By now you have probably seen memes asking why a white child killed by a black man hasn’t brought people out in the streets. “Why does George Floyd’s life matter, but not Cannon Hinnant’s?” the meme asks.
Delve into what baggage is packed into the meme in Today’s Rant: Cannon Hinnant Trope: Institutional Racism in a Nutshell
So, after running an opinion piece questioning Kamala Harris’s citizenship using the exact same Birther bullshit used against Barack Obama, and then arguing in an editorial note it was completely different,* Newsweek’s own staff revolting seems to have caused them to realize their mistake. Or not. They have now issued one of those “I’m sorry you misunderstood me” non-apologies.
The Daily Beast reports:
“Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Nancy Cooper and the magazine’s recently hired opinion editor, Trump-backing conservative activist and attorney Josh Hammer, apologized on Friday after nearly a week of defending a right-wing law professor’s op-ed questioning Sen. Kamala Harris’ U.S. citizenship and her eligibility to be Joe Biden’s running mate.”
*Newsweek magazine’s original defense of the Birther opinion piece pointed out the article questions the citizenship of a natural-born American-born citizen – just as was Barack Obama, whose parents were from a different country – just as was Barack Obama’s father, and just happens to be a person of color – just like Barack Obama, and is therefore completely different than the racist Birtherism bullshit used against Barack Obama.
In the original Birther bullshit opinion piece, after admitting the law has been settled, law professor John Eastman (whom Newsweek fails to mention ran against Harris for the office of California Attorney General) argues born-in-California Kamala Harris doesn’t deserve citizenship because we were still pretty racist when she was born. See our original piece here:
Whatever is old is new again when it comes to Republican politics.
John C. Eastman, professor of law at Chapman University, suddenly has a problem with born-in-California Kamala Harris’s citizenship.
Sound familiar?
Read more on Today’s Rant: And The Racist Birtherism Begins
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s never ended, it just moved into the mainstream.
But now it’s moved back into the streets.
And our government is using the same tactics to quash it as it did way back when.
See how on Today’s Rant: Civil Rights Movement 2.0
James Hitchcock (@jehitch) Tweeted:Facebook value plummets $56B as advertisers flee
Facebook value plummets $56B as advertisers flee
— James Hitchcock (@jehitch) June 29, 2020
If you are cool w/ hate as long as it's profitable, you're worse than racists: you're the guy who sold rope to Night Riders, but too cowardly to actually slip it over someone's head & pull the other end.https://t.co/XBEL0hh8fi
If you are cool w/ hate as long as it’s profitable, you’re worse than racists: you’re the guy who sold rope to Night Riders, but too cowardly to actually slip it over someone’s head & pull the other end.