In rapid succession, government and corporate leaders have heeded to an outcry to tear down the Confederate flag from American life. Also, for the first time in a long time, the city of Los Angeles could see major homeless sweeps. Then, the University of California system has become the epicenter for conversations about microaggressions, free speech and the roles and rights of professors.
Sea change against Confederate flag and other catalysts that transformed American history
Following last week’s shooting in Charleston, South Carolina that saw the massacre of nine African Americans in the historic Emanuel AME Church, allegedly committed by a man with white supremacist views, there was an outcry to tear down the Confederate flag from American life.
In rapid succession, government and corporate leaders have heeded to that cry.
On Tuesday, major retailers including Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Sears, and Etsy pledged they would stop selling merchandise bearing the symbol - also known as the Battle flag of Northern Virginia first sewn during the Civil War. At the state level, South Carolina legislators introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban the flag, which currently flies in front of the Statehouse in Columbia, from being flown on government grounds. Virginia is ordering license plates featuring the flag be phased out. In Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley today ordered the flag be removed from the state capitol.
For some people in the Deep South, the Stars and Bars have long been a symbol of pride for their region, a cause their ancestors fought for, and an emblem of their heritage. For decades as well, there have been demands to remove the symbol - historically representing Southern states’ desire for maintaining slavery - from American culture.
If the speed of government and corporate action against the flag this week seems unprecedented in modern history, it does harken back to other catalysts in American political and cultural history. Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley says the 1859 hanging of white abolitionist John Brown helped spur the Civil War and end slavery. Brinkley also notes how in the 1960s and 70s, Walter Cronkite's reporting turned public opinion against the Vietnam War. Allan Lichtman, professor of history at American University, lists other analogous events: the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory altering the workers' rights movement; the publishing of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" helping lay the groundwork for the Civil War; Edward R. Murrow's reporting on McCarthyism during the 1950s; and Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" sparking modern-day feminism.
Lichtman contrasts these tumultuous changes in the collective consciousness with the slow drumbeat against climate change that has failed to provoke rapid action and the step-by-step tweaks of perceptions and acceptance of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) Americans.
What other symbols have been generally accepted (or at least tolerated) for a long period before becoming the subject of controversy because of a single catalyst? What kind of a precedent, if any, does this set for other symbols that are seen as controversial?
Guests:
Allan Lichtman, Distinguished Professor of History, American University
Debating Obama clearing the way for hostages' families to pay ransom
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the U.S. government had let down the families of Americans held hostage by terrorists, and he outlined new policies that could make it easier for those families to pay ransom to help free their loved ones.
"These families have already suffered enough and they should never feel ignored or victimized by their own government," Obama said as he detailed the results of a six-month review of U.S. hostage policy.
The review's conclusions aim to streamline and improve communications with families, who have sharply criticized the government for providing them with confusing and contradictory information. Some families have complained about threats of criminal prosecution if they seek to pay ransom to terrorists - threats Obama said would end.
"The last thing we should ever do is add to a family's pain with threats like that," Obama said.
Guests:
Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Advisor to the President of the Rand Corporation think tank and one of the nation's leading experts on terrorism and homeland security
Brigitte Nacos, journalist, author, and adjunct professor of political science at Columbia University; Recently authored "Terrorism and Counterterrorism" (Pearson) and "Mass-Mediated Terrorism" (Rowman & Littlefield)
Homeless sweeps pending as LA City Council approves possession removal ordinances
For the first time in a long time, the city of Los Angeles could see major homeless sweeps.
Two new ordinances passed at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, one for streets and sidewalks and the other for parks, will shorten the time homeless people have to clear out their belongings after being asked to move from 72 hours to 24. Authorities will be able to clear out larger items like mattresses, sofas, and large tents, without warning. A current court order allows the homeless to sleep on the streets from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m., but they must take down their tents during the day.
The new laws will go into effect once the city clerk signs and publishes them. Council President Herb Wesson says the council will also be taking up amendments that would remove medications and personal documents from the list of things that authorities could confiscate and get rid of a criminal penalty for violations.
How effective will the new ordinances be at reducing the number of large homeless encampments in the city? Is 24 hours a fair amount of time to ask someone to clear out his or her belongings? If you disagree with the city’s solution to the problem, what would you propose as an alternative?
Guests:
Carol Sobel, a civil rights attorney who has represented L.A.'s homeless in federal courts
Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Central City Association
Should SCOTUS judges only serve 18 years?
A recent initiative is calling on the next nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court to pledge to serve a single term of just 18 years.
The group, which calls itself Come to Terms, is a project of the Supreme Court watchdog Fix the Court and it cites the court’s increased partisan decision-making and timing of retirements from the bench; longer than expected tenures that render some justices out of touch with everyday Americans; and lack of professional diversity and real-world experience as significant reasons for change. Do you agree?
Guests:
Gabe Roth, Executive Director of Fix the Court, an organization that wants to make the Supreme Court more transparent through a series of reforms
Russell Wheeler, Visiting Fellow, Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is an expert on U.S. courts and selection of judges
Microaggressions: Should they be censored on college campuses?
The University of California system has become the epicenter for conversations about microaggressions, free speech, and the roles and rights of professors.
According to a recent document distributed during one of UC’s seminars on the topic, “Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.”
While certain statements such as “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends” or “You’re a girl, you don’t have to be good at math” are relatively uncontroversial as microaggressions, others such as “I believe the most qualified person should get the job” and “America is a melting pot” are under debate. A Times Op-Ed and Editorial have called additional attention to the matter.
While UC is only one among hundreds of universities having this debate, the fact that Berkeley was at the center of the Free Speech Movement half a century ago has brought the school system into the spotlight now that it must balance the need to promote diversity and equal opportunity with the free speech and intellectual honesty that paved the path for microaggressions to be discussed in this way.
To what extent should professors limit their speech in order to address potential microaggressions? What role does the university have in balancing free speech with protecting against microaggressions?
Tool: Recognizing Microaggressions and the Messages They Send
Guests:
Eugene Volokh, constitutional law professor, UCLA School of Law, where he specializes in the first amendment. He’s also the author of the Los Angeles Times Op-Ed, "UC's PC Police"
Derald W. Sue, a professor of counseling psychology at Teachers College at Columbia University, author of “Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual orientation” (Wiley, 2010)