Sunday June 28, 2020; 8:56 AM EDT
In my humble opinion, it's no coincidence that #BLM has huge momentum now when we have the most racist president in generations. Just as it's no coincidence that the most racist president followed the first African-American president. #- It appears we're going to flip back to the positive direction, so the question is what do we want.#
- The big issues are imho: #
- Even more immediate: Assume the US government will spend $10 trillion in the next year to keep the US from crashing. Should that money go to the 1% (where it would go by default, imho) or should we focus on making sure the money goes to solve the critical problems.#
- That money could restructure health care so it works for everyone. It could start the transition to a green economy. It could certainly help assure voting rights, and therefore a fairer government in future years, and maybe prevent the flipping back and forth.#
- I'm very concerned that we will end up settling for symbolic victories, removal of the stars and bars from the Mississippi state flag, removal of monuments, and nothing material will change. Symbolism is important, but we have big non-symbolic problems to solve.#
- The focus has been on changing minds and attitudes. I am open to that in every way. I learned a tremendous amount from the 1619 podcast. More of that please. I am reading the People's History of the United States -- again, eye-opening.#
- But you can't change people who don't want to change. This is why the approach that pundits are taking, saying we have to change people, they have to understand what it's like to be X, as a prerequisite for real change, that's not a good approach.#
- We can find win-wins right now. Restructuring health care won't just help people of color, it will help everyone. But imho is is a #BLM issue.#
- Voting rights matter, even if it only re-enfranchises African-Americans, because many of us want the kind of government African-Americans will vote for.#
- It doesn't have to be either/or, in fact if it is, we will all lose. Repubs will continue to dominate, and all the resources will continue to flow to the 1%.#
- There will be a lot of change in the next year. This is a pivotal time. We must organize, black, white, all genders, all races, ages, erase the wedges and act in all our interests to save lives, and overcome the challenges in front of us.#
- Let's find our inner-Americans, and fight to live up to the promise of our nation.#
- Note: This post first appeared in a series of tweets this morning. No need to unroll it, here's the text in a single blog post. #