We will continue to face the nation-ending threat of white supremacy and white nationalist extremism unless we invest in Combating Violent Extremism (CVE) programs, which this administration has cut, and find the courage to have honest-to-God difficult, uncomfortable conversations in our homes and communities about our history of race and privilege in America and how it has shaped our lives today.
An example of this in practice is the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, a series of opinion pieces, poetry, essays, and historical works designed to inform readers on the treatment and history of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow laws in America. The project’s title comes from the August anniversary of the arrival of the first African slaves, 20-30 individuals from what is now modern-day Angola, in the British American colonies. Each work highlights not only past atrocities and injustices experienced by black Americans, but ongoing systemic issues that have plagued the nation from its original sin of slavery into the present day. It’s an important effort that may very well shape the dialogue around race, inclusion, and the need for steadfast policies that may one day fill the discriminatory gaps in our society and help heal the country. And the effort is, somehow, in 2019, controversial.
While pundits clutch pearls and attempt to convince us that the 1619 Project is a lie, that it’s really white society under attack, and that we’re in a post-racial society because we once had a black man as president, more radicalized white supremacists will shoot up schools, markets, stores, and places of worship to assert their ideology. We are not required to blindly believe pundits. We must not be bullied by maniacs who seek power through semi-automatic rifles. We must not run from engagement with each other; the change we desire can be achieved through heartfelt, frequently difficult, and awkward conversations among family, friends, and neighbors about race and its continued impact on our lives. Reading the 1619 Project is a good place to start.
There you have it. Garrison embraces as true the claim that White extremism is running rampant and that the 1619 Project, a black version of Mein Kampf, is somehow essential reading.
It is astonishing that Lloyd Austin would admit he had no idea that Bishop Garrison is associated with Critical Race Theory. Reminds me of Butterfly McQueen’s iconic scene from Gone With the Wind.
Lloyd Austin is not a stupid man. He is educated and articulate. More articulate in fact than that dunderhead Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley (see Jim Hoft’s skewering of the clueless General here for his lame attempt to suck up to Austin). But Austin is either lying or is intellectually incurious. Who would give Garrison the position of Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Diversity and Inclusion without checking out his writings and public comments?
Garrison is the anti-Martin Luther King. He does not give a damn about one’s character. For him it is all about the color of a person’s skin. That is the essence of racism.
Worse, Garrison embraces a definition of “extremism” that mimics what Britain’s King George said about the patriots of 1776:
A leaked 17-page DARPA memo from March 27, 2021 entitled “Extremism and Insider Threat in the DoD” provides a clue as to what new categories of lawful thoughts, associations and reading materials are likely to be scanned and banned by Bishop Garrison’s CEWG. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency colloquially known as “The Pentagon’s Brain,” recommended a brand new category called “Patriot Extremism,” which occurs when a citizen believes “the US government has become corrupt” or “has overstepped its constitutional boundaries”
The truth of the current reality in Washington, DC is that corruption is rampant. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin embodies this corruption. He retired from the Army in 2016 snagged sweetheart positions on the boards of Raytheon Technologies, Nucor, and Tenet Healthcare.
Here we have a black man raking in millions because of his military service yet we are asked to believe that blacks are so victimized by white supremacists that they can’t get a break. Give me a break. This is patent nonsense.
It is time for true American patriots to rally around the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King:
LJ and Colonel: I note that LJ’s (excellent} posts are routinely divided into “Page 1” and “Page 2”, while others seemingly of equal length, are not.
(Yes, some of Larry’s posts are indeed long.
But this one, for example, is not that long.)
This division makes it difficult to view Larry’s arguments with the connectivity that they deserve.
Was it really necessary to divide this post into two pages?
KH
His choice.
Thanks for the info!
Excellent post Larry
“Garrison is the anti-Martin Luther King” – yes, absolutely. King’s dream was born of love for his fellow man and a desire to bring out the positive character traits that exist in all Americans. Garrison’s ‘dream’ is a nightmarish vision born of feelings of hate and bitterness which is designed to elicit negative emotions like jealousy and vengefulness. Hate and bitterness is exactly what it will bring forth if allowed to become a reality.
Bishop Garrison is one of the most dangerous men in America and his (and by extension his boss’) planned purges of the military are the real nation-ending threat. If these folk think they have a problem with “Patriot Extremism” now they are in for a big surprise.
What would MLK have to say about BLM, Antifa, CRT and the rise in wokeism? Clearly not what he promoted – color-blindness & meritocracy – as he said the content of one’s character irrespective of skin color, ancestry, gender.
The fascist grifters want more division & segregation in the pursuit of their ends. Unfortunately too many of our fellow citizens are caught up in the distractions & divisions.
Where is civil rights leader Jim Clyburn? Oh, wait, never mind…..
Martin King was a low life of the highest order, just a shame some idiots decided to assassinate him and make him a martyr, in time he would have been as discredited as Jesse Jackson. The events you see in America are exactly the vision he had, and is the outcome his handlers sought. The colour blindness and meritocracy stuff was just rhetoric appropriate for furthering their goals at the time, no need for that now.
LB,
I strongly dissent from your characterization of Martin Luther King as a “low life.” His speeches stand the test of time and are brilliant. Whatever failings he had as a man (e.g., sexual dalliances) should not discredit what he did to fight for true racial equality. The events unfolding here stand in direct opposition to his vision. He could not be more clear on the fact that one’s skin color should not determine whether one is treated equally.
A General who isn’t aware that the people around him are going to kiss his rear end ? ? ?
I did not think it was possible to be that unaware.
During my time on the Army staff at the Pentagon Lloyd Austin spent some time as the Vice-Chief of Staff of the Army. He did absolutely little or nothing.
Since Biden’s new game plan is to attack and assault Americans in their own homes at the merest connection to remote Trump support, so why would he need a military for overseas operations.
Read what happened to this poor soul who just happened to be in Wash DC on Jan 6 and later on Capitol grounds long after any “riot” was over. Turned in by his neighbors who are happy apparently when the fed showed up with rifles and search warrant ransack his mothers and his apartments.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2021/06/24/innocent-new-york-city-mans-lifes-ruined-when-neighbors-report-him-for-going-to-jan-6-trump-speech-n1456813
How did this become America? I cannot become America. Thank a RINO.
The high horse, and these people riding it.
Not BLM or white(y) society or OMG violent extremism:
all of society is under attack by him and the likes of him.
There is no balm from Gilead to be hoped for with these political generals. I ran across this post over at the Z-man blog concerning them:
“Was it Garet Garett who described our country’s hidden political revolution as “revolution within the form”? Seeing these belly crawling slugs in uniform with all those meaningless medals on their breast makes me sick. Yes, same uniform of a Chester Nimitz or George Patton but a whole different type of being. I can’t even refer to them as men.”
Obama was a real wrecker in his appointments amongst the higher echelons of the military command structure; this was only to be expected from someone who clearly hates the Republic, and wants it destroyed, root and branch. This was evidenced by those with whom he surrounded himself in his administration, probably with multiple “suggestions” from his puppeteers. But then, when you are BFF with Ayers, a hard core communist, this is only to be expected, no?