Reckoning Over Confederate Monuments w/ Karen L. Cox - #MRLive - 8/25/21

Emma hosts Karen L. Cox, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, to discuss her recent book No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice, on the history and reckoning over confederate monuments in the US. Professor Cox brings us back to the 1890s as the end of reconstruction and the southern occupation are marked by a massive uptick in the construction of these symbols of white supremacy alongside increased racial violence, lynchings, and attempts to legalize segregation and disenfranchisement. She and Emma then dive into the “lost cause” ideology that drove this re-development, looking at how journalists like Edward Pollard and groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the KKK established a massively ahistorical disinformation campaign throughout the south, with confederate monuments playing a central role in a literal sense, as they became the focal point of community social life, being erected in town squares and at courthouses. Karen and Emma then progress into the 20th century, looking at how the 1915 Birth of a Nation continued this reignition of racial violence and the role class played in the issue, before they dive into the next wave of monument erections in the 50s and 60s, discussing the murder of Sammy Younge in Tuskegee, Alabama and the changes in white supremacist rhetoric. They round out the interview with the final wave of monuments in the 2000s following a decade of legalized disenfranchisement with gerrymandering, looking at how the symbols of the “lost cause” have slowly been disconnected from actual southern heritage as well as how and why the recent reckoning over the issue has become central to American racial discourse. Emma wraps it up with the infrastructure developments and is reminded by Lindsey Graham and Kayleigh McEnany how calm cool and collected Trump’s four years were in comparison to Biden’s first.

And in the Fun Half: Dennis Prager reminds us that we can’t trust our doctors, since it was really our hearts and souls that went through four years of medical school, and Dimmy Jore gives us the ivermectin pitch straight from the horses’ ass as he incorporates it into his M4A blame game, and the MR crew, alongside Danny from ATL, discuss what to do with the US military complex, and why anti-war stances are continuously demeaned by the mainstream media. Dave in Minneapolis informs us on the upcoming St. Paul Line 3 protest, Tony Blair gives us his phony flair, and Kerry from Columbus talks OH senate election. They also chat sports, Tebow or not Tebow, and get a glimpse into a blissfully young and ignorant (rather than horribly middle-aged and ignorant) Charlie Kirk, plus, your calls and IMs!

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