The Morning Dispatch: Are American Attitudes on Race Changing?

Plus, what Republicans are saying in the wake of Gen. James Mattis's comments.

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Happy Friday. Things remain rough out there, but look at it this way: We’ve made it through March, April, May, and the first week of June, all of which were insane for their own insane reasons. At this point, what can’t America handle?

Thanks to our members who joined us for the latest Dispatch Live event last night. It was a lively, entertaining, and at times very emotional conversation. If you missed it or want to rewatch it, here’s a link. The password is “dingo.”

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • As of Thursday night, 1,872,660 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States (an increase of 21,140 from yesterday) and 108,211 deaths have been attributed to the virus (an increase of 1,036 from yesterday), according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, leading to a mortality rate among confirmed cases of 5.8 percent (the true mortality rate is likely much lower, between 0.4 percent and 1.4 percent, but it’s impossible to determine precisely due to incomplete testing regimens). Of 18,680,529 coronavirus tests conducted in the United States (465,579 conducted since yesterday), 10 percent have come back positive.

  • In a break from the Republican Party line, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) called James Mattis’ denunciation of Trump “true, honest, necessary, and overdue,” and said she was “struggling” with whether or not to support the president in 2020. Trump subsequently took to Twitter to say that he would campaign against Murkowski during her next reelection bid in 2022.

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  1. JEllis

    If it hasn't been said already, Mattis for President, running as a Republican, in 2020! Come to think of it, I'd vote for him running as a Democrat. If it has already been said below, I heartily concur, and apologies for repeating, of course.

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    Angie

    I don't understand people who keep saying systemic racist means everyone is a racist? they sound like they think they are personally being called a racist...and in effect, then it makes it sound to some others that they don't think it exists and why are we so worried about it

    Anyone who saw and heard David's personal experience and what changed his mind about bad cops, and that just because he never saw it before, doesn't mean it didn't exist...and still thinks it doesn't exist...I just don't know what to say

    I have always understood it to mean, that there are behaviors and outcomes built into our institutions and society that while probably not conscious to most people have the result of treating black people differently ( I would say that goes for any group that is treated differently..women, other minorities, the poor or not rich etc)...

    These developed over 100's of years and ar so part of the landscape/atmosphere it is difficult to see them as unusual or wrong...
    I never thought everyone is a racist and still don't...I think we need to make changes so that we are less likely to unconsciously contribute to a system that hurts other Americans...and I think most people are good people...that doesn't mean we don't unintentionally create problems for our fellow americans

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    Angie

    I am struggling with sound issues and it muting itself and then bouncing me out and having to come back in...I also can't figure out how to get the comments on my screen...I am sure these are my fault, but, I can't figure out how to fix it or what I am doing wrong?

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    Paul Britton

    A “helpful starting point”? Surely you kid. The Aspen Institute’s definition of “systemic racism” is so nebulous, so replete with fuzzy abstractions and buzzwords, that it’s meaningless. “Definitions” like this are what convinces me that the whole concept of “systemic racism” is a crock, an excuse for left wingers to push agendas that regular people who abhor racism would never agree with.

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    Realwoodies

    America was set up by white people. That would mean it reflects values of white people. Those values may not align with the needs of blacks, or other races. That is systemic racism in a nutshell.

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    Ruby Girl

    I can’t help but wonder how the black-on-black homicide rate fits into the systemic racism picture. I am very glad that we in this country seem finally ready to begin really wading into the long-anticipated “serious conversation about racism.”

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      Mudskipper

      I don't think it does. People tend to kill people who they know or who are in their immediate communities. Whites tend to kill whites, asians tend to kill asians, and blacks tend to kill black. If you think the black-on-black homicide rate has some sort of significance, you need to make a case that it does so.

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        Ruby Girl

        The case I would make is based on the Heather MacDonald/WSJ quote above, "police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects ... In 2018 ... African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the US." I live in Chicago, where violence on the south side (and other parts of the city) are never ending. Why are people not rising up about that black death rate?? The rate of blacks being killed by police is minuscule compared to the rate of blacks being shot by other blacks.

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          Paul Reichardt

          “The rate of blacks being killed by police is minuscule compared to the rate of blacks being shot by other blacks.”

          This is a true statement, as far as it goes, but I never really understood the larger cynical argument. “Blacks killing blacks” has been a tragedy of profound consequence in that community for as long as I can remember. “Cops killing blacks” is another one. I count two compounding tragedies here, not two offsetting ones. What would help “blacks-killing-blacks”? Better effective community-based and accountable policing. Those are horrific crimes and their is supposed to be a system in place to address it. But what system do they get? The one that killed George Floyd. That’s what a lot of the anger is about.

          Imagine being a parent trying to raise your kids right and sending them off to school with gang-bangers on one corner and a squad car on the other with police who can’t tell who is who and treats them all the same. Just imagine the feeling of helplessness and futility of it all.

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          cheerio

          I suppose that is why they expect the black killers to be prosecuted and they go to jail. That is what is considered justice in those cases.

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    2. Ragnar

      I think most critical race theorists would say the black on black crime level is evidence of poverty, which is caused, in turn, by systemic racism. Not my view, but there you go.

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        Kev_WDE

        Would that apply to homicides where nothing is stolen?

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        1. Ragnar

          Probably. Because "the culture that perpetuates violence is linked to desperation born of poverty", which is then linked to racism. It's a closed system. It's also full of bovine excrement. But it allows them to have their cake and eat it too..

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            Kev_WDE

            Wow. That flowed out of you like you’d heard it before. Impressive.

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    Viola Larson

    David's comments about how he came to a better understanding of racism really moved me; please do write on your experiences. And I have to say sitting here in Sacramento on a day that was dry and hot, 103 degrees, watching the window behind Sarah with the constant lightening was very refreshing. The whole conversation as usual was fun, interesting and helpful. I lost my husband of 57 years last year and going through all of this without him to converse with often leaves me with a need to hear intelligent conversation, especially during this quarantine. I get my glass of wine and enjoy.

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  8. Ann G

    I find the attempt to uncover answers in data in this instance to be pointless. How much racism is in a police department doesn't address having an adequate response when outrageous police behavior is on display. The reason we're still here and on a loop with police brutality against black is because we don't definitively condemn it with legal, enforced teeth. So the next one is shot, and the next, and the next, until the cost of those actions is so great the police choose to change. While we all condemn the rioting, looking back, we may find it was the only thing that moved the dial on change. And we can lay that also at the feet of those who kept choosing to do nothing definitive about the incidences. They are responsible for not acting until the cost was so great, not only to those involved in the specific incidences, but to the innocent bystanders and those of us forced to watch another murder by police.

    And everyone has a responsibility to be aware of how their local police department operates and involved in any changes needed there. These problems don't get out of hand unless people are busy looking in another direction.

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    1. Ragnar

      "While we all condemn the rioting, looking back, we may find it was the only thing that moved the dial on change"

      Speaking for myself, never. For me, once you start destroying property, assaulting people, disrupting safety, and endorsing lawlessness as a vehicle for "change", you've already lost any moral standing you had to be even engaging in a conversation with me.

      At that point, all I want is to see you lose, and to be punished. Severely.

      I have misanthropic tendencies, and they have become more prevalent as I've gotten older and more cynical, but I can say with COMPLETE confidence that these riots, and the justification of them by figures on the left, have left me with some of the darkest feelings I've had for my political opponents in my 50+ years, and my general misanthropy at a nadir. I feel nothing but abject disgust for a large portion of my countrymen today.

      Complete and utter disgust.

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      1. Ann G

        So place some blame on those who allowed injustice to create volatile circumstances or you're never going to solve the problem, which is the goal, or should be. Get angry at the lack of adequate response to these killings. Use that misanthropy for good. I am not justifying the rioting but I am saying the lack of adequate response bears some responsibility for the rioting. When you push people too far they start destroying property -- like tea.

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        1. Ragnar

          Yeah, comparing the Boston Tea Party to this lawlessness is a category error, and you should be embarrassed by the comparison. I'm sure it makes sense to you, but it's really just demonstrates your ignorance.

          Like I said, once you start breaking, assaulting, and rioting, I shut down. Speaking for myself only - but I'm sure I'm not alone. Granting looters any stature is like negotiating with terrorists - you're giving them incentive to do it again, if there's any connection to them getting you to the table.

          I won't dine at that table, and will negotiate with those willing to accept lawful, peaceful protest. MLK is the model. Categorically reject the violence if you want to be heard.

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    Donald E. L. Johnson

    President Trump, like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, is unfit to be president. That's been clear since he announced his candidacy.

    General Mattis is trying to unseat Trump, and I would like to see him give up his bid for re-election. But Mattis also is willing, as a government lifer, to turn America over to a Biden administration dominated by Bernie Sanders advisers and supporters, not by patriotic Democrats.

    Handing America over to Socialists and Communist sympathizers would be a huge price to pay for an end to White House tweets and Trump's presidency.

    In short, Mattis is being tactical, not strategic. He is a good field commander, but he is a lousy policy maker, like most grunts and generals who think they should be president.

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  10. Mitchell

    Racism exists in the U.S., but just because there are inequities in American society does not indicate structural racism, and just because some people of a certain race are privileged doesn't mean that this privilege applies to all other people of that race.

    People are so casual about grouping people by race ("as a white person I..." or "as a black female I..."). Having some group identity is completely fine, normal, and healthy; judging an entire person based on their race (whether that's intentional racist or otherwise) is incredibly destructive, and I'm really surprised at how many people are engaging in that kind of identity politics, both on here and in American society at large.

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