Several decades ago Professor Mark Naison, eventual chair of the African-American studies department at Fordham University, wrote something to the effect that the corporate press divides us along racial lines by boldly reporting on the negative encounters among people of different races that happen now and then while ignoring the tens of thousands of positive encounters that happen every day in the United States among people of different races.
By stressing our differences, and ignoring the positive encounters, the corporate news media keeps us divided as a people, and our eyes and attention off of the financial issues the 99 percent have in common; 1 percent of US citizens now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent of Americans (an historic record), and the 1 percent now steals roughly 37 percent of all income (another record) produced in the USA every year compared to 8 percent in 1980. That means the 99 percent now earn about 62 percent of all income produced in the United States compared to 92 percent in 1980. You bet they don’t want us to know this stuff, or to ever think about it.
Instead, the corporate news media wants us to think as intensely as possible about racism, guns, violence, bad police officers, public bathrooms and transgender folks, and anything except income and wealth inequality and what brings this about.
So here are a few things to think about in the violent encounter that occurred in Charlottesville.
- Out of 310 million people, about 500 showed up in the largest white supremacist gathering in decades, and that’s after six months of publicity.
- The thousand people opposed to the white supremacist meeting were multiracial.
- Tens of millions of people went to church the next day, many in multi-racial congregations, and prayed to the same God.
- Tens of millions US citizens went to work the following Monday and collaborated with their co-workers of different races, ethnicities, and religions.
- Tens of millions of US citizens gather together in small and often diverse groups and cheer on the same sports teams.
- Tens of millions of Americans of all races will come together to cheer on the US Olympic team.
- Thousands of people in interracial groups build houses for Habitat for Humanity.
- Tens of thousands of people of all colors, sexual orientations and political persuasions, from Tea Party and John Birch Society members to labor unions and Black Lives Matter, came together to successfully fight the massive income redistribution scam known as The Trans Pacific Partnership, which was championed by the first African-American president and some of the most politically and financially powerful members of society.
- No, the corporate news media doesn’t want you to know about this stuff.
John Hively's Blog: News and Analysis of the War Against the Middle Class 