said something about us getting the full platter of racism, where we experience everything that other people do, but not to the same level. And on top of that, we're told we have white privilege. The basically white thing reminded me of that.
In thomas sowell's book "Black rednecks and white liberals" his main argument is that blacks who emigrated from the South took the counter productive and self destructive culture of white people living there with them.
The reason why asains are the richest demographic in America is because they apply themselves and develop skills which they can trade for a high quality of life.
However, if some Black people do this, even doing something as simple as reading books, then they are accused of "acting white"
Sowells argument is that those who accuse others of this are in fact acting white themselves by mimicking whites and their attitudes from the deep south
There is a great video on TH-cam addressing this argument with sections of the audiobook itself, the video is called
"Black Rednecks & White Liberals (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air examples)"
Have you read Glenn Omatsu's paper about the four prisons and asam activism? Great quote about asam neoconservatives being born from "the reagan-bush era of supply-side economics, class and racial polarization, and the emphasis on elitism and individual advancement."
Dr. King himself said it best: *_"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."_*
Dr King is right, just be careful with this quote because the establishment media "molds consensus" in that they manufacture consent.
He definitely wasn't liberal. He would have been an independent by today's standards.
@@pete5819, precisely.
@@pete5819 hed be called a radical leftist most likely in today's overton window.
just as he was then.
@@pete5819 you have to understand that liberals are rightwing, they're simply moderate rightwing... dr king would've been the opposite of liberal, he was very, very, left-leaning
Thanks! Your videos are literally enriching my life. Growing up as a black man in the south in a white washed super right wing conservative and ultra religious household left literal psychological scars. Your videos are connecting dots for me and assisting with my self healing journey ✊🏿🥂
Oh, that's great to hear. Growing beyond what we were taught can be covering as hell and intense sometimes, but it's also necessary IMO. Best of luck to you, seriously.
@@RevShifty thanks 🙏🏾. It’s been a long 10 years but I’m seeing progress. I had some serious identity issues because of my childhood and I didn’t even realize it until I was almost 30. To this day I won’t step foot into a church because of what happened. I’m convinced that for all the good the church has done for the black community, it’s done twice as much damage that goes unnoticed because of respectability politics. The level of self hatred and lack of identity that comes with hardcore religious conservatism is staggering. I literally had PTSD. I would literally shake when I didn’t meet the expectations of anyone in authority. I was so docile that it has cost me my marriage, I’m in a better place now but it’s been a hard road.
@@RevShifty I hope people understand that I mean no disrespect and people can worship as they see fit. But I know it’s TH-cam so I may have summoned a troll by accident 😂🤣
i'm so glad the algorithm pushed your channel to my feed with the sports content overlap because everything you said here is absolutely correct. when people understand the US solely through race/racism instead of class/capital, their understanding and analysis falls apart when people like the Obamas, Oprah, Beyonce, Rihanna, etc., become "successful" - there's a distinct lack of critique of these figures because they "made it" EVEN THOUGH they benefit from the continued exploitation of the masses. subbed + looking forward to seeing your list
I really love that this isn’t actually about Black Conservatives, but about the legacy of Black politics in the US. This was so refreshing.
yes
I also really loved and appreciated his explanation of Black 'social conservatism', and even how it relates to safety.
I never bought the 'swelling numbers of black male conservatives' stories that show up every election cycle, but I never knew where it came from before. I just always assumed it was for-profit media doing its thing and inventing stories or making mountains out of molehills to keep eyeballs glued to the screen. I guess I wasn't completely wrong, but the added cultural history would've gotten right over my head otherwise.
I like the video & am a fan of F.D but I have a different perspective to his in this video.
I dont think the problem is capitalism per se, but a racial cast system.
Without a change in the racial make up of American institutions (ie a breaking of the caste system) the problems black Americans face will linger regardless of economic system.
If America became communist today but the racial makeup of the institutions of America were to remain the same you would still see disproportionate negative outcomes for black Americans.
You see this in communist societies across the world. The institutional bias of the dominant societies of pre-socialist governments persist into the institutions of the socialist governments too.
Anti-Jewish, Ukrainian and Tartar sentiments within the institutions of the Soviet Union, the anti-Islamic sentiment in China, or anti-Tigray sentiment in derg Ethiopia are all examples.
All these biases predate their respective socialist governments but continued into socialism because the ethnic/racial hierarchies in each case remained supremacist, exclusive and extractive.
The ‘American Vanguard’ party that transitions away from capitalism to communism would be dominated by the Vaushist-white-college-educated-Marxist he speak off in the break bread videos.
A country is built off its institutions and American institutions are built on nearly half a millennia of an anti-black caste system.
Until that caste system is gone black Americans will continue to suffer regardless of economic system.
This is just my op as a Ghanaian who grew up in America.
I’m white, so I don’t know the black experience, but I do agree that the democrats are center right. The ‘Tank with a BLM flag’ point was excellent. It’s much like Hollywood when they use virtue signaling in movies and TV. Rather then tell stories from the viewpoint of a black, asian, Latino, or lgbtq people, they just slap a character in the movie and crow about how progressive they are. Black Panther is the first one I can think of where the story was told almost entirely from a black perspective. They’re too concerned with making as much money as possible.
@@second2none914 so you’re saying the effects of American racism (caste) exists separately from the economic system we claim? I think i totally agree with you, but I’m not well informed about some of your international examples.
The brother doctor Cornell West said it best when speaking about the liberal tactic “Symbolic representation rather than fundamental transformation”
Democrats: "How dare you accuse me AND my leftist friend here of virtue signaling?"
Leftists: "What's this 'we' shit?"
@@MyNameIsBucket "oui? we speaking French now?"
That works better than the Lenin quote that comes to my mind
It's good point. Fundamental transformation would mean that those liberals could risk losing their positions of power and wealth. Symbolic representation allows them to keep it, or even get more.
@@DrejaAndi it's performative
Your ability to convey radical ideas to an audience that might not be formally educated on politics is amazing.
Formally educated people today are the most brainwashed people in society, I'm fortunate not to be from doing EXTENSIVE research. Conservatives in 2024 judge 1000% by the content of one's character. Liberals judge everyone & everything by the skin color & superficial circumstances.
Formally educated people are the most brainwashed today actually. It's those who practice free thought & delve into countless hours of research that have a better understanding & mindset to the truth of the world around them. It also doesn't mean they have every answer, but they are actively pursuing every truth possible.
2024 Conservatives 1000% judge by the content one's character. Liberals judge everything by the skin color & superficial circumstances.
@@pete5819If there's ANY truth to your premise this should be easy...
Give me the time and the name of the last candidate for office from the Democratic Party who earned an endorsement from ANY self avowed White Supremacist organization or publication?
Now... Give us the same information about the Republicans.
...
We will wait.
Cuz if you are speaking reality it's obvious what the outcome should be.. . But since you are lying it's not going to reflect your beliefs at all.
Bro I came back to this video just to enjoy this intro. Sets the MLK weekend off right for me 👍🏾
This and I’ve Been to the Mountaintop are my listens for today.
@@Justanotherconsumer That’s a good one. I can’t remember which speech it was, but he has one where he mentions Great Britain and “the sun use to never set on the British Empire, now the sun barely rises over the British Empire” and his first address after the Ghanaian independence where he petitioned the crowd to move to Ghana to lend them their skills. Great orator and a hell more revolutionary than the average person even knows.
@@Somebaldguy the key portion of IBttM is his discussion of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, asking the question not “what will happen to me”(if I help this man)? but rather “what will happen to this man” (if I do not help him)?
It is a call to action and to caring for others, not in an abstract sense but in a direct and practical sense.
As a white dude that worked a lot of jobs with older Conservative white men, I can’t even tell you how many of these guys loved black Conservatives. They referred to them as “true Americans” or “one of the good ones”. It’s amazing what racists will say in private when they feel like they’re surrounded by like minded people.
That’s my random rant. Excellent video!
And they’re the main ones saying it’s all in our heads
What's wrong with wanting to conserve something?
@@davidlillecrapp2960 nothing unless you want to conserve shit like abortion bans, discrimination ...
@@patrickvangelder3349 yes I want to stop the murder of babies. I want to conserve the life of babies (unlike you)
@@davidlillecrapp2960 we’re talking about black conservatives stupid. What do they have to conserve lol
These video essays have a crazy amount of depth and research. I'm having to watch them multiple times. Damn.
As a white man who grew up in a tiny white SW VA town, I’m grateful for FD Signifier for continuing to destroy misperceptions even after I thought they had already been destroyed.
As a white man. As a white town. Could you have made your point without these fake identifiers.
@@hadessahf3549 Well, since my comment was in reference to FD shining a light on parts of society that didn’t impact people with my background, I think it’s pretty relevant. Yes, my whiteness is relevant to my ignorance.
@@hadessahf3549 they're real identifiers, whitey
@@inkartridge Should I not have included the identifiers? Honestly I didn’t see anything wrong with acknowledging the difference between the two Americas. Let me know if I could word it better.
@@hadessahf3549 normally identifiers dont matter but in context, of a white person learning more about black people and theur lives and struggles, yes, it is relevant
FD: "Black people just tryna mind they business"
White conservatives: "Ah yes, so they're republican!"
FD: "......."
Underrated comment lmao
Oh shit what up Tamar glad to see you here! :D
Facts bruh 😂
@@djangogeek YOOOOO, NO WAYYYYY!!!!!!!
😆 🤣 😂 😹 you nailed it
LMAOOOOO
I'm a white French-Canadian from Québec and the revelation that MLK was not considered leftist in the US came as a complete shock to me. Thank you for your video.
Bienvenu !
His political ideology is never, ever mentioned. He is probably the most whitewashed figure in American education
Don't know where this came from. King is and has always been known in the US as a leftist. The FBI followed him and labeled him as a communist sympathizer in the early 1950s. The label dogged him throughout his career despite denouncing communism as a way to lower the heat. The idea that white people homogenized King and his message is over-simplified.
In my experience, Americans think he's liberal which, in the mind of most Americans, is on the left. I think the real disconnect is that liberal democrats actually think they are on the "left" (they do lean left socially for the most part). It's just that both parties want everyone to forget that there is an economic axis to politics, so they see capitalism as the only answer. It has been very effective too.
@@OLExGREG i always say, the difference between the Dems and Republicans, is how they feel about POC and the LGBTQ community. Still capitalist and taking money from billionaire donors, still engaging in foreign intervention, so on and so forth
I was a union organizer. Within my union, it was the Democrats/good Republicans/bad propaganda meme all the time. When I would explain King was a socialist and anti-imperialist to other staff and to members, it was always new information to them.
I’m not even sure how the idea that he wasn’t has intermixed into the conversations.
@@OctEddie Clearly, media in the US are essentially all right wing. And when I say media, I'm not referring to the right wing propaganda machine, Fox et. al. King's legacy has been purposefully scrubbed of an content related to his economic and larger political ideologies.
Probably a subset of Americans that believe he fought in Vietnam or something.
As a Puertorican who grew up with parents who understood the tyrannical ways of the American imperialism and racism, it would be amazing to have a conversation with you about the ways our cultural differences are extremely related.
I’m Puerto Rican to but sadly not as well versed in my culture, always having to look to back America as a point of reference for what life in this country was like under these institutions as someone English-speaking, brown, and American. I would LOVE a discussion like this, fantastic idea
48:00 she hit the nail right on the head as to why I started watching your channel. For the longest time my “political leanings/life outlook” was simply “I don’t bother anyone, I just want to be left alone” and at some point it occurred to me how many people aren‘t allowed the priviledge of being left alone.
I wish everyone could simply be left alone, thanks for understanding us hermits can't just hide and let the oppression happen. :C
The left wants to be "left alone", and the radical right wants to "control their neighbor's lives, morals, values"... The left is mostly apolitical until their rights are so trounced upon that they are forced to participate in the process.
James Baldwin expressed the same! That we just wanna be left alone lol
Almost like leftists are the only ones concerned about freedom or something
It's a hell of a realization that your privilege allows you to ignore politics. That even if you are somehow engaged, you can always disconnect, 'take the uniform off', and relax for a bit.
That realization that other people never get to 'take off the uniform', because they're being explicitly targeted by social wars, low key development projects, watered down histories, etc, is what guarantees I'll always be as ardent a supporter as I can be. The fact that I am blessed enough to be able to turn away if I wanted to, even just temporarily, means I never will.
I like this analogy: Democrats are like your sweet aunt that promises to take you to Disney World but then never takes you. Republican are like you're grumpy uncle that says he will never take you to Disney World but then you find out he went without you.
So, as long as either group gives you something, you're okay with them? A child's mentality.
@@solomonecclesia5253 a child's mentality is not getting an analogy when 74 other people did.... that would be you.
@@solomonecclesia5253 where in my analogy did the voter get to go to Disney World?.. derp derp derp
Democrats will massage your neck say I love u and stab you in the back. The republication will flip you the bird to the face . I rather you show your true colors up front.
I can tell you from actual real fucking experience that this is literally an actually fucking true
Bless you from a 64yr old white guy… a first generation immigrant to the UK, able to hid in plain sight because of the colour of my skin.
I want to thank you for fleshing out issues that as a dyed-in-the-wool socialist, I felt intuitively for decades.
Never too old to learn or be educated.
🙏🙏🙏
I watched a documentary about the leaders of the Civil Rights movement on, like, Netflix or something a few years ago and it blew my mind to learn about the 5 years following the Dream speech. My K-12 education literally had me believing that he was assassinated *DURING* the speech. And, like you said, they taught that sh!t every single February.
I even went to university from age 22 to 26 and majored in epidemiology in the mid 2010s. The curriculum format even used what I now understand to be, critical race theory (which changed my understanding of the world, but did not radicalize me nor make the brown half of me bigoted against white people... It did cause the white half of me to feel a lot of offense followed by guilt and shame tho). But somehow it still took a full decade of me exploring and learning on my own to learn that he wasn't m*rdered at the end of that damn speech. Man *WTF*??
That said, I did take Native American studies courses for those diversity requirements. Now I wish I had looked at a few different cultures, but I was drawn to the NAS courses due to my own heritage.
I find the sanitization of Civil Rights figures interesting as an Indian person who grew up in America, because teachers went out of their way to mention how MLK’s tactics were inspired by Gandhi. As an adult I learned that neither were opposed to violence all of the time and about how MLK was more radical than I was taught, though I never knew he was not supposed to be at the March on Washington. I also learned some really horrific things about Gandhi as a person but that’s a separate issue.
Ahh yes Gandhi the racist lol
same!!
@@remy3064 Racist, misogynist, possible pedophile. The way he talked about how Jews after the holocaust and black South Africans was indefensible. That does not discount his activism against the oppression of the Dalits and against the British empire, but I wish he wasn’t reified into this wise monastic figure
@@remy3064 Also Gandhi the adulterer xD
To be clear that one isn't really "bad" but it's always interesting to add some like actual human qualities to these modern-day "saints". Gandhi and MLK have transcended being human in the written history and I think that does a disservice to us all as these people were very human, with very human desires and motivations.
@@Defenestrationed it actually is considering ghandi used to ask his teenage grand-niece to lie naked next to him in bed, so that he could test his ability to control his sexual urges 🤮
Glad you cleared up the difference between Liberals and Leftist they often get thrown into the same box when its not true at all.
Oh yeah, Ben shapiro is a lib and Crowder in all the worst way. They are 100% more right than left tho.
I know people who put the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bidens, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and the "antifa" rioting on the streets in the same boat ideologically. I believe this is insulting to both progressives and radicals (most of whom are pacifists, by the way, although right-wing Republicans will then turn around and zap them for THAT). I get very angry when I hear this, and I say, "That's not fair. I've never thought that John McCain and Mitt Romney were no different from Donald Trump."
That elaboration isn't for us, it's for the uneducated rhetoric repeaters that use words like "socialism, marxism, communism" interchangeably. They don't know what the words mean, they don't care what the words mean, because their understanding of those words come from right wing propaganda.
As a white european dutch leftwinger/progressive person I always find it very weird when people call the liberals left wing. Our rightwing party is the liberal one. Which makes American politics very weird, as to get near the GOP policy wise in a comparison with Dutch politics, you start with the party of Wilders and everybody to their right. It is odd that all our political variety (we have a lot of parties) all fit into the Democrats. So it is strange how less ways of expressing political differences the US system has. (And it is worrying that our political system is taking over American style culture war bullshit (This does give me the ability to see partially into the future however, just look wat the US GOP is doing and see our far-right also shout about it a while later, we had our own 'groomer' panic for example)).
I remember watching a video in which the person talking considered themselves a moderate. When watching his videos you can understand through context that moderate for him is on the global political scale (so basically like a social democrat). However, there was someone in the comments that was confused because they thought he was "too liberal" to be a moderate from their perspective. It was unfortunate to see someone stuck in that binary democrat-republican worldview and truly didn't realize there was an issue, especially since I had only very recently broken out of that very same view.
Of all reasons you listed that you could be considered socially conservative, the only actually conservative thing you do is not letting your son dye his hair, and even that is only for his safety. Being conservative isn't about your lifestyle. It's about forcing your lifestyle on others.
From my Brazilian perspective, it always amazes me to see how tough it is for Americans, specially when coming from blacks, to realize that socialists existed and still exist in the US. Of course, this cooptation happens over here too, though it mostly results in a segment of people blindly assuming every one and everything not in agreement with the bourgeois status quo is communist. The American political elites have had a frightening degree of success in hiding or erasing almost all facets of leftism of the country's political history. Resurfacing this history and awakening the people to the ever-present political force of American leftists is a long and arduous road that needs to be pathed.
It really hit home when you said that for black people being "socially conservative" is a survival strategy.
How can you be so "socially conservative " and vote Democrat 97% of the time??
@@truthbtold8697 What benefit is there to vote Republican, and when have Republicans reached out to them for them to vote for them?
@@majesticmajestic7058 I really would like to know the benefits of voting democrat because blk ppl have voted democrat for the last 60 yrs and what have the benefits been???
@@truthbtold8697 There's really no major benefits to voting for either party, because each parties represent White people's so called interest and are just to opposing groups of the same race vying for power. Black people might vote for the Democratic party because their issues are acknowledged and not demonized like Republicans tend to do. Democrats will throw a couple of crumbs their way, but noting to change the situation that they are in, because in truth, both parties actually benefit from the situation staying the same. There's a lot of money to be made and no one is in a rush to correct a problem that they directly/indirectly benefit from.
@@truthbtold8697 Hmmmm, either you didnt watch the video or you are actually trying to use a strategy he called you people out for using. Most blacks don't even engage in politics because they understand it's just 2 sides of the same coin. The ones that engage are more likely to vote democrat (97% according to your made-up stat) because the democrats are less blatantly racist. Democrats hate poor whites as much as they hate poor blacks and to some that seems more reasonable than the republican illusion of a white middle class.
One of the great things about "Abbott Elementary" is that it's been able to sneak these bits of knowledge into a mainstream popular sitcom. One recent episode had Mr. Hill's class talk about how Dr. King supported "Lefty" programs like Universal Basic Income, and had much more in common with Malcolm X than differences.
"Abbott Elementary" character Mr. Hill told Black Students that they should challenge everything, including him because he is a White Teacher. That was an in your face epic moment.
Malcolm X was never for universal basic income never.. ever
She wears a straight wig- cheryl lee-not conservative.
@@kingsweattv2465 'Closer to' doesn't at all mean 'the same as', brother.
No idea where you got that idea after reading "... and had *much more in common with* Malcolm X than differences." Seriously, where in this did you read "they agree on EVERYTHING"? 🙄
Nigga he said Dr king was for universal basic income, he just also added that the views of Dr king, were a lot more aligned with Malcolm X, then most people know.
Happy mlk day black lives matter
One of my favorite musicians had an opening line in one of his songs:
"Malcolm X never lived to see the government fall
But the state he opposed made him a stamp
Maybe that's the best you can hope for if you never give up:
Your enemies will teach your corpse to dance"
What song is this
@@TorqueBow Take me by the hand and lead me through this disaster by Pat the Bunny
@@OpreRoma what genre is it?
He met white Muslims in europe,told others in the United States . . . That signed his death warrant - "white devils" aren't supposed to venerate & worship ALLAH
@@mikafizz1022 folk punk
This was a challenging one for me. Thanks for putting it out there.
as a white person, i gotta say, it's pretty odd how it seems like about 50% of the comments either start with or mention at some point the phrase "as a white person"
😮💨 I can't make them stop
🧃🧃🧃
@@FDSignifire lulz ... lmao too
@@TSoprano?
As a white leftist it seems to me that one of the conclusions made in this video is absolutely correct. The primary purpose of black conservatives in media and politics are not to win over anyone in the black community, but to reassure whites that they aren't racist and can go on supporting a structurally racist system without guilt.
True
Thats pretty much it I think
@gerold Garthcia, also, they get a lot of white love with piles of money thrown in.
Seems a bit racist but coming from a leftist im not surprised
@@JessBlake2 very true
Came here after sharing the Polygon article "The best video essays of 2023" with a friend who then immediately called out your content as excellent.
Amazing work- I'm now an excited new subscriber who will be processing and talking about these topics with everyone in earshot.
Freaknik: The Musical does not get the appreciation it deserves.
Finally a place I can share this story I witnessed between my dad and my uncle a few months ago: I am not american. My dad is the son of a jordanian immigrant and a german woman and my uncle was finally visiting us after years of no personal visits. One evening they had quite the argument, because my uncle wanted to go on a trip only with his siblings back to Jordan, but my dad told him that he was kinda traumatized by prior plans of them to go on such trips. This turned into a discussion of how they as mixed people fit into german society. For my dad Jordan will never be his home, while my uncle seemingly rekindled this connection. My dad talked about how he "knows" that both here in Germany and in Jordan he isnt really welcome, but knew that he had to choose one day, and chose Germany. Over the past years he tried to cut any part of him out, that reminded him and others of Jordan. He always says that he is more german than the whitest Aryan, but if the AfD ever took power he probably would still leave the country. All of this is just the result of racism. What really stood out to me is a comment by my brother, who said he would like to hear arabian music and know more about our arabian heritage. When I was a kid, my dad was regularly working in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and travelling into other arabian countries. He was playing arabian music in the car, playing arabian music in bars and had friends from different arabian countries, like Syria or Lebannon. But all of this stopped when my brother was too young to remember. We moved into a different, less racist part of the country, but my dads identity as an immigrants son also lessened. He told us a story about how he was making music with someone and he asked him about his heritage and if he could show him something, but when my dad showed him some jordanian music the other guy was turned off by it. He says that was the point he decided to stop making arabian music. Apparently over the years he swallowed all these micro aggressions on top of overtly racist stuff (like finding no job in the more racist part of the country) and just rejected this part of himself. I didnt notice this until that moment. He became culturally very conservative in his atempt to become the best German. My brother has no clue about this part of us because of it and I didnt realize it. It is sad, because I quite like the music from this area and I bonded with other people because of it, even though my connection to Jordan is very limited except for the music. I decided to show my brother more of this heritage, if my dad refuses to...
thank you for sharing. white supremacy, aryanism is a vile oppressive ideology. your father did what he believed he had to survive.
Omg..... that is depressing. But I'm glad ur able to to tell this story. Very eye-opening.
Thanks, for your story I have a similar story but its kinda reversed... To sum it up I am half Puerto Rican and half white and what I found was my Puerto Rican family actually didn't accept my white family. Mainly, because they thought they were lower class (economically) because my white family is from Fruitvale in Oakland. It didn't matter that my white family accepted them. To my Puerto Rican family they were seen to only accept them because of their economic affluence. They, were deemed to be (trailer trash) by my Puerto Rican family. Even though I know this is not true. My complication, is because had this situation were reversed my white family would be seen as racist's. Thus, I had a weird fork in the road... Because I saw where my white family was not accepted even though I was... Which, has led me to embrace a more classicist type view of discrimination. Although, I can see from your story where it really depends on your story and what you have seen.
Also, my best friend and roommate is Lebanese and hearing what he says about his home country and seeing what he says about acclimating to a situation. Having to subdue his cultural roots in order to be accepted by the larger community I can say is a thousand percent accurate. Especially with music he is actually a DJ. Luckily, he has developed a community of other Arab's so he is able to play their weddings with traditional songs. Although, trying to get other gigs is a lot harder and takes a lot more assimilation.
My dad is an immigrant from Taiwan and absolutely refused to teach us Chinese :( I would beg him to take me back to Taiwan all the time (I’ve been three times) but after a while he just shut me down every time. It really sucks because I barely know anyone from my dads side of the family.
There's an expression "If you can't beat them, join them"
They became bullies to avoid being bullied
It's true
Complete bullshit
That's exactly been the Democrat motto over the past 70 or so years. Republicans have always been the good side, unfortunately people who dedicate their life's to lies and decieite, when they encounter real stand up people who could care less about the color of your skin it frightens those who don't understand what it's like to be judged off of your character and actions not your skin color. Hence why God has always blessed Republicans. We live in reality
@RP Pope lying rat. Conservatives have always been the enemy of freedom throughout the history of the world. The modern Black Conservatives are just their latest attempt to lie and obscure the truth.
@@rppope1006 facts
Maybe because I already know the information being presented here, I’m a bit more critical of the implications in your arguments.
1. I’m tired of the generalization of any mass of people and the presumptions that come with it. Stop speaking for a whole population of people-“black” isn’t a monolith.
2. This myth of black solidarity needs to go. Good and evil runs through each and every person regardless of how they identify. Show me the content of your character etc.
3. No particular “ism” is going to prevent corruption and moral rot. Socialism is not the answer to capitalism because at the end of the day, all systems are run by humans.
4. Sustained non-violent protest and resistance with a clear set of demands is better than attempting a violent revolution. You’ll never out violence the state.
5. Capitalism isn’t the answer and neither is Socialism as mentioned in point number 3. What is needed is an overhaul of the current global construct and a mass spiritual awakening.
6. You talk of the church and church goers as if European monotheism isn’t another form of control and propaganda. It’s annoying that the descendants of slaves still participate in a religion that their ancestors were forced to believe in.
Watching your videos & learning that you were a former teacher has made me question my future as an educator, you’re truly brilliant
wow this was a such a powerful video. I still remember learning about MLK in school and how much they emphasized his pacifism and vilified Malcolm X. Thanks for sharing
Oh wow. Did not expect to see you here!!
MLK is so incredibly white washed I have friends who think he was a conservative and would be anti blm💀 like yeah fs bro mlk, the anti capitalist black revolutionary, would be anti black revolution.
Idk when u went to school but I'm a history teacher atm and it's still happening. One of the aims is to develop students' comparison skills but it's at the cost of ahistorically reducing the two men to stock characters.
When I feel like a strong emotion or something linked to a strong emotion is being shown to me (whatever it the emotion is) I feel the overwhelming urge to cry. It happens during really good musical performances or deep readings. I felt it after watching your intro. I’m excited to see the rest. Thank you FD🙏🏾
Thank you for existing F.D🙏🏾
Here on MLK Day to remember him how he should be
likewise
As someone who is moderately informed when it comes to political history, you are doing an incredible job of revealing the nuance of historical figures' beliefs. Thanks for making sure that these trolls get at least a bit of our beliefs.
Lmao this is "THAT" video in fds career. I was excited for conservatives but I'm here for the liberal takedown 🔥
I’m a queer Jewish man, and I’ve never been involved in churches in any sort of way, so the only times I’ve seen people using that sort of “pastor voice” like the guy at 16:19 is when clips are being spread around because they’re actively preaching hate. It’s honestly so moving seeing someone show that same sort of passion while *defending* us as others do while attacking us.
Sometimes they do it in jest and don't mean it, but of course that's not all religious people
I as an atheist REALLY appreciate a genuinely loving and understanding and not bigoted theist
It's not preaching love. As a queer man that grew up in the black church. We were either demonized or tolerated. I have heard many sermons like the clip shown, but what isn't shown the part how being gay isn't worse than any other sin. We all have a our crosses to bear. Hate the sin not the sinner. Being gay is not sinful but living the lifestyle is.
I have heard this so many times, and it's very triggering and gaslighting to see a clip like this to show that black churches arent homophobic.
A pastor teaching not to hate gay people because their sinful lifestyle isn't worse then the sins we all make isn't openness and acceptence. It still argues from the position that being gay is sinful.
@@candorsspot2775 This is why Christianity is fundamentally flawed.
@@candorsspot2775 then god must be a stuck up prick we should change his mind
@@candorsspot2775except it isn't mentioned in the New Testament in any form and to bring about Old Testament rules and scripture is to literally deny Jesus' sacrifice for us. Conservatism is diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings yet those in power largely are not. The cognitive dissonance of people who go to church on Sundays listening to inherently socialist rhetoric to then follow capitalist ideology outside of their church's walls is astounding.
You are a great teacher, I started watching a couple of videos and I am greatful to have your content pop up.
I do wanna say, that I have started my reedeucation on black social issues, and political history. Doing my own research instead of what was given to me by a curated system of white supremacy. It started when I first watched your Hamilton video. As while it is still my favorite musical ever. I do appreciate the discussion you had in your video and in the comment section. Yeah, I am an old head FD Signifier watcher. I do hope you and your family are doing well. Have a wonderful day.
Thanks for another great video. I always appreciate your perspective. We need more communicators like you.
I knew you were a fan of Renegade Cut, but it's still somehow surprising to see you here lol
Thank you for initially sharing FD's channel on your community tab, I have been following him ever since and have learned so much ❤
kenji!!!
Whoooa
Plz share
I got you bro. "Being forced into conserving your resources while being conditioned to the understanding that large scale change results in harm does not make you a conservative politically." The constant push to present us as conservative is cognitive dissonance informed gas lighting. IMO. Good stuff as usual brother.
Relevant content with the right mix of backed up facts and intelligent opinion. Great channel sir!
I am learning so much from these video essays.
When you drop a video it’s like being able to take respite in a call with a close sibling or loved one. Truly affirming with so much information and complex navigation I always try to make time for your investigations! Also always inspires me to push forward into my own research. Much love to you.
My dad is a former black republican and watching that clip of Hershel Walker dancing hurts cause that's how he dances 😭
Relatable.
😂😂😂
Why former?
@@JK-gu3tl you watched the video didn't you?
@@JK-gu3tl Does the JK= just kidding?😹
As a mixed person but pass as white most of the time I can honestly say people are more racist then believed, even white people with black friends but when I lived in the south I was blown away how racist conservatives are
This video has been one of the most informative videos on this subject I’ve come across, thank you
I was raised in a conservative white family in Texas and we were taught Malcom X was the anti MLK because MLK was a pacifist. I've found myself leaning further and further left in the last decade and hearing MLK past his I had a dream speech has been eye opening.
MLK is a loving Church Priest that really didn't judge people different from him. He just wanted all of us Free from oppression and discrimination.((from What I learned about him from my schools as a kid))I'm very sad he was killed, he is a Role model I look up to and highly respect.
Before Malcolm’s death he warned us of the white liberal, lean where ever you wish but don’t trust everything they say.
They both were Republican!!
@@Willis-nd3us Don't even try to sell that shit here.
@@RevShifty the difference is I checked!!!
I'd never seen that whole MLK quote together before and I get the feeling it's less about the ethics of rioting (though he does seem concerned about that) but the efficacy. And that makes a lot of sense. I can imagine looking at the civil rights movement and seeing insufficient numbers and weaponry to win an open fight, especially against a militarized police force. I wasn't there, I can't say if he was right or wrong. But I can see the logic.
Agreed. He was worried about protecting his community. It's not white people's place to critique.
I see it as being an acknowledgement that riots become inevitable when all other alternatives are made impossible.
You know, if you have a bunch of oily rags and you keep throwing sparks around, you can't pretend to be shocked when a fire starts, yeah?
There is one conspiracy theory I do believe is true, that is they killed MLK because he started to really home into the economic justice = racial justice at the height of the CRM. They could tolerate giving black people some rights, but they would not never tolerate the downtrodden poor, black or white or any race to challenge the capitalism.
That's exactly it! He wasn't opposed to "self-defense" per se. He just knew it wasn't practical given the lack of symmetrical numbers.
Like I don't think he would ever be in favor of riots, but it's like...hey, people who are squeezed and desperate are going to strike back when they see no other option. So if you really want to prevent a riot, you have to give other reasonable options!
What a great video to watch on MLK day
imma say it black conservatives are tokens
As a young white man in Oklahoma this one of the most important videos I’ve seen as a leftist. You’ve got a subscription, I can’t wait learn more about history, politics, and philosophy. Beau of the Fifth Column is a fellow leftist that I’ve been following for a long time but it’s nice to find another thoughtful leftist with valuable content!
I love when fellow Beau fans, find this corner of the internet 🥰
Welcome 💚💛♥️💙💜
Same here from Heidelberg in Germany and black. I was on black Conservative platforms as well and it was sobering. There's too much anger, blaming and attempts to rewrite history (Slavery, MLK etc) or to distort historical content of black scholars. It's mind-blowing to even try it because you can research anything.
This channel is what I was looking for to learn more and I just subscribed
One thing I’ve noticed about someone like Thomas Sowell is that he defends positions that no one has. There’s a video of him defending the Wright Brothers because apparently liberals ignore white inventors, which is a position I have never heard from anyone, liberals or otherwise. In fact, quite the opposite is true when it comes to the Wright Brothers. A life size replica of their plane can be found at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and also the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Furthermore, the Wright Brothers are in American Currency as the North Carolina Quarter honors their invention. So this whole view point that white inventors are being ignored or erased by liberals is not just wrong, but willfully inaccurate considering how much we actually do honor these inventors.
Sowell also wrote a book where he tried to blame liberals and the civil rights movement for every problem the black community has faced. As far as I can tell, his book makes no mention of redlining, discriminatory hiring, or the fact that most prosperous black communities were violently destroyed by white mobs.
Lol, you wrote investors a couple times and I had a double take.
@@dang1099 HA! Oops, thankfully, that's why we have the edit option!
There’s a college named after the brothers, a bank named after the brothers, and an entire ass airbase. You can’t live in Dayton, OH or nearby without having heard of the Wright Brothers.
Who tf is like "yeah, you know who sucks? The wright brothers!" Like???
I love it when someone is intelligent enough to exactly explain what it is that I think but am not smart enough to enunciate
OMG, I'm so glad I came across this video! FDSignifire, you have so incredibly articulated what's been stirring in my soul for so many years. I was churned through the American education system with engineering & MBA post graduate degrees. I had so little history let alone, Black history, in my formal education it's almost laughable. I've never been hugely interested in history or politics until the past decade. I've been a registered and active voter but never could get with registering as Democrat (& Republican - hell NO!). You've helped articulate exactly my issues. My thoughts are evolving as my knowledge expands but I'm realizing that capitalism is the root of much evil.
Also, I love the details you've shared about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s history. I had no clue about this truth until reading The Radical King by Cornel West.
Thank you for what you do & I look forward to checking out more of your content!
Thank you for helping give me a better understanding of these issues. I'll admit I'm a young white dude from a rich area, and even though I've had friends and coworkers who are black and never shown anything but love, I've never really had any real knowledge or understanding of history on this front. I won't stand around trying ever act like I know what is best for anyone, so I appreciate you at least helping me learn about the kinds of injustices that exist to stand against. I'm not a social or active politically dude, but I can at least be one more vote in the right direction.
👍🏾
What injustice? Who commits half the crimes in the US? Not asians...not jews...not hindus...
Honestly, in a similar boat and that's kind of the point. The Democrat elites want to make everyone think that this is about respect and visibility and kinder words.
But fuck that shit black people and poor people just need to be paid their due at the expense of rich people. No amount of minced words is as meaningful as paying someone's rent.
Most black people are more conservative than we think they are. I am a black conservative, and I am married to a black woman, I live in the black, and I send my kids to predominantly black schools. My conservatism comes from my relationship with my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I attend an all black church. Most black conservatives that I know are also married to black people and live in the black community. It’s just that black conservatives that you see on TH-cam, who do not fit your typical conservative, get all of the attention.
@@adifferentpointofview1404 genuine question, did you not watch the video?
I have no idea how I found your channel but your content is phenomenal. It's concise and clear without sacrificing so much depth that its purpose is made void
I’ve watched videos an hour long where they said absolutely nothing. Like what did I just watch.🤦♀️
It’s always the ones with the least to say that talk the most (Trump is a prime example ).
💯‼️
Most of the time, you don't find something anymore. The algorithm finds something for you.
This & the other video you did on Farrakhan Cosby and jay z are gems I wasn’t ready for. Thank you 🙏🏽 w my current vocabulary I don’t have the words to articulate the significance of what these videos mean to me man❗️ thank you & may you & your family always be blessed
I agree with most of this commentary. Moving further left is appealing in so many ways. My problem with all the erudite commentators on democrats and republicans is that every election, I have exactly two viable options, one bad option in the democrat and one absolutely unacceptable option in the republican. How can our society move away from the status quo when we're stuck in the binary party system on election day?
Vive la
Because our political system is a "winner take all" system, splitting the vote does not "send a message". To the contrary, it effectively helps the absolutely unacceptable option gain more power.
Let’s adopt ranked choice voting nationwide!!
Organize. Political study especially socialist/communist/anarchism text and join an organization in your community or start one.
The common Leftist™ refrain is points of departure and building dual power structures.
You broadly say 'fuck it' to the presidentials, vote blue when necessary and effective. And focus your energies on the direct action and community building shit that WORKS, and begins to construct challenges to incumbent power and state reliance.
FD already points out that black folks are already most of the way there. With strong community bonds and networks for resource sharing and spreading the burdens of Capitalism around so no one person suffers.
Think global, act local! It's all well and good to worry about the Big House, but how many homeless people are in your neighborhood right now? Who needs their kids watched? Who's been skipping meals to keep the heat on? Who's been freezing to keep a meal in their belly? What local political action is going on? How can you help help THEM?
The path to escaping the binary system is, effectively, one of abandonment. If they can't give us a democracy that works for us, we'll build our OWN damn democracy.
It always makes me scream when the right calls Biden a leftist. We are sooo far to the right in this country that our democrat party is literally on the right lol. Obviously thats exactly what you are saying. I'm so glad i came across your channel
What do want from the government?
Yes! Biden shut down that railroad workers' strike so quickly in 2022, I accidentally called him Nixon.
@@majorchutzpah7265 how about human rights? and not just for the rich, fat and happy
FD you do incredibly significant work not only for the leftist movement but in helping reframe history for those who have only seen it from a capitalist and whitewashed lens. Please keep doing what you’re doing, every video I’ve seen of yours has been excellent. Solidarity forever
The first few minutes of jokes was worth the like brother. 😂
I get kind of depressed every MLK day because it’s a day I don’t even know what to do with. It’s not really a commemoration of MLK - it’s a day in service of erasing everything he said and did. I always end up feeling angry.
And now it’s been done to Juneteenth, and again, I feel the same way, even as a white person who had not heard of Juneteenth until a few years ago. What is going to be done to the holiday? Am I supposed to celebrate a deed undone? Will it become just another sanitization of history, erasure of the centuries of suffering, betrayal, suppression - erasure of the erasure itself?
Idk, just venting I guess. I suppose the answer is that it should be motivation to take action, educate people, organize, speak out, etc. - but I have to be particularly careful to keep a clean image because it could threaten my job, and it can be sometimes difficult to know where the line is when there is a propaganda machine assiduously looking to stamp out dissent and slander anyone advocating for even moderate reform. Straying outsides the boundaries of acceptable Liberal thought is still liable to put you in hot water, no matter how anodyne you feel your own critiques are.
I dont think race in this day and age is relevant unless u make it BETWEEN US THE PEOPLE- yes its racist everywhere against a certain minority from 1-3%/media....... we all humans man, nothing wrong to be white bro. U cant change that... You can def go do whatever u said u wanna do... u writing this in a YT section isnt the way to help the situation bro. Like why u even admitted u dont even know about shit until a few years ago - just be the social justice warrior bro, u cant do it on the internet like all the other idiots that pretend to care my guy... fr
MLK wasnt afraid but ur afraid as a white male to stand up ... u dont see the irony in this at all? Americans so quick to bring up their race as if its TRULY matters about banding together as humans.
Americans have been gaslit for so long that now they gaslight themselves on autopilot.
Dude. Chill out. You're too far in your own head. MLK, X, FH, and HPN, and many others of their era would have wanted us to believe in our radical points of view. So on MLK day, teach his actual anti-capitalist, anti-neoliberal, socialist point of view, and use that to teach about all of the others who agreed.
@@xX_Gravity_Xx You can encourage someone to find a different approach without stepping all over somebody's truth bro. Work on that. Not like you're wrong in the content of what you said, but yeah, don't dismiss dude's legit feelings.
@@BeastNationXIV Stepping all over somebody's truth? I was telling him to take it easy and not feel bad. I mean, I apologize if that offended anyone. I'm just speaking what I believe. Nothing wrong with conflicting opinions.
I'd like to let you know that the algorithm is now in your favor and I expect a boost in subs. You popped into my recommended feed tonight and I have not stopped watching your channel. I appreciate the time you put into your videos in both the content and the actual length. I feel like I take something away from everything I've watched so far. I'm addicted now and subbed.
I need to watch this a few more times. Thank you for putting this out there.. I grew up in the 70's, 80's.. middle-class, suburban, white neighborhood. Totally immune to anything outside of my white privileged narrative. Totally ignorant of the dual system, economically and politically, especially... vaguely aware of the racism. As I've grown older, I've been able to look farther behind the curtains of the stages of smoke and mirrors and educate myself, sometimes uncomfortably, as not to be ignorant of the issues that keep coming up year after year after year. I'd like to throw in an observation, since I also once belonged to the White Evangelical church, that they (the church ) contribute problematically to this issue. I've subscribed to this channel and hope to keep getting a clearer picture. Thank you, my friend.
Holy banger intro
"It is organized violence on top which creates individual violence at the bottom. It is the accumulated indignation against organized wrong, organized crime, organized injustice, which drives the political offender to act." ~ Emma Goldman
And its wrong lol
"STOOOOOP BREAKIN' THA LAAAAW AAAAASHOLE" ~ Fletcher Reed
It's exactly what BLM was organized for
As a person who loves history and loves seeing parts that weren’t taught in schools. I thank you for giving me this deeper insight on MLK Jr.
You heard the tapes yet?
History? This guy gets nothing right
@@samuraikyokkan like what?
God this has so much fucking implications for many many many social justice movements as well as black civil rights. Genuinely, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this and opening my eyes and the eyes of others
Thanks for showing color footage
I just want to say, thanks for making this video. I'm a white queer trans girl from a black family and scapegoating black people for social conservativism is patently anti black and unfair and untrue to me
Also thanks for the clip of the pastor speaking up against hypocrisy in homophobia. That was extremely moving and important to see
Another good one is Huey Newton’s speech on the gay liberation movement, somewhere on TH-cam.
@@Based-Anarcho-Syndicalist-Chad But I'm sure you can understand people's sensitivity to this when millions and millions of right-wing extremists are using that idea of "hate the sin, love the sinner" as a tag-line, while also being openly prejudiced towards the LGBT+ community, increasing public discrimination & bans and refusing to allow the teaching of tolerance towards "The Other" in schools, etc... especially while the rate of suicidal ideation among LGBT youth is so stunningly high!
I'm straight, and a Recovering (former)Catholic, and I know _I'd_ be much more open to your point if it wasn't for right-wing fundamentalists making life _miserable_ for said community.
I wish you weren't the minority among the Christian community, but it absolutely seems like you are.
I _sincerely_ hope that changes! 🙏 I wish most Christians were like yourself & didn't believe they had the right to force their beliefs on the rest of us but, ever since the marriage of right-wing politics and the Evangelical community, in particular, that hasn't been the case.
@@Based-Anarcho-Syndicalist-Chad What about Leviticus 18:22? It pretty clearly says that two men having sex with each other is an abomination.
@@diamondrg3556 right before that it was saying eating shrimp was an abomination...
In that verse who was talking to who? Were they speaking to all mankind in that verse? No they were talking to a people in a foreign land telling them not to interact with the people into whose land the Jews were moving into. It is a interesting subject but cherry picking bible verses... May give you a false impression on what the bible says
Do you have any qualities other than your superficial labels?
I know you probably get comments like this all the time, but im a white kid, and id just like to say thank you. Ive been in the breadtube space for a while but you were the first black leftist creator to make their way into my recommended and its really helped open my eyes to a lot of things in a way people who are merely sympathetic to black people's cause, not wrapped up in it themselves, couldnt. My upbringing has been far from conservative but i definitely had a lot of things i didnt learn before finding you. I also appreciate how you prop up other creators of a similar ilk, its really helped me learn a lot recently. So i just thought id express my thanks for that here. Keep up the good work
Lousy as it is, I gave you a like coz u got Thanos as your pic😏..I just love the big guy
You have no father do you?
Blacks, like this idiot, in the USA are whiny brainwashed race hustlers. They listen to criminals and con artists like the BLM movement that take their money, and leave them in hell ghettos.
The only thing you're gonna learn from this clown is to be a dumbass that hates himself.
Well said.
I'm a little older now, but I wish that I had seen this video back when I was first starting to watch Ben shapiro and those types.
That is four years of my life that I will never get back, Keep doing what your doing and. People do see and listen to this stuff and it really does make an impact
@@Depl0rable10 I hear you, but remember: a lot of people never get out at all, unfortunately. Even if you did lose 4 years to Shapiro and his ilk, you're here now and we're all better for it.
The Groovy Tony/Blank Face intro was 🔥... Ok know I'll continue listening. You're appreciated
Don’t leave Tim Scott, and Clarence Thomas out.
Hey F.D,
I can't thank you enough for the discourse, resources, and ideas you provide on your channel. I know I'm not your target demographic--a white man from one of most homogenously white states in the US (South Dakota).
But I married a black South African woman with whom I have a 3 year old step-son, and we live in South Africa currently. We began talking about the idea of moving to the US around the time you released your video about the Commodification of Black Athletes.
I've never been more wrecked by a video on this platform--first because it was a jarring reminder of what I'd be asking of my three-year-old if I brought him to the States for schooling, and second because it became glaringly obvious to me that I don't have the tools, perspective, or experience to give my family everything they deserve to feel heard, validated, and safe back home.
I knew I had blind spots. I didn't know you could drive a mac truck through them.
I just wanted to say thanks. Creators like you and Khadija Mbowe have opened window through which my wife and I can observe and discuss the differences and challenges we face culturally and in our marriage both here and back in the US. We're so lucky to have thoughtful people like you in this world.
Hi, I'm full-blooded Filipino. Born and raised in Hawai'i, where I currently live. Millennial. Another fantastic video, but please answer me one question: Why do I find so much value from your videos? By no means do I think or feel I am one to conform to other ethnic groups' identities -- like, while I did grow up on underground hip hop, roots reggae, and punk rock being my favorite musical genres, I've never experienced life on the "mainland". I have had a few black friends growing up while in school, but at least where I live (middle income area, well-to-do FOB Filipino immigrant parents) -- there weren't many black people around. I grew up alongside people of Native Hawaiian ancestry and fellow Filipinos. One of my best friends growing up was Latino. I have never tried Soul Food, I grew up on plate lunches, Filipino dishes, sushi, hamburgers, and rice. But yet, whenever I watch your videos, FD, something about it hits -- fucking hard. My mind feels expanded and I feel a greater sense of knowledge about the world and how things work. I feel a certain connection to your videos, the information within them, and -- to an extent -- the movements you stand for. While I do not necessarily agree with 100% of things you say (it's probably like 99.9% to be fair lul), or have not experienced life in the mainland (I feel Hawai'i's culture is way different than the mainland in many regards), I guess I just wonder why your videos "speak to me", so to speak. In either case, awesome work. Thanks for your videos. Aloha, braddah, you one hammah.
Because unbiased truth moves people who are sincere and self aware
@@THATBOISHAD Straight, direct, and to the point. Thanks for your response 🤙
Speaking to the unbiased truth that @suezcanal mentioned, would you care for a more detailed and nuanced answer from a fellow local boy?
I just adore these types of videos. Nothing against your solo work but i find it so illuminating hearing from a variety of people
You are exactly right my Nubian brother keep doing what you doing hopefully you will wake some of our community people up thank you so much for the eye opening information keep it coming.
I hate how there arent any more youtubers like you. The conservative manipulation machine has obtained a hell of a grip online.
TH-cam is a very right wing anti black site for some reason. That’s just the crowd it attracts
My algorithms have gone crazy.
Try Renegade Cut or Chris Hedges.
What about Liberal BS gender studies machine?
@@ranjanbiswas3233 The beauty about liberals is we criticize each other endlessly. Conservatives otoh March in lockstep to your narratives even when they're demonstrably wrong, and/or bad for us. It's like the saying goes, "The left eats itself in a way the right never does." It's a value among many that make us just plain better than you tbh 🤷♂️
Bro it is infuriating as a Latino seing this phenomenon manifest in our communities as well. They get brain washed to vote against their own self interest .it’s sad scary and dangerous
The brain washing is happening to everyone. Doesn’t matter if they’re black, white, or latino- they all drink the koolaid and are brainwashed into voting against their own interests.
I am mexican , when a mexican has a kid here or they themselves get their immigration docs apprvd they will vote against immigration.
@@timom8498 I’m Mexican and I despise those prople
@@timom8498 as famous african video says
IT IZZ WHAT IT IZZ
An epidemic among my fellow south Floridian Cubans, such a shame
The intro for this video is still the rawest thing I have ever seen.
Here's a thing that never gets talked about when Black conservatives are mentioned, and that is why they have come to be resentful of the Black community in the first place. As African Americans we demand that everyone else be tolerant and accept diversity, yet we can not embrace diversity and different styles and personality types within our own race, which has certain Blacks who could actually otherwise be a positive influence in our communities running to other communities and undermining us as a whole, by siding with our oppressors. We end up creating enemies from within when we have enough opposition as is. I think most Black conservatives are right on many things they say in principle, but the problem is that they're not actively trying to connect with Black people to create an exclusively black discourse to demonstrate how their thought process can get us better results in our communities because they don't feel accepted and embraced in said communities.
I watched this on Nebula yesterday and it has to be one of the most informative videos in terms of truly framing the American political landscape. I moved to the U.S. from Iraq, having descended from a family that's very left-leaning and espousing leftist ideals from a very young age, I was very frustrated by the political landscape of the U.S. It continues to baffle me how narrow people make the political spectrum seem, and it's only after some deep digging that I started to understand the full breadth and depth of dysfunction of the current popular political landscape. This video truly just helped me learn so much and find a different angle to look at it. Thanks so much! I'm really glad I found your channel
Yes to this!
Funny that. You didn't move to Cuba, Venezuela or North Korea where you would have found all the socialism you wanted. How about Russia or China? Why not make them a workers paradise and prove the capitalists wrong? They already agree with you. Nah, better transform the new place into the old place, I mean it worked so well so far.
Wow. What was it like growing up in Iraq as a leftist?
alright we’re gonna see if FD signifier can upload a vid without it getting taken down
this is gonna be a fun video
This has been a very enlightening video. Not quite finished, but it has coincided with a a short Stuart Hall Lecture on "Race, the Floating Signifier." I just watched for a university course of mine. Hall mentions how race works as 'politics without guarantees.' Here's my favourite section:
"[If you believe race is biologically verifiable then] a whole number of other things, cultural qualities, intellectual qualities, emotional and expressive qualities, follow from the fact of being genetically one race or another, if that’s your image of race, you think then that the very fact of race can actually guarantee a whole range of things, including just to name two, whether the works of art produced by a person who biologically belongs to that race is good or not. So, if they’re black it means that they’re also very expressive, it also means they’ll produce a certain kind of work of art and it’ll be good because it’s black. And similarly a certain kind of politics…defends the race, has to protect us against discrimination etc. in which all black people will be figured as people who are…holding the correct position…You will say, ‘They’re like that because they think like that because that’s what black people think, it’s right that black people should - so race functions as a kind of guarantee that the work…will be good because it’s black, and will be politically progressive because it’s black…[But we know that] some of the works are not good, though black. Made with the best of positive intentions to reverse negative stereotypes and praise the diversity of black people, it just don’t work aesthetically. And similarly, we know that black people have a range of diverse political positions, conservative, reactionary, progressive, and so on. And that these fall out in a way that is not defined by their genetic or biological disposition."
I appreciate the coincidence (or perhaps algorithm) of having watched these two videos in conjunction --- it has really helped me identify the pervasiveness of American racial ideology; in this case linking "biological race" to a type of politics and even art. The latter being something I've identified as a truism I have for too long time lazily accepted.
This was 🔥🔥🔥 Great work brother.
White leftist here that was relieved FD didn't waste time on the individuals in the thumbnail. This kind of educational content that really explores political nuance and objective history is invaluable. Fantastic work!
exactly when you all can't be taken seriously. Especially when he focused on the Black Conservatives' hair.. WHAT A JOKE. No real points made here.
@@dfacedagame Found the person who judged the whole video's points based on the intro part. What a joke
@@dfacedagame you’re clearly not black, you should sit this one out. Or keep embarrassing yourself
@@dfacedagame You didn't watch the damn video.
@@dfacedagame that's all you came away with? Maybe you should give it another watch. Perhaps you were distracted the first time through.