To these open racist white supremacists any inclusion of non-white people is wrong and discrimination against white people. These people want to go back to the era of Jim Crow laws. They feel letting blacks be anything other than labors and lower class workers is harmful to white. No white no matter how bad or lacking in skills and education should lose a job to a “colored person”. They are horrible people who don’t have the skills to earn a position and hate that a black / brown person might have more skills than them. They believe education, especially higher education should be for white people only. Very sick people. What they don’t understand is non-white people make up a large part of the population. The smart people trying to make money want to sell to them also. Hugs. Scottie
by Frank Vyan Walton
Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)
Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 12:12:21p EDT
I discovered this story because of this video between Dr. Rashad Richey and Journalism Student Juan Villasmil on the issue of CBS new policy on DEI.
CBS is aggressively stepping up its efforts to be more inclusive to diverse television creators and writers, setting a slew of targets for the 2021/22 season.
The broadcaster is committing 25% of its script development budget to projects from creators, writers and producers who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. The scheme will begin with the 2021/22 development season.
It is also mandating that writers’ rooms for CBS shows must be staffed with a minimum of 40% BIPOC representation for the 2021/22 broadcast season. This will be increased to 50% for the 2022/23 season.
Deadline understands that at least six new and current shows for this coming fall schedule are expected to hit this 40% mark.
To set this up let me show you the previous levels of diversity in Hollywood from a 2016 survey published in the WaPo.
The 83-page study examined 234 comedy and drama series across 18 broadcast, cable and digital platforms in the 2016–2017 season.
Here’s a snapshot of what they found:
Fewer than 10 percent of the shows were led by minority showrunners
14 percent of writers across all shows were members of a minority group, even though minorities represent nearly 40 percent of the population
Two-thirds of the shows had no black writers
Black writers overall accounted for less than 5 percent of the 3,817 writers across the shows, even though black people make up 13 percent of the population
More than 90 percent of the shows on CBS — which aired 25 scripted shows last season, second only to Netflix, and is the most-watched network — had either just one black writer or none at all
The lack of diversity extended across all platforms, including digital spaces such as Hulu. The report also singled out AMC and Amazon for failing to include black showrunners and writers. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post). The report said the lack of diversity at AMC and Amazon was especially troubling given their relatively new status as influencers of TV content.
A member of the writing staff for “Seal Team Six” subsequently filed a lawsuit with Stephen Miller’s law firm America First Legal after he was not invited during the 2021-2022 to remain as the script supervisor for the show. He’s a white male.
CBS and parent Paramount Global are being accused of “blatant” discrimination against a white, heterosexual male freelance writer as it imposed stringent diversity rules for writers on its “SEAL Team” series, according to a federal lawsuit.
Brian Beneker, a script coordinator and freelance scriptwriter for CBS’ “SEAL Team,” was unlawfully denied a staff writer position due to his race, sex and sexual orientation, according to the complaint, filed Thursday in US District Court of Central California.
Beneker, who became the script coordinator in 2017 on the pilot episode of “SEAL Team,” a drama about the pressure on a group of Navy SEALs, soon was offered to write an episode script as a freelancer for the show’s second season.
To continue as a scriptwriter, Beneker was told, he had to quit his job as a coordinator, the suit said, noting that he was replaced by “a woman without any experience as a script coordinator” who “struggled to do the job” and “quit approximately two weeks into training.”
Beneker’s lawyers from America First Legal Foundation and JW Howard Attorneys cited a widely reported mandate from CBS chief executive George Cheeks to “set a goal that all writers’ rooms on the network’s primetime series be staffed 40% [with] BIPOC [black, indigenous and people of color] in the 2021-2022 season.”
Now with this in mind, I suggest you listen to the video conversation.
Richey and Juan Villasmil’s discussion mostly ranges around the issues of whether this policy is in violation of the Civil Rights Act and the issue of using immutable traits such as race and sex in hiring vs “Merit.”
I’ll get back to “Merit” later.
The CRA discussion is valuable — but people like Villasmil tend to look at it entirely in a vacuum. They look at hiring entirely as if we are starting from zero with all other factors and that simply isn’t the case.
Race and Crime
As they go on Richey brings up the fact that there is racism baked into the cake in many systems. He cites “Stop and Frisk” statistics from New York which point out that over 80 of their stops were Black and Latinos, and that over 70% of the time they were found to have done nothing wrong. Only 10% of those stopped were White.
He leaves out a stat here: When people were found to have committed a crime or to be in possession of guns or drugs — they were far more often White.
White New Yorkers make up a small minority of stop-and-frisks, which were 84 percent black and Latino residents. Despite this much higher number of minorities deemed suspicious by police, the likelihood that stopping an African American would find a weapon was half the likelihood of finding one on a white person.
The likelihood a stop of an African American New Yorker yielded a weapon was half that of white New Yorkers stopped. The NYPD uncovered a weapon in one out every 49 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 71 stops of Latinos and 93 stops of African Americans to find a weapon.
The likelihood a stop of an African American New Yorker yielded contraband was one-third less than that of white New Yorkers stopped. The NYPD uncovered contraband in one out every 43 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 57 stops of Latinos and 61 stops of African Americans to find contraband.
This begs the question: if they are only finding guns and drugs on black and Latino men at ½ and 1/3 the rate — why are they really stopping them so often?
The answer to that question is obvious: Racism (and Poverty).
if Richey had brought this up it might have prevented Juan’s next, predictable, argument.
Black people commit more crime.
Richey responds to this by pointing out that FBI stats indicate that while White-on-White Crimes is 88%, Black-on-Black crimes is at 91% which is hardly different. This chart is often the first source used to argue that “Black people commit more crime” but most people don’t also look at the White-on-White figure as Richey does.
[Technically this data comes from the FBI chart on Murder by Race and Gender which is highly flawed. It only includes cases with a Single offender and a Single Victim — which excludes over half the actual cases. When you include the remainder of cases for multiple victims and offenders via the Supplemental Homicide Report, the percentages change to 58.9% Black-on-Black and 60.6% White-on-White murders.
Murder by Race — Supplemental Homicide Repot
So in reality, based on the best data we have, the rate of White murders is slightly higher than the rate of Black murders.
And the chart Richey is referring to also only includes those cases that have been “Cleared” where a suspect has been positively identified. So it doesn’t include how many were charged or the disposition of that charge be it, conviction or acquittal — this is merely a chart of those who are Accused of Murder, not those who have been proven to have done it.
Juan then falls back to…
“they commit more crime in proportion” .
Which by the way is exactly a QUOTA argument. He saying here that, in total, White people commit more crime — which is true — but that’s only because there are more White people. But when you look at things in proportion where White people are 60% of the public, Black people are overperforming in crime above their quota of 13%.
He, of course, doesn’t have stats for this. But I do.
The FBI Uniform Crime Report states that of 7 Million people arrested in 2018, 5.1 Million (66%) were White people and 2.1 Million (27%) were Black people. If you were expecting black people to stay within their quota of 13% that would be rather high. [The people who are underrepresented are Asians (11%) and Latinos(14%)]
Black people in California were stopped by police officers much more frequently than other racial groups in 2018, and police were more likely to use force against them, new statistics fromeight large law enforcement agencies in the state reveal.
Twenty eight per cent of all persons stopped by Los Angeles police officers during the last six months of 2018 were black, while black people account for just 9% of the city’s population, the data shows. In San Francisco,the black population has shrunk over several decades to just 5% of the city’s total population, but 26% of all stops carried out by the SFPD from July through December of 2018 were of black people – marking the widest racial disparity in police stops of the eight reporting agencies.
So it’s not true that they commit more crimes even proportionally — they are stopped and accused of crimes more often, but that doesn’t mean they’re guilty. This is consistent all over the country, in blue states and red states.
Eventually, they get to the issue of poverty — and in that area the charts of crimes and violence by income is very clearly linked, but it is not linked to race.
Violence by Race and Income
Also, to be completely fair, part of the reason police probably stop Black and Latino people at a higher rate is also related to poverty. If you’re driving a broken down hooptie with expired tags, you’re gonna get pulled over.
Police know that someone in a car that needs repairs probably doesn’t have insurance or they can’t afford their premiums. And if they can’t afford that — they certainly can’t afford a lawyer who’s gonna ask them “what was your probable cause, Officer?” “What was your articulable suspicion for this stop?”
Nobodies gonna stop somebody when they think they’re uncle might be a judge. And Black and Latino people have a higher rate of poverty in America.
This gets us back to the original subject, who is granted those opportunities and why?
Legacy and Inertia
When it comes to hiring, even if super Liberal Hollywood, it’s far more often for people to hire and rehire people they know, than people they don’t know. It can be a family connection or a friendship — but having a connection of some type will always give someone an advantage. It’s not just who you know — but who knows you that can help you get a leg up.
I know for a fact that every major job I’ve been hired for was because I had a connection who opened that door. And I’ve seen what it’s like when those connections are gone. During the short time that I pursued acting in LA, I was told directly by my manager that developing a relationship — particularly with a Director — was the key to getting acting gigs in Hollywood.
There’s a reason we repeatedly see Martin Scorsese working with Leonardo DiCaprio, and we see Quinten Tarantino working with Brad Pitt. Directors develop “pet” actors that they work with over and over again.
it doesn’t require active discrimination NOW for any of this to occur — it’s just the legacy and inertia of what has gone before going back decades.
We frankly live in a still grossly segregated country. White people live and work among themselves, as do Black people, as do Latinos. In our regular, nonwork, lives rarely are those lines crossed. Not in the schools, not in the pews. Relationships across racial lines do happen — certainly, they happen in LA, I can attest to that — but it’s clearly not enough alone to significantly change things even in Hollywood.
The ongoing Legacy of Hollywood has been that those making the major decisions — the studio heads and the producers — have been Straight White Men. The people they tend to hire as directors, writers and actors, have largely been Straight White Men.
This is what brings us to a situation where only 14% of the Hollywood writers in 2016-2016, were people of color. 90% of the shows on CBS had only 1 Black writer or none. Black writers were only 5% of the total in Hollywood.
This fact alone could be the basis of a Civil Rights suit against the industry that could have the government come in and FORCE the industry to improve their demographic mix using the provisions of the Civil Rights Act.
Now, I don’t think they need to have a hard and fast quota in place — they could have a flexible goal — quotas and bonus points systems were banned in Affirmative Action by the SCOTUS in the 1978 Bakke v UC Davis decision. But it could be argued this is the industry trying to self-correct from their prior and current bias and that should be allowed, or else it just won’t happen. Ever.
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
(b) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
(c) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization–
(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this section.
(d) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on-the-job training programs to discriminate against any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program established to provide apprenticeship or other training.
The issue isn’t “does this new policy violate the Civil Rights Act” — the issue is that the Movie industry is already in gross violation of that Act.
There can be some level of “self-selection” where men may prefer a certain career or women may prefer a different career, just like Black people choose to prefer Hip Hop and White people choose to prefer Country and Pop — but when 86% of your writers are Straight White Men, that’s not a natural phenomenon. Something caused that and that something needs to be fixed.
They are on their own attempting to voluntarily correct that violation.
Gaining Work Experience
So if you don’t have any Black, Female or Gay writers — how exactly are they going to gain any experience? How do they get into the game if they don’t have any personal connections into the game?
He only has 4 credits as a writer. 3 for “Seal Team 6” and 1 for “Resurrection Blvd.”
What he’s trying to do is write more scripts for the show and at the same time remain the script coordinator. He’s trying to take two jobs at once. They gave him the choice of doing one — or the other, but not both.
That’s actually the conflict here — he wants his cake, he wants to eat it and he wants some more take home for later.
Now, it’s clear he has more experience as a script coordinator, particularly on that show, than anyone else they might want to bring in. But again, how did he get that experience back in 2017 when 86% of screenwriters in Hollywood were Straight White Men?
He’s experienced NOW — but he wasn’t then when a Straight White Man had a virtual LOCK on gaining that position. Now, that he’s benefited from that advantage and gained that experience he wants to complain that if he wants to be a screenwriter too, someone else has to be the script coordinator. And that someone else has a 50/50 chance of being either a Straight White Guy — or Black, Female, Asian, Latino, Arab and/or LGBTQ.
He was gifted an advantage that put him in this “Meritorious” position and that’s the key element that people like Juan refuse to see. We are not starting at zero — there are millions of people who have already been given a head start and for anyone else to break in, they have to be given that first chance too.
Then they can gain experience and “merit.” If we don’t allow someone diverse to gain an initial toehold, They. Never. Will. It’s almost impossible to compete against those who are already miles and miles ahead of you. On a “Merit” basis, you will never be able to measure up.
Plus, he could have stayed the script coordinator or he could have written more scripts for the show. Or for another show. He could have kept his job rather than trying to do two jobs. It was his choice.
Life Experience
One of the other problems in Hollywood, particularly with writers, is that they can only write what they know. And I’m sorry, even the most talented writer has problems accurately and honestly depicting the lives and perspectives of people who are different from them. White writers have a terrible track record of trying to document the Black Experience in America — or elsewhere — accurately or fairly. They have a hard time documenting the Female experience and they absolutely have problems documenting the LGBTQ experience.
Most people don’t know what they don’t know. They usually have no real idea of what’s happening in other people’s heads.
If Hollywood is going to portray ethnic characters without them turning into a modern Stepin Fetchit or Amos and Andy —it would help to have writers on staff with first-hand experience in that community. And not just one. This is how you build authenticity. This is how you create honest and realistic characters and stories.
If we don’t want to only have stories about Straight White Men — along with Token Ethnic Stereotypes — forever, we need people with the necessary life experience in the writing room keeping things honest.
Diversity and inclusion is a strategic advantage that promotes innovation in organizations, better decision making and stronger workplace cultures. See the strategies for building a diverse and inclusive organization to achieve long-term business success.
The value of diversity and inclusion has become increasingly recognized in society and in business. Organizations that promote diversity and cultivate inclusive environments are reaping huge rewards in terms of innovation, better decision making and better performance overall. The positive impact of diversity and inclusion extends beyond social responsibility; it is a strategic imperative that drives success and positions companies for long-term sustainability.
Demographics
The complaint here is that it’s just “so unfair” that one white guy can’t do two people’s jobs because it just might mean that one BiPOC gets a chance to also have a career, after probably hundreds of BiPOC have been denied an opportunity for the last several decades. If we do anything to correct that problem, it’s doing too much. Every white guy’s (extra) job is sacred, so we’ll just keep screwing other people over today just like we screwed them over yesterday.
If you’ve been robbed repeatedly for decades and then finally someone goes and takes back a tiny piece of what was stolen — is that now somehow a crime?
According to Stephen Miller, it is. Shocker.
The CBS rule is that 50% of their writing staff is to be BiPOC for 2023. Ok. But here’s the thing, if we were to really look at an appropriate demographic [Quota] of how many Straight White Men should be on staff… it would be 26%.
White people are 58% of America. [Juan tries to argue that White people are 60% and that’s true but White MEN aren’t 60%] Half of those white people are women so that takes us down to 29%. About 7% of America is LGBTQ so removing about half of that takes us to 26%.
That means that this rule PROTECTS a special amount of 50% of the available slots for just 26% of the people. Everyone else has to squeeze into the remainder. It means that White Straight Men will likely always be overrepresented among the writing staff compared to their actual population in general.
Apparently, that isn’t enough for some of people like Stephan Miller — they still want more.
They’re used to having more. They’re used to having 86% of the jobs. And they, sadly, think they’ve legitimately earned that position rather than having systematically stolen it. Making room for new people is difficult. It means choices have to be made. But since 50% of the slots are being held for Straight White Men, couldn’t it be argued that he’s not being forced out because of a BiPOC, he’s forced out because one of the other protected white guys is in the way of his [extra] slot?
Couldn’t they drop a less experienced white guy off that staff to leave room for him so he can still technically take up two slots? But then again, is there a less experienced writer on staff, he only has 4 scripts — maybe he simply isn’t qualified to be a staff writer yet.
Hmm.
Also, if this is such a big problem now in Hollywood and CBS — why is this guy the only one complaining?
All of these attacks exemplify pushback against inclusion and welcome for ‘the other’: “The first and most fundamental way in which white Christian nationalism threatens American liberal democracy is that it defines ‘the people’ in a way that excludes many Americans. White Christian nationalism is a form of what is often called ‘ethno-nationalism.’ Liberal democracy rests on what is usually called ‘civic nationalism’ It defines the nation in terms of values, laws, and institutions.’” (The Flag and The Cross, p. 114)
Throughout the book the authors explore and re-explore the meaning of the deep story of white Christian nationalism: “White Christian nationalism is our term for the ethno-traditionalism among many white Americans that conflates racial, religious, and national identity (the deep story) and pines for cultural and political power that demographic and cultural shifts have increasingly threatened…. (T)he term Christian in white Christian nationalism is often far more akin to a dog whistle that calls out to an aggrieved tribe than a description of the content of one’s faith.” (The Flag and The Cross, p. 44)
*Correction* LOL it really is Wednesday, NOT Thursday! Day 3 of the Campaign Violations case is adjourned until tomorrow, Boeing whistle blowers are testifying on Capitol Hill about the mess the company is in AND The Mango Moose Knuckle is whining that the Judge Marchan won’t let him go to his son’s high school graduation 🙄 Call the fecking wambulance 😢😢😢
To those using the Constitution to justify why we should be living under outdated & archaic laws. The Constitution was created to evolve, you might want to try the same…
Some people weirdly think they have the right to tell others what to believe, what to wear, what to call themselves. The fundamentalist seem to want to force everyone to be like them, live like them, read only what they read. Hugs Scottie
Clouds pass over the Missouri State Capitol on Sept. 16, 2022, in Jefferson City, Mo.
Jeff Roberson/AP
A newly proposed law in Missouri could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they’re found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning.
Missouri state Rep. Jamie Gragg, a Republican, introduced HB 2885 last week. If passed and signed into law, the legislation would criminalize the act of “contributing to social transition” for anyone acting in an official capacity at their school, including providing informational or material support.
The proposed bill joins a string of anti-LGBTQ measures that have been filed in states across the US and comes amid a growing “parental rights” movement that seeks to empower parents to decide what can be taught in classrooms about gender, sexuality and race.
The bill defines social transitioning as “the process by which an individual adopts the name, pronouns, and gender expression, such as clothing or haircuts, that match the individual’s gender identity and not the gender assumed by the individual’s sex at birth.”
In Missouri, a person charged with a class E felony could face a maximum of four years in prison. A Tier I sex offender could also remain on the Sex Offender Registry for up to 15 years, according to another Missouri statute.
CNN has reached out to Gragg for comment.
In an interview with CNN affiliate KY3, Gragg said the goal of the bill is to “put the social learning development of our children back in the hands of the parents.”
“Ultimately, whose children are these? They belong to the family that they come from. If there is a situation where they don’t have that parental or guardian to go back on or to talk to, there is other help, professional help they can get,” Gragg told the outlet.
It is unclear if Gragg’s bill will be taken up in the state House and it has not been scheduled for a hearing.
‘Hateful and malicious’
LGBTQ advocates and Missourians have criticized the bill, including Gragg’s brother.
During a news conference Thursday, Charles Gragg, Jr., a retired and disabled veteran who lives in Springfield, Missouri, said he was shocked by the bill his younger brother authored and that the measure “took his breath away.”
“This bill is removing valuable support that is important for children. It needlessly targets teachers in addition to attacking those that they don’t agree with. It also attacks anyone who expresses compassion or tolerance and seeks to silence them. I believe it’s intended to remove them from the future conversations,” Gragg Jr. said.
Robert Fischer, communications director for PROMO, a LGBTQ+ policy and advocacy organization in Missouri that organized Thursday’s presser, said students and teachers have contacted the group to express concern about how the bill could impact educators.
“We will certainly have conversations with legislators to see what can be done, but also we’ll mobilize our community of LGBTQ+ Missourians and allies to fight back against this because teachers are an incredibly crucial part of our educational system,” Fischer said.
New survey finds a majority of teachers say state governments have too much influence over what’s taught in classrooms
GLSEN, an organization that aims to create safe and inclusive school environments for LGBTQ+ youth, also criticized the bill. Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, executive director of GLSEN, said the bill is “deeply transphobic.”
“While this egregious bill is expected to die in committee hearings, it is increasingly alarming to watch extremist state legislators peddle anti-trans hate and continue to introduce discriminatory policies,” Willingham-Jaggers said in a statement to CNN. “Hate speech, especially when enshrined into discriminatory policies like these transphobic bills in Oklahoma and Missouri, leads to hate crimes.”
Oklahoma’s governor signed a bill into law last year banning gender-affirming care for minors with the possibility of a felony charge for health care professionals who provide it.
Last month, Nex Benedict, a nonbinary high school student in Oklahoma, died a day after they told their family they were involved in a fight at school. Civil rights groups and advocates have blamed a heightened and hostile climate against the LGBTQ+ community for contributing to Benedict’s death.
In 2023, at least 510 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures, according to data from the American Civil Liberties Union. The organization is also tracking 478 bills in the 2024 legislative session that restrict LGBTQ rights.
Gragg Jr. said he has not spoken with his brother about the bill and does not know what would inspire him to sponsor it.
“It’s just hateful and malicious. This legislation will cost lives and recklessly destroy others just for the sin of being compassionate.”
Republican Clay Higgins went from being, in my opinion as racist cop and a bully, to a Congressman who bullies others. Bayou Brief Black parents warn their sons about cops like this guy.
I appreciate all points of view on my channel. However, when they get ugly, I have to remove those comments. If you disagree with me, great!! That’s how we get a good dialogue going. I don’t allow misinformation, and if you find that I have misspoke or was flat out wrong about something, I usually recheck my info and find that Snopes.com usually has both the conspiracy theories or whatever and gives the correct info. When some attack me, it’s not a problem, depending on how bad it is, if it is really bad it will be taken down. so don’t be afraid to correct me. We all make mistakes, and sometimes, stroke brain gets it wrong. I love, be safe, and take care of you 💗
*I found mire info, and there is some discrepancy and weather the Mom knew he was armed. I believe she knew because there were pictures of him before the BLM protests that WERE on his Facebook page. Apparently, his friend bought the weapon for him because he was underage, but she still knew what she was driving him into*
Drag King Kari seems to believe life begins at conception and thinks the 1864 law should prevail. Now that she is catching on that the script Trump gave her to memorize, lost her the election in 202. She is trying on trump’s revamped stance now that the Arizona Supreme Court handed down the Handmaid’s Gilead law.
Pierre Poilievre, the opposition leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, is reading Trump’s script almost verbatim! Both are Pro-Life, both are union busters, and they both think that immigrants are stealing our jobs and driving down wages! NOT TRUE! We have a federal minimum wage. It just went up to $17.30 as of April 1st. Server wage is $16.30/hr.
Thank you, Ten Bears for sharing this video so I could post it. What I want every one to understand is something the news reporters and the station buried. The people upset and demanding this huge change … are only 20% of the population. Now I listened to it three times and I couldn’t decide if they were saying the people in the county or the rural people in the country. To me it sounded like country wide the rural people were demanding and were 20% of the population. Which sounds right if you look at population maps. Do you understand what that is? A small minority is demanding the entire country abandon its progressive move forward into the modern age so a small segment of the population can be satisfied and happy. It is minority rule over the majority. It is not democracy! It is what the fundamentalist Christians are trying to do right now to every red state on LGBTQ+ issues. Are we as a country going to allow the most violent vocal segments of our society force us back to a regressive past that will eventually destroy what the US really is and could be? Hugs. Scottie
The divide between rural and urban areas in the United States has been growing in recent decades with grievances and political consequences on both sides. Judy Woodruff traveled across Oregon to learn more about that rift for her series, America at a Crossroads.
