tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53251450311875107362024-03-18T20:16:41.716-07:00Empires and MangersTwo Worlds CollideAnthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.comBlogger374125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-51263424300680336922023-09-27T16:58:00.004-07:002023-09-27T16:58:44.040-07:00Provisionism: The Problem Of Divine Simplicity<p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Provisionism (Traditionalism) rejects the concept of Divine Simplicity, at least as formulated by Augustine. I highly recommend a book entitled</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><u style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">The Hexagon Of Heresy,</u><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">by James Gifford. It’s a deep dive, to be sure, but it explains how Augustine's incorporation of Plato's view of God impacted Western Christianity.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> Heads up: you need to like philosophy to appreciate this post.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">At some point, I will post a synopsis of <u>The Hexagon of Heresy</u>. Meanwhile, this next part is from <a href="https://freethinkingministries.com/a-few-arguments-against-divine-simplicity/" target="_blank">“</a></span><a href="https://freethinkingministries.com/a-few-arguments-against-divine-simplicity/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">A Few Arguments Against Divine Simplicity,”</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">by Shannon Byrd.</span></a></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0.25in 22.5pt 0in; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: large;">“R. T. Mullins argues: “On divine simplicity God’s essence is identical to his existence. Also, God’s one simple act is identical to his essence/existence. God’s act of creation is identical to this one simple act, and so identical to God’s essence/existence. God exists of absolute necessity. So his act of creation is of absolute necessity since it is identical to his essence/existence. [In this], God’s act of creation cannot be hypothetically or even suppositionally necessary; his act of creation is absolutely necessary. This renders Aquinas’s notion of freedom via alternative possibilities dead on arrival. </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Human choices are necessary and could not have been otherwise (emphasis mine).</span><a name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span></b></span></span></a></b><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0.25in 22.5pt 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">This is an important aspect of Divine Simplicity: for God, <b>to be is to act.</b> There is no distinction between potential and actuality. So, for example, if God is a Creator (potentially), God must have always been, through eternity past, a Creator (actually). This not only implies an eternal universe (a Creator must always have created), but a co-dependent relationship between God and God's creation. Here’s Ryan Mullins to explain this a bit better. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0.25in 22.5pt 0in; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">“In order for God to be who He is—pure act—He necessarily must create this world. This makes God’s essential nature dependent upon creation… From God’s perspective, if His essence is His eternal and immutable act in this the actual and only really possible world then He could not fail to have any of His attributes and still be Himself. They are equally necessary. That means that we are forced to conclude that creatures do have some effect on God’s very essence…And now we have apparently arrived at the conclusion that He is dependent on creatures…God must necessarily exist with creation in order to be who He is.” </span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">(“Simply Impossible: A Case against Divine Simplicity.” R. T. Mullins. University of Notre Dame)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0.25in 22.5pt 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Back to Shannon Byrd’s article.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0.25in 22.5pt 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Let’s craft a related argument:<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">1. If God’s essence is identical with his one act, then this world is absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">2. If this world is absolutely necessary, then my actions are absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">3. If my actions are absolutely necessary, then my choices leading to those actions are absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">4. If my choices leading to those actions are absolutely necessary, then I have no libertarian free will.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">5. If I have no libertarian free will, then I cannot reason.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">6. I have no libertarian free will.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">I cannot reason.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0.25in 22.5pt 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">This argument deductively shows that if creation is necessary… then no one has libertarian free will… Let’s construct another argument using premises 1-5 of the above followed with a denial of the consequent of premise 5 and see what occurs.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">1. If God’s essence is identical with his one act, then this world is absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">2. If this world is absolutely necessary, then my actions are absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">3. If my actions are absolutely necessary, then my choices leading to those actions are absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">4. If my choices leading to those actions are absolutely necessary, then I have no free will.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">5. If I have no free will, then I cannot reason.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">6. I can reason. [contradiction of consequent of premise 5]</span><br /><br /></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I have free will. [from 6 & 5 ]<br />My choices leading to those actions aren’t absolutely necessary.[from 4&7 ]<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My actions aren’t absolutely necessary. [from 3 & 8]<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">T</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">his world isn’t absolutely necessary. [from 2 & 9]<br />God’s essence isn’t identical with his one act. [from 10 & 1]<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Thus, the denial of Divine Simplicity on logical terms. This is in addition to a presentation of God in the Bible that is sharply at odds with what Divine Simplicity demands. Once again, to really dive into this, read <u>The Hexagon Of Heresy.</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> R. T. Mullins, <u>The End of the Timeless God</u>.<i> </i>More from Mullins: “Could God have created a different universe instead of this one? The answer seems to be ‘yes,’ if God is free. If God did <i>not </i>create a different universe, He has unactualized potential. Divine simplicity should push one to say that God <i>did </i>create another universe. In fact, simplicity should push one to say that God created an infinite number of universes. Otherwise God would not be pure act. Of course, it should be noted that God cannot create any universe that is on the whole more evil than good for that would conflict with who God is. Creating a universe where evil has the ultimate say is not compossible with a perfectly good God. There is a deeper problem. Could God have refrained from creating the universe? If God is free then it seems that the answer is obviously ‘yes.’ He could have existed alone. Yet, God <i>did </i>create the universe. If there is a possible world in which God exists alone, God is not simple. He eternally has unactualized potential for He cannot undo His act of creation...” (“Simply Impossible: A Case against Divine Simplicity.” R. T. Mullins) <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-30877954322875117652023-08-21T19:19:00.018-07:002023-09-02T05:37:45.255-07:00 Provisionism: God's Provision Of Salvation For All<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObhvyPJ2yfKWoOkAsSn4tqeyFgTvuxuYIaqS_mRrq4DFdcSkDHbtjGhp77iCh4nJZQwZ4dKmV66EkdxCUlSrKPMUl3GYTElvsZUoKO5Sg23SeRfcg-dIBH5idDjDUgFy97_-Rq2UQdlaD994eg5UOqNg5mk_8bpAl5nlEE91KKe5VcHd43mteNOtXNRM/s425/Fotolia_9489640_XS.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="425" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObhvyPJ2yfKWoOkAsSn4tqeyFgTvuxuYIaqS_mRrq4DFdcSkDHbtjGhp77iCh4nJZQwZ4dKmV66EkdxCUlSrKPMUl3GYTElvsZUoKO5Sg23SeRfcg-dIBH5idDjDUgFy97_-Rq2UQdlaD994eg5UOqNg5mk_8bpAl5nlEE91KKe5VcHd43mteNOtXNRM/s320/Fotolia_9489640_XS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Okay, Bible nerds, here we go. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">In some ways, the plan of salvation as presented in the Bible is very simple: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)</span></li></ul></span></span></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But as the early church expanded in the centuries following the life of Jesus, a lot of conflicting perspectives on human nature, the nature and ripple effect of original sin, the definition of depravity, the nature of Jesus as the God/man and the efficacy of his crucifixion began to create the need for clarification. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As a result, the church had to address ‘doctrines of salvation’ (soteriology). It was a messy process. As church history unfolded, the church writ large occasionally gathered to address the implications of these attempts to explain God in a way that used the language and ideas of the audience. The controversy that followed looked like a pendulum swinging between doctrines that overemphasized either Jesus’ humanity or deity at the expense of the other, or perspectives on God that failed to account for the complexity of the Biblical revelation.<span><a name='more'></a></span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For centuries, the church wrestled with how to understand the nature of a triune God. Over time, the global church has tightened the outer boundaries of heterodoxy and solidified the foundation of heterodoxy Meanwhile, the question of soteriology remains. The discussion of the nature of God has implications for humanity and the plan of salvation offered through Jesus. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Sin entered the human condition thanks to Adam, but what impact does that have on the rest of us? Just how marred is our image- bearing? Are we simply born with a sin nature (destined to sin) or are we born with Original Guilt, deserving the condemnation of Adam?</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Does God predestine by sovereign decree that some will be save and some will not, or does God initiate an offer of salvation to all and allow individuals to choose?</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Does God irresistibly draw people so that they must choose Him, or does he draw them but allow them to refuse?</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Did the Fall make is to that humans are absolutely incapable of seeking, understanding or responding to God, or are humans deeply marred by sin but still able to respond to God’s revelation?</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Does Jesus offer atonement to all, or is it limited to those God has predestined? Another way of asking this: if we love Him because He first loved us, does God love everybody or only some of us? How does this impact the call to evangelism?</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">When we are truly saved, will God ever let us go or not? If he seals us with His Holy Spirit, can that seal be broken?</span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, yeah, those are some big questions. It has huge implications for what we conclude about the nature of both God and humanity, and for what we believe about how God brings about salvation.</span></span></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">* * * *<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Western Christianity has long had two main branches of soteriology: Calvinism and Arminianism. This is not true outside of Western Christianity, but that’s a post for another time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I grew up steeped in an Arminian approach[1] before being educated in graduate and post-graduate degrees from a Calvinist and then specifically Reformed perspective[2] while joining a historically charismatic church and teaching at a Christian school in which close to 30 churches, both Protestant and Catholic, were represented. </span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I spent decades describing myself as a ‘Calminian’ because neither camp felt fully like home. I appreciated the Calvinist reminder of God’s sovereignty and the Armenian reminder of human responsibility, but there were things in both of them that seemed to me to be at odds with how the overall arc of the Bible portrayed God’s character and nature, as well as the moral agency of humanity. <br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As far as I understood them, Calvinism offered a God who would hold people accountable for choices they couldn’t make; Arminianism offered a God who did not have the power or faithfulness to hold on to His children. And if Calvinism freed people of responsibility for whether or not they followed Jesus (“God chose me for damnation. What was I going to do?”), Arminianism condemned people to their freedom (“I just keep falling out of my salvation, even though I’m not sure when that happens. Altar call, here I come!”)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To be clear: I believe that everyone I talked to loved Jesus and took Scripture seriously. We weren’t disagreeing on the “closed hand” issues upon which followers of Jesus base their faith (see the Apostles’ Creed). So as I describe where I have now landed, I want to be clear that I believe I will enjoy eternity with sisters and brothers in Christ who have different opinions about soteriology. We love the same Savior. We have committed ourselves the same Kingdom. Shalom.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve recently been introduced to Provisionism (another name for Traditionalism) which postures itself as a return to the view of soteriology before Augustine’s Platonic view on Divine Simplicity laid the foundation for Calvinism (and Pelagius’ contra-Calvin views for Arminianism).</span><a name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> Here, I believe, I have found an answer to my Calminian restlessness. A couple caveats before I dive into this particular soteriology.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">There is room for differences within the same camp just like there is in Calvinism and Arminianism. I largely agree with what I am about to share, but that doesn’t mean I am necessarily in lockstep with everything and everybody about every detail.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I am always uneasy about associating myself with labels and groups. It’s easy to become ‘guilty by association” with every person and every thought in that group.</span><a name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> So, to align myself with Provisionism makes me nervous. I fear there will be an = sign between me and every attitude, thought and personality. Please give me the benefit of the doubt that I am my own thinking person, and will separate wheat from chaff like the rest of you do. </span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">What follows are the basics of Provisionism. The Articles listed are from Leighton Flowers’ post <a href="https://soteriology101.com/about-2/statement-of-faith/" target="_blank">“Our Beliefs” at soteriology101.com. </a> Since his list was intended to be a very condensed overview, I have added to them, sometimes considerably. Please, visit the site to see the specific language in the original post. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">I will highlight the original post (with some minor additions of my own that are intended to clarify language) in</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><i>bold italics</i></b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">in each section. Everything else comes from other sources or my personal summary.</span></span></div></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;">ARTICLE ONE: THE GOSPEL<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We affirm that the Gospel is the good news that God has made a way of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for any person. This is in keeping with God’s desire for every person to be saved.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[5]</b></span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We deny that only a select few are not only capable of responding to the Gospel but irresistibly drawn to salvation while the rest are predestined and irretrievably condemned</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[6]</b></span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">to an eternity in hell.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here’s Calvin himself on what he meant by predestination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">“By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which He determined with Himself whatever He wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of those ends, we say that he has been predestined to life or death…Some are predestined to salvation, others to damnation… Regarding the lost: it was His good pleasure to doom to destruction…” <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Since the disposition of all things is in the hands of God and He can give life or death at His pleasure, He dispenses and ordains by His judgment that some, from their mother’s womb, are destined irrevocably to eternal death in order to glorify His name in their perdition… All are not created on equal terms, but some are predestined to eternal life, others to eternal damnation…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">The devil, and the whole train of the ungodly, are in all directions, held in by the hand of God as with a bridle, so that they can neither conceive any mischief, nor plan what they have conceived, nor how muchsoever they may have planned, move a single finger to perpetrate, unless in so far as He permits, nay unless in so far as He commands, that they are not only bound by His fetters but are even forced to do Him service…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">“Individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to glorify Him by their destruction.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Calvin was pretty clear: God decides who will be saved and who will be doomed. As far as the inescapably damned, who are “held in by the hand of God as with a bridle,” they are in that situation “in order to glorify His name in their perdition.” And why did this happen? God “determined with Himself whatever He wished to happen.” No explanation is given; apparently none is needed. For Calvin, it is sufficient that God decided to create people to destroy for His glory. How this glorifies God is not at all clear to me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Approximately 100 years later, The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) fleshed Calvin’s ideas in a formal Confession. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>“By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestined unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. Those of mankind that are predestined unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his free grace and love alone, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>“The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Norma Cook Everist compares this to someone visiting a blind man and holding up in front of his face an invitation to wonderful party. The blind man couldn’t see the invitation, so he couldn’t read it or respond to it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> A.W. Tozer’s view speaks to the Provisionist response: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here is my view: God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it… Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.” (A.W. Tozer)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This seems much more in line with the biblical presentation of justice. People will be held responsible for what they did with the choices they were able to make. There is no conception of justice in either special or general revelation in which people are responsible for things others force them to do. If the Man Mountain captures me and coercively swings me around so that my foot breaks someone else’s jaw, I am not responsible. He is. If God condemns me to unbelief and rebellion such that I am “<i>bound by His fetters [and] even forced to do Him service,”</i> it seems to me that I am not responsible. He is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">John Wesley put it this way: “He will punish no man for doing anything which he could not possibly avoid, neither for omitting anything which he could not possibly do. Every punishment supposes the offender might have avoided the offense for which he is punished.” </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;">____________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE TWO: THE SINFULNESS OF MAN</span><a name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[7]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that, because of the fall of Adam, every person inherits a nature and environment inclined toward sin and that every person who is capable of moral action will sin. Each person’s sin alone brings the wrath of a holy God, broken fellowship with Him, ever-worsening selfishness and destructiveness, death, and condemnation to an eternity in hell.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that Adam’s sin resulted in the total incapacitation of any person’s free will or rendered any person <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">guilty and worthy of condemnation</span> before he has personally sinned. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">There are different ways of describing depravity. Even the Calvinist would not claim that our depravity is maximal; that is, that we are the worst we could possibly be. In the Provisionist view, t</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">he depravity is ubiquitous, but not impenetrable by the Gospel. It makes more sense of passages like this:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We see Christ telling His disciples to keep things quiet until the right time (Matt. 16:20). We see Him hiding the truth in parables (Mark 4:11). If all people are born corpse-like dead, deaf, blind and unable to understand the truth, as Calvinism’s doctrine of Total Inability suggests, why would Christ need to do this?”</span><a name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[8]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Since no sinner is remotely capable of achieving salvation through his</span></i></b><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> <i>own effort, we deny that any sinner is saved apart from a free response to the Holy Spirit’s drawing them through the Gospel.<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Think of Gospel here as the good news: the revelation of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. That light pierces the darkest heart. It is entirely a move from God to shine that light, but it can be seen, and it can be responded to.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Notice that the first paragraph of this section is very carefully stated. There is a reason for that. From a book I recommend called The Hexagon of Heresy: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Augustine held to doctrines of both <b>original sin</b> and <b>original guilt.</b> Augustine taught that <u>original sin</u> is all of humanity’s participation in the sin of Adam. <u>Original guilt</u> is the liability of punishment for that participation, which includes more sinning and eventual death. All humans are, so to speak, born with the default setting of being damned due to the inherited guilt of Adam’s sin, so Augustine’s doctrine of original sin frees God from the blame of evil, while his doctrine of original guilt upholds the beauty of the created order in the punishment of sinners.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>These doctrines, formulated in this way, are original to Augustine. He is the first of the Christian fathers in the East or West to teach naturally transmitted personal guilt. </u>(emphasis mine)<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The received teaching on original sin [in] the Eastern tradition (notably Chrysostom) saw original sin as a “simple punishment” which was the “loss of incorruption and immortality as well as that of supernatural knowledge and eternal bliss, and the consequent enslavement to the devil.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Provisionism would align more closely with the Eastern tradition rather than the Augustinian tradition in this case.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE THREE: THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST</span><a name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[9]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that the penal substitution of Christ is the only available and effective sacrifice for the sins of every person.</span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In other words, we are not saved by anything we do. It’s all about the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf (referred to as Penal Substitution – Jesus as a substitute for the penalty we deserved). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I believe the Crucifixion is the fulfillment of the covenant Jesus made with Abraham. This was the cost of the children of Abraham breaking the covenant God made with Abraham. The cost of failing to uphold the covenant was captured in the covenant ritual in what’s called The Covenant Of The Pieces: the covenant-breaker’s body would be broken, and his blood would be spilled. God, much to Abraham’s surprise, passed through The Pieces (dissected animals) but did not require Abraham to do the same. In other words, God would pay the penalty if either one of them broke the covenant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, Abraham and his descendants absolutely broke the covenant. On the cross, Jesus paid the penalty on behalf of the children of Abraham. This was the Egyptian Passover Lamb once and for all, whose blood on the doorposts of our heart would spare us from spiritual and eternal death. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that this atonement results in salvation without a person’s free response of repentance and faith. We deny that God imposes or withholds this atonement without respect to an act of the person’s free will. We deny that Christ died only for the sins of those who will be saved (unlimited atonement vs. limited atonement).</span></span></i></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">The Westminster Confession of Faith contains an interesting section concerning the tension between meticulous determinism and free will. It speaks of God “…renewing their wills and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ, yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by grace.” As Norma Cook Everist notes in Does God Love Everyone? What's Wrong With Calvinism, </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><i>“It is crucial to emphasize that whereas God’s ‘effectual call’ cannot be resisted by the elect, his ‘general call’ cannot be answered by those who are not elect.” </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Provisionism rejects this approach. God’s call goes to all; God had decreed that the power of the Gospel have such power that those who hear it can respond.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">As recounted by Ms. Everist, John Piper (whom she quotes at length throughout the book) insists that God cannot save everyone because he has other purposes he must accomplish, and these purposes are simply incompatible with saving those he chooses to damn. God has higher purposes and goals that prevent him from saving all persons. So what is this higher purpose God has that prevents him from saving those he chooses to damn? </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><i>The answer the Reformed give is that the greater value is the manifestation of the full range of God’s glory in wrath and mercy (Romans 9:22–23) and the humbling of man so he enjoys giving all credit to God for his salvation (I Cor. 1:29).</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">So, God coercively determines people to damnation to display the glory of his wrath and make those whom he chose to save in mercy even more thankful? If that sounds…off… you may appreciate the analogy Thomas McCall wrote to illustrate the problems in Piper’s theology. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><i>Imagine a parent who is able to control each and every action of his children, and furthermore, is able to do so by controlling their thoughts and inclinations. He is thus able to determine each and all actions taken by those children. He is also able to guarantee that they desire to do everything that they do, and this is exactly what he does. He puts them in a special playroom that contains not only toys but also gasoline and matches, and then gives them explicit instructions (with severe warnings) to avoid touching the gasoline and matches.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><i>Stepping out of sight, he determines that the children indeed begin to play with the matches. When the playroom is ablaze and the situation desperate, he rushes in to save them (well, some of them). He breaks through the wall, grabs three of the seven children, and carries them to safety. When the rescued children calm down, they ask about their four siblings. They want to know about the others trapped inside, awaiting their inevitable fate. More importantly, they want to know if he can do something to rescue them as well.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><i>When they ask about the situation, their father tells them that this tragic occurrence had been determined by him, and indeed, that it was a smashing success—it had worked out in exact accordance with his plan. He then reminds them of his instructions and warnings, and he reminds them further that they willingly violated his commands. They should be grateful for their rescue, and they should understand that the others got what they deserved. When they begin to sob, he weeps with them; he tells them that he too has compassion on the doomed children (indeed, the compassion of the children for their siblings only dimly reflects his own).</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><i>The children are puzzled by this, and one wants to know why such a compassionate father does not rescue the others (when it is clearly within his power to do so). His answer is this: this has happened so that everyone could see how smart he is (for being able to know how to do all this), how powerful he is (for being able to control everything and then effectively rescue them), how merciful he is (for rescuing the children who broke his rules), and how just he is (for leaving the others to their fate in the burning playroom). And, he says, “This is the righteous thing for me to do, because it allows me to look as good as I should look.”</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Provisionism rejects this view of God.</span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">__________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE FOUR: THE GRACE OF GOD</span><a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[10]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that intervening grace, which breaks through our natural spiritual blindness and deafness, is God’s generous decision to provide salvation for any person by taking all of the initiative in providing atonement, in freely offering the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in uniting the believer to Christ through the Holy Spirit by faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that grace negates the necessity of a free response of faith or that it cannot be resisted. We deny that the response of faith is in any way a meritorious work that earns salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A number of things in this article have already been addressed. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">As to the last sentence, note that the prodigal son’s choice to return home is distinct from the father’s choice to redeem (save) him once he arrives. Yes, the son “came to his senses” and returned to the Father, but the Father was not required to accept him. The son had not earned his reinstatement into the family. The Father chose, through grace, to respond the way he did.</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE FIVE: THE REGENERATION OF THE SINNER</span><a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[12]</span></b></span></span></a></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></b></span></span></a></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that any person who responds to the Gospel with repentance and faith is born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is a new creation in Christ and enters, at the moment he believes, into eternal life.</span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that any person is regenerated prior to or apart from hearing and responding to the Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">First, points of agreement: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>“What is not in dispute is that regeneration is the sovereign act of God whereby He imparts His very life and His very nature to the believing sinner (John 1:12-13; Titus 3:5). Man’s first birth is natural; his second birth is spiritual and supernatural. His first birth makes him a member of a fallen race; his second birth makes him a member of a redeemed race. His first birth gives him a depraved nature (Eph. 2:3); his second birth makes him partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). The moment a person is born again he receives a new life (John 6:47; 1 John 5:12) and a new position as a child of God (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1-2). In short, he is a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).”<a name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In contrast to Calvinism’s regeneration prior to or apart from hearing and responding to the Gospel, Arminians offered prevenient grace, a particular kind of grace that God gave everyone in order to make them capable of responding without determining their response. Provisionism rejects both ideas, believing that God ordained for the power of the Gospel message to be itself the act of grace that breaks into our souls. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">What about those who do not have a Bible, or who have not specifically been introduced to Jesus? There is room in Provisionism for the belief that God will reveal the good news of the Gospel to those who do not have access to the actual text of Scripture (think of the many Muslims who have reported Jesus revealing himself to them in dreams). The terms </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;">Special Revelation Exclusivism</b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">or </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;">Agnostic Optimism</b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">could apply here</span><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><a name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[14]</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Soteriology 101’s article, “What About Those Who Never Hear The Gospel?” doesn’t use a label, but it explains the concept.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mankind is responsible to all of God’s revelation because they are able to respond to all of God’s revelation. If they acknowledge the truth of the little revelation that they have received then God is faithful to entrust them with more (Mt. 25:21). If they trade the truth in for lies then they have no excuse (Rm. 1:20). In short, the general revelation is sufficient to lead any one to know God’s special revelation, thus no one has any excuse for their unbelief. Paige Patterson recorded a statement, endorsed by many Southern Baptist leaders, that put it this way, “…whenever or wherever in the world there is a man or woman who cries out to God with all of his heart, ‘Lord I want to know you, I want to know what kind of a God you are,’ then I [God] will make it possible for him to hear the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news is that God is so loving and so merciful that He makes Himself available to everyman who seeks Him, which is why the Bible says, ‘You shall find Me when you seek for Me with all your heart’” (Jer. 29:13).</span><a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[15]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_________________________________________</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE SIX: THE ELECTION TO SALVATION</span><a name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[16]</span></b></span></span></a></span></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><a name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></a></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">We affirm that, in reference to salvation, election speaks first of God’s eternal, gracious, and certain plan in Christ to have a people group who are His (first Israel</span><a name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[17]</span></b></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">and then the church</span></span><a name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[18]</span></b></span></span></a></span><span><span style="font-size: large;">) by repentance and faith, and second of God’s plan for all who trust in Christ (Ephesians 1) to be “conformed to His image” and made “holy and blameless.” (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4).</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It might surprise some to know that Calvinists, Arminians, and Provisionists all accept the term ‘predestination.’ They just mean different things by it. For the Provisionist,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“By predestination we mean the predetermined redemptive plan of God to justify, sanctify and glorify whosoever freely believes (Rom. 10:11; Jn. 3:16; Eph. 1:1-14). No person is created for damnation, or predetermined by God to that end (2 Pt. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4; Ezek. 18:30-32). Those who perish only do so because they refused to accept the truth so as to be saved (2 Thess. 2:10).”</span><a name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[19]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">We deny that election means that, from eternity, God predestined certain individual people for salvation and others for condemnation.</span><a name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[20]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Provisionists embrace corporate election – not just the existence of a corporate group (which people can freely choose or not choose to join) that God has predestined for His purposes, but what God plans to do with those in the group.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“In Ephesians 1, Paul teaches that those “in Him” have been predestined to become “holy and blameless” and “to be adopted as sons,” but he never says that certain individuals were predestined to believe in Christ. Paul speaks of what “the faithful in Christ” (vs. 1) have been predestined to become, not about God preselecting certain individuals before the foundation of the world to be irresistibly transformed into believers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Whosoever believes in Him is predestined to become “holy and blameless in His sight,” (vs. 4) which parallels Paul’s teaching in Rom. 8:29, which says, “he also predestined (those who love God, Rom. 8:28) to be conformed to the imagine of His Son.” “He predestined us (“the faithful in Christ”) for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ,” (vs. 5).<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">According to Paul, believers “wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:23)…This passage is about God predetermining the spiritual blessings for those who are in Christ through believing the word of truth (vv. 1-3)….God has invited all to come to Christ and enter into His rest (Matt. 28:19; 11:28; Mark 16:15; John 12:32; 2 Cor. 5:19–21; Col. 1:23) and He genuinely desires all to come (2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4; Ezek. 18:30–32; Matt. 23:37; Rom. 10:21). <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">All who come will be trained (sanctified, conformed to His image, Rom. 8:29) and guaranteed a place (adopted, glorified, Rom. 8:23), because that is what God has predetermined for all who are in Him.”</span><a name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[21]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">John Wesley once preached a sermon that captured the heart of the Provisionist on this view: “God decrees from everlasting to everlasting that all who believe in the Son of his love shall be conformed to his image, shall be saved from all inward and outward sin into all inward and outward holiness . . .” In other words, God has decreed from all eternity that those who believe in Jesus will be saved and are predestined to be conformed to his image.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">John Piper, a committed Calvinist, once wrote: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. This is perhaps the most important sentence in my theology.” Norma Cook Everist, in her book Does God Love Everyone? The Heart Of What's Wrong With Calvinism, points out the contradiction between this view and the Calvinist view of Double Predestination:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>If God is MOST glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, then it seems God should give everyone his irresistible grace, and cause all of them to experience the great satisfaction of salvation But here is the question that screams for an answer: if this is so, why does God need to damn anyone by his sovereign choice in order for his full glory to be displayed? For the damned in hell are certainly not satisfied in God. </i></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>So if God is MOST glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, then it seems God should give everyone his irresistible grace, and cause all of them to experience the great satisfaction of salvation. That it seems would glorify God even more according to Piper’s own claim that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” </i></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_____________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE SEVEN: THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD</span><a name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[22]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm God’s eternal knowledge of and sovereignty over every person’s salvation or condemnation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that God’s sovereignty and knowledge require Him to cause a person’s acceptance or rejection of faith in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The discussion of God and time is complex and, at times, bewildering. It might be impossible for us finite humans to ever truly understand how an infinite God interacts with time. Some key points of contention:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">I think all parties agree that God can know anything that can be known (#ommiscience). But...are the specific future decisions of individuals with libertarian free will a thing that can known (foreknowledge), or are the possible choices and the ultimate choice what can be known (dynamic omniscience), or is it merely possible choices that God finds out about when they happen (Open Theism)?</span><a name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[23] </span></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> If God’s knows what people will freely choose – and God cannot be wrong – does that means people can’t choose otherwise when the time comes…which sounds like determinism. On the other hand, if God transcends time, He knows the end from the beginning, so He knows without being the one who put the decision in cement. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Provisionist view is that foreknowledge is not determinism. God’s transcendence of the limitation of chronological time means that He knows what people will freely choose, are freely choosing, and have freely chosen. As for what Provisionists reject in this point (see above), I will quote Leighton Flowers at length to circle back to the character and nature of God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“1 Cor. 13:4-8: ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’</span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Is God patient with the reprobate of Calvinism, who He ‘hated’ and rejected before he was born or had done anything good or bad? </span></i><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Is God kind to those He destines to torment for all eternity without any regard to their own choices, intentions, or actions? </span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Does God honor the non-elect by allowing them to enjoy a little rain and sunlight before they spend an eternity suffering for something with which they had absolutely no control over? n</span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Is God not easily angered by those who are born under His wrath and without hope of reconciliation? </span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Does God keep the record of wrongs committed by reprobates? </span></i><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Does the so-called “love” of God for the non-elect fail or does it persevere?</span></i></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Given that biblical definition of love as “self-sacrifice,” let us consider Christ’s command to love our enemies. Is this an expectation Christ Himself is unwilling to fulfill? In other words, is He being hypocritical in this command by telling us to do something He is unwilling to do? Of course not. The very reason He told His followers to love their enemies is ‘in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…’ (Matt. 5:45).<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">The meaning is undeniable. We are to love our enemies because God loves His enemies. He loves both ‘the righteous and the unrighteous’ in exactly the same way we are told to love our enemies. Paul taught, ‘For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ And again in Romans 13:8: ‘He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.’ Thus, to deny Jesus’ self-sacrificial love for everyone is to deny that He fulfilled the demands of the law. This would disqualify Him as the perfect atoning sacrifice.”</span><a name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[24]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">___________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE EIGHT: THE FREE WILL OF MAN</span><a name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[25]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that God, as an expression of His sovereignty, endows each person with actual free will (the ability to choose between two options), which must be exercised in accepting or rejecting God’s gracious call to salvation by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that the decision of faith is an act of God rather than a response of the person. We deny that there is an “effectual call” for certain people that is different from a “general call” to any person who hears and understands the Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clement (35-99 AD) wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“It is therefore in the power of every one, since man has been made possessed of free-will, whether he shall hear us to life, or the demons to destruction. . . . He who is good by his own choice is really good; but he who is made good by another under necessity is not really good, because he is not what he is by his own choice. . . . For no other reason does God punish the sinner either in the present or future world, except because He knows that the sinner was able to conquer but neglected to gain the victory.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Basically, people with libertarian free will are responsible for their response to the appeal of the Gospel because they actually have response-ability. If God made them incapable of responding, they are not responsible. God is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The vast majority of modern Calvinists instead hold to some form of soft determinism or, as it is also commonly called, compatibilism. Compatibilism holds that an action of a human agent, even though determined, is nonetheless free if it is in accordance with the agent’s desires (i.e., determinism and free will are thus considered to be compatible, hence the name compatibilism). Moreover, theistic compatibilists generally argue that for any agent in any actual situation, God has determined sufficient conditions (whether external or internal) to be present in that situation to ensure that the agent will desire to act (and will thus choose to act) as God has prior decreed him to act. Compatibilists, then, generally hold that God decisively conditions the desires of human agents to freely choose as God has determined.”</span><a name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[26]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Summary: either God makes the decision for you, or God orchestrates nature and nurture such that you can’t help but choose how God determines you to choose. It feels like a difference with a minimal distinction. In both cases, people are not exercising the kind of agency that could hold them culpable for their decision. Meanwhile,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Libertarian Free Will (or contra-causal freedom) is ‘the categorical ability of the will to refrain or not refrain from a given moral action.’ So, in relation to soteriology, LFW is mankind’s ability to accept or reject God’s appeal to be reconciled through faith in Christ. Given that mankind is held responsible for how they respond to Christ and His words (John 12:48), there is no biblical or theological reason to suggest that mankind is born unable to respond to His powerful, life-giving words (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:15-16; Rm. 10:17; John 6:63; 20:31). It makes no practical sense to hold mankind responsible (response-able) to Christ’s words, if indeed they are unable-to-respond to those words, nor is it ever explicitly taught in Scripture.”</span><a name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">27]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We believe that Jesus was truly God and truly human, right? It’s why he could be the perfect substitution for us. This means Jesus had to be like us, and we had to be like Jesus. It’s worth noting that Jesus clearly exercised free will: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:18)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I like this summary: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“If God is ultimately responsible for men’s response to His own appeals then it would be irrational to call them responsible. People are held responsible to God’s Word because they have the moral capacity to respond to it by either suppressing it or believing it. By believing it they aren’t meriting their own righteousness; instead, God is graciously crediting them with the righteousness of Christ.”</span><a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[28]</span></b></span></span></a></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-transform: uppercase;">ARTICLE NINE: THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER</span></b><a name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[29]</span></b></span></span></i></span></a><b style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that when a person responds in faith to the Gospel, God promises to complete the process of salvation in the believer into eternity. This process begins with justification, whereby the sinner is immediately acquitted of all sin and granted peace with God; continues in sanctification, whereby the saved are progressively conformed to the image of Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit; and concludes in glorification, whereby the saint enjoys life with Christ in heaven forever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that this Holy Spirit-sealed relationship can ever be broken. We deny even the possibility of apostasy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Summary: those who truly commit to following Jesus are sealed by the Holy Spirit, which is a God-side seal, not an us-side seal. God keeps His own and never stops working in them to transform ever increasingly into the image of Jesus. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">Apostasy, then, is a term we apply to those who</span><i style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> appeared</i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;">to follow Jesus but never truly did.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the end, the marker is perseverance. I like the image of the Fellowship in the Lord Of The Rings – a fellowship which included Borimir. He was not always strong, but he finish well and true. He had a particular kind of character embedded in him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">______________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-top: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ARTICLE TEN: THE GREAT COMMISSION</span><a name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[30]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We affirm that the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned His church to preach the good news of salvation to all people to the ends of the earth. We affirm that the proclamation of the Gospel is God’s means of bringing any person to salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We deny that salvation is possible outside of a faith response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">God, in His grace, has ordained the Gospel to be that which penetrates the murkiness of our depravity-stained souls. It is sufficient to make us responsible, as it invokes a ‘response ability.’ <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once again, Provisionism allows for the possibility that God reveals the gospel supernaturally to those who without the Gospel who respond to the truth God gives them through general revelation and their conscience. If follows from the principle that those who are faithful with little will be given much. “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” (Acts 17:27</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br clear="all" /></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> I say “an” and not “the” because there is variety in Arminian theology.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn2" title="">[2]</a> I say “a” and not “the” because Calvinist’s don’t always pluck all the petals from the TULIP.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> That’s painting with a broad brush. This is a short article. Work with me.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn4" title="">[4]</a> For example, I’m evangelical, but, wow, does that make me cringe a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn5" title="">[5]</a> Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2:1-12; Ezekiel 18:23, 32; Luke 19.10; Luke 24:45-49; John 1:1-18, 3:16; Romans 1:1-6, 5:8; 8:34; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Galatians 4:4-7; Colossians 1:21-23; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-16; 2 Peter 3:9<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn6" title="">[6]</a> I am not aware that Provisionism requires a particular belief in the nature of hell (ECT? Annihilation?)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn7" title="">[7]</a> <i>Genesis 3:15-24; 6:5; Deuteronomy 1:39; Isaiah 6:5, 7:15-16;53:6;Jeremiah 17:5,9, 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:19-20; Romans 1:18-32; 3:9-18, 5:12, 6:23; 7:9; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 6:9-10;15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27-28; Revelation 20:11-15</i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn8" title="">[8]</a> Leighton Flowers, <u>The Potter’s Promise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn9" title="">[9]</a> Psalm 22:1-31; Isaiah 53:1-12; John 12:32, 14:6; Acts 10:39-43; Acts 16:30-32; Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:10-14; Philippians 2:5-11; Col. 1:13-20; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 9:12-15, 24-28; 10:1-18; I John 1:7; 2:2<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn10" title="">[10]</a> Ezra 9:8; Proverbs 3:34; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 19:16-30, 23:37; Luke 10:1-12; Acts 15:11; 20:24; Romans 3:24, 27-28; 5:6, 8, 15-21; Galatians 1:6; 2:21; 5; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 3:2-9; Colossians 2:13-17; Hebrews 4:16; 9:28; 1 John 4:19<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn11" title="">[11]</a> From admin at Soteriology101, “Are You Better Than Your Friend Who Refused To Believe?” <a href="https://soteriology101.com/2019/01/13/are-you-better-than-your-friend-who-refused-to-believe/">https://soteriology101.com/2019/01/13/are-you-better-than-your-friend-who-refused-to-believe/</a></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn12" title="">[12]</a> Luke 15:24; John 3:3; 7:37-39; 10:10; 16:7-14; Acts 2:37-39; Romans 6:4-11; 10:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; 6:15; Colossians 2:13; 1 Peter 3:18<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn13" title="">[13]</a> “Does Regeneration Precede Faith?” from the admins at Soteriology101. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn14" title="">[14]</a> <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-about-those-who-havent-heard/">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-about-those-who-havent-heard/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn15" title="">[15]</a> See also John 1:9; Acts 17:24-27; Romans 1:19-21; Romans 2:14-16; Romans 10:17-18; Colossians 1:5-6, 23; Titus 2:11.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn16" title="">[16]</a> Genesis 1:26-28; 12:1-3; Exodus 19:6;Jeremiah 31:31-33; Matthew 24:31; 25:34; John 6:70; 15:16; Romans 8:29-30, 33;9:6-8; 11:7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:11-22; 3:1-11; 4:4-13; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; 1 Peter 1:1-2; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 7:9-10; 2 Timothy 2:8-10<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn17" title="">[17]</a> This has been called “Election To Service.” Israel was chosen to serve God’s purpose of bringing the Messiah and his message to the rest of the world – all the world was intended to be blessed through them.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn18" title="">[18]</a> Also called Corporate Election. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn19" title="">[19]</a> Leighton Flowers, in <u>The Potter’s Promise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn20" title="">[20]</a> “People are not in hell to highlight God’s compassion, love, and grace by pedestaling his contrasting wrath and holiness; the death of Christ sufficiently displayed that.” (Ronnie Rogers, “Calvinism and the Problem of Damnation in Hell.”)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn21" title="">[21]</a> Leighton Flowers, <u>The Potter’s Promise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn22" title="">[22]</a> Genesis 1:1; 6:5-8; 18:16-33; 22; 2 Samuel 24:13-14; 1 Chronicles 29:10-20; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Joel 2:32; Psalm 23; 51:4; 139:1-6; Proverbs 15:3; John 6:44; Romans 11:3; Titus 3:3-7; James 1:13-15; Hebrews 11:6, 12:28; 1 Peter 1:17<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn23" title="">[23]</a> That is almost certainly an unfair description, but this is not a book. Work with me.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn24" title="">[24]</a> Leighton Flowers, <u>The Potter’s Promise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn25" title="">[25]</a> Genesis 1:26-28; Numbers 21:8-9; Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 8:1-22; 2 Samuel 24:13-14; Esther 3:12-14; Matthew 7:13-14; 11:20-24; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 9:23-24; 13:34; 15:17-20; Romans 10:9-10; Titus 2:12; Revelation 22:17<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn26" title="">[26]</a> “Philosophical Reflections on Free Will,” Robert L. Hamilton<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn27" title="">[27]</a> Leighton Flowers, “The Doctrine of Free Will.”<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn28" title="">[28]</a> Leighton Flowers – but I’m not sure where I got this. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn29" title="">[29]</a> John 10:28-29; 14:1-4; 16:12-14; Philippians 1:6; Romans 3:21-26; 8:29,30; 35-39; 12:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 3:12; Colossians 1:21-22; 1 John 2:19; 3:2; 5:13-15; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 13:5; James 1:12; Jude 24-25<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_ftn30" title="">[30]</a> Psalm 51:13; Proverbs 11:30; Isaiah 52:7; Matthew 28:19-20; John 14:6; Acts 1:8; 4:12; 10:42-43; Romans 1:16, 10:13-15; 1 Corinthians 1:17-21; Ephesians 3:7-9; 6:19-20; Philippians 1:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Timothy 4:1-5<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-40489156361804911412023-06-12T06:52:00.001-07:002023-06-12T06:52:27.816-07:00Bullies and Saints Part 4: What the Western Church Did Well in the Middle Ages<div>I really enjoyed John Dickson's <u>Bullies And Saints: An Honest Look At The Good And Evil Of Christian History</u>. There is much to learn from the record of bullies and saints in church history lest we repeat their failures or fail to replicate their successes. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am doing a series of posts where I cut and paste from his book. Where I fill in words, you will see [brackets]. I use ellipses for all the places where I know there is a gap, but (because of how Kindle highlighting works) I am sure there are many places where I fail to note what's written between two sentences I put next to each other. If what I post feels disconnected or clunky as you read it, that's my editing, not his writing :) </div><p><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-1-from-christ.html" target="_blank">The first installment was the most positive.</a> The church's reputation prior to Constantine was pretty solid. But following Constantine's influence, leaders like Ambrose and then Augustine changed the tune the church had been singing. The changes may not strike you as jarring yet, but they are laying a foundation infused with a love of money and power on which others will build terrible things. <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-2-from-julian.html" target="_blank">The second installment covered the time from Julian to Augustine's City of God,</a> a time with remarkably different - sometimes jarringly different - visions for how Christians should live in society. This leads us to part three.Much of the old work of the church was still going on. And there were plenty of genuine prophets popping up and accusing the church of being a pack of hypocrites. <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-3-from.html" target="_blank">The third installment ended this way:</a> "If, by the 500s, being Christian was indistinguishable from being Roman, by the 1000s being Christian was indistinguishable from being Frankish or Saxon. Europe and the church found themselves converted to each other’s ways."<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</p>It remains a thing of wonder—if that’s the right word—that a thousand years after Jesus Christ, violence was viewed as an acceptable part of Christian devotion. But it would be wrong to imagine that this was the main business of the church in the medieval period. The main business was the normal business we observed about earlier times: evangelization followed up with the establishment of churches, monasteries, hospitals, charities, and schools.<div><br />Many of Jerome of Bethlehem’s (AD 342–420) writings seek to expose the laziness and materialism that had crept into the church in the late fourth century, as more and more wealthy elites walked out of the wings of the church into its centre. One of his letters—more like an essay—castigates “presbyters” (that is, priests) who use the church to pursue money and women… Jerome himself set a very different standard, and he had a genuine impact on people’s idea of how a true presbyter was meant to behave—gentle, scholarly, pastoral, unworldly, and pure. <br /><br />Perhaps the most influential religious figure of the early Middle Ages was the Italian monk Benedict of Nursia (AD 480–550). He founded a few monasteries in short order and gained wide fame. A few church authorities were wary of his call to a simpler version of Christianity, and they publicly opposed him…. Many were converted by his preaching. Large numbers joined his movement. Before his death in the middle of the sixth century, he had founded twelve monastic communities.<br /><br />Benedict’s guidelines for the life of a monk are known as the Rule of Saint Benedict… Benedict’s “rule” explicitly forbade the accumulation of possessions—an attempt to prevent greed in the church. It demanded five hours a day of productive laboor, whether farming, building, or craftsmanship. It set a minimum of two hours private reading each day (oh, bliss!), several periods of daily prayer, and the regular performance of charitable works.<br /><br />The Rule of Benedict continued to call people back to the “instruments of good works” for centuries. Thousands of monasteries (for men and for women) were established throughout France and Germany over the next five hundred years. Many of them were modeled, at least loosely, on Benedict’s vision of a community marked by prayer, study, productivity, and a life of charity.<br /><br />By AD 909, some leaders were in deep despair at the state of the church. They called a council at Rheims, northeast of Paris, where bishops recorded their lament for posterity:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“every man does what pleases him, despising the laws of God and man and the ordinances of the church. The powerful oppress the weak, the land is full of violence against the poor.”</i></div><br />In…Life of St. Gerald of Aurillac, Odo of Cluny provided a model of a soldier who only ever fought to defend the weak, who refused to shed blood, and who pursued humility toward everyone…. In Odo’s other great work, Collationes or Conferences, he castigates proud and wealthy Christians:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“How then are these robbers Christians, or what do they deserve who slay their brothers for whom they are commanded to lay down their lives? You have only to study the books of antiquity to see that the most powerful are always the worst. Worldly nobility is due not to nature but to pride and ambition. If we judged by realities, we should give honor not to the rich for the fine clothes they wear but to the poor who are the makers of such things.”</i></div><br />“Whenever I went out with him,” John of Salerno writes, “he was always careful to ask if we had something for the poor.” And when he met the poor, “he gave to all who asked of him.” Sometimes, when Odo suspected someone was poor but unwilling to ask for anything, he would try to preserve their dignity by asking them if they would sing a song for him. When they did, he paid them handsomely for the performance.<br /><br /> “They deserved, he would say, no small remuneration.” He did the same with poor farmers selling their meagre fruits on the streets. He demanded they increase their price for him, and only when they agreed to some absurd amount would he make the purchase:“And so Odo enriched these men under the pretence of paying the price.” <br /><br />Odo sometimes found cheeky ways to drive his points home to his attendants and students... The blind and the lame, Odo said, would be the doorkeepers of heaven. Therefore no one ought to drive them away from his house, so that in the future they should not shut the doors of heaven against him. So if one of our servants, not being able to put up with their shameless begging, replied sharply to them or denied them access to the door of our tent, Odo at once rebuked him with threats. Then in the servant’s presence he used to call the poor man and command him, saying, “When this man comes to the gate of heaven, pay him back in the same way.” He said this to frighten the servants, so that they should not act in this way again, and that he might teach them to love charity.<br /><br />One reformer was Hildegard of Bingen (AD 1098–1179). Hildegard lived as a Benedictine Abbess, the ruler of a community of devout women living by the Rule of Benedict. From a young age she was recognized as a “prophetess,” a term that meant something more like inspired preacher than a person who predicts the future... Her work was aimed at the reform of her community and the church, and her reforming agenda parallels that of various schoolmen of her time.<br /><br />She was not only the leader of her own community of women, “she conducted preaching tours, wrote songs,” Dickens notes, “and fought for the rights of her monastery’s independence from the protecting male monastery.”<br /><br />From a young age, Catherine of Siena (AD 1347–1380) felt she had been called by God to increase devotion to God in the church... In Catherine’s case, people were drawn to her personal sanctity and spiritual wisdom. Her correspondents included friends, abbesses, prostitutes, popes, queens, and various local authorities… Catherine’s central concern was that people should live in response to Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf.<br /><br />Francis of Assisi (AD 1181–1226) is one of the most remarkable figures of the Middle Ages… Francis was not a pacifist in the strict sense. He would have accepted Augustine’s principle of “just war”: state violence is tragically necessary to defend the weak from an aggressor… He hoped to overcome the threat of Islam “through reasoned evangelism . . . by conversion, not conquest…” Francis preached to the Crusaders in Egypt. He declared that it was God’s will to convert the Muslims, as an alternative to war. He was mocked by the Christian soldiers. “To the rough Crusader troops, he became something of a joke,” notes Augustine Thompson; “to their leaders, he seemed a feckless threat to morale.”<br /><br />The medieval church throughout Europe continued its traditional work of establishing charities and building hospitals… For the entire medieval period, the obligation to assist the poor fell to the church, specifically to bishops as regional church leaders, priests as leaders of individual parishes, and deacons, who often did the face-to-face work with the impoverished.<br /><br />The standard work on canon law as it relates to charity is Medieval Poor Law by the celebrated historian Brian Tierney of Cornell University. His detailed account of the evidence leaves me (Tierney doesn’t say this) feeling that much church law in this period would be described today as “leftist.” In fact, I posted some of this material on social media recently, and someone asked if I was outing myself as a socialist or even a communist!<br /><br />Medieval church lawyers insisted that the poor had genuine “rights”—and they called them rights —not only to the resources of the church but also to the resources of wealthy citizens. Against much ancient (and some modern) opinion, the starting point of their thought was that “poverty was not a kind of crime.” Nor was it a sign of moral defect, whether laziness or foolishness. It was a tragedy. <br /><br />Church lawyers knew that people did sometimes game the system, preferring charity to hard work. In these cases, it was right to “deny alms to such individuals when they were known.” Yet, the system itself should not be premised on a cynical approach to the poor. As Joannes Teutonicus put it succinctly in the 1200s, “In case of doubt it is better to do too much than to do nothing at all.” As Tierney notes, it is almost as if the medieval canonists were trying to head off the later Enlightenment laws, such as the English Poor Act of 1834, which “assumed that if a man was destitute he was probably an idle lout who deserved punishment.”<br /><br />By contrast, the Decretum and the Glossa Ordinaria are peppered with lines such as: “Feed the poor. If you do not feed them, you kill them”; “Our superfluities belong to the poor”; “Whatever you have beyond what suffices for your needs belongs to others”; “A man who keeps for himself more than he needs is guilty of theft.”<br /><br />These canonists went so far as to teach that “a man in extreme need who took the property of another was not guilty of any crime. He was not stealing what belonged to another but only taking what properly belonged to himself.” And Joannes Teutonicus argued that a poor person who was neglected by a rich neighbor could appeal to church courts. Those courts could compel the wealthy offender to be more generous by threat of church sanction or even excommunication. And to make it easier for the poor to go to court, the church waived court fees for those without means.<br /><br />Pope Honorius III (AD 1216–1227) laid down that “litigants too poor to provide themselves with legal counsel were to be supplied with free counsel by the court,” something that happily still exists in secular courts today... An Act of Edward VI in 1552 “for the provision and relief of the poor” contained legislation allowing the poor to denounce a miser to the local bishop. The bishop was then to “induce and persuade him or them by charitable ways and means,” whatever that included. An Act of Elizabeth I of 1563 laid down that “if the bishop’s exhortations were unsuccessful, a compulsory contribution could be assessed and collected under pain of imprisonment.”<br /><br />Fiscal conservatives today who see such taxes as “theft” have the church to blame. Medieval bishops and church lawyers, of course, would have replied that the true thief is any wealthy person who does not give some of their surplus to the poor. <br /><br />This is the century, the sixteenth century, when the English state absorbed the church. And so “the system of dual coequal authorities which was characteristic of the Middle Ages came to an end.” In taking over the church, says Tierney, “the state necessarilybecame responsible for the system of public poor relief which until then had been regulated by canon law.”<br /><br /></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-36845038707030797272023-04-27T07:58:00.001-07:002023-04-27T07:58:51.163-07:00Bullies and Saints Part 3: From the Visigoths to the Crusades<div>I really enjoyed John Dickson's <u>Bullies And Saints: An Honest Look At The Good And Evil Of Christian History</u>. There is much to learn from the record of bullies and saints in church history lest we repeat their failures or fail to replicate their successes. Truly, as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am doing a series of posts where I cut and paste from his book. Where I fill in words, you will see [brackets]. I use ellipses for all the places where I know there is a gap, but (because of how Kindle highlighting works) I am sure there are many places where I fail to note what's written between two sentences I put next to each other. If what I post feels disconnected or clunky as you read it, that's my editing, not his writing :) </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-1-from-christ.html" target="_blank">The first installment was the most positive.</a> The church's reputation prior to Constantine was pretty solid. But following Constantine's influence, leaders like Ambrose and then Augustine changed the tune the church had been singing. The changes may not strike you as jarring yet, but they are laying a foundation infused with a love of money and power on which others will build terrible things. <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-2-from-julian.html" target="_blank">The second installment covered the time from Julian to Augustine's City of God,</a> a time with remarkably different - sometimes jarringly different - visions for how Christians should live in society. This leads us to part three.<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><div><br /></div><div>This Byzantine Empire is really just the vibrant eastern continuation of the actual Roman Empire. The collapse of Rome was experienced as a catastrophe everywhere west of Italy. But if you were fortunate enough to live in the east—in Asia Minor (Turkey), Syria, Judea, or Egypt—life carried on. The most cosmopolitan half of the empire was still in decent shape. Westerners today rarely know much about the eastern side of world history, but there is a stunning story to tell. It is a story about wealth and stability, learning and religion, architecture, art, and charity— as well (of course) as ongoing wars. The contrast with their poor Christian cousins in the west could hardly be greater.<br /><br />The Visigoths led by Alaric eventually sacked the city of Rome in AD 410. After Alaric’s men (following his death) returned north, Roman citizens in the west tried to rebuild or reimagine their glorious culture, and there was a succession of false starts and half-emperors. In the vacuum, the church increasingly looked like the most stable game in town. Interestingly, Alaric had left untouched the two giant Roman basilica churches connected with the apostles Peter and Paul.<br /><br />The barbarian ruling classes were “perched insecurely on top” of the great mass of Romans in Italy. Most locals got on with trying to live their lives, pay their taxes, and hope for better days…The Gothic warrior-aristocracy maintained surprisingly good relations with the church.<br /><br />In these fractured conditions, as Rome crumbled and Europe groaned, the last non-Christians in the former western Roman Empire rallied to the Christian Church as the source of stability, charity, and, of course, spiritual comfort….<br /><br /><b>You could almost say that by the end of the fifth century, to be a good Roman was to be a Christian</b>. And in a manner of speaking, we have the Goths to thank (or blame) for that…<br /><br />Roman-controlled Gaul had fallen to the Franks (Germanic peoples of northern France) around AD 486. Shortly afterwards, the king of the Franks, a man called Clovis (AD 466–511), suddenly declared his allegiance to Christianity and was baptised around the year 500… It marked the beginning of the vast Merovingian Kingdom that went on to rule much of western Europe for the next two hundred and fifty years… Both the Merovingians and the Carolingians ended up being fierce supporters of the church—and I mean fierce.<br /><br />A generation after Augustine of Canterbury, the Frankish lands produced a remarkable figure, Bishop Eligius (AD 590–660) of Noyon in northern France. Eligius was captivated by Christ’s call to assist the downtrodden. Jesus had given himself for the world, and we are to do the same; that is the logic of life. He soon took to gifting the gold and jewelry he wore. His sumptuous attire ended up functioning like a bank or mobile charity. Wherever he found people in distress, he plucked off gems and precious metals from his garments and gave them away. He would leave on a business trip looking like royalty and return wearing “a hairshirt next to his flesh” or “the vilest clothing with a rope for a belt.”<br /><br />Perhaps his most striking act of charity, for which he earned renown throughout Europe, was purchasing and freeing slaves. He was not just what we would call a “social justice advocate.” He was also a zealous “evangelical,” eager to extend the message of Christ into new regions, preaching and building new monasteries and churches…<br /><br />His converts were taught to sing the same tune he did: “You would see many people hurry to repent, give up their wealth to the poor, free their slaves and many other works of good in obedience to his precepts.” Understandably, Eligius’s death in 660 was a major event. Even the Frankish queen, Balthild of Ascania, rushed to see his body. She kissed it and wept aloud in front of the vast crowd.<br /><br />An academic and monk named Boniface (AD 675–754)… enjoyed quite a lot of success convincing Germanic warrior tribes to follow Jesus Christ. Boniface’s method was persuasion…through gentle teaching and argument…<br /><br />My point is that the major mission campaigns into pagan Europe in the 600s and 700s were waged with the old Christian weapons of persuasion, service, prayer, and suffering. This is not to say there were not also some awful bishops who “were primarily political figures,” writes Ian Wood in his history of the Merovingian Empire. There were even some that “behaved more like warriors than ecclesiastics.” Yet, Wood concludes, “the behavior of a few individuals should not overshadow the standards of the Church as a whole.”<br /><br />Boniface embodied these ideal standards, which included a willingness to suffer, rather than to harm, for the cause of Christ….While camped on the bank of the Boorn River in the north of the Netherlands, “[a] vast multitude of foes, armed with spears and shields, rushed with glittering weapons,” his biography records. And when his own band of protectors drew their weapons to fight, he apparently yelled, “Stop fighting, lads! Give up the battle! For we are taught by the trusty witness of Scripture, that we render not evil for evil, but contrariwise good for evil.”<br /><br />In AD 751/2, right around the time of Boniface’s death, the Merovingians were displaced by the Carolingian dynasty as kings of the Franks. The most famous of these kings was Charles the Great, or Charlemagne (AD 742–814). <br /><br />Charlemagne was crowned as “emperor” by Pope Leo III in Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800. This launched what we call the “Holy Roman Empire.” The Holy Roman Empire was a succession of European kings, with constantly moving borders, which was mostly devoutly loyal to the Roman Church. It survived until 1806… Beginning with Charlemagne in the late 700s, this state devotion to the church led to some extravagant acts of coercion and violence, as well as to a “renaissance” of learning and culture.<br /><br />Charlemagne was an even more ardent supporter of the church than the Merovingians had been. For his efforts, the pope would crown him the first “Holy Roman Emperor.” The concept was straightforward. Charlemagne was chosen by God to revive the glories of the Roman Empire in the west and to defend and promote the cause of the church (hence “holy”).<br /><br />His method was similar to that of Clovis, supporting the building of monasteries and churches throughout his realm. But there was more. Among the “Saxons,” Charlemagne adopted what has been described as a Christian “jihad.” The Saxons were a Germanic warrior people in what is now northwestern Germany. Charlemagne waged a brutal thirty-year campaign against them, from 772 to 804… In 782, for example, he ordered the beheading of more than four thousand, five hundred Saxons on a single day…<br /><br />Sometime before the full subjugation of the Saxons, Charlemagne had published a notorious set of laws titled the Capitulatio de Partibus Saxoniae or Ordinances for the Region of Saxony. Among the special rules for the unruly Saxons was this one: <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“If any one of the race of the Saxons hereafter concealed among them shall have wished to hide himself unbaptized, and shall have scorned to come to baptism and shall have wished to remain a pagan, let him be punished by death.”</i></div><br />Adding insult to injury, Charlemagne immediately imposed on every Saxon household “tithes,” that is, religious taxes. This created a double blow: cultural destruction and a financial yoke…Charlemagne’s policies among the Saxons were undeniably awful. They are evidence of a deadly experiment in “missionary” expansion in the late 700s… Charlemagne’s approach is a notorious outlier in the Christian tradition.<br /><br />A century later, the most influential western Christian thinker for a millennium, Saint Augustine the bishop of Hippo (AD 354–430), laid down the principle that “[n]o one is to be compelled to embrace the faith against his will. The same policy was followed by the pope himself in the sixth-century mission to England. Pope Gregory I (AD 540–604) wrote to an abbot named Mellitus, who was on his way to assist Augustine of Canterbury in the establishment of Christianity in the British Isles. In the letter, the pope expresses his longing to see the country converted to Christ, but he insists that the pagan temples themselves should not be damaged—the idols may be removed, but the buildings should not be destroyed. He gives the reason: so that pagans would not be resentful, and so that they might be more open to receiving the true worship of God.<br /><br />Alcuin of York (AD 735–804), a leading biblical scholar and teacher of the liberal arts (rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, astronomy)… admits that the Saxons are the “toughest of the tough,” but he insists that forced conversion, baptism, and “tithes” are not in keeping with the spirit of Christianity. Indeed, he says that if the “light yoke and the easy burden of Christ” had been preached to the Saxons with the same zeal that tithes had been extracted from them and punishments dealt out to them, “then perhaps they would not be shrinking back from the sacrament of baptism…”<br /><br />In the same year (AD 796) he wrote a much softer letter directly to Charlemagne raising the same concerns. In an astonishing turnaround, Charlemagne actually halted his harsh policy toward the Saxons, publishing a new code on 28 October 797 - the Capitulare Saxonicum - which removed any mention of baptism or death and made numerous concessions to local pagan customs, so long as they did not directly contradict Christianity.<br /><br />In the long run, Alcuin was proved right. The voluntary approach to mission was more effective. Saxony would eventually fully embrace the faith and would become a leading centre of Christianity in the centuries to come. In fact, as the great medievalist Brian Tierney of Cornell University has pointed out, “more than 90 percent of the works of ancient Rome that we know nowadays exist in their earliest form in a Carolingian manuscript,” that is, in a text studied and copied by Christian scholars from the era of Charlemagne (eighth and ninth centuries). Their meticulous endeavours “form the basis of nearly all modern editions” of classical Roman literature…<br /><br />Thomas Aquinas (AD 1225–1274) was probably the most influential western Christian thinker since Saint Augustine. In his massive Summa Theologiae, a multivolume statement of the Christian faith, Aquinas writes with typical precision:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“Unbelievers are by no means to be compelled to the faith, in order that they may believe, because to believe depends on the will.”</i></div><br />In the Middle Ages…if you were going to find a precious ancient manuscript anywhere, it would be in a Christian monastery, where texts like that of Lucretius had been preserved, studied, and copied since at least the time of Charlemagne, six hundred years earlier. In fact, as the great medievalist Brian Tierney of Cornell University has pointed out, “more than 90 percent of the works of ancient Rome that we know nowadays exist in their earliest form in a Carolingian manuscript,” that is, in a text studied and copied by Christian scholars from the era of Charlemagne (eighth and ninth centuries). Their meticulous endeavours “form the basis of nearly all modern editions” of classical Roman literature...<br /><br />Saint Jerome (AD 342–420), one of the most influential Christian teachers in the fourth and fifth centuries. Jerome was raised with the best pagan Roman education, only to reject classical literature in his thirties (in AD 374) after having a dream in which an angel accused him of preferring Cicero, the great Latin writer, to the Gospels. “Thou art a Ciceronian,” the angel said, “not a Christian; for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.<br /><br />[For a time} Jerome refused to read pagan authors. He devoted himself instead to Bible translation and to writing commentaries and Christian essays. During this period, he wrote his oft-quoted line (oft-quoted by skeptics),<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“What communion hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with Belial [the Devil]? What has Horace in common with the Psalter? Virgil with the Gospels and Cicero with the Apostle?”</i></div><br />This sounds like a theological rejection of secular learning. But Jerome returned to the classics around 389, until his death thirty years later in 420. He often embellished his instruction and advice with citations from Cicero, Horace, Virgil, and other pagan writers. [This is part of the] the “true and ripe liberalism” of his last three decades, when Jerome could seamlessly expound a line of the New Testament and illustrate it with a line from Virgil’s epic Aeneid.<br /><br />The “wisdom-theology” approach to knowledge was the norm among Christian theologians in the period following the New Testament, whether in the second century (Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria), third (Tertullian of Carthage, Origen of Alexandria), fourth (Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Lactantius of Nicomedia), fifth (Augustine of Hippo, Jerome of Bethlehem), or the sixth century (Boethius and Cassiodorus of Rome).<br /><br />A quick Google search of these names will reveal that all of them valued secular learning as a window—if often an opaque window—into God’s wisdom imprinted on the world… A handbook for clergy from this time makes clear that young priests were expected to have mastered the seven liberal arts, as well as some philosophy, before embarking on their theological and pastoral education. Studying grammar, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, and all the rest was considered an act of devotion to the all-wise God. It was learning about the “wisdom” the Creator had imprinted upon the world...<br /><br />For Alcuin and his circle, and all those they inspired, this involved knowing not just the Bible and the church fathers, such as Augustine, Gregory the Great, Jerome, and Ambrose, but also all of the ancient Greek and Roman (classical) authors they could get their hands on. From Alcuin’s own catalogues, letters, and the surviving manuscripts from this period, we know this included Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Pliny the Elder, Horace, Cicero, Seneca, Virgil, Livy, Ovid, and about sixty other authors.<br /><br />The story of “dark ages” when the church suppressed knowledge is a fiction developed in modern times…the first European “universities” in the 1100s, in Bologna, Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge, all owe a debt to the educational ambitions of the medieval church…<br /><br />Yet, all that knowledge could not save the church from falling victim to its own stupidity over these same centuries. One element of the “Dark Ages” narrative that cannot be denied is that in its effort to convert the warrior-cultures of pagan Europe, the church itself was transformed into the biggest bully of all. <br /><br />A text from AD 150 declares, “we live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each one’s lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and other aspects of life.” All of this is a strength and a weakness. On the one hand, it has made Christianity an easily transportable faith. It is just as much at home in Africa or China as it is in France or the US.This is no doubt partly why it became history’s first—and now largest—“world religion.” On the other hand, the relative lack of fixed social patterns in Christianity, combined with its missionary zeal, is one of its deepest vulnerabilities...<br /><br />Christians are prone to adopting local norms and accommodating themselves to the local context. The capacity and desire to fit in to a host culture makes them susceptible to the temptation to sacrifice some of their own ideals in an effort to win friends and influence people. (None of this is to deny that Christians have also sometimes universalized their local expressions of Christianity and imposed them colonially upon Christians in other parts of the world)...<br /><br />Christianity’s cultural flexibility can, as I say, leave it vulnerable to modification. In seeking to accommodate itself to a local setting, it can compromise its own moral logic. Something like this happened on a grand scale in the Middle Ages. As the church sought to win pagan warrior cultures to the faith, whether in France, Germany, or Scandinavia, it somehow managed to transform Jesus into the ultimate “warlord” and his church into the “knights of Christ...”<br /><br />Christianity was highly successful beyond the frontiers of the Roman world, from which it had begun. But success was a two-edged sword, bringing challenges and demanding compromises. Just as the conversion of the Roman emperor in the early 300s unexpectedly transformed the church into an active player in the wealth and power of an empire, so the conversion of the warrior aristocracy of Gaul, England, and parts of Germany brought fresh “negotiations” with a way of life at least as old as Rome. <b>The church converted many, and it found itself converted in the process...</b><br /><br />We have surviving letters between Clovis and local bishops. They tell an interesting story… The correspondence is an unsettling mix of sage Christian preaching and sucking up. Here we see the church—in the person of a key bishop on the frontiers of Christianity—converting and being converted by an ancient warrior aristocracy... I do not doubt the spiritual intentions of Bishop Remigius. Nor can I ignore his eagerness to hitch his wagon, the church’s wagon, to the prevailing culture of the day.<br /><br />Bishop Avitus of Vienne (southeast France) urges King Clovis to take his newfound Christianity into the regions he intends to conquer. Bishop Avitus is not recommending Christian “holy war” as a form of evangelization. He simply hopes that Christian “embassies” can tag along with Clovis’s expanding European Empire. It is an early form of religious imperialism...<br /><br />This is all very different from the policy of persuasion and self-sacrifice advocated by Pope Gregory I, Augustine of Canterbury, Eligius, Boniface, Bishop Daniel, Willibald, Alcuin, and others through roughly the same period. It is hard to resist the observation that as the church converted the warrior aristocracy of pagan Europe—now Christian Europe—the church itself was drawn to a more militaristic vision of life... The conversion of Europe involved a complex negotiation of cultures that eventually made the notion of Christian “holy war” entirely plausible... <br /><br />By the time the Byzantine emperor Alexius I pleaded with western Christendom in the 1080–1090s to come defend eastern Christendom from the march of Islam, the church was ready to be the “knight of Christ…” Part of the cultural negotiation between Christianity and pagan Europe was the church’s growing approval of the warrior tradition at the heart of Frankish and Saxon (Germanic) society…<br /><br />In the process of evangelizing medieval warlords, “the church had no option but to recognize their values,” Tyerman explains. The Clovises of the world had to be flattered in order to be persuaded. Their deeds had to be endorsed before they could be reformed...<br /><br />And the economic realities of the warrior tradition had to be accepted if the church was to ride on the backs of the war machine with the message of salvation for all.<b> In such a world the virtues of the Frankish warrior and the good Christian coincided.</b><br /><br />Pretty soon, bishops in these regions were chosen from among warrior elites, just as in fifth-century Rome they had been drawn from the senatorial class. The most remarkable sign of this medieval process of Christian militarization is a ninth-century Old Saxon poem called the Heliand or “Saviour.” It is a retelling of the Gospels’ account of Christ in the style of a pagan heroic saga. Jesus himself is described as a knight, and his apostles are his travelling war band…. Within this context, Christian discipleship could, without too much of a stretch, be extended to include real physical violence for Christ’s cause...<br /><br />When Pope Urban II announced the First Crusade in November 1095, the stage had long been set for a Europe-wide response, which harnessed the ancient warrior tradition and repurposed it for Christ… When the crowds in Clermont that day replied with “God wills it,” they were not—in their minds—taking a shocking new turn in the Christian life. They were expressing the fulfillment of centuries of cultural fusion between the universalistic vision of Christianity and the heroic tradition of a warrior elite. <br /><br />In such a mood, it seemed entirely plausible for an accomplished monk like Bernard of Clairvaux (AD 1090–1153) to write about sacred violence…He was best known in his day for treatises on love for God. But in the wake of the First Crusade, he penned his famous In Praise of the New Knighthood.<br /><br />I am particularly struck by the way Bernard of Clairvaux took New Testament military metaphors and concretized them. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the first-century apostle likens the Christian life to “warfare” against temptation and persecution. The symbolic nature of the paragraph could hardly be clearer… Saint Bernard alludes to this same New Testament imagery to endorse actual armor and weaponry. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“The knight who puts the breastplate of faith on his soul in the same way as he puts a breastplate of iron on his body is truly intrepid and safe from everything…So forward in safety, knights, and with undaunted souls drive off the enemies of the cross of Christ.”</i></div><br />Those enemies are the Muslims in the Holy Land. Christopher Tyerman puts it well: “It is a measure of the pragmatism, sophistication, some might say sophistry, and sheer intellectual ingenuity, that there was an ideology of Christian holy war at all.”<br /><br />A generation after him, right around the time of the Fourth (AD 1198–1204) and Fifth Crusades (AD 1213–1229), an astonishing woman rose to prominence as the mouthpiece for God, many believed… Christina the Astonishing (AD 1150–1224)… [endorsed] the Crusader theology of the day: remission of sins through sacred combat. She saw the Crusades as an opportunity for sinful, hell-bound men in Europe to win their salvation.<br /><br /><b>If, by the 500s, being Christian was indistinguishable from being Roman, by the 1000s being Christian was indistinguishable from being Frankish or Saxon. Europe and the church found themselves converted to each other’s ways.</b></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-48722851299160792362023-04-10T08:29:00.001-07:002023-04-10T08:29:13.682-07:00Bullies And Saints Part 2: From Julian to the City of God<div>I really enjoyed John Dickson's <u>Bullies And Saints: An Honest Look At The Good And Evil Of Christian History</u>. There is much to learn from the record of bullies and saints in church history lest we repeat their failures or fail to replicate their successes. Truly, as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am doing a series of posts where I cut and paste from his book. Where I fill in words, you will see [brackets]. I use ellipses for all the places where I know there is a gap, but (because of how Kindle highlighting works) I am sure there are many places where I fail to note what's written between two sentences I put next to each other. If what I post feels disconnected or clunky as you read it, that's my editing, not his writing :) </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-1-from-christ.html" target="_blank">The first installment was the most positive.</a> The church's reputation prior to Constantine was pretty solid. But following Constantine's influence, leaders like Ambrose and then Augustine changed the tune the church had been singing. The changes may not strike you as jarring yet, but they are laying a foundation infused with a love of money and power on which others will build terrible things. Meanwhile, many Christians were faithfully continuing the tradition the early church had started.....<span><a name='more'></a></span><div>____________________________________________________________________________________</div><div><br /></div><div>When Julian became emperor in AD 361 at age thirty, he set about dismantling the position of the church in society. He flushed Christians out of his imperial court, rescinded the tax exemptions of Constantine, banned Christian academics from teaching (more on that in a moment), and published tracts ridiculing them…<br /><br />On 17 June 362 he decreed that all “masters of studies”—the equivalent of schoolteachers and university lecturers—had to be approved directly by him. Julian was effectively banning Christian instructors from all schools. (Christians would return the compliment one hundred and sixty years later, when Emperor Justinian would sack pagan professors)...<br /><br />By the late 300s the Christian emperors and churches would not risk another Julian. Christians would climb the social ladder and declare their vision for society from the palace rooftops…. In previous generations bishops were forbidden to be chosen from among the elites of society. Pretty soon, however, church leaders were being parachuted in from the Roman Senate itself. And they would act like it.<br /><br />The church in the centuries after Constantine became rich and powerful. There are deep and subtle paradoxes to get our heads around here. The obvious one is: How did the champion of the poor end up amassing untold wealth?<br /><br />Ambrose represents a major social or political development in Christianity… Bishop Ambrose (AD 339–397) is an amazing historical figure: elite statesman, experienced legislator, friend of emperors, as well as Christian convert, poet, and preacher… Not only did his consecration as bishop make clear that elites would now be welcomed into the highest ranks of church authority… Ambrose himself showed the way to a new muscular form of Christianity, one that was not afraid to boss people around for Jesus, for the good of society.<br /><br />Ambrose’s eloquence in the pulpit, his personal donations to the church coffers, and his huge emphasis on caring for the poor made him extremely popular. Here was an upper-class Roman who was also a “man of the people.” His efforts to make his churches a kind of alternative society in Milan paved the way for a new conception of the role of the bishop as a “public Christian…” He was a cross between a holy man and a city mayor.<br /><br />The traditional tools of the church had been prayer, service, preaching, and suffering. That had worked out pretty well. But in his work “On Duties” (AD 388), Ambrose laid out a vision of the bishop as active in society for its good. While Christians were not yet a majority in the empire, they were the most influential single association.<br /><br />One of the first tests of Ambrose’s approach to the church in society was his insistence in AD 383–384 that the statue of the goddess Victory (Nike in Greek) should be removed from the Roman Senate House… Ambrose finally won, convincing Emperor Valentinian II to remove the statue.<br /><br />[After giving other examples of Ambrose becoming increasingly involved in civic disputes and using his clout to get societal standards to conform to church expectations…] <br /><br />A key point to observe in all this is that Ambrose felt that he and his clergy were wholly justified in sidelining pagans and heretics, in amassing church wealth, and in exercising wide civic influence. They alone were effecting society’s cure by establishing Christ’s new humanity in the world. Becoming a “bully” for Jesus (to put it perhaps unfairly) was for the benefit of all…<br /><br />At the very time Ambrose was flexing his muscles in the west, three extraordinary bishops two thousand miles to the east were preaching on behalf of the poor, denouncing the practice of slavery, and establishing the world’s first public hospital. <br /><br />The Cappadocian fathers are best known today—in theological circles—for their defense of the doctrine of the Trinity. But they were also passionate defenders of the poor and sick. Gregory of Nazianzus’s Oration 14, “On Love for the Poor,” is arguably the most systematic explanation of the centrality of charity ever composed. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“We must regard charity as the first and greatest of the commandments since it is the very sum of the Law and the Prophets…its most vital part I find is the love of the poor along with compassion and sympathy for our fellow man. We must, then, open our hearts to all the poor and to all those who are victims of disasters from whatever cause.”</i></div><br />There was no such thing as free medical care available for all, until Basil. Basil’s idea, what he called his Ptocheion or “Poorhouse,” employed live-in medical staff who cared for the sick, drawing on the best traditions of secular Greek medicine. The “healthcare centre” (there is no other way to describe it) included six separate departments: one for the poor, another for the homeless and strangers, a house for orphans and foundlings (the church in the fourth century was still collecting exposed infants), a completely separate section for lepers, rooms for the aged and infirm, and a hospital proper for the sick.<br /><br />Basil was one of those Christians, drawing on the ancient Jewish tradition, who believed that if you had resources and withheld them from those in need, you were actually stealing from them. In a blistering sermon on Jesus’s parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13–21), Basil declared, <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“The bread that you hold back belongs to the hungry. The coat that you guard in a chest belongs to the naked. The shoes that you have left wasting away belong to the shoeless. The silver that you have buried in the ground belongs to the needy. In these and other ways you have wronged all those you were able to provide for.”</i></div><br />By 390, the old imperial capital saw the establishment of the first western equivalent of the Basileias. It was founded by perhaps the wealthiest woman in the empire, Fabiola [who] at some point, embraced Christianity. Feeling convicted about her wealth, she discarded her jewels and silken clothes and wore instead the dress of a plebeian and the robe of a slave.<br /><br />Fabiola sold her vast property holdings and distributed everything to the poor. Part of this involved founding what Jerome called “an infirmary.” Fabiola “gathered into it sufferers from the streets,” Jerome reports, “giving a nurse’s care to poor bodies worn with sickness and hunger."<br /><br />We have Basil and Fabiola to thank for an institution we now take for granted. It may be more accurate to say that we have Basil’s older sister, Macrina (AD 327–379), to thank for the whole show. Although wealthy, Macrina also sold her estate and gave everything to the poor, living out her years in a community of other contemplative women who studied, prayed, and worked a farm to sustain themselves. Together, these women also rescued infants who had been left abandoned. They raised the children within the community.<br /><br />As a local bishop, Gregory of Nyssa also preached weekly sermons. One of these sermons left us with history’s first full-throated attack on the practice of slavery. Christian tolerance of slavery was an inexcusable blindspot for many Christians…but it was not an outcome of Christianity. Let me set all this in a more ancient context… <br /><br />It is true that the New Testament nowhere tells Christians to put an end to slavery. It is instruction on how to live within a seemingly unchangeable Roman system. An analogy might be the instruction in the New Testament to honor and obey the emperor (1 Pet 2:17). This tacitly tolerates pagan hereditary dictatorships, but it would be wrong to think of it as an endorsement of the system.<br /><br />The New Testament does, however, explicitly condemn “slave traders” as “unholy and profane” and “contrary to the sound teaching” (1 Tim 1:9–11). Christians in the second and third centuries also took innovative measures to moderate slavery from within. By AD 115, for example, churches were establishing dedicated funds to pay for the manumission (formal release) of slaves. This ministry grew to become a significant aspect of Christian charity in the first few centuries. Partly in recognition of this ministry, Constantine granted bishops the authority to manumit slaves at church expense in a decree of 18 April 321. This bestowed on former slaves the full rights of Roman citizenship….<br /><br />Christians sought to moderate slavery from within. Sadly, we do not know of anyone, apart from Gregory of Nyssa (AD 335–395), who mounted a full-scale critique of slavery. But Christians did feel obliged to assist slaves, when they could, especially when there were sufficient funds to buy someone’s freedom. Many early Christians, of course, were themselves slaves or ex-slaves, including one of the bishops of Rome, Callistus, in the early 200s.<br /><br />In a letter to his friend Alypius, a bishop in the nearby city of Thagaste (modern Souk Ahras in Algeria), Augustine reports that large numbers of men, women, and children were being kidnapped and on-sold through Hippo’s port. “They seem to be draining Africa of much of its human population,” Augustine laments, “and transferring their ‘merchandise’ to the provinces across the sea.”<br /><br />The most extraordinary part of this letter tells how Augustine’s parishioners one day took the matters into their own hands. A large ship was in port, about to set sail with its human cargo. A member of the church, “a faithful Christian,” says Augustine, “knowing our custom of missions of mercy of this kind, made this known to the church.” Immediately, members of the church raided both the ship and a nearby holding cell. “About 120 were freed by our people,” he reports. Some were able to be returned to their families. Others were being housed and fed at the church. Still others had to be sheltered in the homes of local Christians around Hippo, “for the church could not feed all those whom it freed.”<br /><br />The rescue operation was not exactly legal, and Augustine worried that things were about to get bad for local Christians. Augustine was not an abolitionist. In his mind, the system was an unhappy permanent feature of a fallen world. All that can be done about it is urge masters to treat their slaves well, use church funds to purchase people’s freedom, and occasionally raid slave ships.<br /><br />Sadly, things rarely went further. Christians did not overthrow slavery, even when they gained the theoretical power to do so, from about the sixth century…Rowan Williams might be right that it was Christianity that “lit a long fuse of argument and discovery [about slavery], which eventually explodes” in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But we can all agree that the fuse was too long.<br /><br />This is what makes Gregory of Nyssa’s speech against slavery fifteen hundred years before Frederick Douglass so remarkable…Gregory preached this sermon in about the year 380, right around the time Ambrose was cross-examining heretics, leading protests to prevent imperial use of church buildings, and complaining over Christians having to pay for a synagogue they burned down.<br /><br />Sometimes the darkest and brightest moments of church history happen at the same time...we often find beauty and discord together at the same time, though not always in equal proportion. Gregory and Ambrose were both great men... One embodied the very essence of Christ’s teaching. The other was as quintessentially Roman as he was Christian. For better and worse—and I do mean both—it was Ambrose who set the model for church-state relations in the west for the decades and centuries to come.<br /><br />With Christians slowly becoming the majority in the empire, and imperial officials looking to bishops for guidance in the affairs of state, some very important developments occurred in rapid succession. <br /><br />One of the most significant of these was the theological justification for state violence. In the fifth century church leaders began to devise a distinctively Christian account of state violence. One of the most politically consequential intellectual developments in the first millennium of Christianity came from one of the most capacious minds of the period. Saint Augustine started to theorize about “ just war.<br /><br />As more and more Christians filled administrative positions in the empire, and more and more bishops gained access to the imperial “ear” (on the model of Ambrose of Milan), it was perhaps inevitable that Christian intellectuals would be invited to offer guidance to rulers on how a Christian regime is meant to conduct its wars.<br /><br />This involved some elaborate thinking. How does the religion of “love your enemy,” the religion of a cross, provide advice to the most successful military machine the world had ever seen… For Christians…thinking about warfare was new and foreign. The Old Testament contained stories of holy war, but Jews themselves in this period had long believed that Joshua’s conquest was unique, designed to secure the land of Israel at its foundation. It was not a model for broader conquest…<br /><br />In Christian theology from the second to the fourth centuries, these Old Testament wars were usually interpreted allegorically. They were known to be genuine historical battles, but their meaning for Christians was entirely symbolic, having to do with Christ’s victory over sin and death or the believer’s battle with their own unruly soul. Making things worse—or better, depending on our perspective—the New Testament offered no guidance whatsoever for conducting wars.<br /><br />In the next few centuries, from 100 to 400, Christian thinkers opposed torture, capital punishment, and, for the most part, even participation in the army. On the other hand, a detailed church manual from this time (AD 200) known as The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus lists the professions that disqualify people from receiving formal instruction in the faith. The blacklist includes gladiators, hunters in the arena (who kill beasts for pleasure), officials and trainers for gladiatorial shows, military commanders who are obliged to execute others, and magistrates who also deal out capital punishment.The manual seems to allow regular soldiers to receive teaching (at least, they are not explicitly excluded), but if a fully instructed and baptized Christian “wishes to become a solider, let him be cast out. For he has despised God.”<br /><br />Even a century later, around the year 300, Lactantius wrote straightforwardly, “A just man may not be a soldier, nor may he put anyone on a capital charge.” And, finally, rule number twelve of the Council of Nicaea, made in the presence of Constantine himself, declared that Christians who returned to being soldiers are like “dogs who return to their vomit…” It seems that nothing in Christianity’s founding documents and founding centuries prepared the church for a marriage between Christian theology and state violence.<br /><br /> On 24 August AD 410 the so-called Visigoths (Germanic tribes) led by Alaric somehow managed to breach the Italian defenses and do the unthinkable: they sacked Rome… It is difficult for us, all these years later, to appreciate what a disorienting cultural catastrophe this was. Who was to blame for this catastrophe? For many, the obvious answer was the Christians. The old gods had sustained the Roman people for a millennium, and now, within a century of the first Christian emperor, the historic capital of the empire was defeated.<br /><br />Augustine met this challenge head-on by producing one of the most remarkable pieces of cultural (and theological) analysis in western history, with a whopping four hundred thousand-plus word count (three or four times the size of this book). The City of God, written in installments between AD 416 and 422, turned the criticism of the pagans on its head. It presented a detailed, subtle, and devasting critique of the ethics, politics, and religion of the “earthly city” of Rome, in contrast to the reign of Christ, the true eternal city of God, which was humanity’s only hope...<br /><br />The City of God was not a simplistic argument for replacing the Roman Empire with an earthly Christendom, as if Christianizing state institutions would bring peace on earth. Augustine was too realistic—some would say pessimistic—to believe that. He believed that conversion to Christianity would bring some improvements to society, especially to the poor and marginalized, but “he would have been greatly astonished by the medieval canonists [later church lawyers]who interpreted him to imply that the empire ought to be run by bishops with the pope at their head,” writes Oxford’s Henry Chadwick...<br /><br />By Augustine’s time in the early fifth century, it had become a practical impossibility to keep Christians out of the army; there were just too many Christian citizens, and some of them had risen to become generals. In AD 418, in the very period he was writing The City of God, Augustine wrote to Boniface, the tribune of Africa and a Christian, “Do not suppose that no one can please God who as a soldier carries the weapons of war.” So long as fighting is absolutely necessary and peace remains the goal, warfare can be good:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“Your will ought to aim at peace; only necessity requires war in order that God may set us free from necessity and preserve us in peace. For we do not seek peace in order to stir up war, but we wage war in order to acquire peace.”</i></div><br />This is something new: a Christian leader directly urging state powers to fight. He utterly rejected the usual Roman justifications for war: enlarging the empire, protecting honor, removing iniquitous nations, or assuming that Roman subjugation was itself a kind of “peace…” It is clear that Augustine saw warfare—even just warfare—as a tragic necessity in the “earthly city,” which can only ever be partially Christianized through the principles laid down.<br /><br />In Augustine’s view, even just wars are not “holy.” And they are certainly not happy, even in victory. Still, Augustine’s arguments were to have an influence out of all proportion to his brief concessions about the necessity of state violence.<br /><br />Augustine himself embodies the paradox of church history. He was responsible for establishing a theological justification for state violence at the very same time he was trying to liberate slaves.<br /><br /> <div><br /></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-81778045690585187432023-04-05T07:10:00.010-07:002023-04-10T08:30:07.236-07:00Bullies And Saints Part 1: From Christ to Constantine I really enjoyned John Dickson's <u>Bullies And Saints: An Honest Look At The Good And Evil Of Christian History. </u>Well...maybe 'enjoyed' is not the right word, as a lot of it was sobering to read. Perhaps 'appreciated' is a better word. There is much to learn from the record of bullies and saints in church history lest we repeat their failures or fail to replicate their successes. And in case you are wondering if this is boring and irrelevant, I felt like story after story matched today's headlines in terms. Truly, as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. <div><br /></div><div>I am going to do a series of posts where I cut and paste from his book. Where I fill in words, you will see [brackets]. I use ellipses for all the places where I know there is a gap, but (because of how Kindle highlighting works) I am sure there are many places where I fail to note what's written between two sentences I put next to each other. If what I post feels disconnected or clunky as you read it, that's my editing, not his writing :) </div><div><br /></div><div>The first installment is the most positive. The church's reputation prior to Constantine was pretty solid. This post will give some highlights of the early church; when Constantine enters the scene, things begin to change as the bullies begin to challenge the saints... <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * * * * * * *</div><div><br /></div><div>Disregarding Christianity on the basis of the poor performance of the church is a bit like dismissing Johann Sebastian Bach after hearing Dickson attempt the Cello Suites...We know to distinguish between the composition and the performance. Jesus wrote a beautiful composition. Christians have not performed it consistently well…<br /><br />Love certainly does not feature in the best-known moral codes of the pagan world (Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome). Universal love is not there in the proverbs of Egypt, the Code of Hammurabi, the ethics of Plato and Aristotle, the 147 maxims of Delphi, or the wonderful moral discourses of Seneca, Epictetus, or Plutarch. What we find, instead, in these Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Greco-Roman moral teachings are things like justice, courage, wisdom, and moderation—the four cardinal virtues of western antiquity. There is hardly a mention of love, mercy, humility, or non-retaliation.<br /><br />Where we do find an emphasis on love is in Jesus’s Jewish background.<br /><blockquote><i>“On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen… went before Hillel, [who] made him a proselyte. He said to him, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. Go and learn.”</i></blockquote>David Flusser of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, memorably wrote about Jesus’s intensification of Jewish traditions. Although not really a Pharisee himself, he was closest to the Pharisees of the school of Hillel, who preached love, but he pointed the way further to unconditional love—even of one’s enemies and of sinners. As we shall see, this was no sentimental teaching.<br /><br />Here is the central moral logic, the original melody, of Christianity. God’s love must animate the Christian’s love for all. The obvious fact that this moral logic did not translate into a consistent moral history is the dilemma at the heart of this book.<br /><br />There is a second melody line that should be held in mind as we assess the church’s performance. From the beginning Jews and Christians insisted that every man, woman, and child is created in the imago Dei, the “image of God.”<br /><br />“When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.” (Gen 5:1–3) The parallelism is unmistakable. Just as Adam had a child in his likeness and image, so every man and woman bears God’s image. To be made in the imago Dei is to be regarded by the Creator as offspring. The expression does not refer to any particular capacity in human beings. It describes our relation to the Creator.<br /><br />All human beings, regardless of their ability or usefulness, are equally and inestimably precious because they are considered children of the Creator and therefore our own kin.<br /><br />Genesis 9:6 says that no one should murder another person, “for in his own image God made humankind.” In the New Testament, Jesus’s half-brother, James (yes, Jesus had a half-brother), insists that we should not even “curse those who are made in the likeness of God” (Jas 3:9).</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The former Chief Rabbi of Britain, the much-celebrated intellectual Lord Professor Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (what a title!), wrote in his 2020 book Morality, </div><div><blockquote><i>“That is what makes the first chapter of Genesis revolutionary in its statement that every human being, regardless of class, color, culture or creed, is in the image and likeness of God himself. In the ancient world it was rulers, kings, emperors and pharaohs who were held to be in the image of God. What Genesis was saying is that we are all royalty. We each have equal dignity in the kingdom of faith under the sovereignty of God.”</i></blockquote></div><div>For one thing, it is clear that “love of enemies” and “the image of God” drove much of what was unique in the history of Christianity, as even the most begrudging historians and philosophers will acknowledge. The church is at its best, in history and today, when it performs these melody lines contained in its founding documents.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then again, reminding ourselves of the moral logic of Christ and the New Testament makes the story I am going to tell all the more tragic. The bigotry, selfishness, and violence of the church, whether in the Crusades, Inquisitions, wealth accumulation, or the horrors of child abuse, are not only departures from broad humanitarian principles. They are a betrayal of the specific mandate Christ gave his movement.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><br />The church under Roman rule, from Emperor Tiberius (AD 14–37) to Emperor Constantine (AD 306–337), specialized in what you might call “losing well.” Christians accepted that the state had the right to use force against evildoers, but it held that they themselves had no such right…The very structure of their faith—grounded in Christ’s sacrifice—forbade revenge and demanded compassion, even toward enemies.<br /><br />In those days the church was more likely to be mocked for its devotion to philanthropy and martyrdom—literally mocked for these things—than for bigotry or violence. In those days you could never have imagined that Christians would one day appear as the bullies…<br /><br />Ignatius was the bishop of the churches of Antioch in Syria. Sometime during the reign of Emperor Trajan (AD 98–117), he was arrested and ordered to stand trial in Rome. Accompanied by ten soldiers, Ignatius was taken on the several-month overland journey through Turkey then on to Greece before arriving in the capital, where he was executed…<br /><br />Throughout his journey he was permitted to write to Christians in various towns along the way. Seven of his letters survive. They are filled with the call to “love,” a word that appears no fewer than sixty-four times in the collection. In his letter to Christians in Ephesus, he pleaded:<br /><blockquote><i>“Pray continually for the rest of humankind as well, that they may find God, for there is in them hope of repentance. Therefore allow them to be instructed by you, at least by your deeds. In response to their anger, be gentle; in response to their boasts, be humble; in response to their slander, offer prayers; in response to their errors, be steadfast in the faith; in response to their cruelty, be civilized; do not be eager to imitate them. Let us show by our forbearance that we are their brothers and sisters, and let us be eager to be imitators of the Lord.”</i></blockquote></div><div><span style="text-align: center;">...Ancient Christians were not timid. They did not adopt a posture of peaceful resistance through a kind of slave mentality of the bullied. Nor was their religion an opiate that dulled them to social realities here and now. In fact, reading the early sources, it is clear they actually felt like they were the victors! They believed that true power to change the world lay not in politics, the judiciary, or the military but in the message of Christ’s death and resurrection.</span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"> * * * * *</span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div>At the dawn of the fourth century, seemingly out of nowhere, Rome launched its greatest ever campaign of violence against the church…. an empire-wide suppression of Christians known to historians today as the “Great Persecution.” It was unlike anything that had come before in intensity, duration, and geographical spread…<br /><br />The first edict, dated 23 February 303, decreed that churches should be demolished and their Scriptures burned. According to the emperor’s edicts, Christians were also forbidden to assemble. Freed slaves who confessed Christ were re-enslaved. And any believers in the upper echelons of society, including in academic posts, lost their positions and social rank… A fourth edict issued in the year 304 brought things to a head. The law mandated that every citizen should participate in sacrifices to the traditional Greek and Roman gods. Anyone who refused, as Christians must, was to be tortured until they relented, or else they were executed. Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa bore the brunt. That is where the majority of Christians lived.<br /><br />We have a few Christian texts written in the middle of the Great Persecution….Lucius Lactantius (AD 240–320)… explains that Christianity emphatically connects devotion to God with compassion toward humanity. Why? Because human beings bear the imago Dei.<br /><blockquote><i>“Whatever you grant to man, you also grant to God, since man is the likeness of God. If we have all been given the breath of life by one and the same God, we must all be brothers, and closer than brothers too, being brothers in spirit rather than in the flesh.” This “sibling relationship is why God instructs us to do evil never and good always.”</i></blockquote>This demands mercy and forgiveness, never revenge: <br /><blockquote><i>“The just man will never forgo the chance to act mercifully. He is to answer a curse with a blessing; he himself should never curse, so that no evil word may proceed out of the mouth. He should also take great care never to create an enemy by fault of his own, and if there is someone so aggressive as to do harm to a good and just man, the good and just man should put up with it in a forgiving and self-controlled fashion, exacting no revenge of his own but leaving it to the judgment of God.”</i></blockquote>Both the founding documents of Christianity (the New Testament) and the founding centuries of Christian history (AD 30–312) provide a clear portrait of what we might call “normative Christianity.” A key aspect of that norm is the resolve to love even enemies because they, too, bear the image of God. Whatever we must say about later bad behavior—and I will say a lot—it is obvious we will not find an explanation of the church’s hatred and violence in the origins of the movement.<br /><br />For the first three centuries Christians seemed like “good losers.” They believed they had already received the greatest reward—God’s love through Christ’s death and resurrection. And they were sure that his story of suffering followed by vindication was also theirs. They would win—they had won—even when they lost. All that was required of them, as they waited for God’s kingdom, was prayer, service, persuasion, and endurance of hardship. Jesus had given them a beautiful tune, and they were going to sing along.<br /><br />One benefit of knowing all this, as I have said before, is that it provides a standard by which we can rightly judge all future behavior of the church. If we know the melody, we can usually pick when someone is out of key. And the first hints of discord occurred almost immediately after the Great Persecution ended.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><br />No one could have predicted what was about to happen, least of all the Christians. Out of the blue, at the height of the church’s suffering, the most powerful man in the world announced he was a Christian. Whatever we make of the strange happenings in late October AD 312, this was a genuine and totally unexpected turning point in the history of the world. The most persecuted people in the empire now had the most important patron imaginable, the great “Augustus” of the western Roman Empire—soon to be the sole emperor of east and west (AD 324). <br /><br />A people used to mockery and social exclusion (and worse) were now invited into the very center of power. And, perhaps most bizarrely, the Christian sign of humble self-sacrifice was now a formal part of the Roman war machine. …Eusebius adds that he himself inspected the new Roman “standard” (the banner that armies fought under) that Constantine fashioned to celebrate his new religion:</div><div><div><br /></div><div> “A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it,” he writes. On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and within this, the symbol of the Savior’s name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters.” Eusebius concludes: “and these letters the emperor was in the habit of wearing on his helmet at a later period…The emperor constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a safeguard against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it should be carried at the head of the armies.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It is difficult to convey just how strange this turn of events will have seemed to everyone, Christians included. Just a year earlier Christianity had been outlawed, on pain of death. Now it was showered with imperial protection and benefaction.One priest a few years later was so thrilled finally to have a Christian emperor that he gave a speech in the presence of Constantine declaring that the emperor was – and I can hardly bring myself to type the words—“destined to share the empire of the Son of God in the world to come.” I can almost hear the gasps from the other clergy in attendance. I am happy to report that Constantine was indignant and told the man to stop speaking and go back to praying for the emperor instead...</div><div><br /></div><div>While Constantine’s embrace of Christianity was a definite turning point for the church, the egregious excesses of church power, wealth, and violence developed much later … Christianity was not made the official religion of the empire in this period; it was merely granted legal status equal to that of the still-dominant pagan religions.</div></div><div><br />[Around this time, Tertullian wrote],<br /><blockquote><i>"We are worshippers of one God, of whose existence and character Nature teaches all men; at whose lightnings and thunders you tremble, whose benefits minister to your happiness. You think that others, too, are gods, whom we know to be devils. However, it is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions: one man’s religion neither harms nor helps another man. It is assuredly no part of religion to compel religion—to which free-will and not force should lead us.”</i></blockquote>Tertullian’s language of a “right” to “free” worship sounds very modern, but it is ancient and Christian.<br /><br />Lactantius (AD 240–320) in his Divine Institutes, [argued] that Christianity is a religion of the mind rather than a cultural feature or an extension of the state. His lengthy chapter on “Justice” is probably the first attempt in western history to offer a sustained argument for reciprocal tolerance of all religions. If we are looking for an intellectual source of the Edict of Milan, it is Lactantius. Lactantius reasoned that coerced religion was the opposite of true religion, and so it was illogical. He pointed out that if one has to use force to advance one’s religion, the arguments in favor of that religion must be pretty weak:<br /><br />“If the reasoning is sound,” he said, “let them argue it! We are ready to listen.” Violence shows you have already lost. Christians, on the other hand, are happy to die for their faith, since they know they have already won the Truth. Here is a small excerpt from his extensive treatment:<br /><blockquote><i>“Worship cannot be forced; it is something to be achieved by talk rather than blows, so that there is free will in it. No one is detained by us [Christians] against his will—anyone without devotion and faith is no use to God; but when truth detains, no one departs. If they [pagans] have any confidence in their truth, let them teach it to us: let them talk, let them just utter, let them have the nerve, I say, to engage in debate of some such sort with us. Religion must be defended not by killing but by dying, not by violence but by endurance. . . . There is nothing that is so much a matter of willingness as religion.”</i></blockquote>The argument is deeply rooted in Lactantius’s Christian understanding of God’s way of relating to men and women, as a father to his children rather than as a monarch to subjects. If love is the goal—love for God and neighbor—religion can never be a matter of force…<br /><br />Eighty years after Lactantius, a pagan orator named Libanius would plead before Theodosius I for Christian tolerance of pagan shrines and officials. He used Lactantius’s own arguments (about the centrality of persuasion) against Christian zealots. He reminded them that “in their very own rules”—i.e., in the teachings of earlier Christians— “persuasion meets with approval and compulsion is deplored.” Thus, if you “resort to force . . . you would obviously be breaking your own rules.” Christians broke those rules often enough in the centuries that followed...</div><div><br />The temptation to overthrow pagan religion must have been great in AD 324, when Constantine defeated the eastern Augustus, Licinius, to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Yet, we have a public letter from Constantine written in the wake of his victory. In it he explains that he will not remove traditional practices.<br /><blockquote><i>“For it may be that this restoration of equal [religious] privileges to all will prevail to lead them [pagans] into the straight path. Let no one molest another, but let everyone do as his soul desires.”</i></blockquote>Jefferson was aware that the west’s first argument for religious liberty went back to Lactantius and Tertullian… Jefferson’s private book collection contains copies of both Lactantius and Tertullian. It turns out that in Jefferson’s private copy of his Notes on the State of Virginia, query XVII (on religious freedom), he had written out in Latin the very passage from Tertullian quoted earlier:<br /><blockquote><i>“[I]t is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions: one man’s religion neither harms nor helps another man. It is assuredly no part of religion to compel religion—to which free-will and not force should lead us.”</i></blockquote>I want to outline one important way everyone benefited from Constantine’s conversion: he greatly enhanced the church’s charitable services…Many of the legal and cultural changes made during his twenty-five-year reign explain both the best and worst of Christianity for a millennium or more.<br /><br />For example, certain tax breaks allowed the church to become the principal source of social welfare in the west for the next fifteen hundred years. On the other hand, the political influence given to bishops eventually made some of them as wealthy and powerful and sometimes as wicked as any Roman senator.<br /><br />This so-called Council of Nicaea produced a summary of Christian doctrine known as the Nicene Creed. The debate revolved around the recent views of a Christian priest in Alexandria named Arius, who had proposed that Jesus was a bridge between humanity and divinity, not the full incarnation of God himself…Arius’s solution was to say that Jesus was not actually God but a godlike creature. Constantine just wanted to stop all the arguing. Somewhere between two hundred and fifty and three hundred and twenty church officials, mainly bishops, attended the Council of Nicaea. Only two voted in favor of Arius’s proposal…<br /><br />Constantine ended certain formal punishments, which he believed to be an affront to righteousness. He outlawed crucifixion. And on March AD 316 he also ruled that the crimes of convicted criminals should no longer be branded or tattooed on the face, since the face “has been made in the likeness (similitudo) of heavenly beauty,” the first reference to the “image of God” in secular law. Similarly, in AD 325 he tried to ban gladiatorial games. “Bloody spectacles displease us,” his decree begins. “We wholly forbid the existence of gladiators…”<br /><br />On 31 January 320 he overturned the long-held Roman law penalizing those who never married or couples who never had children. He also made divorce more difficult under Roman law. In a period when divorced women were at a distinct disadvantage, this was a godsend to many (women more than men). If the husband is found to have divorced his wife on trivial grounds, “he must restore her entire dowry, and he shall not marry another woman.<br /><br />In another series of proclamations in 313, 315, and 322, Constantine also tried to remove the economic impulse to abandon infants in the practice of exposure. The law stated: “If any parent should report that he has offspring which on account of poverty he is not able to rear, there shall be no delay in issuing food and clothing...<br /><br />[A] law allowing untaxed bequests to churches, a thing already permitted for other corporations, would eventually have a huge impact on the church’s ability to be self-sufficient… What seemed like a small tax concession in the summer of 321 would become one of the church’s chief sources of income (property) and a principal cause of understandable criticism. The church was granted tax-free status because it was effectively the empire’s charity arm. This was something entirely new…<br /><br />Charity formed no part of the major moral discourses of the era, whether in Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Seneca, Epictetus, or Plutarch…there was not much to go around, so it made little sense to share what excess you had beyond your circle of family, friends, or clients. Poverty was often seen as a punishment of the gods or, in a less religious mode, as a balancing principle of the universe. The world is on an endless loop or cycle—so many believed—and the “rational principle” of the cosmos has a habit of redressing the injustices of former run-throughs…Plotinus was one of the more high-minded philosophers of the era. Yet even he could imagine that the destitute somehow deserved their destitution (he says the same thing about sexual assault, but I thought it best not to give the full quotation). Within such a view, there just was not much to motivate people to care for those outside their circle of loved ones.<br /><br />Teresa Morgan is Professor of Graeco-Roman History at the University of Oxford. She wrote the standard volume on mainstream ethics in the Roman world. In a 2019 interview I asked her what she regards as Christianity’s most distinctive contribution to ancient life. She said charity: <br /><blockquote><i>“This is a world with no social safety nets. But Christians create social safety nets. They are the people who are notorious for looking after the widows, the poor, the orphans, the people who in most of society are just slung out onto the street…”</i></blockquote>One final piece of evidence comes from fifty years later, right at the outbreak of the Great Persecution (AD 303–312). In his much-studied Constantine and the Conversion of Europe, Cambridge University’s Arnold H. M. Jones noted that the emperor spoke of God mainly as a God of power. His favorite expressions were: Mighty One, Highest God, Lord of All, and God Almighty. “Only rarely does he speak of him as the Savior,” Jones notes, “and never as loving or compassionate.”<br /><br />Compared to the consistent language of love dominating the first three hundred years of Christian literature, Constantine’s rhetoric about God was grand and austere. This might not be good Christian theology, but it was excellent imperial religion and well suited to the aspirations of the Roman people. Many good Romans would have been attracted to this way of thinking and speaking about Christianity. And many Christians happily sang along...<br /><br />Constantine’s record is a strange combination of peacemaking and violence, of humanitarian reform and bigotry, of legislated religious freedom and growing intolerance toward Jews and pagans… The conversion of Constantine to the way of Christ opened the door to the church’s own conversion to the ways of the world, to the ways of power, wealth, and even violence, in the name of Christ.<br /><br />The once good losers would sometimes become very bad winners.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2023/04/bullies-and-saints-part-2-from-julian.html" target="_blank">Bullies And Saints Part 2: From Julian to the City of God</a></b><br /><div><br /></div></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-83402507461588266672023-02-24T07:17:00.005-08:002024-03-02T06:37:45.090-08:00 Some Thoughts On Asbury <p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>I’ve waded through a lot of hot takes, knee-jerk reactions, profound reflections, critiques,</span><span> </span>praises, and personal testimonies the past two weeks concerning the events in Asbury. First, I will overviews what’s happening (or by the time I publish this, ‘happened’) at Asbury. The overview will not be unbiased, as I am going to push back against some of the outsiders looking in based on what I am reading from the insiders looking out. Second, I will offer some observations about how to put theological guardrails around moments like these so that good movements of God don't go bad.</span></p><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;">It began after a chapel message that the speaker thought had completely flopped. I listened to the message.[1] It was an excellent challenge about the importance of loving other people as Jesus would have us love them. It started like this: <br /><blockquote><i>“I hope you guys forget me but anything from the Holy Spirit and God’s Word would find fertile ground in your hearts and produce fruit. Romans 12. That’s the star, okay? God’s Word and Jesus and the Holy Spirit moving in our midst, that’s what we’re hoping for.”</i></blockquote>After he challenged them to love others with the love of Jesus, he noted that doing this sounds impossible, and it is – unless we have Jesus. He reminded the students that our ability to love others well will come from the love Jesus has shown to us flowing out of us; in my words, we can only pay forward what God has given to us through Jesus. He gave them a particular challenge: if you are having trouble loving others well, you need to pray that you understand and experience the love of Jesus. That’s the only way it will work.<br /><br />I’ve heard some criticism of this sermon for not preaching “the whole gospel.” Listen. It was one of three-times-a-week chapels at a Christian college. This sermon had a particular focus on a particular morning. It was great. Speaking as a pastor who preaches a lot, if someone would take one isolated sermon and judge me or our church based on that one sermon, I would find it grossly unfair. Same with the times I've spoken in chapel at the local Christian high school. It’s like judging the plot or message of a book based on one chapter. Sermons (and chapels at Christian colleges) occur in a much broader context. Speakers don’t cover everything every time.<br /><br /> The next unexpected spark in what would become a fire[2] was a public confession/repentance from a student shortly after that message. I don't know what this student confessed, but if it built from the message, it was inspired by a conviction to love others well. One student reported that, in the following days, she observed students who couldn’t stand each other praying together and reconciling.[3] That tracks with the focus of the sermon.<br /><br />It quickly swelled as a grass roots movement characterized by repentance and personal renewal/refreshing. Remember: the focus was on the importance of understanding and experiencing the love of Jesus – which is what many are reporting to have felt strongly. To criticize this moment for not necessarily going beyond that seems to me to be unfair. Meanwhile, there wa a lot of Scripture reading interspersed, a sermon every night, clear calls to repentance,[4] and people making first-time decisions to follow Jesus.<span><a name='more'></a></span> <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">What’s happening seems to have tapped into particular longings. I will quote one Asbury student whose voice stands in for many of the interviews I have read: <br /><blockquote><i>“"It's been a really hard couple of years, and not just for me but for a lot of my friends, and I just felt like the Lord was releasing me from a lot of bitterness and anger that I've had just about all kinds of stuff, even some of it towards God and so I would say for me personally, the biggest word I can use is that it's been a very, very healing experience for me."[5]</i></blockquote>A theology professor at Asbury’s seminary noted,<br /><blockquote><i>“The mix of hope and joy and peace is indescribably strong and indeed almost palpable—a vivid and incredibly powerful sense of shalom. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is undeniably powerful but also so gentle… <br /><br />Sometimes God does what Jonathan Edwards called “surprising work” and what John Wesley referred to as “extraordinary” ministry. I firmly believe that much of what is important and vital in the Christian life happens in the everyday moments—in the daily disciplines and liturgies…in the in-the-moment decisions to pursue righteousness, in acts of sacrificial love of neighbor, in prayers breathed in quiet desperation. <br /><br />I know that these “extraordinary” acts of God are no replacement for the “ordinary” ministry of the Holy Spirit through Word and sacrament. Likewise, the “surprising” works of God are not a substitute for the long road of discipleship. If that were the case…we would be dependent on this experience—rather than the Holy Spirit who graciously gives the experience—to sustain us. <br /><br />But I also believe that we should be willing to recognize and celebrate these astounding encounters with the Holy Spirit. Our Lord promises that those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” will be filled. He promised that he would send “another Comforter” - and indeed that it would be better for him to go away and send his Spirit. And anyone who has spent time in Hughes Auditorium over the past few days can testify that this promised Comforter is present and powerful.”[6]</i></blockquote>I’ve read some dismissive remarks: “It’s just personal refreshment.” Oh, do you mean that the Holy Spirit – the Comforter – is comforting (as the Spirit always does)? Sometimes the Good Shepherd leads us beside still waters and restores our souls. People are experiencing God’s loving grace of in seasons of desperation. God forbid we dismiss the work of the Holy Spirit in comforting and refreshing people. <br /><br />The leadership of the college has been rejecting celebrity involvement. There are no faces you would know on the stage.[7] The student involvement is organic, and from all accounts, humble. There is no one person who is the face of this – nobody (that I have seen) has reported going there to see or hear Person X. The leaders are actively stopping people who start to “hijack the meeting.”[8] Lawson Stone, a professor at the seminary, said in an interview, </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><blockquote><i>“Word comes that on Wednesday a group will be in town trying to preach and hold meetings that, to say the least, do not embody the humility, peacefulness, and focus on Jesus that has characterized recent days. The institutions have made it clear they are not welcome, but they assert their "right" to come and speak.I would like to suggest we give them the Deuteronomy 13:1-4 treatment: IGNORE THEM. To a false prophet, to be ignored is almost worse than death. Don't engage them, don't be uncivil to them. Just ignore them…Let's beware of any voices that direct us to anything other than Jesus.”[9]</i></blockquote>The leadership of the college has kept good structure so that things are done “decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40). They have an ABC structure to testimonies: All glory to God alone; Brief, and Current. “When the chapel staff opened up the microphone for testimonies, they started vetting them first… “Saturday and Sunday, we were asked all day long, ‘Can I give a word? “Well, tell us your word first.”[10]They protected what was happening from other potential derailments as well.[11] From an article in Christianity Today about how the leadership at the college was working hard to steward this gift God had given to them: <br /><blockquote><i>The shofars didn’t start until Saturday. With them came the would-be prophets seeking to take center stage at the Asbury University chapel where students had been praying and praising God since Wednesday morning; the would-be leaders who wanted to claim the revival for their ministries, their agendas, and celebrity; and the would-be disrupters, coming to break up whatever was happening at the small Christian school in Kentucky with heckling, harangues, and worse… <br /><br />When someone started blowing on a shofar…the chapel staff didn’t have a protocol for that exact situation, but they knew what to do. They asked the person to recognize the way God had showed up in the chapel and be faithful to the sweet, humble, peaceful spirit of the outpouring. They did the same thing…when someone started praying loudly and aggressively. And again when someone started attempting an exorcism—not arguing about demonology or citing university rules, but invoking the authority of the outpouring itself.<br /><br />“We want to be true to how the Holy Spirit showed up with our students,” said Baldwin, the vice president of student life. “We experienced joy. We experienced love. We experienced peace. There was lots of singing and testimonies. Those became our signposts. This is how, in front of our eyes, we are seeing the Holy Spirit come upon our students, and we want to honor that.”</i></blockquote>They have also worked to turn internal renewal into action: if God does a work in you, it’s going to translate into how you live. This is important (and I will come back to this). Lawson Stone, a professor Old Testament at the seminary, said that they are shifting from a “come” mode to a “sending” mode. <br /><blockquote><i>“It's winding down the public services on the campuses…but… the focus needs to shift to resuming lives of fruitful service and…heading out across the country with the gospel. We can't stay on the mountain indefinitely. Some will try to put up tents for Moses and Elijah, but the leadership in town has felt strongly that the time has come to get to work, get back to work, albeit on a new level.”[12]</i></blockquote>When the main campus got full, the college leadership restricted access to primarily their own students, and then those under 25. Meanwhile, other churches in the area opened up their auditoriums, which I like. Now the broader church community is involved. This is good, as people need to be connected with local church communities. If this results in Wilmore, Kentucky suddenly being full of people inspired by the love of Jesus, all of those churches will be needed to accommodate attendees. <br /><br />Asbury is seeking to return to a normal college routine in terms of classes, etc. though there are still venues in the college and the town that are open for people to use. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that students weren’t skipping their classes or bailing on classes. Professors report they were responsible in the midst of all of this divine disruption. The student paper is already writing articles about “When The Dust Settles.”[13] They recognize they’ve been given a gift to steward, and they want to do it well. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><br />So far, this all seems good to me in the Big Picture.[14] If you shine a spotlight on some moments or some individuals, you can certainly find things that will make you uncomfortable at best or upsetting at worst. That’s inevitable, but – to use a puzzle analogy - I don’t want to form an opinion of the Big Picture because a couple pieces of the puzzle don't fit well. If those pieces begin to characterize what’s happening, that’s different. As far as I can tell, that’s not happening.[15]<br /><br />If I have concerns, it's not about the impact this is having on those who are there or the manner in which it has unfolded. It has more to do with how good things can go wrong. I offer the following as a protection - guiderails, if you will, to put up so that which began well can continue well. <br /><br /><b>LET’S USE LABELS CAUTIOUSLY </b><br /><br />Maybe this is semantics, but I’m not sure I would use the word “revival” just yet. Right now, it seems more like a refreshing or renewal - which is still a really good thing! A friend described what’s happening as an awakening, which I think is fitting. Asbury’s website is comfortable with people calling it what they want, such as “revival, renewal, awakening, outpouring.”[16]<br /><br />The reason I make this distinction is this: when we see what we usually call revival in the Bible, it involves more than saying words of repentance - which has been happening, and is a good start, to be sure. But biblical repentance always results in a radically changed lifestyle. The biblical image is that of someone going in one direction, then turning and going in another direction. The reality of repentance is confirmed by ‘fruit,’ and that takes some time to see. The President of Asbury has noted this as well. <br /><blockquote><i>The desire is to “mainstream” renewal into the very fabric of our lives so that we are transformed right where we live, and work and study. We all love mountaintop experiences, but we also know that it must be lived out in all the normal rhythms of life…We have to live into this desperation for God to do what we cannot do. We have to live into transformed relationships. We have to live into new patterns of life and worship. <br /><br />We will know that revival has truly come to us when we are truly changed to live more like him at work, at study, at worship, and at witness…we should let God move us to a permanent place of transformation before God and the eyes of the watching world. In that sense, we are seeking to take what is clearly an abnormal move of God and ask how this can become normalized in a deep way. <br /><br />Someday, we will look back on these days and thank God that he visited us in ways we will talk about for years to come. But, what we are doggedly seeking is not lasting memories, but transformed lives long after the lights go out in Hughes auditorium… <br /><br />In short, it is not about “this place” or “that place” whether Wilmore or any other city. It is about Christ himself. None of us “owns” this awakening. But all of us must own in our own lives His work and his gracious beckoning to that deeper place.”[17]</i></blockquote>It sure looks like this awakening is landing with potentially life-changing impact in people, but there’s a reason I use the world ‘potentially.’ What is going to change in people? <br /></span></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Will the slanderous gossip now use their words to affirm and build people instead of tear them down? </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Will the person with unhinged anger become known for gentleness? </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Will the person who despised and hated others become known for loving them, praying for their good, and treating them with dignity? </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Will they now be radically generous when they were previously stingy? Luke reports the first two outpourings of the Holy Spirit in Acts were followed by concern for the needy (2:44-45; 4:32-35). </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Will the person who used other people for their pleasure now learn to honor and protect them? Will the liar become known for truth, the arrogant for humility, the divider for peace-making?Will we see an increase in the fruit that comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? (Galatians 5:22-23)</span></li></ul><p></p></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">These are not changes we see in a moment; these are habits over time that establish who we are. Craig Keener wrote,<br /><blockquote><i>“During the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards noted visions and “manifestations” such as falling to the ground and weeping. He also noted that, while some manifestations were human responses to the work of God’s Spirit, some were imitations or worse. The long-term fruit of the revival, he pointed out, is about how we live.”[18]</i></blockquote>Or, as one pastor put it, “How do you tell if it is really a work of God? It’s not how high you jump, it’s how straight you walk when you land.”[19]<br /><br />I can’t tell you how many emotionally moving experiences I had in the context of church life. I look back on all of them fondly, because I loved what felt like sweet moments in the presence of Jesus. But I also have to acknowledge that they typically changed me for a week or two. I was refreshed, but I wasn’t revived. Feeling the nearness and conviction of God in a moment is very different from taking hold of the kind of radical repentance that leads to the kind of worship that goes beyond the songs I was singing. <br /><br />My hope and prayer is that this is, indeed, what we see on the other side of what is happening in Asbury. So far, there is good reason to believe we will. The reports say that both students and faculty are focused on how turn this experience into action. But…maybe let’s wait before we assume something that has yet to be seen, while praying for its fruition. <br /><br /><b>LET’S REMEMBER THAT GOD IS OMNIPRESENT </b><br /><br />I read this in an article from someone who visited from another Christian college: <br /><blockquote><i>“Well everybody at [said Christian college] right now, including all the executive vice presidents, are all crying out for revival - they're having extra prayer services over there right now. They want the presence of the Lord on campus so we're just so thankful that they sent us here to get whatever we can to bring back.”</i></blockquote>I don't see in the Bible that we are told to go somewhere and bring something back.[20] When the Samaritan woman asked Jesus about the right place to worship, Jesus said – and I paraphrase - “It’s not about places.” God is here, now, working in deep and profound ways. In moment of outpouring like we see in Asbury, people become more aware of God’s presence, but that says something about our awareness, not God’s presence. <br /><br />What are we to bring back? Is it not simply the message of the gospel? And do we not already have that? If God moves you to go somewhere to experience what’s happening, by all means go. But you don’t need to bring ‘it’ back. Just bring yourself back, renewed in holiness, righteousness, and obedience, bringing with you a deeper love for God and others. <br /><br /><b>LET’S REMEMBER THAT GOD IS PERSONAL</b><br /><br />This is not the fault of Asbury at all, but I wonder if we are going to have to fight the tendency to assume that any work of God is going to look like what is happening in Asbury. I think it could be easy to look around us and wonder, “What’s wrong with us that God isn‘t working in the same way here?” <br /><br />I have been in church all my life, and I have seen and experienced different times of refreshing/awakening/revival: concerts, speakers, small groups, Bible study, sitting around a campfire. A college or church or school could replicate everything Asbury is doing outwardly and have very different outcomes because what it looks like is not a template for all of us to try to replicate. It was an unexpected (though not unanticipated) moment for that people, that place, and that time.[21]<br /><br />Might others experience something similar? Absolutely. They have and they will. But we don’t have to go get what’s there and assume revival happens when that experience is replicated. <br /><br />I’ve seen this danger when we talk about who’s a ‘good’ worshiper when the music is playing. Is it the person raising their hands or the person sitting quietly? Is it the exuberant or the quiet? Is the loud singer more holy than the one who doesn’t sing? God forbid we make judgments about the quality of a person’s musical worship experience or the status of their heart just because they look different than us when we are singing. One student at Asbury wrote:<br /><i><blockquote>“Across campus, there is already a toxic stigma of “revival shaming.” I’ve heard things such as, “How many hours have you been here? I’ve been here all day. I am sooo exhausted. I even skipped class.” What do you notice in these comments? Jesus is usually not mentioned. We must be careful with self-centered responses based on who is “showing up for Jesus” and who is not.”[22]</blockquote></i>Now, let’s expand that. Is there a way a revival must look? Other than long-term fruit, I don’t think so. We have seen just in U.S. history how different revivals or moves of God have looked in different places and generations. Our churches and schools are not Asbury. We shouldn’t assume we are not being or have not been revived if we don’t replicate what is happening there. <br /><br />When we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Christ, God ‘vives’ us through Jesus. We who were dead in our sins were brought back to life. God is constantly ‘reviving’ us, working in us through His Word, His Spirit, and His people to restore what’s broken, heal what’s wounded, and bring us back to life when we choose sin and its wages. It's not always obvious, but God is always at work making us the kind of trees that bear good fruit. As one participant at Asbury noted, <br /><blockquote><i>“Hughes Auditorium feels like a holy place at the moment. But in Scripture, God’s people are his temple. Whatever other places might be special to us in some respects, we are his most sacred place, and we don’t have to be near campus to welcome and honor God’s presence.”[23]</i></blockquote>Suzanne Nicholson, a Professor of New Testament at Asbury University, wrote about her experience there in “When Streams Of Living Water Become A Flood: Revival At Asbury University.”[24] After talking about her experience on campus, she offered a couple analogies for what was happening, with this being her favorite. <br /><blockquote><i>My favorite image, however, arises from Psalm 1:3: those who delight in the law of the Lord “are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Believers who regularly commune with the Lord through prayer, Bible study, corporate worship, receiving the Eucharist, and other means of grace are the trees planted by streams of water, receiving their nourishment. <br /><br />But occasionally we need flood waters to spur new growth—not the destructive floods that wipe away homes, but rather the essential spring flooding of the Nile that brought much-needed water and nutrients to agricultural lands in the ancient world….The Holy Spirit has graciously sent gentle flood waters to revive us, reshape us, and empower us for the work ahead…We are drinking deeply from this refreshing gift.</i></blockquote>She closes with a hopeful challenge:<br /><blockquote><i>The challenge will occur, however, after the flood waters recede. We must not forget that we are still streams planted by living water. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even if we experience God in different ways on different days. We cannot forsake the normal means of grace in search of floodwaters alone. <br /><br />It will be important in the days ahead for local faith communities to disciple those who have found new life as a result of this outpouring. We will need to teach Scripture in depth and provide small-group support and accountability in order to help people make sense of what they have experienced and challenge them toward deeper relationships with Jesus. <br /><br />This flood we are experiencing today is meant to revive us for a purpose— to share the joy and the love of God with those living in a dark world. As this revival has been occurring, we have simultaneously watched tens of thousands of dead being pulled from the rubble after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We have witnessed several more mass shootings, including one on the campus of Michigan State University. <br /><br />We continue to see famine and poverty, addiction and despair, racism and sexism, abuse and ailments across the world and in our homes. We need this refreshing of the Spirit more than ever as a testimony that God has not abandoned this dark world. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). This is the hope for a world gone wrong. <br /><br />Our experience of this hope empowers us to go and preach the good news to the dying and the destitute, not only through our words, but also through our actions. God calls us to perfect love of both God and neighbor. If we keep this refreshing Spirit to ourselves, then we have missed the point. God has given us shalom—wholeness and healing and flourishing—so that we can bring the love of God to others. <br /><br />If we proclaim the love of Jesus but do not demonstrate God’s love by helping the poor and destitute, then we are nothing but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). God forbid that we turn these songs of praise into nothing more than a noisy interruption.</i></blockquote></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br clear="all" /></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> “The Chapel Service that Launched the Asbury Revival 2023.” Youtube. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvvGbgUmMU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvvGbgUmMU</a></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn2" title="">[2]</a> I saw one critic offer the following complaint:<i>” If being spontaneous is so valued, then why does the Asbury Collegian defend intentionally </i><a href="http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2019/03/%EF%BB%BFscheduled-revivals-are-times-of-intentional-focus/"><i>scheduled revivals</i></a><i> and report </i><a href="http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2019/03/effective-revivals-need-voluntary-participation/"><i>student polling data</i></a><i> about whether planning revivals is right?”</i> I think said critic is missing the point. First, they clearly don’t ‘value’ the spontaneous way in which it happened – as their scheduled revivals show. This didn’t happen because they planned it, almost as if God will do what He will when He wills. Huh.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn4" title="">[4]</a> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/asbury-university-student-emotional-story-regaining-christian-faith-revival-god">https://www.foxnews.com/media/asbury-university-student-emotional-story-regaining-christian-faith-revival-god</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn5" title="">[5]</a> <a href="https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2023/february/line-stretches-half-a-mile-as-the-fruit-of-revival-is-on-display-at-asbury-a-very-very-healing-experience">https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2023/february/line-stretches-half-a-mile-as-the-fruit-of-revival-is-on-display-at-asbury-a-very-very-healing-experience</a></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn6" title="">[6]</a>“ Asbury Professor: We’re Witnessing a ‘Surprising Work of God.’” <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/february-web-only/asbury-revival-1970-2023-methodist-christian-holy-spirit.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/february-web-only/asbury-revival-1970-2023-methodist-christian-holy-spirit.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn7" title="">[7]</a> “There were also Christian leaders who went quietly, just to pray and participate without trying to take the stage. Kari Jobe, the contemporary Christian music singer who won a Dove Award …<span class="MsoHyperlink">went to Asbury</span> and went down to the altar. Several students prayed for her, according to Asbury staff, without appearing to know who she was. A leader of the Vineyard Church came and went without announcing anything on social media.” <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn8" title="">[8]</a> <a href="https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/reflections-from-asbury-part-2">https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/reflections-from-asbury-part-2</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn9" title="">[9]</a> <a href="https://wellversedworld.org/asbury-revival-2023">https://wellversedworld.org/asbury-revival-2023</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn10" title="">[10]</a> “‘No Celebrities Except Jesus’: How Asbury Protected the Revival.” <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn11" title="">[11]</a> <a href="https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/reflections-from-asbury-part-2">https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/reflections-from-asbury-part-2</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn12" title="">[12]</a> <a href="https://wellversedworld.org/asbury-revival-2023">https://wellversedworld.org/asbury-revival-2023</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn13" title="">[13]</a> When The Dust Settles.” Anna Lowe. <a href="http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2023/02/when-the-dust-settles/">http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2023/02/when-the-dust-settles/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn14" title="">[14]</a> Check out “Ordinary and Extraordinary: A Day at the Asbury Awakening.” <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/asbury-awakening/">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/asbury-awakening/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn15" title="">[15]</a> I’m not sure where to note this, so I will note it here. I have read rather harsh criticism along the lines of, “No way a real revival is happening at Asbury. It’s too conservative/liberal in its theology.” Okay, you think Asbury needs revival, then. And now you don’t think it can have it because…it needs it so much? Do people have to not need revival before they get it? Sigh. Also, here is their statement of faith. <a href="https://www.asbury.edu/about/spiritual-vitality/">https://www.asbury.edu/about/spiritual-vitality/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn16" title="">[16]</a> <a href="https://www.asbury.edu/outpouring/">https://www.asbury.edu/outpouring/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn17" title="">[17]</a> Quoted in “The Asbury Revival Then And Now.” <a href="https://thecitizen.com/2023/02/19/the-asbury-revival-then-and-now/">https://thecitizen.com/2023/02/19/the-asbury-revival-then-and-now/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn18" title="">[18]</a> “What Is Revival – And Is It Happening At Asbury?” By Craig Keener.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn19" title="">[19]</a> “All eyes focus on (another?) Asbury revival.” <a href="https://www.kentuckytoday.com/baptist_life/all-eyes-focus-on-another-asbury-revival/article_6994621a-a9b0-11ed-9cf7-67c841f9b6a3.html">https://www.kentuckytoday.com/baptist_life/all-eyes-focus-on-another-asbury-revival/article_6994621a-a9b0-11ed-9cf7-67c841f9b6a3.html</a></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn20" title="">[20]</a> SIDE NOTE: Before technology and easy transportation, people didn’t hear within 24 hours about what God was doing somewhere else. There was no live stream or Instagram posts. People couldn’t do a day trip from 100 miles away. If they came from another country, they had to take a boat, not a plane. The local revival stayed local for a while. When revivals happened for years, others would go see what was going on, but even then the cost was high enough that it weeded out what I heard a podcast host describe as “revival tourists,” the ones taking selfies at a revival. </span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn21" title="">[21]</a> From Madison Pierce, as student at Asbury Theological Seminary: “I find it interesting that God would mark this outpouring with: A tangible sense of peace for a generation with unprecedented anxiety. A restorative sense of belonging for a generation amidst an epidemic of loneliness. An authentic hope for a generation marked by depression. A leadership emphasizing protective humility in relationship with power for a generation deeply hurt by the abuse of religious power. A focus on participatory adoration for an age of digital distraction. It feels as if God is personally meeting young adults in ways meaningful to them. My generation was formed differently then previous generations, and so the traits of this revival are different then revivals of old. The new outpouring is not the signs and wonders nor zealous intercession nor spontaneous tongues nor charismatic physicalities nor the visceral travail. It is marked by a tangible feeling of holistic peace, a restorative sense of belonging, a non-anxious presence through felt safety, repentance driven by experienced kindness, humble stewardship of power, and holiness through treasuring adoration.” </span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn22" title="">[22]</a> “When The Dust Settles.” <a href="http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2023/02/when-the-dust-settles/">http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2023/02/when-the-dust-settles/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn23" title="">[23]</a> “What Is Revival – And Is It Happening At Asbury?” By Craig Keener.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftn24" title="">[24]</a> <a href="https://firebrandmag.com/articles/when-streams-of-living-water-become-a-flood-revival-at-asbury-university">https://firebrandmag.com/articles/when-streams-of-living-water-become-a-flood-revival-at-asbury-university</a></span></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></div></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-75703884512996639882022-12-23T08:48:00.009-08:002022-12-23T08:48:53.095-08:00Highlights from the Final Report of the Select Committee To Investigate The January 26th Attack On The United States Capital.<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">What follows are my highlights from the Final Report of the Select Committee To Investigate The January 26<sup>th</sup> Attack On The United States Capital. You can read the full document here: <a href="https://january6th.house.gov/sites/democrats.january6th.house.gov/files/Report_FinalReport_Jan6SelectCommittee.pdfn">https://january6th.house.gov/sites/democrats.january6th.house.gov/files/Report_FinalReport_Jan6SelectCommittee.pdf<b><span style="color: white;">n</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: white;">gressSecond Session House Report 117-000 </span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">These are excerpts from the Executive Summary, which is the shorter version of a much longer report contained in the same document. I obviously have not included anywhere near all the information from the summary; the full report contains significantly more information than the summary.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">I encourage you to read the whole thing (or at least the full summary). Of all the politicians or political operatives interviewed, all but one are Republican. This is not the testimony of Democrats going after a political enemy. This is testimony from those who saw how the political sausage was made leading up to the 2020 election and leading directly to the insurrection on January 6. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Yes, this is a really long post. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">But how it happened matters. Why it happened matters. And who made it happen matters perhaps most of all. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>* * * * *</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">“This Report supplies an immense volume of information and testimony assembled through the Select Committee’s investigation, including information obtained following litigation in Federal district and appellate courts, as well as in the U.S. Supreme Court. Based upon this assembled evidence, the Committee has reached a series of specific findings,<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">19 </span>including the following: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Beginning election night and continuing through January 6th and thereafter, Donald Trump purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 Presidential election in order to aid his effort to overturn the election and for purposes of soliciting contributions. These false claims provoked his supporters to violence on January 6th. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Knowing that he and his supporters had lost dozens of election law- suits, and despite his own senior advisors refuting his election fraud claims and urging him to concede his election loss, Donald Trump refused to accept the lawful result of the 2020 election. Rather than honor his constitutional obligation to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” President Trump instead plotted to overturn the election outcome. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Despite knowing that such an action would be illegal, and that no State had or would submit an altered electoral slate, Donald Trump corruptly pressured Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes during Congress’s joint session on January 6th. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Donald Trump sought to corrupt the U.S. Department of Justice by attempting to enlist Department officials to make purposely false statements and thereby aid his effort to overturn the Presidential election. After that effort failed, Donald Trump offered the position of Acting Attorney General to Jeff Clark knowing that Clark intended to disseminate false information aimed at overturning the election. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Without any evidentiary basis and contrary to State and Federal law, Donald Trump unlawfully pressured State officials and legislators to change the results of the election in their States. </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Donald Trump oversaw an effort to obtain and transmit false electoral certificates to Congress and the National Archives. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Donald Trump pressured Members of Congress to object to valid slates of electors from several States.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Donald Trump purposely verified false information filed in Federal court. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Based on false allegations that the election was stolen, Donald Trump summoned tens of thousands of supporters to Washington for January 6th. Although these supporters were angry and some were armed, Donald Trump instructed them to march to the Capitol on January 6th to “take back” their country. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Knowing that a violent attack on the Capitol was underway and knowing that his words would incite further violence, Donald Trump purposely sent a social media message publicly condemning Vice President Pence at 2:24 p.m. on January 6th. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Knowing that violence was underway at the Capitol, and despite his duty to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed, Donald Trump refused repeated requests over a multiple hour period that he instruct his violent supporters to disperse and leave the Capitol, and instead watched the violent attack unfold on television. This failure to act perpetuated the violence at the Capitol and obstructed Congress’s proceeding to count electoral votes. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Each of these actions by Donald Trump was taken in support of a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 Presidential election. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The intelligence community and law enforcement agencies did successfully detect the planning for potential violence on January 6th, including planning specifically by the Proud Boys and Oath Keeper militia groups who ultimately led the attack on the Capitol. As January 6th approached, the intelligence specifically identified the potential for violence at the U.S. Capitol. This intelligence was shared within the executive branch, including with the Secret Service and the President’s National Security Council. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Intelligence gathered in advance of January 6th did not support a conclusion that Antifa or other left-wing groups would likely engage in a violent counter-demonstration, or attack Trump supporters on January 6th. Indeed, intelligence from January 5th indicated that some left-wing groups were instructing their members to “stay at home” and not attend on January 6th.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">20 </span>Ultimately, none of these groups was involved to any material extent with the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Neither the intelligence community nor law enforcement obtained intelligence in advance of January 6th on the full extent of the ongoing planning by President Trump, John Eastman, Rudolph Giuliani and their associates to overturn the certified election results. Such agencies apparently did not (and potentially could not) anticipate the provocation President Trump would offer the crowd in his Ellipse speech, that President Trump would “spontaneously” instruct the crowd to march to the Capitol, that President Trump would exacerbate the violent riot by sending his 2:24 p.m. tweet condemning Vice President Pence, or the full scale of the violence and lawlessness that would ensue. Nor did law enforcement anticipate that President Trump would refuse to direct his supporters to leave the Capitol once violence began. No intelligence community advance analysis predicted exactly how President Trump would behave; no such analysis recognized the full scale and extent of the threat to the Capitol on January 6th. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Hundreds of Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers performed their duties bravely on January 6th, and America owes those individuals immense gratitude for their courage in the defense of Congress and our Constitution. Without their bravery, January 6th would have been far worse. Although certain members of the Capitol Police leadership regarded their approach to January 6th as “all hands on deck,” the Capitol Police leadership did not have sufficient assets in place to address the violent and lawless crowd.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">21 </span>Capitol Police leadership did not anticipate the scale of the violence that would ensue after President Trump instructed tens of thousands of his supporters in the Ellipse crowd to march to the Capitol, and then tweeted at 2:24 p.m. Although Chief Steven Sund raised the idea of National Guard support, the Capitol Police Board did not request Guard assistance prior to January 6th. The Metropolitan Police took an even more proactive approach to January 6th, and deployed roughly 800 officers, including responding to the emergency calls for help at the Capitol. Rioters still managed to break their line in certain locations, when the crowd surged forward in the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump’s 2:24 p.m. tweet. The Department of Justice readied a group of Federal agents at Quantico and in the District of Columbia, anticipating that January 6th could become violent, and then deployed those agents once it became clear that police at the Capitol were overwhelmed. Agents from the Department of Homeland Security were also deployed to assist. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l11 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->President Trump had authority and responsibility to direct deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, but never gave any order to deploy the National Guard on January 6th or on any other day. Nor did he instruct any Federal law enforcement agency to assist. Because the authority to deploy the National Guard had been delegated to the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense could, and ultimately did deploy the Guard. Although evidence identifies a likely miscommunication between members of the civilian leadership in the Department of Defense impacting the timing of deployment, the Committee has found no evidence that the Department of Defense intentionally delayed deployment of the National Guard. The Select Committee recognizes that some at the Department had genuine concerns, counseling caution, that President Trump might give an illegal order to use the military in support of his efforts to overturn the election. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: FiraSans, serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: FiraSans, serif;">THE BIG LIE <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In the weeks before election day 2020, Donald Trump’s campaign experts, including his campaign manager Bill Stepien, advised him that the election results would not be fully known on election night.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">23 </span>This was because certain States would not begin to count absentee and other mail-in votes until election day or after election-day polls had closed.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">24 </span>Because Republican voters tend to vote in greater numbers on election day and Democratic voters tend to vote in greater numbers in advance of election day, it was widely anticipated that Donald Trump could initially appear to have a lead, but that the continued counting of mail-in, absentee and other votes beginning election night would erode and could overcome that perceived lead.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">25 </span>Thus, as President Trump’s campaign manager cautioned, understanding the results of the 2020 election would be a lengthy “process,” and an initial appearance of a Trump lead could be a “red mirage.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">26 </span>This was not unique to the 2020 election; similar scenarios had played out in prior elections as well.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">27 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Prior to the 2020 election, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, along with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, urged President Trump to embrace mail-in voting as potentially beneficial to the Trump Campaign.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">28 </span>Presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner recounted others giving Donald Trump the same advice: “[M]ail in ballots could be a good thing for us if we looked at it correctly.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">29 </span>Multiple states, including Florida, had successfully utilized mail-in voting in prior elections, and in 2020.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">30 </span>Trump White House Counselor Hope Hicks testified: “I think he [President Trump] understood that a lot of people vote via absentee ballot in places like Florida and have for a long time and that it’s worked fine.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">31 </span>Donald Trump won in numerous States that allowed no-excuse absentee voting in 2020, including Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">32 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">On election night 2020, the election returns were reported in almost exactly the way that Stepien and other Trump Campaign experts predicted, with the counting of mail-in and absentee ballots gradually diminishing President Trump’s perceived lead. As the evening progressed, President Trump called in his campaign team to discuss the results. Stepien and other campaign experts advised him that the results of the election would not be known for some time, and that he could not truthfully declare victory.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">33 </span>“It was far too early to be making any calls like that. Ballots—ballots were still being counted. Ballots were still going to be counted for days.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">34 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller told the Select Committee that he argued against declaring victory at that time as well, because “it was too early to say one way [or] the other” who had won.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">35 </span>Stepien advised Trump to say that “votes were still being counted. It’s too early to tell, too early to call the race but, you know, we are proud of the race we run—we ran and we, you know, think we’re—think we’re in a good position” and would say more in the coming days.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">36 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump refused, and instead said this in his public remarks that evening: “This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. We did win this election . . . . We want all voting to stop.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">37</span>And on the morning of November 5th, he tweeted “STOP THECOUNT!”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">38 </span>Halting the counting of votes at that point would have violated both State and Federal laws.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">39 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">According to testimony received by the Select Committee, the only advisor present who supported President Trump’s inclination to declare victory was Rudolph Giuliani, who appeared to be inebriated.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">40 </span>President Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, who had earlier left the election night gathering, perceived the President’s statement this way: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[R]ight out of the box on election night, the President claimed that there was major fraud underway. I mean, this happened, as far as I could tell, before there was actually any potential of looking at evidence. He claimed there was major fraud. And it seemed to be based on the dynamic that, at the end of the evening, a lot of Democratic votes came in which changed the vote counts in certain States, and that seemed to be the basis for this broad claim that there was major fraud. And I didn’t think much of that, because people had been talking for weeks and everyone understood for weeks that that was going to be what happened on election night . . . . </i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">41 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump’s decision to declare victory falsely on election night and, unlawfully, to call for the vote counting to stop, was not a spontaneous decision. It was premeditated. The Committee has assembled a range of evidence of President Trump’s preplanning for a false declaration of victory. This includes multiple written communications on October 31 and November 3, 2020, to the White House by Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">42 </span>This evidence demonstrates that Fitton was in direct contact with President Trump and understood that President Trump would falsely declare victory on election night and call for vote counting to stop. The evidence also includes an audio recording of President Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon, who said this on October 31, 2020, to a group of his associates from China: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“And what Trump’s gonna do is just declare victory, right? He’s gonna declare victory. But that doesn’t mean he’s a winner. He’s just gonna say he’s a winner . . . The Democrats—more of our people vote early that count. Theirs vote in mail. And so they’re gonna have a natural disadvantage, and Trump’s going to take advantage of it—that’s our strategy. He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm . . . . Also, if Trump, if Trump is losing, by 10 or 11 o’clock at night, it’s going to be even crazier. No, because he’s gonna sit right there and say “They stole it. I’m directing the Attorney General to shut down all ballot places in all 50 states.” It’s going to be, no, he’s not going out easy. If Trump—if Biden’s winning, Trump is going to do some crazy shit.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">43 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Also in advance of the election, Roger Stone, another outside advisor to President Trump, made this statement: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I really do suspect it will still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. No, we won. Fuck you, Sorry. Over. We won. You’re wrong. Fuck you.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">44 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">On election day, Vice President Pence’s staff, including his Chief of Staff and Counsel, became concerned that President Trump might falsely claim victory that evening. The Vice President’s Counsel, Greg Jacob, testified about their concern that the Vice President might be asked improperly to echo such a false statement.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">45 </span>Jacob drafted a memorandum with this specific recommendation: “[I]t is essential that the Vice President not be perceived by the public as having decided questions concerning disputed electoral votes prior to the full development of all relevant facts.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">46 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Millions of Americans believed that President Trump was telling the truth on election night—that President Trump actually had proof the election was stolen and that the ongoing counting of votes was an act of fraud.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In a meeting on November 23rd, Barr told President Trump that the Justice Department was doing its duty by investigating every fraud allegation “if it’s specific, credible, and could’ve affected the outcome,” but that “they’re just not meritorious. They’re not panning out.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">60 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Barr then told the Associated Press on December 1st that the Department had “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">61 </span>Next, he reiterated this point in private meetings with the President both that afternoon and on December 14th, as well as in his final press conference as Attorney General later that month.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">62 </span>The Department of Homeland Security had reached a similar determination two weeks earlier: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“<span>There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.</span>” </i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">63 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In addition, multiple other high ranking Justice Department personnel appointed by President Trump also informed him repeatedly that the allegations were false. As January 6th drew closer, Acting Attorney General Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Donoghue had calls with President Trump on almost a daily basis explaining in detail what the Department’s investigations showed.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">64 </span>Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue told the Select Committee that he and Acting Attorney General Rosen tried <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“to put it in very clear terms to the President. And I said something to the effect of ‘Sir, we’ve done dozens of investigations, hundreds of interviews. The major allegations are not supported by the evidence developed. We’ve looked in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada. We’re doing our job.’”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">65<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">On December 31st,Donoghue recalls telling the President that “people keep telling you these things and they turn out not to be true.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">66</span>And then on January 3rd, Donoghue reiterated this point with the President: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[A]s in previous conservations, we would say to him, you know, “We checked that out, and there’s nothing to it.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">67 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Acting Attorney General Rosen testified before the Select Committee that “the common element” of all of his communications with President Trump was President Trump urging the Department to find widespread fraud that did not actually exist. None of the Department’s investigations identified any genuine fraud sufficient to impact the election outcome: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>During my tenure as the Acting Attorney General, which began on December 24 of [2020], the Department of Justice maintained the position, publicly announced by former Attorney General William Barr, that the Department had been presented with no evidence of widespread voter fraud in a scale sufficient to change the outcome of the 2020 election.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">68 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">As President Trump was hearing from his campaign and his Justice Department that the allegations of widespread fraud were not supported by the evidence, his White House legal staff also reached the same conclusions, and agreed specifically with what Barr told President Trump. Both White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and White House Senior Advisor Eric Herschmann reinforced to President Trump that the Justice Department was doing its duty to investigate allegations of supposed voter fraud.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">69 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In short, President Trump was informed over and over again, by his senior appointees, campaign experts and those who had served him for years, that his election fraud allegations were nonsense. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">How did President Trump continue to make false allegations despite all of this unequivocal information? President Trump sought out those who were not scrupulous with the facts, and were willing to be dishonest. He found a new legal team to assert claims that his existing advisors and the Justice Department had specifically informed him were false. President Trump’s new legal team, headed by Rudolph Giuliani, and their allies ultimately lost dozens of election lawsuits in Federal and State courts. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">As Giuliani visited Campaign headquarters to discuss election litigation, the Trump Campaign’s professional staff began to view him as unhinged.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">74 </span>In addition, multiple law firms previously engaged to work for the Trump Campaign decided that they could not participate in the strategy being instituted by Giuliani. They quit. Campaign General Counsel Matthew Morgan explained that he had conversations with “probably all of our counsel who [we]re signed up to assist on election day as they disengaged with the campaign.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">75 </span>The “general consensus was that the law firms were not comfortable making the arguments that Rudy Giuliani was making publicly.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">76 </span>When asked how many outside firms expressed this concern, Morgan recalled having “a similar conversation with most all of them.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">77 </span>Stepien grew so wary of the new team that he locked Giuliani out of his office: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: Yeah. I’m getting the sense from listening to you here for a few hours that you sort of chose to pull back, that you were uncomfortable with what Mr. Giuliani and others were saying and doing and, therefore, you were purposefully stepping back from a day-to-day role as the leader of the campaign. Is that—I don’t want to put words in your mouth. Is that accurate? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Stepien: That’s accurate. That’s accurate. You know, I had my assistant -- it was a big glass kind of wall office in our headquarters, and I had my assistant lock my door. I told her, don’t let anyone in. You know, I’ll be around when I need to be around. You know, tell me what I need to know. Tell me what’s going on here, but, you know, you’re going to see less of me. And, you know, sure enough, you know, Mayor Giuliani tried to, you know, get in my office and ordered her to unlock the door, and she didn’t do that, you know. She’s, you know, smart about that. But your words are ones I agree with.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">78 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Over the weeks that followed, dozens of judges across the country specifically rejected the allegations of fraud and irregularities being advanced by the Trump team and their allies. For example, courts described the arguments as “an amalgamation of theories, conjecture, and speculation,” “allegations ... sorely wanting of relevant or reliable evidence,” “strained legal arguments without merit,” assertions that “did not prove by any standard of proof that any illegal votes were cast and counted,” and even a “fundamental and obvious misreading of the Constitution.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">79 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Reflecting back on this period, Trump Campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh texted colleagues in January 2021 about a news report that the New York State Bar was considering expelling Rudolph Giuliani over the Ellipse rally: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“Why wouldn’t they expel him based solely on the outrageous lies he told for 2 1/2 months?”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">80 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">This is exactly what ultimately came to pass. When suspending his license, a New York court said that Giuliani “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">81 </span>The court added that “[t]he seriousness of [Giuliani’s] uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">82 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Other Trump lawyers were sanctioned for making outlandish claims of election fraud without the evidence to back them up, including Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and seven other pro-Trump lawyers in a case that a Federal judge described as “a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">A group of prominent Republicans have more recently issued a report— titled <i>Lost, Not Stolen—</i>examining “every count of every case brought in these six battleground states” by President Trump and his allies. The report concludes “that Donald Trump and his supporters had their day in court and failed to produce substantive evidence to make their case.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">84 </span>President Trump and his legal allies,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span> </span>“failed because of a lack of evidence and not because of erroneous rulings or unfair judges . . . . In many cases, after making extravagant claims of wrongdoing, Trump’s legal representatives showed up in court or state proceedings empty-handed, and then returned to their rallies and media campaigns to repeat the same unsupported claims.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">85 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">By mid-December 2020, Donald Trump had come to what most of his staff believed was the end of the line. The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit he supported filed by the State of Texas in the Supreme Court, and Donald Trump had this exchange, according to Special Assistant to the President Cassidy Hutchinson: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>The President was fired up about the Supreme Court decision. And so I was standing next to [Chief of Staff Mark] Meadows, but I had stepped back . . . The President [was] just raging about the decision and how it’s wrong, and why didn’t we make more calls, and just this typical anger outburst at this decision . . . And the President said I think—so he had said something to the effect of, “I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out. We need to figure it out. I don’t want people to know that we lost.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">99 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Despite all that Donald Trump was being told, he continued to purposely and maliciously make false claims. To understand the very stark differences between what he was being told and what he said publicly and in fundraising solicitations, the Committee has assembled the following examples. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen (12/15/20):<br /></i></b><i>“And so he said, ‘Well, what about this? I saw it on the videotape, some- body delivering a suitcase of ballots.’ And we said, ‘It wasn’t a suitcase. It was a bin. That’s what they use when they’re counting ballots. It’s benign.’”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">105 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue (12/27 & 12/31/20):<br /></i></b><i>“I told the President myself that several times, in several conversations, that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in in a suitcase and run through the machine several times, it was not true, that we looked at it, we looked at the video, we interviewed the witnesses, that it was not true . . . . I believe it was in the phone call on December 27th. It was also in a meeting in the Oval Office on December 31st.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">107 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>GA Sec. State Brad Raffensperger (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>“You’re talking about the State Farm video. And I think it’s extremely unfortunate that Rudy Giuliani or his people, they sliced and diced that video and took it out of context.” . . . “[W]e did an audit of that and we proved conclusively that they were not scanned three times. . . . Yes, Mr. President, we’ll send you the link from WSB.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[Trump]: “I don’t care about a link. I don’t need it.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">109 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one week later (12/22/20):<br /></i></b><i>“There is even security camera footage from Georgia that shows officials telling poll watchers to leave the room before pulling suitcases of ballots out from under the tables and continuing to count for hours.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">106 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump later that week (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>“[S]he stuffed the machine. She stuffed the ballot. Each ballot went three times, they were showing: Here’s ballot number one. Here it is a sec- ond time, third time, next ballot.” </i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">108 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one day later (1/3/21):<br /></i></b><i>“I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘vot- ers’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">110 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Attorney General Barr (12/1/20): </i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“Then he raised the ‘big vote dump,’ as he called it, in Detroit. And, you know, he said, people saw boxes coming into the counting station at all hours of the morning and so forth.... I said, ‘Mr. President, there are 630 precincts in Detroit, and unlike elsewhere in the State, they centralize the counting process, so they’re not counted in each precinct, they’re moved to counting stations, and so the normal process would involve boxes coming in at all different hours.’ And I said, ‘Did any- one point out to you—did all the people complaining about it point out to you, you actually did better in Detroit than you did last time? I mean, there’s no indication of fraud in Detroit.’”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">111 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue (12/27/20):<br /></i></b><i>“The President then continued, there are ‘more votes than voters...’. But I was aware of that allegation, and I said, you know, that was just a matter of them ‘comparing the 2020 votes cast to 2016 registration numbers.’ That is ‘not a valid complaint.’”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">113 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue (1/3/21):<br /></i></b><i>“[W]e would say to him, you know, ‘We checked that out, and there’s nothing to it. . . . And we would cite to certain allegations. And so—like such as Pennsylvania, right. ‘No, there were not 250,000 more votes reported than were actually cast. That’s not true.’ So we would say things like that.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">115 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one day later (12/2/20):<br /></i></b><i>“I’ll tell you what’s wrong, voter fraud. Here’s an example. This is Michigan. At 6:31 in the morning, a vote dump of 149,772 votes came in unexpectedly. We were winning by a lot. That batch was received in horror. . . . In Detroit everybody saw the tremendous conflict . . . there were more votes than there were voters.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">112 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump ten days later (1/6/21): </i></b><i>“More votes than they had voters. And many other States also.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: 5372pt;">114</span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump three days later (1/6/21):<br /></i></b><i>“In Pennsylvania, you had 205,000 more votes than you had voters. And the number is actually much greater than that now. That was as of a week ago. And this is a mathematical impossibility unless you want to say it’s a total fraud.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">116 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>GA Sec. State Brad Raffensperger (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>[Trump]: “[I]t’s 4,502 who voted, but they weren’t on the voter registration roll, which they had to be. You had 18,325 vacant address voters. The ad- dress was vacant, and they’re not allowed to be counted. That’s 18,325.” . . . <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[Raffensperger]: “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong.” </i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">117 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>GA Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>[Trump]: “So dead people voted, and I think the number is close to 5,000 people. And they went to obituaries. They went to all sorts of methods to come up with an accurate number, and a minimum is close to about 5,000 voters.” . . . <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[Raffensperger]: “The actual number were two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted. So that’s wrong.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">119 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>GA Sec. State General Counsel Ryan Germany (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>[Trump]: “You had out-of-state voters. They voted in Georgia, but they were from out of state, of 4,925.” . . . [Ger- many]: “Every one we’ve been through are people that lived in Georgia, moved to a different state, but then moved back to Georgia legitimately.” . . . “They moved back in years ago. This was not like something just before the election. So there’s something about that data that, it’s just not accurate.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">121 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump two days later (1/4/21):<br /></i></b><i>“4,502 illegal ballots were cast by individuals who do not appear on the state’s voter rolls. Well, that’s sort of strange. 18,325 illegal ballots were cast by individuals who registered to vote using an address listed as vacant according to the postal service.” </i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">118 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump four days later (1/6/21):<br /></i></b><i>“[T]he number of fraudulent ballots that we've identified across the state is staggering. Over 10,300 ballots in Georgia were cast by individuals whose names and dates of birth match Georgia residents who died in 2020 and prior to the election.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">120 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump four days later (1/6/21):<br /></i></b><i>“And at least 15,000 ballots were cast by individuals who moved out of the state prior to November 3rd election. They say they moved right back.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">122 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany (n.d.):<br /></i></b><i>“[T]he one specific I remember referencing was I don’t agree with the Dominion track.” . . . “I specifically referenced waving him off of the Dominion theory earlier in my testimony.” . . . [Q] “Are you saying you think he still continued to tweet that after you <span> </span>waved him off of it?” [A] “Yeah . . .”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">123 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller:<br /></i></b><i>“...the international allegations for Dominion were not valid.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[Q] “Okay. Did anybody communicate that to the President?”<br />[A]: “I know that that was—I know that was communicated. I know I communicated it”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">125 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Attorney General Barr (11/23/20): </i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“I specifically raised the Dominion voting machines, which I found to be one of the most disturbing allegations— ‘disturbing’ in the sense that I saw absolutely zero basis for the allegations . . . I told him that it was crazy stuff and they were wasting their time on that and it was doing great, great disservice to the country.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: 5372pt;">127 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Attorney General Barr (12/1/20): </i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“I explained, I said, look, if you have a machine and it counts 500 votes for Biden and 500 votes for Trump, and then you go back later and you have a—you will have the 1,000 pieces of paper put through that machine, and you can see if there’s any discrepancy . . . there has been no discrepancy.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">129 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump: </i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Between mid-November and January 5, 2021, President Trump tweeted or retweeted conspiracy theories about Dominion nearly three dozen times.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">124 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump: </i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“You have Dominion, which is very, very suspect to start off with. Nobody knows the ownership. People say the votes are counted in foreign countries and much worse...”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">126 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump three days later (11/26/20):<br /></i></b><i>“[T]hose machines are fixed, they’re rigged. You can press Trump and the vote goes to Biden. . . . All you have to do is play with a chip, and they played with a chip, especially in Wayne County and Detroit.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">128 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one day later (12/2/20):<br /></i></b><i>“In one Michigan County, as an example, that used Dominion systems, they found that nearly 6,000 votes had been wrongly switched from Trump to Biden, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is what we caught. How many didn’t we catch?”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">130 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Attorney General Barr (12/14/20): </i></b><i>“‘I will, Mr. President. But there are a couple of things,’ I responded. ‘My understanding is that our experts have looked at the Antrim situation and are sure it was a human error that did not occur anywhere else. And, in any event, Antrim is doing a hand recount of the paper ballots, so we should know in a couple of days whether there is any real problem with the machines.’”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">131 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen (12/15/20):<br /></i></b><i>“[O]ther people were telling him there was fraud, you know, corruption in the election. The voting machines were no good. And we were telling him that is inconsistent, by ‘we,’ I mean Richard Donoghue and myself, that that was not what we were seeing.” . . . “There was this open issue as to the Michigan report. And—I think it was Mr. Cuccinelli, not certain, but had indicated that there was a hand recount. And I think he said, ‘That's the gold standard.’”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">133 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien (12/18/20):<br /></i></b><i>“I got a call from, I think, Molly Michael in outer oval, the President’s assistant, and she said, ‘I’m connecting you to the Oval’ . . . somebody asked me, was there—did I have any evidence of election fraud in the voting machines or foreign interference in our voting machines. And I said, no, we’ve looked into that and there’s no evidence of it.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">135 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one day later (12/15/20):<br /></i></b><i>“This is BIG NEWS. Dominion Voting Machines are a disaster all over the Country. Changed the results of a landslide election. Can’t let this happen. . . .”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">132 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one day later (12/16/20):<br /></i></b><i>“ ‘Study: Dominion Machines shifted 2-3% of Trump Votes to Biden. Far more votes than needed to sway election.’ Florida, Ohio, Texas and many other states were won by even greater margins than projected. Did just as well with Swing States, but bad things happened. @OANN”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">134 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump one day later (12/19/20):<br /></i></b><i>“. . . There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA. @DNI- _Ratcliffe @SecPompeo”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">136 </span></i><b><i><span style="color: #898989; font-family: FiraSans, serif;"><span> </span></span></i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Acting Deputy AG Richard Donoghue (12/31/20):<br /></i></b><i>“We definitely talked about Antrim County again. That was sort of done at that point, because the hand recount had been done and all of that. But we cited back to that to say, you know, this is an example of what people are telling you and what’s being filed in some of these court filings that are just not supported by the evidence.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">137 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>GA Sec. State Brad Raffensperger (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>“I don’t believe that you’re really questioning the Dominion machines. Because we did a hand re-tally, a 100 percent re-tally of all the ballots, and compared them to what the machines said and came up with virtually the same result. Then we did the recount, and we got virtually the same result.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">139 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump two days later (1/2/21):<br /></i></b><i>“Well, Brad. Not that there’s not an issue, because we have a big issue with Dominion in other states and perhaps in yours. . . . in other states, we think we found tremendous corruption with Dominion machines, but we’ll have to see.” . . . “I won’t give Dominion a pass because we found too many bad things.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">138 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>President Trump four days later (1/6/21):<br /></i></b><i>“In addition, there is the highly troubling matter of Dominion Voting Systems. In one Michigan county alone, 6,000 votes were switched from Trump to Biden and the same systems are used in the majority of states in our country.” . . . “There is clear evidence that tens of thousands of votes were switched from President Trump to former Vice President Biden in several counties in Georgia.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">140 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Evidence gathered by the Committee indicates that President Trump raised roughly one quarter of a billion dollars in fundraising efforts between the election and January 6th.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">141 </span>Those solicitations persistently claimed and referred to election fraud that did not exist. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">As January 6th approached, John Eastman and others devised a plan whereby Vice President Pence would, as the presiding officer, declare that certain electoral votes from certain States <i>could not </i>be counted at the joint session.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">148 </span>John Eastman knew before proposing this plan that it was not legal. Indeed, in a pre-election document discussing Congress’s counting of electoral votes, Dr. Eastman specifically disagreed with a col- league’s proposed argument that the Vice President had the power to choose which envelopes to “open” and which votes to “count.” Dr. Eastman wrote: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I don’t agree with this. The 12th Amendment only says that the President of the Senate opens the ballots in the joint session then, in the passive voice, that the votes shall then be counted. 3 USC § 12 [of the Electoral Count Act] says merely that he is the presiding officer, and then it spells out specific procedures, presumptions, and default rules for which slates will be counted. Nowhere does it suggest that the president of the Senate gets to make the determi- nation on his own. § 15 [of the Electoral Count Act] doesn’t either.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">149 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Despite recognizing prior to the 2020 election that the Vice President had no power to refuse to count certain electoral votes, Eastman nevertheless drafted memoranda two months later proposing that Pence could do exactly that on January 6th—refuse to count certified electoral votes from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">150 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Even after Eastman proposed the theories in his December and January memoranda, he acknowledged in conversations with Vice President Pence’s counsel Greg Jacob that Pence could not lawfully do what his own memoranda proposed.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">152 </span>Eastman admitted that the U.S. Supreme Court would unanimously reject his legal theory. “He [Eastman] had acknowledged that he would lose 9-0 at the Supreme Court.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">153 </span>Moreover, Eastman acknowledged to Jacob that he didn’t think Vice President Al Gore had that power in 2001, nor did he think Vice President Kamala Harris should have that power in 2025.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">154 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In testimony before the Select Committee, Jacob described in detail why the Trump plan for Pence was illegal: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[T]he Vice President’s first instinct, when he heard this theory, was that there was no way that our Framers, who abhorred concentrated power, who had broken away from the tyranny of George III, would ever have put one person—particularly not a person who had a direct interest in the outcome because they were on the ticket for the election—in a role to have decisive impact on the outcome of the election. And our review of text, history, and, frankly, just common sense, all confirmed the Vice President’s first instinct on that point. There is no justifiable basis to conclude that the Vice President has that kind of authority.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">155 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">This is how the Vice President later described his views in a public speech: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I had no right to overturn the election. The Presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American President. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">156</span></i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">But as January 6th approached, President Trump nevertheless embraced the new Eastman theories, and attempted to implement them. In a series of meetings and calls, President Trump attempted to pressure Pence to intervene on January 6th to prevent Congress from counting multiple States’ electoral votes for Joe Biden. At several points in the days before January 6th, President Trump was told directly that Vice President Pence could not legally do what Trump was asking. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">For example, at a January 4th meeting in the Oval Office, Eastman acknowledged that any variation of his proposal— whether rejecting electoral votes outright or delaying certification to send them back to the States—would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act. According to Greg Jacob: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>In the conversation in the Oval Office on the 4th, I had raised the fact that . . . [Eastman’s] preferred course had issues with the Electoral Count Act, which he had acknowledged was the case, that there would be an inconsistency with the Electoral Count Act].</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">157 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Jacob recorded Eastman’s admission in an internal memo he drafted for Vice President Pence on the evening of January 4th: “Professor Eastman acknowledges that his proposal violates several provisions of statutory law.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">158 </span>And, during a phone call with President Trump and Eastman on the evening of January 5, 2021, Eastman <i>again </i>acknowledged that his proposal also would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[W]e did have an in-depth discussion about [the Electoral Count Act] in the subsequent phone calls as I walked him through provision after provision on the recess and on the fact that . . . Congress- men and Senators are supposed to get to object and debate. And he acknowledged, one after another, that those provisions would—in order for us to send it back to the States, we couldn’t do those things as well. We can’t do a 10-day, send it back to the States, and honor an Electoral Count Act provision that says you can’t recess for more than one day and, once you get to the 5th, you have to stay continuously in session.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">159 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">As Pence’s Chief of Staff, Marc Short, testified that the Vice President also repeatedly informed President Trump that the Vice President’s role on January 6th was only ministerial. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Contemporaneous written correspondence also confirms both that: (1) Eastman himself recognized Pence could not lawfully refuse to count electoral votes, and (2) President Trump also knew this. While sheltering in a loading dock with the Vice President during the violent January 6th attack, Greg Jacob asked Eastman in an email, “Did you advise the President that in your professional judgment the Vice President DOES NOT have the power to decide things unilaterally?” Eastman’s response stated that the President had “been so advised,” but then indicated that President Trump continued to pressure the Vice President to act illegally: “But you know him—once he gets something in his head, it is hard to get him to change course.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">164 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The pressure began before the January 4th Oval Office meeting with Pence, Eastman, Jacob, Short and Trump, but became even more intense thereafter. On the evening of January 5, 2021, the New York Times published an article reporting that “Vice President Mike Pence told President Trump on Tuesday that he did not believe he had the power to block congressional certification of Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s victory in the Presidential election despite President Trump’s baseless insistence that he did.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">174 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">This reporting was correct—both as to the Vice President’s power and as to Vice President Pence having informed President Trump that he did not have the authority to change the outcome of the election. But in response to that story, late in the evening before the January 6th joint session, President Trump dictated to Jason Miller a statement falsely asserting, “The Vice President and I are in <i>total agreement </i>that the Vice President has the power to act.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">175 </span>This statement was released at President Trump’s direction and was false.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">176 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Thereafter, Trump continued to apply public pressure in a series of tweets. At 1:00 a.m. on January 6th,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span><i>“[i]f Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">177 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At 8:17 a.m. on January 6th, he tweeted again: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">178 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump tried to reach the Vice President early in the morning of January 6th, but the Vice President did not take the call. The President finally reached the Vice President later that morning, shouting from the Oval Office to his assistants to “get the Vice President on the phone.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">179 </span>After again telling the Vice President that he had “the legal authority to send [electoral votes] back to the respective states,” President Trump grew very heated.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">180 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Witnesses in Committee said that the President called Vice President Pence a “wimp,”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">181 </span>told him it would be “a political career killer” to certify the lawful electoral votes electing President Biden,<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">182 </span>and accused him of “not [being] tough enough to make the call.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">183 </span>As Ivanka Trump would recount to her chief of staff moments later, her father called the Vice President “the p-word” for refusing to overturn the election.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">184 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In response, Vice President Pence again refused to take any action other than counting the lawfully certified electoral votes of the States. But President Trump was angry and undeterred. After the conclusion of this call, he edited his speech for the Ell Earlier that morning, Eric Herschmann had tried to remove the reference to Vice President Pence from the speech. As he told speechwriter Stephen Miller, he “didn’t concur with the legal analysis” that John Eastman had advanced and believed it “wouldn’t advance the ball” to discuss it publicly.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">186 </span>But after the call with Vice President Pence, speechwriters were instructed to reinsert the line. Although the final written draft of his speech referred to Pence just once—a line President Trump didn’t end up reading<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">187</span>—the President went off-script five different times to pressure the Vice President: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. I hope so. Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election,” Trump first told the crowd.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">188 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us,” Trump later said, “and if he doesn’t, that will be a, a sad day for our country because you’re sworn to uphold our Constitution.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">189 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Addressing Pence directly, Trump told the assembled crowd: “Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country.” Trump said at another point, “And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you. I will tell you right now. I’m not hearing good stories.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">190 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do. And I hope he doesn’t listen to the RINOs and the stupid people that he’s listening to,” Trump said.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">191 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">These statements to the assembled crowd at the Ellipse had Trump’s intended effect—they produced substantial anger against Pence. When Pence released a statement confirming that he would not act to prevent Congress from counting electoral votes, the crowd’s reaction was harshly negative. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“I’m telling you what, I’m hearing that Pence—hearing the Pence just caved. No. Is that true? I didn’t hear it. I’m hear — I’m hearing reports that Pence caved. No way. I’m telling you, if Pence caved, we’re going to drag motherfuckers through the streets. You fucking politicians are going to get fucking drug through the streets.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">192 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Pence voted against Trump. [Interviewer: “Ok. And that’s when all this started?”] Yup. That’s when we marched on the Capitol. <span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">193</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“We just heard that Mike Pence is not going to reject any fraudulent electoral votes. [Other speaker: “Boo. You’re a traitor!”] That's right. You’ve heard it here first. Mike Pence has betrayed the United States of America. [Other speaker: “Fuck you, Mike Pence!”] Mike Pence has betrayed this President and he has betrayed the people of the United States and we will never, ever forget.” [Cheers]<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">194 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“This woman cames [sic] up to the side of us and she says Pence folded. So it was kind of, like, Ok, well — in my mind I was think- ing, well that’s it. You know. Well, my son-in-law looks at me and he says I want to go in.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">195 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“[Q] “What percentage of the crowd is going to the Capitol?” [A] [Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins]: “One hundred percent. It has, it has spread like wildfire that Pence has betrayed us, and everybody’s marching on the Capitol. All million of us. it’s insane.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">196 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Bring him out. Bring out Pence. Bring him out. Bring out Pence. Bring him out. Bring out Pence. Bring him out. Bring out Pence.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">197 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">198 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Once Trump returned to the White House, he was informed almost immediately that violence and lawlessness had broken out at the Capitol among his supporters.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">199 </span>At 2:24 p.m., President Trump applied yet further pressure to Pence, posting a tweet accusing Vice President Mike Pence of cowardice for not using his role as President of the Senate to change the outcome of the election:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span> </span>“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">200 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Almost immediately thereafter, the crowd around the Capitol surged, and more individuals joined the effort to con- front police and break further into the building. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The sentiment expressed in President Trump’s 2:24 p.m. tweet, already present in the crowd, only grew more powerful as the President’s words spread. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli—a white supremacist who expressed Nazi sympathies—heard about the tweet while in the Crypt around 2:25 p.m., and he, according to the Department of Justice, “knew what that meant.” Vice President Pence had decided not to keep President Trump in power.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">201 </span>Other rioters described what happened next as follows: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo14; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Once we found out Pence turned on us and that they had stolen the election, like officially, the crowd went crazy. I mean, it became a mob. We crossed the gate.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">202 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo14; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Then we heard the news on [P]ence . . . And lost it . . . So we stormed.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">203 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo14; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->They’re making an announcement right now saying if Pence betrays us you better get your mind right because we’re storming that building.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">204 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Minutes after the tweet—at 2:35 p.m.—rioters continued their surge and broke a security line of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, resulting in the first fighting withdrawal in the history of that force.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">205 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump issued this tweet after he had falsely claimed to the angry crowd that Vice President Mike Pence could “do the right thing” and ensure a second Trump term, after that angry crowd had turned into a violent mob assaulting the Capitol while chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">206 </span>and after the U.S. Secret Service had evacuated the Vice President from the Senate floor.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">207 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">One minute after the President’s tweet, at 2:25 p.m., the Secret Service determined they could no longer protect the Vice President in his ceremonial office near the Senate Chamber, and evacuated the Vice President and his family to a secure location, missing the violent mob by a mere 40 feet.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">208 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Further evidence presented at our hearing shows the violent reaction following President Trump’s 2:24 p.m. tweet and the efforts to protect Vice President Pence in the time that followed.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">209 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The day after the attack on the Capitol, Eastman called Eric Herschmann to talk about continuing litigation on behalf of the Trump Presidential Campaign in Georgia. Herschmann described his reaction to Eastman this way: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>And I said to him, are you out of your F'ing mind? Right? I said, because I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: Orderly transition. I said, I don't want to hear any other F'ing words coming out of your mouth, no matter what, other than orderly transition. Repeat those words to me.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">210 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Herschmann concluded the call by telling Eastman: “Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life. Get a great F’ing criminal defense lawyer, you’re going to need it,” and hanging up the phone.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">211 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">During a January 2, 2021, call, President Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes.” During that call, President Trump asserted conspiracy theories about the election that Department of Justice officials had already debunked. President Trump also made a thinly veiled threat to Raffensperger and his attorney about his failure to respond to President Trump’s demands: “That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense . . . That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer . . . I’m notifying you that you’re letting it happen.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">239 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Mr. Raffensperger debunked the President’s allegations “point by point” and explained that “the data you have is wrong;” however, President Trump still told him, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">240 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">That call to Raffensperger came on the heels of President Trump’s repeated attacks on Raffensperger, election workers, and other public servants about President Trump’s loss in the election. A month earlier, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Chief Operating Officer, Gabriel Sterling, had given this explicit public warning to President Trump and his team, a warning that the Select Committee has determined President Trump apparently saw and disregarded:<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">242 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[I]t has all gone too far. All of it. . . . <span> </span>A 20-something tech in Gwinnett County today has death threats and a noose put out, saying he should be hung for treason because he was transferring a report on batches from an EMS to a county computer so he could read it. It has to stop. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language. Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop. We need you to step up. And if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>My boss, Secretary Raffensperger—his address is out there. They have people doing caravans in front of their house, they’ve had people come onto their property. Tricia, his wife of 40 years, is get- ting sexualized threats through her cellphone. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>It has to stop. This is elections,this is the backbone of democracy, and all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this. It’s too much.... What you don’t have the ability to do—and you need to step up and say this—is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Someone’s going to get hurt. Someone’s going to get shot. Someone’s going to get killed.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">243 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The stark warning was entirely appropriate, and prescient. In addition to the examples Sterling identified, President Trump and his team were also fixated on Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. He and Giuliani mentioned Freeman repeatedly in meetings with State legislators, at public rallies, and in the January 2nd call with Raffensperger. Referring to a video clip, Giuliani even accused Freeman and Moss of trading USB drives to affect votes “as if they [were] vials of heroin or cocaine.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">244 </span>This was completely bogus: it was not a USB drive; it was a ginger mint.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">245 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">After their contact information was published, Trump supporters sent hundreds of threats to the women and even showed up at Freeman’s home.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">246 </span>As Freeman testified to the Select Committee, Trump and his followers’ conduct had a profound impact on her life. She left her home based on advice from the FBI, and wouldn’t move back for months.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">247 </span>And she explained,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span> </span>“I’ve lost my sense of security—all because a group of people, starting with Number 45 [Donald Trump] and his ally Rudy Giuliani, decided to scapegoat me and my daughter Shaye to push their own lies about how the Presidential election was stolen.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">248 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The treatment of Freeman and Moss was callous, inhumane, and inexcusable. Rudolph Giuliani and others with responsibility should be held accountable. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In Michigan, President Trump focused on Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Republican House Speaker Lee Chatfield. He invited them to the White House for a November 20, 2020, meeting during which President Trump and Giuliani, who joined by phone, went through a “litany” of false allegations about supposed fraud in Michigan’s election.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">255 </span>Chatfield recalled President Trump’s more generic directive for the group to “have some backbone and do the right thing,” which he understood to mean overturning the election by naming Michigan’s Electoral College electors for President Trump.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">256 </span>Shirkey told President Trump that he wouldn’t do anything that would violate Michigan law,<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">257 </span>and after the meeting ended, issued a joint statement with Chatfield: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">258 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">When President Trump couldn’t convince Shirkey and Chatfield to change the outcome of the election in Michigan during that meeting or in calls after, he or his team maliciously tweeted out Shirkey’s personal cell phone number and a number for Chatfield that turned out to be wrong.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">259 </span>Shirkey received nearly 4,000 text messages after that, and another private citizen reported being inundated with calls and texts intended for Chatfield.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">260 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At one point during the December 27th call in which Donoghue refuted President Trump’s fraud allegations, Donoghue recorded in handwritten notes a request President Trump made specifically to him and Acting Attorney General Rosen: “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">274 </span>Donoghue explained: “[T]he Department had zero involvement in anyone’s political strategy,” and “he wanted us to say that it was corrupt.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">275 </span>“We told him we were not going to do that.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump’s closest aides knew about the political power of sites like thedonald.win, which is where much of this violent rhetoric and planning happened. On December 30, 2020, Jason Miller—a Senior Adviser to and former spokesman for the former President—texted Chief of Staff Mark Meadows a link to the thedonald.win, adding, “I got the base FIRED UP.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">400 </span>The link connected to a page with comments like “Gallows don’t require electricity,” “if the filthy commie maggots try to push their fraud through, there will be hell to pay,” and Congress can certify Trump the winner or leave “in a bodybag.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">401 </span>Symbolic gallows were constructed on January 6th at the foot of the Capitol.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">402 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">After President Trump’s signal, his supporters did not hide their plans for violence at the Capitol, and those threats made their way to national and local law enforcement agencies. As described in this report, the intelligence agencies did detect this planning, and they shared it with the White House and with the U.S. Secret Service. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Testimony from White House staff also suggests real concerns about the risk of violence as January 6th approached. Cassidy Hutchinson, for example, testified about a conversation she had with her boss, Mark Meadows, on January 2nd: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I went into Mark’s office, and he was still on his phone . . . . I said to Mark, “Rudy [Giuliani] said these things to me. What’s going on here? Anything I should know about?” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>This was—he was, like, looking at his phone. He was like, “Oh, it’s all about the rally on Wednesday. Isn’t that what he was talking to you about?” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I said, “Yeah. Yeah, sounds like we’re going to the Capitol.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>He said, “Yeah. Are you talking with Tony?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“I’m having a conversation, sir.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>He said—still looking at his phone. I remember he was scrolling. He was like, “Yeah. You know, things might get real, real bad on the 6th.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>And I remember saying to him, “What do you mean?” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>He was like, “I don’t know. There’s just going to be a lot of people here, and there’s a lot of different ideas right now. I’m not really sure of everything that’s going on. Let's just make sure we keep tabs on it.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">403 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Hutchinson also testified about a conversation she had with Director of National Intelligence, Ratcliffe: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>He had expressed to me that he was concerned that it could spiral out of control and potentially be dangerous, either for our democracy or the way that things were going for the 6th.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">404 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Hope Hicks texted Trump Campaign spokesperson Hogan Gidley in the midst of the January 6th violence, explaining that she had “suggested . . . several times” on the preceding days (January 4th and January 5th) that President Trump publicly state that January 6th must remain peaceful and that he had refused her advice to do so.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">405 </span>Her recollection was that Herschmann earlier advised President Trump to make a preemptive public statement in advance of January 6th calling for no violence that day.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">406 </span>No such statement was made. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">On January 2, 2021, Katrina Pierson wrote in an email to fellow rally organizers, “POTUS expectations are to have something intimate at the [E]llipse, and call on everyone to march to the Capitol.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">410 </span>And, on January 4, 2021, another rally organizer texted Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, that President Trump would “unexpectedly” call on his supporters to march to the Capitol: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>This stays only between us . . . . It can also not get out about the march because I will be in trouble with the national park service and all the agencies but POTUS is going to just call for it “unexpectedly.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">411 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Testimony obtained by the Committee also indicates that President Trump was specifically aware that the crowd he had called to Washington was fired up and angry on the evening of January 5th. Judd Deere, a deputy White House press secretary recalled a conversation with President Trump in the Oval Office on the evening of January 5th: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Judd Deere: I said he should focus on policy accomplishments. I didn’t mention the 2020 election. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: Okay. What was his response? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Deere: He acknowledged that and said, “We’ve had a lot,” something along those lines, but didn’t—he fairly quickly moved to how fired up the crowd is, or was going to be. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: Okay. What did he say about it? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Deere: Just that they were—they were fired up. They were angry. They feel like the election’s been stolen, that the election was rigged, that—he went on and on about that for a little bit.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">412 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Testimony indicated that President Trump was briefed on the risk of violence on the morning of the 6th before he left the White House. Cassidy Hutchinson provided this testimony: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Vice Chair Cheney: So, Ms. Hutchinson, is it your understanding that Mr. Ornato told the President about weapons at the rally on the morning of January 6th? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Hutchinson: That is what Mr. Ornato relayed to me.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">413 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The head of President Trump’s security detail, Bobby Engel, told the Select Committee that when he shared critical information with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato, it was a means of conveying that information with the Oval Office:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span> </span>“So, when it came to passing information to Mr. Ornato, I—my assumption was that it would get to the chief [of staff, Mark Meadows], or that he was sharing the information with the chief. I don’t—and the filtering process, or if the chief thinks it needs to get to the President, then he would share it with the President.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">414 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Also, Engel confirmed that if “information would come to my attention, whether it was a protective intelligence issue or a concern or—primarily, I would—I would make sure that the information got filtered up through the appropriate chain usually through Mr. Ornato. So if I received a report on something that was happening in the DC area, I’d either forward that information to Mr. Ornato, or call him about that information or communicate in some way.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">415 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Select Committee also queried Deputy Chief of Staff Ornato this November about what he generally would have done in this sort of situation, asking him the following: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">“Generally you receive information about things like the groups that are coming, the stuff that we talked earlier. You would bring that to Mr. Meadows and likely did here, although you don’t have a specific recollection?”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">416 </span>Ornato responded: “That is correct, sir.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">417 </span>Ornato also explained to the Committee that “... in my normal daily functions, in my general functions as my job, I would’ve had a conversation with him about all the groups coming in and what was expected from the secret service.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">418 </span>As for the morning of January 6th itself, he had the following answer: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: Do you remember talking to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about any of your concerns about the threat landscape going into January 6th? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Ornato: I don’t recall; however, in my position I would’ve made sure he was tracking the demos, which he received a daily brief, Presidential briefing. So he most likely was getting all this in his daily brief as well. I wouldn’t know what was in his intelligence brief that day, but I would’ve made sure that he was tracking these things and just mentioned, “Hey, are you tracking the demos?” If he gave me a “yeah”, I don’t recall it today, but I’m sure that was something that took place.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">419 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Hours before the Ellipse rally on January 6th, the fact that the assembled crowd was prepared for potential violence was widely known. In addition to intelligence reports indicating potential violence at the Capitol, weapons and other prohibited items were being seized by police on the streets and by Secret Service at the magnetometers for the Ellipse speech. Secret Service confiscated a haul of weapons from the 28,000 spectators who did pass through the magnetometers: 242 cannisters of pepper spray, 269 knives or blades, 18 brass knuckles, 18 tasers, 6 pieces of body armor, 3 gas masks, 30 batons or blunt instruments, and 17 miscellaneous items like scissors, needles, or screwdrivers.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">420 </span>And thousands of others purposely remained outside the magnetometers, or left their packs outside.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">421 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Others brought firearms. Three men in fatigues from Broward County, Florida brandished AR-15s in front of Metropolitan police officers on 14th Street and Independence Avenue on the morning of January 6th.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">422 </span>MPD advised over the radio that one individual was possibly armed with a “Glock” at 14th and Constitution Avenue, and another was possibly armed with a “rifle” at 15th and Constitution Avenue around 11:23 a.m.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">423 </span>The National Park Service detained an individual with a rifle between 12 and 1 p.m.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">424 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Almost all of this was known before Donald Trump took the stage at the Ellipse. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">By the time President Trump was preparing to give his speech, he and his advisors knew enough to cancel the rally. And he certainly knew enough to cancel any plans for a march to the Capitol. According to testimony obtained by the Select Committee, President Trump knew that elements of the crowd were armed, and had prohibited items, and that many thousands would not pass through the magnetometers for that reason. Testimony indicates that the President had received an earlier security briefing, and testimony indicates that the Secret Service mentioned the prohibited items again as they drove President Trump to the Ellipse. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Cassidy Hutchinson was with the President backstage. Her contemporaneous text messages indicate that President Trump was “effing furious” about the fact that a large number of his supporters would not go through the magnetometers: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cassidy Hutchinson: But the crowd looks good from this vanish [sic] point. As long as we get the shot. He was fucking furious.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Tony Ornato: He doesn’t get it that the people on the monument side don’t want to come in. They can see from there and don’t want to come in. They can see from there and don’t have to go through mags. With 30k magged inside. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cassidy Hutchinson: That’s what was relayed several times and in different iterations.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Poor max got chewed out. He also kept mentioning [an off the record trip] to Capitol before he took the stage.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Tony Ornato: Bobby will tell him no. It’s not safe to do. No assets available to safely do it.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">425 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">And Hutchinson described what President Trump said as he prepared to take the stage: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>When we were in the off-stage announce area tent behind the stage, he was very concerned about the shot. Meaning the photograph that we would get because the rally space wasn’t full. One of the reasons, which I’ve previously stated, was because he wanted it to be full and for people to not feel excluded because they had come far to watch him at the rally. And he felt the mags were at fault for not letting everybody in, but another leading reason and likely the primary reasons is because he wanted it full and he was angry that we weren’t letting people through the mags with weapons—what the Secret Service deemed as weapons, and are, are weapons. But when we were in the off-stage announce tent, I was a part of a conversation, I was in the vicinity of a conversation where I overheard the President say something to the effect of, “I don’t F’ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the F’ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the F’ing mags away.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">426 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Although President Trump and his advisors knew of the risk of violence, and knew specifically that elements of the crowd were angry and some were armed, from intelligence and law enforcement reports that morning, President Trump nevertheless went forward with the rally, and then specifically instructed the crowd to march to the Capitol: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">429 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Much of President Trump’s speech was improvised. Even before his improvisation, during the review of President Trump’s prepared remarks, White House lawyer Eric Herschmann specifically requested that “if there were any factual allegations, someone needed to independently validate or verify the statements.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">430 </span>And in the days just before January 6th, Herschmann “chewed out” John Eastman and told him he was “out of [his] F’ing mind” to argue that the Vice President could be the sole decision-maker as to who becomes the next President.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">431 </span>Herschmann told us, “I so berated him that I believed that theory would not go forward.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">432 </span>But President Trump made that very argument during his speech at the Ellipse and made many false statements. Herschmann attended that speech, but walked out during the middle of it.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">433 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump’s speech to the crowd that day lasted more than an hour. The speech walked through dozens of known falsehoods about purported election fraud. And Trump again made false and malicious claims about Dominion voting systems.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">434 </span>As discussed earlier, he again pressured Mike Pence to refuse to count lawful electoral votes, going off script repeatedly, leading the crowd to believe falsely that Pence could and would alter the election outcome: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>And I actually, I just spoke to Mike. I said: “Mike, that doesn’t take courage. What takes courage is to do nothing. That takes courage.” And then we’re stuck with a president who lost the election by a lot and we have to live with that for four more years. We’re just not going to let that happen . . . . When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules. So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do. And I hope he doesn’t listen to the RINOs and the stupid people that he’s listening to.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">435 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">This characterization of Vice President Pence’s decision had a direct impact on those who marched to and approached the Capitol, as illustrated by this testimony from a person convicted of crimes committed on January 6th: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>So this woman came up to the side of us, and she, says, Pence folded. So it was kind of, like, okay. Well, in my mind I was thinking, ”Well, that’s it, you know.” Well, my son-in-law looks at me, and he says, ”I want to go in.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">436 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Trump used the word “peacefully,” written by speech writers, one time. But he delivered many other scripted and unscripted comments that conveyed a very different message: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. . . . And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore . . . .</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">437 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Trump also was not the only rally speaker to do these things. Giuliani, for instance, also said, “Let’s have trial by combat.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">438 </span>Likewise, Eastman used his two minutes on the Ellipse stage to make a claim already known to be false—that corrupted voted machines stole the election.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">439 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Another criminal defendant—charged with assaulting an officer with a flagpole and other crimes—explained in an interview why he went to the Capitol and fought: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Dale Huttle: We were not there illegally, we were invited there by the President himself. . . . Trump’s backers had been told that the election had been stolen. . . . <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Reporter Megan Hickey: But do you think he encouraged violence? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Dale Huttle: Well, I sat there, or stood there, with half a million people listening to his speech. And in that speech, both Giuliani and [Trump] said we were going to have to fight like hell to save our country. Now, whether it was a figure of speech or not—it wasn’t taken that way. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Reporter Megan Hickey: You didn’t take it as a figure of speech? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Dale Huttle: No.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">445 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump concluded his speech at 1:10 p.m. Among other statements from the Ellipse podium, President Trump informed the crowd that he would be marching to the Capitol with them: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Now, it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. And after this, we’re going to walk down, <span>and I’ll be there with you</span>, we’re going to walk down, we’re going to walk down. Anyone you want, but I think right here, <span>we’re going to walk down to the Capitol</span>, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">446 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Hutchinson testified that she first became aware of President Trump’s plans to attend Congress’s session to count votes on or about January 2nd. She learned this from a conversation with Giuliani: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>“It’s going to be great. The President’s going to be there. He’s going to look powerful. He’s—he’s going to be with the members. He’s going to be with the Senators.”</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">447 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Evidence also indicates that multiple members of the White House staff, including White House lawyers, were concerned about the President’s apparent intentions to go to the Capitol.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">448 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">After he exited the stage, President Trump entered the Presidential SUV and forcefully expressed his intention that Bobby Engel, the head of his Secret Service detail, direct the motorcade to the Capitol. The Committee has now obtained evidence from several sources about a “furious interaction” in the SUV. The vast majority of witnesses who have testified before the Select Committee about this topic, including multiple members of the Secret Service, a member of the Metropolitan police, and national security and military officials in the White House, described President Trump’s behavior as “irate,” “furious,” “insistent,” “profane” and “heated.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">From the outset of the violence and for several hours that followed, people at the Capitol, people inside President Trump’s Administration, elected officials of both parties, members of President Trump’s family, and Fox News commentators sympathetic to President Trump all tried to contact him to urge him to do one singular thing—one thing that all of these people immediately understood was required: Instruct his supporters to stand down and disperse—to leave the Capitol. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">As the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates, President Trump specifically and repeatedly refused to do so—for multiple hours—while the mayhem ensued. Chapter 8 of this report explains in meticulous detail the horrific nature of the violence taking place, that was directed at law enforcement officers at the Capitol and that put the lives of American lawmakers at risk. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Yet in spite of this, President Trump watched the violence on television from a dining room adjacent to the Oval Office, calling Senators to urge them to help him delay the electoral count, but refusing to supply the specific help that everyone knew was unequivocally required. As this report shows, when Trump finally did make such a statement at 4:17 p.m.— after hours of violence—the statement immediately had the expected effect; the rioters began to disperse immediately and leave the Capitol.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">457 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">No photographs exist of the President for the remainder of the afternoon until after 4 p.m. President Trump appears to have instructed that the White House photographer was not to take any photographs.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">462 </span>The Select Committee also was unable to locate any official records of President Trump’s telephone calls that afternoon.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">463 </span>And the President’s official Daily Diary contains no information for this afternoon between the hours of 1:19 p.m. and 4:03 p.m., at the height of the worst attack on the seat of the United States Congress in over two centuries.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">464 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At 1:49 p.m., just as the DC Metropolitan Police officially declared a riot and the Capitol Police were calling for help from the National Guard to address the crisis, President Trump sent a tweet with a link to a recording of his speech at the Ellipse.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">471 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At about that point, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone became aware of the Capitol riot. The Committee collected sworn testimony from several White House officials, each with similar accounts. The President’s White House Counsel Pat Cipollone testified that he raced downstairs, and went to the Oval Office Dining Room as soon as he learned about the violence at the Capitol—likely just around or just after 2 p.m. Cipollone knew immediately that the President had to deliver a message to the rioters—asking them to leave the Capitol. Here is how he described this series of events: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>. . . the first time I remember going downstairs was when people had breached the Capitol... But I went down with [Deputy White House Counsel] Pat [Philbin], and I remember we were both very upset about what was happening. And we both wanted, you know, action to be taken related to that . . . But we went down to the Oval Office, we went through the Oval office, and we went to the back where the President was. . . . I think he was already in the dining room . . . I can’t talk about conversations [with the President]. I think I was pretty clear there needed to be an immediate and forceful response, statement, public statement, that people need to leave the Capitol now.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">472 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Cipollone also left little doubt that virtually everyone among senior White House staff had the same view: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>There were a lot of people in the White House that day . . . Senior people who, you know, felt the same way that I did and who were working very hard to achieve that result. There were—I think Ivanka was one of them. And Eric Herschmann was there, Pat Philbin was there, and a number of other people . . . . many people suggested it. . . . Many people felt the same way. I’m sure I had conversations with Mark [Meadows] about this during the course of the day and expressed my opinion very forcefully that this needs to be done.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">473 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Likewise, senior staff cooperated to produce a message for the President on a notecard, which read: <i>ANYONE WHO ENTERED THE CAPITOL ILLEGALLY WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORITY SHOULD LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">474 </span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The President declined to make the statement. Cipollone also made it clear that the advice they were giving to the President never changed throughout this three-hour period. Trump refused to do what was necessary. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: [I]t sounds like you from the very onset of violence at the Capitol right around 2 o’clock were pushing for a strong statement that people should leave the Capitol. Is that right? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cipollone: I was, and others were as well.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">475 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked closely with Mark Meadows and sat directly outside his office, confirmed this account and described several additional details: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I see Pat Cipollone barreling down the hallway towards our office. And he rushed right in, looked at me, said, “Is Mark in his office?” And I said, “Yes.” And on a normal day he would’ve said, “Can I pop in,” or, “Is he talking to anyone,” or, “Is it an appropriate time for me to go chat with him,” and myself or Eliza would go let him in or tell him no. But after I had said yes, he just looked at me and started shaking his head and went over, opened Mark’s office door, stood there with the door propped open, and said something to the—Mark was still sitting on his phone. I remember, like, glancing in. He was still sitting on his phone. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>And I remember Pat saying to him something to the effect of, “The rioters have gotten to the Capitol, Mark. We need to go down and see the President now.” And Mark looked up at him and said, “He doesn't want to do anything, Pat.” And Pat said something to the effect of—and very clearly said this to Mark—something to the effect of, “Mark, something needs to be done, or people are going to die and the blood’s gonna be on your F’ing hands. This is getting out of control. I’m going down there.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">476 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Select Committee believes that the entire White House senior staff was in favor of a Presidential statement specifically instructing the violent rioters to leave. But President Trump refused. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone answered certain questions from the Select Committee on this subject as follows: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Vice Chair Cheney: And when you talk about others on the staff thinking more should be done, or thinking that the President needed to tell people to go home, who would you put in that category? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cipollone: Well, I would put . . . Pat Philbin, Eric Herschmann. Over- all, Mark Meadows, Ivanka. Once Jared got there, Jared. General Kellogg. I’m probably missing some, but those are—Kayleigh I think was there. But I don’t—Dan Scavino. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Vice Chair Cheney: And who on the staff did not want people to leave the Capitol?” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cipollone: On the staff?<br />Vice Chair Cheney: In the White House? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cipollone: I can’t think of anybody on that day who didn’t want people to get out of the Capitol once the—particularly once the violence started. No. I mean— <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Mr. Schiff: What about the President? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Vice Chair Cheney: Yeah.... <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>[Consultation between Mr. Cipollone and his counsel.] <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Cipollone: Yeah. I can’t reveal communications. But obviously I think, you know—yeah.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">477 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At 2:13 p.m., rioters broke into the Capitol and flooded the building.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">482 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">As the violence began to escalate, many Trump supporters and others outside the White House began urgently seeking his intervention. Mark Meadows’s phone was flooded with text messages. These are just some of them: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->2:32 p.m. from Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham: “Hey Mark, The president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">483 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->2:35 p.m. from Mick Mulvaney: “Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">484 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->2:46 p.m. from Rep. William Timmons (R–SC): “The president needs to stop this ASAP”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">485 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->2:53 p.m. from Donald Trump, Jr.: “He’s got to condem [sic] this shit. Asap. The captiol [sic] police tweet is not enough.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">486 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->3:04 p.m. from Rep. Jeff Duncan (R–SC): “POTUS needs to calm this shit down”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">487 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->3:09 p.m. from former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus: “TELL THEM TO GO HOME !!!”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">488 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->3:13 p.m. from Alyssa Farah Griffin: “Potus has to come out firmly and tell protestors to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">489 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->3:15 p.m. from Rep. Chip Roy (R–TX): “Fix this now.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">490 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->3:31 p.m. from Fox News anchor Sean Hannity: “Can he make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to peacefully leave the capital [sic]”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">491 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->3:58 p.m. from Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade: “Please get him on tv. Destroying every thing you guys have accomplished”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">492 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Others on Capitol Hill appeared in the media, or otherwise appeared via internet. Representative Mike Gallagher (R–WI) issued a video appealing directly to the President:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Mr. President, you have got to stop this. You are the only person who can call this off. Call it off. The election is over. Call it off!</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">493 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Some Members of Congress sent texts to President Trump’s immediate staff or took to Twitter, where they knew the President spent time: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l12 level1 lfo16; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sen. Bill Cassidy (R–LA) issued a tweet: @realDonaldTrump please appear on TV, condemn the violence and tell people to disband.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">494 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l12 level1 lfo16; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R–WA) sent a text to Mark Meadows: We need to hear from the president. On TV. I hate that Biden jumped him on it.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">495 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l12 level1 lfo16; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 6.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-text-raise: 4.0pt; position: relative; top: -4.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy tried repeatedly to reach President Trump, and did at least once. He also reached out for help to multiple members of President Trump’s family, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">496 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Kushner characterized Leader McCarthy’s demeanor on the call as “scared”: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Kushner: I could hear in his voice that he really was nervous, and so, obviously, I took that seriously. And, you know, I didn’t know if I’d be able to have any impact, but I said, you know, it’s better to at least try. And so I—like I said, I turned the shower off, threw on a suit, and, you know, and rushed into the White House as quickly as I could. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: Yeah. What did he ask you to do? When you say have an impact, what is it specifically that he needed your help with? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Kushner: I don't recall a specific ask, just anything you could do. Again, I got the sense that, you know, they were—they were—you know, they were scared. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: “They” meaning Leader McCarthy and people on the Hill because of the violence? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Kushner: That he was scared, yes.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">497 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Kevin McCarthy told Fox News at 3:09 p.m. about his call with the President<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">498 </span>and elaborated about its contents in a conversation with CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell at around 3:30 p.m.: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>O’Donnell: Have you spoken with the President and asked him to perhaps come to the Capitol and tell his supporters it’s time to leave? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Leader McCarthy: I have spoken to the President. I asked him to talk to the nation and tell them to stop this. . . . <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>O’Donnell: The President invited tens of thousands of people to quote unquote stop the steal. I don’t know if you heard his more- than-hour-long remarks or the remarks of his son, who was the wind-up. It was some heated stuff, Leader McCarthy. I just wonder whether someone is going to accurately call a spade a spade, and I am giving you the opportunity right now that your precious and beloved United States Capitol and our democracy is witnessing this. Call a spade a spade. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Leader McCarthy: I was very clear with the President when I called him. This has to stop. And he has to, he’s gotta go to the American public and tell them to stop this. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>O’Donnell: Leader McCarthy, the President of the United States has a briefing room steps from the Oval Office. It is, the cameras are hot 24/7, as you know. Why hasn’t he walked down and said that, now? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Leader McCarthy: I conveyed to the President what I think is best to do, and I’m hopeful the President will do it.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">499 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Committee has evidence from multiple sources regarding the content of Kevin McCarthy’s direct conversation with Donald Trump during the violence. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R–WA), to whom McCarthy spoke soon after, relayed more of the conversation between McCarthy and President Trump: </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>And he said [to President Trump], “You have got to get on TV. You’ve got to get on Twitter. You’ve got to call these people off.” You know what the President said to him? This is as it’s happening. He said, “Well Kevin, these aren’t my people. You know, these are Antifa. And Kevin responded and said, “No, they’re your people. They literally just came through my office windows and my staff are running for cover. I mean they’re running for their lives. You need to call them off.” And the President’s response to Kevin to me was chilling. He said, “Well Kevin, I guess they’re just more upset about the election, you know, theft than you are”.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">500 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Rep. Herrera Beutler’s account of the incident was also corroborated by former Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who testified that Leader McCarthy told him several days later that President Trump had said during their call: “Kevin, maybe these people are just more angry about this than you are. Maybe they’re more upset.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">501 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At 2:16 p.m., security records indicate that the Vice President was “being pulled” to a safer location.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">507 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">In an interview with the Select Committee, a White House Security Official on duty at the White House explained his observations as he listened to Secret Service communications and made contemporaneous entries into a security log. In particular, he explained an entry he made at 2:24 p.m.: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: Ok. That last entry on this page is: “Service at the Capitol does not sound good right now.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Official: Correct.<br />Committee Staff: What does that mean? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Official: The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives. There were a lot of—there was a lot of yelling, a lot of—I don’t know—a lot [of] very personal calls over the radio. So—it was disturbing. I don’t like talking about it, but there were calls to say good-bye to family members, so on and so forth. It was getting—for whatever the reason was on the ground, the VP detail thought that this was about to get very ugly. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: And did you hear that over the radio? Official: Correct.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: ... obviously, you’ve conveyed that’s disturbing, but what prompted you to put it into an entry as it states there, “Service at the Capitol—” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Official: That they’re running out of options, and they’re getting nervous. It sounds like that we came very close to either Service having to use lethal options or worse. At that point, I don’t know. Is the VP compromised? Is the detail—like, I don’t know. Like, we didn’t have visibility, but it doesn’t—if they’re screaming and saying things, like, say good-bye to the family, like, the floor needs to know this is going to a whole another level soon.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">508 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Also at 2:24 p.m., knowing the riot was underway and that Vice President Pence was at the Capitol, President Trump sent this tweet: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">509 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Evidence shows that the 2:24 p.m. tweet immediately precipitated further violence at the Capitol. Immediately after this tweet, the crowds both inside and outside of the Capitol building violently surged forward.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">510 </span>Outside the building, within ten minutes thousands of rioters overran the line on the west side of the Capitol that was being held by the Metropolitan Police Force’s Civil Disturbance Unit, the first time in history of the DC Metro Police that such a security line had ever been broken.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">511 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Virtually everyone on the White House staff the Select Committee interviewed condemned the 2:24 p.m. tweet in the strongest terms. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo17; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->White House Counsel Pat Cipollone told the Select Committee, “I don’t remember when exactly I heard about that tweet, but my reaction to it is that’s a terrible tweet, and I disagreed with the sentiment. And I thought it was wrong.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">515 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo17; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Likewise, Counselor to the President Hope Hicks texted a colleague that evening: “Attacking the VP? Wtf is wrong with him.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">516 </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At 2:26 p.m., Vice President Pence was again moved to a different location.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">517 </span>President Trump had the TV on in the dining room.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">518 </span>At 2:38 p.m., Fox News was showing video of the chaos and attack, with tear gas filling the air in the Capitol Rotunda. And a newscaster reported, “[T]his is a very dangerous situation.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">519 </span>This is the context in which Trump sent the tweet. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Testimony obtained by the Committee indicates that President Trump knew about the rioters’ anger at Vice President Pence and indicated something to the effect that the Vice President “deserves it.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">520 </span>As Cassidy Hutchinson explained: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>I remember Pat saying something to the effect of, “Mark, we need to do something more. They’re literally calling for the Vice President to be f’ing hung.” And Mark had responded something to the effect of, “You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they're doing anything wrong.” To which Pat said something, “[t]his is f’ing crazy, we need to be doing something more,” briefly stepped into Mark’s office, and when Mark had said something—when Mark had said something to the effect of, “He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong,” knowing what I had heard briefly in the dining room coupled with Pat discussing the hanging Mike Pence chants in the lobby of our office and then Mark’s response, I understood “they’re” to be the rioters in the Capitol that were chanting for the Vice President to be hung.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">521 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Reflecting on President Trump’s conduct that day, Vice President Pence noted that President Trump “had made no effort to contact me in the midst of the rioting or any point afterward.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">549 </span>He wrote that President Trump’s “reckless words had endangered my family and all those serving at the Capitol.”<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">550 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">President Trump did not contact a single top national security official during the day. Not at the Pentagon, nor at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the F.B.I., the Capitol Police Department, or the D.C. Mayor’s office.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">551 </span>As Vice President Pence has confirmed, President Trump didn’t even try to reach his own Vice President to make sure that Pence was safe.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">552 </span>President Trump did not order any of his staff to facilitate a law enforcement response of any sort.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">553 </span>His Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—who is by statute the primary military advisor to the President—had this reaction:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>General Milley: You know, you’re the Commander in Chief. You’ve got an assault going on on the Capitol of the United States of America. And there’s nothing? No call? Nothing? Zero?</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">554 <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Some have suggested that President Trump gave an order to have 10,000 troops ready for January 6th.<span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">556 </span>The Select Committee found no evidence of this. In fact, President Trump’s Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller directly refuted this when he testified under oath: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>Committee Staff: To be crystal clear, there was no direct order from President Trump to put 10,000 troops to be on the ready for January 6th, correct? <o:p></o:p></i></p><p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Miller: No. Yeah. That’s correct. There was no direct—there was no order from the President.</i><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;">557 </span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-size: 6pt; position: relative; top: -4pt;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></p>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-14288115204996021102022-12-08T05:52:00.000-08:002022-12-08T05:52:12.420-08:00 A Flyover of Christmas History, Folklore, and Celebrations<div style="text-align: center;"><b>THE BIRTHDATE OF JESUS</b></div><div><br /></div>The date of Jesus’ birth is not known. Dionysius (1st century) is known for doing the historical math and arriving at a birth year around BC 12.[1] Others disagreed.[2]Generally, Jesus’ birth date is now placed around 4 BC, but there is nothing of theological or spiritual significance that hangs on this date. It was not a priority in the early church, and no writer of Scripture saw fit to include a date. <br /><br />The early church associated birthday celebrations with the pagan gods.[3] Early Christian writers (Irenaeus, 130–200; Tertullian, 155–240; Origen of Alexandria, 165–264) mocked Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices—a strong indication that Jesus’ birth was not marked with festivities at that place and time.[4] <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/scholarsandscientists/origen.html">Origen</a> (c.185-c.254) said it would be wrong to honor Christ in the same way Pharaoh and Herod were honored. Tertullian did not list it as a Christian holiday for sure.<br /><br />When Jesus’ birthdate was discussed, the date would have been figured out from a tradition that martyrs died on the same date they were conceived. If Jesus died on 14 Nisan (March 25), he was conceived on a March 25, which meant he was born on December 25 if the timing was perfect.<br /> <br />Hippolytus' Commentary on Daniel (early 200s) claimed either March or December 25 as the date for Jesus' birth; Clement thought March 25 as the date of Jesus conception, thus 9 months before his birth and death.[5]<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * * *</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>THE ROMAN INTERLUDE: DID CHRISTIANS JOIN A PAGAN HOLIDAY?</b></div><br />SATURNALIA: In the time that Jesus was born, Roman had been observing Saturnalia starting December 17 and generally lasting 6 days. It was a holiday in honor of Saturn, “the birthday of the unconquered sun,” and it was a party (to say the least) characterized by a lot of personal and societal chaos. It was a mix of good and bad for sure. <br /><br />There seems to be little reason to think Christians chose December 25 to join or subvert a pagan holiday.[6] The Jewish population from which Christianity emerged was quite good at establishing their own holidays, and their math was based on Jesus’ death date/conception date. Really, because the early church did not celebrate birthdays, the likelihood of Saturnalia influencing a Christmas celebration is small. The more likely candidate for potential overlap is the next one. <br /><br />SOLIS INVICTI. “On December 25th, 274 AD, the Emperor Aurelian created a holiday called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti – the birthday of the Sun – officially elevating the Sun to the highest position among the gods.”[7] This would be a better candidate for the melding of Christian and pagan holidays, but by the time December 25 becomes a Christian celebration, Solas Invicti was largely more of a cultural festival than a religious one.[8] In addition, this means the holiday was created well after Hippolytus and others had claimed that day as a potential birth day.”[9]<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Interlude over :) We now return you to your regularly scheduled walk through the historical timeline of the history of Christmas.</i></div><div><br />A Roman almanac from 336 that lists the death (and thus birth) dates of various Christian bishops and martyrs, the first date listed, December 25, is marked: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae: “Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea.[10]<br /><br />By AD 386, Chrysostom celebrated December 25th as Jesus’ birthday, preaching, "Without the birth of Christ there is no <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/baptism-what-is-it-meaning-and-definition.html">Baptism</a>, no Passion, no Resurrection, no Ascension and no Pouring out of the <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/10-supernatural-ways-the-holy-spirit-wants-to-empower-you.html">Holy Spirit</a>..."[11] <br /><br />Augustine (354-430 AD) wrote: “So then, let us celebrate the birthday of the Lord with all due festive gatherings.”[12]<br /><br />In 389 St Gregory (one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church) warned against 'feasting in excess, dancing and crowning the doors'. [13] Things were already getting a little rowdy. <br /><br />The Feast of the Nativity spread to Egypt (in the 400s), England (in the 500s), Scandinavia by the 700s (we get the language of “Yule” and the tradition of Yule logs from them), and Russia by the 900s.<br /><br />During the Middle Ages (400-1400) the church formally increased the focus on Jesus’ birth, but a lot of the informal celebration was not as focused. This is where one could argue that a Saturnalia-type of influence began to significantly overlap. <br /><br />From the mid-fourth century on, we do find Christians deliberately adapting and Christianizing pagan festivals. A famous proponent of this practice was Pope Gregory the Great, who, in a letter written in 601 C.E. to a Christian missionary in Britain, recommended that local pagan temples not be destroyed but be converted into churches, and that pagan festivals be celebrated as feasts of Christian martyrs. At this late point, Christmas may well have acquired some pagan trappings. But we don’t have evidence of Christians adopting pagan festivals in the third century, at which point dates for Christmas were established. [14]<br /><br />One overlap was that the poor would go to the rich and demand their best food and drink, like a Christmas version of trick or treat. There was a significant economic Reason For The Season as Christmas became a time when the poor demanded that the rich unScrooge themselves for at least one holiday. <br /><br />The Catholic Church had the first Midnight Mass on Christmas (“Christ’s Mass”) Eve 1039; it was a celebration that marked a transition from fasting to feasting. [15]As much as the Church formally focused on Jesus, Christmas celebrants had difficulty avoiding excess in all kinds of feasting once they got outside the confines of the church building. <br /><br />In the 12th century, we find the first suggestion that Jesus’ birth was deliberately aligned with pagan feasts. A biblical commentator from Syria claimed the Christmas holiday was actually shifted from January 6 to December 25 to align with the Sol Invictus holiday. There is no reason to believe this is true, though I think it’s fair to say the raucous cultural celebrations had an influence on the informal celebrations of Christmas by that time.<br /><br />Reformers (beginning 1517) hit the holiday celebration issue pretty hard, which is understandable considering a) the partying that was going on informally and b) their reforming push for renewal in the Catholic Church. <br /><br />In the 1640s, Puritan Separatists who ‘separated’ from the Church of England sailed across the pond and came to America, with no desire to continue the observation of Christmas practiced in England. (Christmas was a time of drunkenness, rioting and “misrule”, unfortunately, and the religious tension was, uh, strong).<br /><br />When <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/oliver-cromwell">Oliver Cromwell</a> and the Long Parliament took over England around that same time (1645), they vowed to rid England of decadence and, among other things, cancelled all Christian holidays except Sunday. They even changed the name of Christmas to “Christ-tide” to avoid the word “mass.” <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>CHRISTMAS IN THE UNITED STATES' HISTORY</b></div><br />The Puritans did NOT bring Christmas with them to what we now call the New England states. In fact, from 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston (one could be fined five shillings for exhibiting Christmas spirit). In the War on Christmas in the history of U.S. culture, the Puritans win hands down. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/john-smith">John Smith</a> reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all at Jamestown, which was settled by Anglicans, people who still were loyal to the Church of England. <br /><br />Whatever Christmas momentum might have started in Jamestown faded for a while after the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution">American Revolution</a> (English customs were not popular, as you might imagine). Still, the Anglican South was for more hospitable to Christmas than the Puritan North. <br /><br />Fast forward to the 1800s. Unemployment and poverty were high, and actual riots by the poor often occurred during Christmas. A policeman was killed trying to stop a fight between Catholics holding a Christmas Mass and Protestant fundamentalists trying to stop them.[16]<br /><br />“Christmas joined Sabbath observance, slavery, women’s rights, corruption, immorality, crime, drugs, prostitution, gambling and alcohol, as major moral issues that risked plunging the city and the nation into chaos during the early decades of the young republic. In fact, daily violence reached such proportions that in 1828 the city established its first professional police force following an especially violent Christmas riot. “[17]<br /><br />In 1819, Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, which was basically a series of stories/essays that featured an English squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday where the two groups mingled in friendship. To Irving, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday that united people from every walk of life. He also wrote "Diederich Knickerbocker's History of New York," in which Sinterklaes rode through the skies in a horse and wagon and went down chimneys to deliver presents to children.[18] In 1821, an American children's book called "The Children's Friend" changed Santa's horse and wagon to a reindeer and sleigh.<br /><br />Around that time (1843), Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, a novel which had a huge impact in both England the U.S. It prominently features not a conversion to celebrating Jesus, but a conversion to a spirit of generosity (Dickens himself likely saw this as a necessary outworking of honoring the birth of Jesus). “God bless us, everyone” is experienced through the practical provision charity and generosity and the warmth of family. <br /><br />The U.S. being the melting pot that it was, people began building traditions from all sorts of sources,[19] [20] Still, as late as 1855, Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists did not celebrate Christmas, while Episcopalian, Catholic and German churches did.[21] Southern Baptists started moving in that direction after the Civil War ended in the 1860s.<br /><br />In June 26, 1870, Christmas was officially declared a federal holiday (a number of states, especially from the Anglican tradition in the South, had already made it a state holiday).<br /><br />Interestingly, by the mid 1900s, the main opposition to Christmas celebrations had been either within the church or between Christians and their Jewish spiritual cousins. The growing Jewish population in the U.S. found themselves very much at odds with a celebration of the birth of the Messiah, so they decided to join in attempts to secularize the holiday so it would be more like an American national holiday rather than a religious one. One of the main contributors was Irving Berlin (1888-1989), a Jewish immigrant whose family fled the pogroms in Russia.[22] He composed the all-time Christmas favorite “White Christmas” in 1942. The wait for snow replaces any expectation of the arrival of the Messiah. [23]<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS[24]</b></div><br />THE CHRISTMAS TREE: Pagans had long used trees as an accompaniment to their worship (the oak was a popular one). Christianity did not ban trees; it reframed the use. Around 700, the trees associated with pagan worship were replaced by the fir tree as symbol of Christianity (because of its triangle shape /the Trinity). The ‘ever green’ was also associated with eternal life. <br /><br />CANDY CANE: the shepherd’s crook of the Good Shepherd.<br /><br />POINSEETTIAS: the star of Bethlehem. <br /><br />WREATH: a symbol of true love, which never ceases.<br /><br />HOLLY: a symbol of the crown of thorns worn by Christ on the cross.<br /><br />BELLS: they stand for joy, and as a reminder that Jesus is the Great High Priest (Jewish priests had bells attached to the hem of their robes).<br /><br />TREE BAUBLES OR BALLS: in early church calendars of saints, December 24th was Adam and Eve's day.[25] The Christmas tree became a symbol of the tree of Paradise, and people started decorating it with red apples. Originally the apples were a reminder of sin; they morphed into a symbol for the fruits of the Spirit. <br /><br />LIGHTS: around 1500, or so the story goes, Martin Luther brought a tree indoors and decorated it with candles in honor of Christ’s birth (indoor stars!). [26] Interesting side note: Thomas Edison (1847-1931) presented his first string of electric Christmas tree lights in 1880.[27] To advertise his new lights, Edison and his General Electric Company sent picture postcards to families in which strings of lights not only decorated the tree but were strung throughout the house. Since these indoor trees needed decorations, a businessman named Woolworth signed a monopoly agreement with the German manufacturers of glass ornaments which he marketed at his growing national chain of stores. The smaller ones sold for 5 cents and the larger ones for 10 cents, thus the origin of the 5 and 10 cent store. [28]<br /><br />MISTLETOE (“dung twig”): In the Middle Ages in England, it was hung to ward off evil spirits and witches. In Scandinavia, it was a plant of peace. In Norse legend, it was a symbol that reminded them to protect life. In many cultures it was considered a cure-all medicine. The Catholic church banned it for a while because of how much the pagans loved it, but it’s easy to see how it blended into a celebration of a baby that would heal all nations and bring peace, and who died so we could live. <br /><br />CHRISTMAS PRESENTS: a reminder of the gifts of the Magi, and of God’s gift of Jesus to us.<br /><br />SAINT NICHOLAS/SANTA CLAUS: The Catholic Church associated gift giving with Saint Nicholas, one of the bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. Legend says he became aware of some desperate needs in his congregation (a family selling their children into slavery, among other things), so he gave money, fruit, food, etc.[29] <br /><br />In 1087, a group of sailors moved his bones to Italy and basically worshipped him. This group (a cult, really) was eventually adopted into German and Celtic pagan religions. These Celts worshipped Odin/Woden (from whom we get the word Wednesday), who had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens. As these Celts converted into the Catholic Church, the church moved that horse ride through the heavens to December 25. St. Nicholas was the rider, not Woden. Problem solved. <br /><br />In 1809, Washington Irving (remember him?) wrote a story[30] that featured a white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.[31]<br /><br />An illustrator named Thomas Nast drew more than 2,000 cartoons of Santa for Harper’s Weekly during the mid-late 1800s. Nast added the North Pole, a workshop with elves and the good/bad list. [32] In 1931, Coca Cola insisted that Santa, who was the face of their new campaign, be in a bright, Coca Cola red suit.[33]<br /><br />Santa Claus: A Christian bishop from the Council of Nicaea filtered through Celtic gods, Dutch culture and American cartoons, and brought to you by Coca-Cola. J <br /><br />ADVENT (ARRIVAL): Advent as a season had been around a long time, but the first printed Advent calendar appeared in Germany in the early 1900s. During WWII, the Nazi Advent calendar included swastikas and took traditional pictures (like Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus) and retold them (this was a woodcutter, a soldier, and a king who get lost, then meet a woman whose baby has wise advice).<br /><br />After the war, commercial production of Christian Advent calendars ramped up. Between that and the GIs who sent them home to their families in the States, it caught on here.[34]<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>CLOSING THOUGHTS</b></div></div><div><br /></div><div>First, I think we need to relax with our concern about the War on Christmas. The early church didn’t celebrate for at least 250 years. For a lot of history, the birth of Christ was probably dishonored by how Christians informally celebrated. 200 years ago, if Starbucks had existed, and if they had put out cups promoting Christmas, half of American Christians would have boycotted them. 200 years from now, that might be the case again. <br /><br />Second, I can’t imagine Jesus or the early church encouraging Christians to be offended that those outside the church don’t embrace this time as a celebration of Jesus like we do. We, of all people, ought to be showing what good will on earth looks like. If Starbucks wants to print a cup that says “Happy Saturnalia,” and businesses require employees to say “Happy Humbug,” that’s their call. They don’t worship Jesus like I do; I don’t expect them to respond to his birth like I do.<br /><br />Third, probably our biggest challenge as Christians is to make sure that our Christmas celebrations do not settle into the secularized version that focuses merely on giving gifts, feeling good and warm, and offering vague sentiments about peace and happiness. I am not opposed to those things – I like all of those things, in fact – but I suspect we are far more likely to miss the heart of Christmas when our hearts are distracted rather than when a courthouse lawn doesn’t have a crèche or a school says “holiday break” instead of “Christmas break.” Donald Heinz[35] notes we must be careful not to focus, <br /><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><i>“…on all the materials that claim to be good instead of on the Good that claims to be material [in Jesus].”</i></blockquote>The other things can be a great and meaningful contribution – our gift-giving reminds us of the One who gave his life; our blessing others overflows from how God has blessed us; our feasting mimics the love feasts of the early church and points toward the Marriage supper of the Lamb. But to followers of Jesus, those good find their ultimate meaning, because of the Christ we celebrate at Christmas.<br /><div><div><br clear="all" /><br /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> He </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">received a tradition that the Roman emperor Augustus reigned 43 years and was followed by the emperor Tiberius. Jesus was 30 in the 15<sup>th</sup> year of Tiberius’ reign (Luke 3), which meant he lived 15 years under Augustus (so, born in the 28<sup>th</sup> year of Augustus reign).</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> An anonymous document from North Africa placed Jesus birth on March 28; Clement (bishop of Alexandria) thought Jesus was born on November 18. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/why-december-25.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/why-december-25.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/no-christmas-is-not-based-on-pagan.html?utm_content=bufferc1d95&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">https://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/no-christmas-is-not-based-on-pagan.html?utm_content=bufferc1d95&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “December 25<sup>th</sup> and Christmas,” Biblical Archaeology Society. <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/december-25th-and-christmas/">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/december-25th-and-christmas/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-very-non-christian-history-of-christmas_us_5a30701de4b04bd8793e955d">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-very-non-christian-history-of-christmas_us_5a30701de4b04bd8793e955d</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/did-romans-invent-christmas">https://www.historytoday.com/archive/did-romans-invent-christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> A Christian writer in 320 wrote: “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.” <a href="http://www.religionfacts.com/christmas">http://www.religionfacts.com/christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html">https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1046">http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1046</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas_1.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas_1.shtml</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “<a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/?fbclid=IwAR2fPwOV2O-kks_7IJwDMbm-cBf0ZCpcB_DIzTv-JhaF8avlh9J0u3Mlcd4">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/?fbclid=IwAR2fPwOV2O-kks_7IJwDMbm-cBf0ZCpcB_DIzTv-JhaF8avlh9J0u3Mlcd4</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=996">http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=996</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/new-york-invented-christmas-article-1.276163">https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/new-york-invented-christmas-article-1.276163</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas">https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> For example, German immigrants brought their tradition of putting lights, sweets and toys on the branches of evergreen trees placed in their homes.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> His family left Russia 3 years before the setting of Fiddler On The Roof. The only memory he would talk about was watching his family’s home burn to the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> In Philip Roth’s novel <u>Operation Shylock</u> (1993), Roth boasts that Irving “de-Christs” Christmas. “He turns Christmas into a holiday about snow—he turns their religion into schlock (Yiddish for something cheap, shoddy, or inferior)… If supplanting Jesus Christ with snow can enable my people to cozy up to Christmas, then let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.” <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[24]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> As for nativity scenes…the Gospels do not mention there being any oxen, donkeys, camels or Magi at the manger. The <i>Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew</i>, a medieval text, has heavily influenced the images in our heads as well as our Christmas songs.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Tradition about the Magi built from some assumptions from OT passages (Isaiah 1:2-3; 60:3, 6, 10-11;Psalm 72:10). An early church leader named Origen decided that Genesis 22 had something to say about the Magi, so he set the number at 3. Don’t ask me to explain why.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml">https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> My Grandma was 6 years old when Thomas Edison died. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[28]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[29]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html">https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[30]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> A satire of Dutch culture called <i>Knickerbocker History</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn31"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[31]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> In 1822, we got this iconic poem (based on Irving’s writing): <i>“Twas the night before Christmas… in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” </i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn32"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[32]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “During the American Civil War, Nast mobilized Santa as a representation of American nationalism, often portraying him wearing a blue outfit with stars distributing gifts to Union soldiers and referring to him as ‘Santa Claus.’” <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn33"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[33]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/history-of-christmas/2566272.html">https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/history-of-christmas/2566272.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn34"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[34]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> The first chocolate Advent calendar appeared in 1958; by 1971, Cadbury was all over it. Advent is now a chocolate cash cow.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn35"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[35]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> I am quoting from a review of his book, <u>Christmas: Festival Of Incarnation.</u> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-80972879551762759572022-11-05T07:05:00.003-07:002024-02-07T08:16:21.426-08:00My (Incomplete and Imperfect) 2022 Values Voter List<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPW8TArii0reyE6zpCuix0RJ-xL3QzKjA_Vs60kSVDVY7gNvBjuXH38cGNMNfxOoDYnlUqbOQXNDZttIbHe_oXW2xxP6iixbokKJahzLwUirT2fP9Wa3T2F5vGxuksN_pNB8d8u0z-zkQGWk1d9MliAAMODt2dg_vPnr8TVqPGI8JSYmQzaUnkCjG/s5472/nina-strehl-Ds0ZIA5gzc4-unsplash.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>God rolled out a vision for a just society through biblical revelation, starting with the Israelites in the Old Testament and moving into the church in the New Testament. As a Christian, I see a lot of issues to which the Bible speaks - issues which ought to guide my conscience and form my heart for the world. Justice is many splendored thing, and while some of issues will be more prominent in the minds of Christians than others - and should be - all of them are worth considering. Check out just a small sampling of verses. <p></p><div class="MsoNormal"><ul><li>“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.” (Psalm 82:3).</li><li>“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:17).</li><li> "When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." (Proverbs 21:15)</li><li>“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).</li><li>"For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong..." (Isaiah 61:8 )</li><li>"Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!" (Psalm 106:3)</li><li>“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another." (Zechariah 7:9 )</li><li>“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor." (Leviticus 19:15)</li><li>"To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21:3)</li><li>“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (Deuteronomy 27:19)</li><li>"Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place." (Jeremiah 22:3)</li><li>"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)</li><li>"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:18) </li><li>“So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” (Hosea 12:6)</li><li>"A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge." (Proverbs 29:7)</li><li>"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." (Psalm 82:3)</li><li>"I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy." (Psalm 140:12)</li><li>“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 7:9-10)</li><li>"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:17-18)</li><li>"Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!" (Isaiah 5:23 )</li><li>"It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice." (Proverbs 18:5)</li><li>“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3:5)</li><li>“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge." (Deuteronomy 24:17)</li><li>"Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor." (Proverbs 22:8)</li><li>“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit." (Exodus 23:6)</li><li>"Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who write oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!"(Isaiah 10:1-2) </li><li>"The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice." (Proverbs 17:23-28)</li><li>"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.“ Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."(Matthew 25: 35-40)</li></ul>In addition to justice, we see a love of <a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/mercy/"><b>mercy </b>in the bible, a concept integral to an understanding of God's dealings with humankind.</a> It involves compassionate and loving acts expressed in tangible ways. Justice is intertwined with mercy. Similar to mercy is <b>grace, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">giving people more than they deserve irrespective of the cause of their need. The gospels present Jesus as one who brought good news of gospel grace to all who would listen, but especially to those who lived on the periphery of society: lepers, slaves, the demon-possessed, a paralytic, a tax collector, prostitutes, idolatrous Samaritans, a young girl, the blind. </span>Throughout church history, people whose hearts were transformed by God's spiritual grace inevitably expressed this change by extending grace in very practical ways: taking care of <i>all</i> the poor, nursing<i> all </i>of the sick, adopting <i>all</i> of the babies set out to die. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31); do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31); when you help the ‘least of these,’ it is as if you helped God himself (Matthew 25:40). All of these biblical commands are wrapped up in notions of both justice and mercy. And here’s where we begin to see why these things need to merge in our thinking just as they are intrinsically intertwined in the nature of God. <a href="http://www.ethos.org.au/site/Ethos/filesystem/documents/In-depth/Politics/Eight-Core-Christian-Values-Brian-Edgar.pdf">The following quote is from an article entitled "Eight Core Christian Values": </a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "cambria"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "cambria"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>Biblical justice… refers to very practical, down-to-earth actions which ensure that the weak, the poor and the socially disadvantaged are cared for, whether they ‘deserve’ it or not… Biblical justice… ensure[s] that the weak are protected from abuse, that the poor have what they need, that the stranger in the land is shown hospitality and that the socially disadvantaged are cared for. Even when this means giving them what they do not ‘deserve’… Justice is often interpreted in terms of seeking rights for oneself or one’s own group (‘we demand justice’) when biblically it is really an action on behalf of others… ‘Justice’ is not for ‘just me’. This means that Christians will be more keen to protect others than themselves.“</i></span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2014/06/06/how-the-bible-understands-justice/32339">Justice, then "most simply, means putting things right again — fixing, repairing, and restoring broken relationships…That should be our justice lens for viewing any society — <i>looking at what’s wrong and figuring out how to make it right</i>. Justice is as basic as that.”</a> </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>This is what I want to guide my vote when I identify the values that guide my voting. While the things on the the following list probably ought to be weighted, I believe they are all worth considering.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><br /></b>1. <b>Protect innocent human life from the moment it begins until the moment it ends.</b><br /><ul><li><b>Abortion.</b> In 2016, there were 623,000 abortions in the United States. Around the world, there were 56 million. <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/planned-parenthood-annual-report-more-government-money-more-abortions-65786?fbclid=IwAR0EBazZs1TgXJsbRVbK1Gk4Lt9iYJP1L4RW9ah8c5JzVNN-rrqDcbADc0Q">After falling for years, abortions have risen the past three years: 321,384 abortions in 2016-17; 332,757 abortions in 2017-18; 345,672 abortions in the 2018-Government funding has grown, not lessened (2017-18: $563.8 million; 2018-19: $616.8 million).</a> A key way to lower abortions is by helping women for whom the pregnancy feels like a crisis. Our church supports <a href="https://thrivemedicalclinic.org" target="_blank">Thrive</a> and <a href="https://www.singlemomm.org" target="_blank">Single MOMM,</a> both of which help mothers before, during and after pregnancy. A public and/or private social network of support goes a long way in decreasing abortion. </li><li><b>War.</b> While this article is a couple years old, it captures why I support candidates and parties who are committed to Just War Theory if and when war is a last and terrible resort in response to evil in the world. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/11/19/civilian-casualties-us-war-on-terror/">According to the Intercept, </a>"Brown University’s Costs of War Project this month released a new estimate of the total death toll from the U.S. wars in three countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The numbers, while conservatively estimated, are staggering. Brown’s researchers estimate that at least 480,000 people have been directly killed by violence over the course of these conflicts, more than 244,000 of them civilians. In addition to those killed by direct acts violence, the number of indirect deaths — those resulting from disease, displacement, and the loss of critical infrastructure — is believed to be several times higher, running into the millions." </li><li><b>Suicide/Murder.</b> There are 47,000 suicides and 19,000 murders a year in the United States. Our <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-09-14/the-10-most-depressed-countries">staggeringly poor</a> mental health, <a href="https://polaristeen.com/articles/teen-mental-health-stats/">especially in our youth,</a> is in desperate need of attention. Gun violence is <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2018/02/our-guns-our-culture-and-our-hearts.html">a complex issue</a> in need of thoughtful discussion that goes beyond memes. We are not more violent than other similar countries, but we are much more efficient thanks to guns. How to address this, I don't know. But it can't be ignored. </li><li><b>Immigrants/refugees fleeing violence and persecution.</b><a href="https://missingmigrants.iom.int/"> At least 4,000 died in 2019 while fleeing their homes; it was double that in 2016. </a>I don't know how to calculate the deaths of those who were forced to remain in areas of persecution or physical danger. I do know that <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/murder-rate-by-country/">Central America - from where we get the vast majority of immigrants - has three of the highest murder rate nations in the world: </a>#1 El Salvador (61.80); #3 Honduras (41.7); #9 Guatemala (26.1). H<a href="https://www.opendoorsusa.org/world-watch-list/">ere's a link for the countries </a>where Christians are most persecuted. </li><li><b>Human trafficking.</b> Thousands of<a href="https://www.justiceforyouth.org/human-trafficking-statistics/"> people a year die from human trafficking</a>.</li><li><b>Health care. </b>In the United States, <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/">45,000 a year die because of a lack of sufficient health care. </a>Around the world, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/09/05/644928153/what-kills-5-million-people-a-year-its-not-just-disease">8.6 million people die because of lack of access to health care or because of sub-par health care. </a> </li><li><b>Malnutrition. </b>7,000 a year die of malnutrition<b> in the United States,</b> which is <a href="https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/malnutrition/by-country/">not only remarkably sad but also discouragingly bad in relation to the rest of the world. </a></li><li><b>Environmental issues.</b> <a href="https://time.com/4989641/water-air-pollution-deaths/">Time Magazine says,</a> "air pollution was linked to 6.5 million deaths in 2015, water pollution was linked to 1.8 million deaths and workplace pollution was linked to nearly one million deaths. Deaths from pollution-linked diseases, like heart disease and cancer, were three times higher than deaths from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined."<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/15-03-2016-an-estimated-12-6-million-deaths-each-year-are-attributable-to-unhealthy-environments">The WHO claims that over 12 million people around the world die each year due to environmental issues</a>. Deaths due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mostly attributable to air pollution (including exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke), amount to as much as 8.2 million of these deaths. NCDs, such as stroke, heart disease, cancers and chronic respiratory disease, now amount to nearly two-thirds of the total deaths caused by unhealthy environments. At the same time, deaths from infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and malaria, often related to poor water, sanitation and waste management, have declined. Increases in access to safe water and sanitation have been key contributors to this decline, alongside better access to immunization, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and essential medicines."</li></ul><div style="font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></div><b>2. Protect all life from abuse.</b><br /><ul><li>Thousands of people a year <a href="https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-human-trafficking">are trafficked in the United States</a> for various reasons. See <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2020/08/800000-missing-children-deep-dive-into.html" target="_blank">this link for more detail.</a> It's a terrible denigration of human dignity.</li><li>While there is controversy about how to best understand the issue, <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/08/police-officer-shootings-gun-violence-racial-bias-crime-data/595528/">police violence (and the racial implications)</a> remains a big deal. Many departments <a href="http://useofforceproject.org/#review">implement policies that successfully address this issue, </a>but the implementation is not universal, and the incidents pile up. </li><li>Domestic violence <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499891/">impacts 10 million people a year in the United States. </a> Childhood abuse and drug/alcohol abuse correlate strongly. </li><li><a href="https://www.nsvrc.org/node/4737">"One in 5 women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives. In the U.S., one in three women and one in six men experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old."</a></li><li>While you can find racially motivated hate crimes against virtually any race, t<a href="https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2018/tables/table-1.xls">he percentage of hate crimes against blacks is wildly disproportionate to their percentage of the population. </a></li><li>I am deeply concerned about the rising violence that seems to be fueled by angry, hateful rhetoric against any group or person someone dislikes. Thinking through how to respond as a society is a complex reality to navigate in light of the First Amendment, but I know what I can do. I can a) not participate in the anger and hate, and b) not support candidates who look the other way or even fuel the kind of rage that leads people resort to violence.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></div><b>3. Promote just economic policies. </b><br /><br />This should neither punish success nor overlook the needy; it should promote generosity and discourage greed. A just economic system does not guarantee equal outcome, but surely it strives for equality of opportunity and looks out for those who are falling between the cracks. Are we as a society investing in the most needy among us through poverty initiatives, affordable housing, just wages and working conditions, etc? Surely there is a way we can give someone a fish while simultaneously making sure they have what they need to begin fishing for themselves.<br /><div><ul><li>In 2017 <a href="https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/what-current-poverty-rate-united-states">around 14% (40 million) people in the United States officially lived in poverty. </a>"Children who grow up poor are <a href="https://www.ywca.org/blog/2014/10/16/the-intersection-of-poverty-and-domestic-violence/">more likely to suffer from health issues, developmental delays, behavioral problems, lower academic achievement, and unemployment in adulthood." </a> </li><li>In 2018, <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2019/demo/p60-267.html">27.5 million people had no health care. </a>This was an increase of 2 million from the previous year. </li><li>More than <a href="https://www.monroegroup.com/about-us/affordable-housing-statistics/">11 million Americans pay more than half their salaries for rent. On average, there are 28 adequate/affordable housing options for every 100 extremely low-income households.</a></li><li>It doesn't help that the<a href="https://howmuch.net/articles/rise-and-fall-dollar"> purchasing power of the dollar has been dropping for a long time. </a></li></ul>Andy Posner, <a href="https://www.andyposner.org/2018/07/28/problem-parable-teaching-man-woman-fish/">in a great article about the aforementioned fishing analogy</a>, gets the last word on this issue:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This reminds me of one of my favorite Marlin Luther King quotes: “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” And then there are the words of Jesus: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16) </i></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>When we claim to be teaching a man to fish, we are ignoring the reason why they need to be taught to fish in the first place; we are doing nothing about the underlying issue–an unequal distribution, not only of fish, but also of access to fishing equipment, ponds, bait, education, and places to cook whatever is caught. In America, the poor are more likely to live in neighborhoods with high rates of crime, worse schools, and poor air quality. More likely to live in dilapidated, unsafe, and unhealthy apartments that are also unaffordable. More likely to be incarcerated for small crimes for which the non-poor (and white) are often let off with a warning. And more likely to lack easy access to affordable banking services, quality health care, and fresh food.... </i></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>So yes, let’s not stop teaching people to fish, but let’s remain awake to the complexity of poverty. Perhaps, in fact, we should amend the proverb to read, “Give a woman a fish, and she’ll have the energy to take care of her children, do well at work, and pursue her goals. Teach her to fish and give her access to a pond full of fish, and she’ll be able to feed herself and her family for life.”</i></div></blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div><b>4. Create genuinely just systems of justice. </b><br /><br />This includes prison reform <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/human_rights_vol38_2011/human_rights_summer11/prisons_for_profit_incarceration_for_sale/">(do we really want for-profit prisons?</a>), and a court system that is truly impartial and not effected by race or riches.<br /><ul><li>There is a <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/3/14/17114226/incarceration-family-income-parents-study-brookings-rich-kid-poor-kid">correlation between level of income and incarceration rates. </a> According to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/work-and-opportunity-before-and-after-incarceration/">the Brookings Institute,</a> "Boys who grew up in families in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution—families earning less than about $14,000—are 20 times more likely to be in prison on a given day in their early 30s than children born to the wealthiest families—those earning more than $143,000... almost one in ten boys born to lowest income families are incarcerated at age 30 and make up about 27 percent of prisoners at that age." This in not usually because wealthy people are cheating the system; <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/two-in-one-differences-in-the-us-justice-system-for-the-rich-and-the-poor">it's usually because they have the money to access the system. </a></li><li>There is a<a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/"> long history of racial disparity in sentencing. </a>A long history. <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/12/03/the-growing-racial-disparity-in-prison-time">Here's just one aspect of it. </a> Some of it may overlap with the poverty issue mentioned above <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/index.html%3Fp=4193.html">(45% of black children live in poverty, compared to 14% of white children)</a>, but not all of it.</li><li>Speaking of for-profit prisons, they are a terrible idea. In 2016, the Justice Department announced plans to end the use of private prisons.<a href="http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/12006"> Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed this plan.</a> See the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/us/28judges.html?_r=1">2009 "Cash For Kids"</a> scandal for one reason. See the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/12/19/ice-detention-private-prisons-expands-under-trump-administration/4393366002/">prisons detaining illegal immigrants at our border for another. </a>54,344 immigrants were detained in about 200 detention centers across the country in 2017, which was almost double the number in 2016. Why? <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/08/30/473966/private-prisons-profiting-trump-administration/">The Trump administration was giving big business to private prisons. </a>"The last time ICE produced such data [in 2017], more than three-fourths of the average daily detainee population was being held in a for-profit detention facility." Private prisons GEO Group projected earnings to grow to $2.3 <i>billion</i> in 2018, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/dollar800-million-in-taxpayer-money-went-to-private-prisons-where-migrants-work-for-pennies">partially earned from the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.</a> </li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b>5. Protect religious freedom. </b><br /><br />This is freedom to practice religion and worship - or not - without unjust discrimination or coercive social policy. This constitutional right has a messy and hard fought history in the United States. Since Jefferson, we have been fairly consistent in our protection of this right. I've done<a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2019/11/free-to-believe-battle-over-religious.html"> a series of posts that review Luke Goodrich's book Free To Believe</a> which covers his professional and thoughtful insights on how our culture is currently navigating this issue, as well as how Christians should position themselves within the different points of tension.<br /><br />There are many ways in which serious religious engagement correlates with cultural stability in the United States. Religious freedom deserves to be protected in principle, but it turns out we all benefit when it is. See my review of Rodney Stark's book<a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2016/01/americas-blessings-how-religion.html"> America's Blessing, which chronicles the positive impact Christianity in particular has had on the United States. </a></div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>6. Promote marriages and families in which children flourish. </b><br /><br />We as a society have a vested interest in our children, first for their sake and second for the stability of society in general. Sociologically, there is little argument that <a href="http://winst.org/wp-content/uploads/WI_Marriage_and_the_Public_Good.pdf">children flourish best with their biological parents in a loving, stable, low-conflict family</a>. When families are not able to exist in this form (for whatever reason), we should personally engage and generously serve them, promote policies that bring stability to them, and put people in government who are committed to helping families in need.<br /><ul><li><a href="https://www.impact.upenn.edu/our-analysis/opportunities-to-achieve-impact/early-childhood-toolkit/why-invest/what-is-the-return-on-investment/">Early investment in children has huge consequences down the road.</a> Helping families in poverty to nurture their children benefits the children for sure, but all of us are better off when we help them flourish. Google "how early investment in childhood pays off" for a ton of articles. </li><li>If you aren't familiar with the importance of "social capital" - and how it gets lost and found - <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/06/more-money-poor-need-social-capital-michael-j-petrilli/">this article from National Review </a>will give you a solid starting point. </li><li>States like Louisiana and Mississippi are trying <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/takes-whole-family-raze-barriers-kids-success/">the"two generation approach,"</a>which helps at-risk kids by helping the entire family. </li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>7. Promote a society in which we raise the bar for our leaders </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>If there is one lesson that is clear from from both the time of the kings and the judges in the Bible, it makes a HUGE difference if the leaders of a country are people of character who do not give their lives to the love of power, sex, or money ("horses, wives, gold" - Deuteronomy 17:16-17). Oppression, exploitation and compromise follow these things. Look no further than Israel's first three kings. Leaders should:</div><div><ul><li>Embody a blend of truth and gentleness, justice and mercy, law and grace. </li><li>Treat everyone with respect, even those with whom they disagree.</li><li>Model integrity (not perfection) in their personal and public life. </li><li>Promote both natural rights and mutual responsibilities. These cannot be separated. </li><li>If they claim to be a Christian, I would expect to see fruits of the Spirit on full display: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.</li></ul></div><div>Character and integrity matter to God, so they matter to me. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-14373979079997083272022-06-06T06:35:00.005-07:002022-06-06T06:35:51.129-07:00"Embodied Alternatives" In A Broken World<p>“Simon Price has pointed out how hit or miss the apologists’ range of subjects was [in the first few centuries of the early church]. He gives a long list of topics that apologists failed to treat properly: </p><p></p><blockquote>“There is little on the Bible, little on Christology, nothing about the Holy Spirit or the emerging doctrine of the Trinity; little on the Redemption (only Judgment); nothing about the Church, its ministry, sacraments, and other practices.”</blockquote><p></p><p>Michael Green, assessing the apologetic writings for their evangelistic success, has concluded that there is “no example of an outsider being converted to Christianity by reading an Apologetic writing.” Apologists wrote to convince their readers of the innocence of the Christian communities’ behavior. In fact, behavior figured largely in the apologists’ writings… because of their Christian conviction that the way people live expresses what they really believe. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In the mid-second century, Justin began his First Apology by stating his aim: “It is for us, therefore, to offer to all the opportunity of inspecting our life and teachings.” For Justin the life is as important as the teachings; indeed, the teachings are incomprehensible without the lived reflexes that exegete them.</li><li>Significantly, a century later the great intellectual Origen agreed: at the beginning of his apology Contra Celsum, he states that Christ “makes his defense in the lives of his genuine disciples, for their lives cry out the real facts.” </li><li>In the 170s the apologist Athenagoras, in his Plea to Marcus Aurelius and other emperors, wrote about the way Christians were habituated to live. “For we have been taught not to strike back at someone who beats us nor to go to court with those who rob and plunder us. Not only that: we have even been taught to turn our head and offer the other side when men ill use us and strike us on the jaw and to give also our cloak should they snatch our tunic.” Later in the apology Athenagoras underscored this patient habitus: when the Christians are struck, they bless.</li><li>Tertullian was in the same tradition. His Apology is saturated with descriptions of habitus; indeed, Tertullian designed the Apology so it would climax in chapter 39 with his presentation of the Christian community’s common life. Clearly the early Christians thought their way of life was important, for lifestyle is not only a product of belief; it is a display of what people truly believe…</li></ul><p></p><p>As Scottish missiologist Andrew Walls argues, when Christianity enters every culture, inculturation is inevitable. In every setting, including the cultures of the ancient Greco-Roman world, two principles are simultaneously at work:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The indigenizing principle:</b> Christianity enters a culture and finds new expressions there, discovering understandings and customs that embody the way of Christ. Christians celebrate the culture and are at home in it; they are residents in it.</li><li><b>The pilgrim principle:</b> Christianity enters a culture and finds ways in which the culture contradicts the way and teachings of Christ. So Christianity critiques the culture, and seeks to embody alternatives that challenge the culture and invite it toward a life in which injustice, violence and oppression are overcome. In the culture Christians are not fully at home; they are resident aliens (paroikoi) in it. </li></ol><p></p><p>Christians living in Carthage or Caesarea experienced two things: gratitude for the beauties in their local cultures and also discomfort with the distortions in their cultures to which the gospel had sensitized them. As a result, out of their love for their cultures, the Christians attempted to embody alternatives that pointed the way forward for the healing of their cultures."</p><p>- From <u>The Patient Ferment Of The Early Church: The Improbably Rise Of Christianity In The Roman Empire</u>, by Alan Kreider</p><div><br /></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-62633129244065947692022-04-13T07:55:00.005-07:002023-04-07T05:39:54.120-07:00 The Historical Reality Of Jesus<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I love the Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alincolnism" target="_blank">“Did Abe Lincoln Really Exist?”</a> It’s a spoof page that takes the argument against the historicity of Jesus and applies them to Abraham Lincoln. One entry compared Abraham Lincoln, Mithras, Horus, and Dionysius under the heading “More in Common Than You Think”: </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>“Like countless others, all four were born on February 12, all were lawyers, all lived in a white house, all freed people from slavery, all were visited by wise men, all lacked a middle name, all were frequently called President, and all created a secret service. None of them existed.”</i></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It’s funny, but it highlights a serious topic: Did Jesus exist? Is he who the biblical record claims he was? And can an accurate picture of the real Jesus truly emerge from history? With Easter just around the corner, this seems like a good time to address these questions.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-style: none none solid; padding: 0in 0in 1pt; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There are a number of prominent perspectives on the historical veracity of Jesus, ranging from wondering if he existed at all to believing he is, indeed, the person the Bible claims. I will begin with those who are most skeptical.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">1. “Jesus Never Existed.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Even though Bertrand Russell claimed this (and Richard Dawkins seems very excited about the idea) this idea is taken seriously by very few serious scholars. Bart Ehrman is a well known skeptic who does not believe Jesus was God and is highly skeptical about the reliability of Scripture. Yet on this issue he wrote:</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></i></p><blockquote><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“With respect to Jesus, we have numerous, independent accounts of his life in the sources lying behind the Gospels (and the writings of Paul) -- sources that originated in Jesus' native tongue Aramaic and that can be dated to within just a year or two of his life… Historical sources like that are is pretty astounding for an ancient figure of any kind.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Moreover, we have relatively extensive writings from one first-century author, Paul, who acquired his information within a couple of years of Jesus' life and who actually knew, first hand, Jesus' closest disciple Peter and his own brother James. If Jesus did not exist, you would think his brother would know it…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Moreover, aspects of the Jesus story simply would not have been invented by anyone wanting to make up a new Savior. The earliest followers of Jesus declared that he was a crucified messiah. But prior to Christianity, there were no Jews at all, of any kind whatsoever, who thought that there would be a future crucified messiah. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The messiah was to be a figure of grandeur and power who overthrew the enemy. Anyone who wanted to make up a messiah would make him like that. Why did the Christians not do so? Because they believed specifically that Jesus was the Messiah. And they knew full well that he was crucified. The Christians did not invent Jesus…”</span></i></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In an entry called “Christ Myth Theory,” even Wikipedia (which has received a lot of criticism for having a somewhat hostile view toward Christianity) notes: </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“The hypothesis that a historical Jesus figure never existed is supported only by a very small minority of modern scholars… biblical scholars and classical historians now regard theories of non-existence of Jesus as effectively refuted.”</span></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Here's historian Gary Habermas on the historicity of Jesus: </span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="377" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kWSG5okmUr8" width="453" youtube-src-id="kWSG5okmUr8"></iframe></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2. “Jesus is a compilation of myths.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A lot of other gods get connected to Jesus:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agni">Agni</a> and Indra (Hindu)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Dionysus/Bacchus (Greco-Roman)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus">Horus</a> (Egyptian)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesus">Hesus</a> (Druidic)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da%C5%BEbog">Dažbog</a> (Slavic)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna">Krishna</a> (Indian)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%8Dden">Wōden</a> (Scandinavian)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl">Quetzalcoatl</a> (Mexican)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Books like Joseph Campbell’s <i>The Hero with a Thousand Faces </i>and <i>The Masks of God,</i> as well as James George Frazer’s <i>The Golden Bough</i>, reignited a modern dialogue by claiming that the stories of Krishna, Buddha, Apollonius, Osiris, Jesus and others were all connected. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Jewish scholar<a href="https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/presidentialaddresses/jbl81_1_1sandmel1961.pdf" target="_blank"> Samuel Sandmel calls this "parallelomania”</a> –people see a similarity and then go “maniacal” in their attempts to create an overly zealous parallel connection in the stories. J. Warner Wallace, a former atheist, <a href="https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-jesus-simply-a-retelling-of-the-mithras-mythology/" target="_blank">offers this comparison</a>:</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></i></p><blockquote><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“What if I told you that a man named Morgan Robertson once wrote about a British ocean liner that was about 800 feet long, weighed over 60,000 tons, and could carry about 3,000 passengers? The ship had a top cruising speed of 24 knots, had three propellers, and about 20 lifeboats. What if I told you that this ocean liner hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage in the month of April, tearing an opening in the starboard side forward portion of the ship, and sinking along with about 2,000 passengers? Would you recognize the event from history? <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You might say, “Hey, that’s the Titanic!” Well, you would be wrong. While all these details are identical to the Titanic, the ship I am talking about is the “Titan” and it is a fictional ship described in Robertson’s book called “The Wreck of the Titan” or “Futility” (Buccaneer Books, Cutchogue, New York, 1898). This book was written fourteen years BEFORE the disaster took place, and several years before the construction was even begun on the Titanic! </span></i></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In other words, correlation is not necessarily causation - and in this case, there is good reason to believe it is not. <span style="text-align: left;">There are at least four separate problems with the parallelomania of “dying and rising god” comparisons:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There are no dying and rising gods similar to Jesus in mythology. The</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">notes these claims are excessive generalizations.</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">No evidence suggests that Jesus fit that profile of the pagan gods even if the “dying and rising god” similarities were true. The few scholars who actually believe the category exists don't think Jesus fits the category.</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We have Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians, which was likely around 54-55 AD. In chapter 15, we have one of the earliest Christian creeds. Paul said it was “received,” so it was already in place. The idea that a legend or myth sprung up around an imaginary character in that short of a time is remarkably unlikely, especially since so many eyewitnesses were still alive. </span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Similarities between Mithraic and Christian rituals were written about by early Christians, but the writers saw it as a distortion of Christian practices, not a foundational tradition that helped to start Christianity. In fact, Mithraism didn’t reach the area in which Christianity began until the later part of the first century (thanks to Roman soldiers bringing the ideas back with them). The documents that comprise the New Testament were already in place by that point.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Because the Christian community was largely populated by people raised in Judaism, the idea that early Christians would choose to combine pagan myths with their faith is very unlikely (“Have no other gods before me”. The one group that did, the Samaritans, were disdained by orthodox adherents to Judaism.</span> </span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href=" http://www.reasonablefaith.org/jesus-and-pagan-mythology#ixzz2af6RdBhh" target="_blank">William Lane Craig notes, </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>“When they say that Christian beliefs about Jesus are derived from pagan mythology, I think you should laugh. Then look at them wide-eyed and with a big grin, and exclaim, "Do you really believe that?" Act as though you've just met a flat earther or Roswell conspirator. You could say something like, "Man, those old theories have been dead for over a hundred years! Where are you getting this stuff?" Tell them this is just sensationalist junk, not serious scholarship. If they persist, then ask them to show you the actual passages narrating the supposed parallel. They're the ones who are swimming against the scholarly consensus, so make them work hard to save their religion. I think you'll find that they've never even read the primary sources.” </i></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">From J. Warner Wallace, "Is Jesus A Copycat Savior?"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="347" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ORTkCONbYFo" width="418" youtube-src-id="ORTkCONbYFo"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">3. “Jesus was real, but his resurrection was spiritual, not physical.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The idea here is that a spiritual Jesus, or a real Jesus with a purely spiritual resurrection, would be sufficient for the Christian claims about salvation and resurrection. There are a number of things worth noting on this topic:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">Jesus’ death did not prove His divinity; anybody can die. His Resurrection was the proof. “By being raised from the dead [Christ] was proved to be the mighty Son of God, with the holy nature of God Himself." (Romans 1:4).</span><i style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </i><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">Paul writes very clearly about the importance of this claim: </span><i style="font-family: arial;">“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-7)</i></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">Through His Resurrection, Jesus’ claims about the ability to forgive sin were confirmed:</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">“</span><i style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">If Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain…That is, if there truly was no resurrection, then we, believers, are to be pitied for being so hoodwinked. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19) </i><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">If one can break the power of physical death, then one's claim to cancel spiritual death carries a lot of weight. This is similar to what Jesus did as recorded in Matthew 9. When he claimed to be able to forgive the sins of a man who was lame, those around Jesus expressed skepticism (which seems reasonable). Jesus' response? <i>"</i></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”</i></span></li></ul><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>4. Jesus was real, but the documents recording his life and death are unreliable. </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In this case, I will point you toward a number of resources that respond to this concern. From <a href="https://visualunit.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/nt_reliability1.jpg">https://visualunit.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/nt_reliability1.jpg</a>, comparing the Bible's literary timeline compared with other famous ancient documents.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuLZq2T-GQsvYw8R5GzWny1LriWydg5RoieFezos3XLmqMiHwV78z9WRRh05OsgkfNigs9PXAakHzt_vzBdRMlvIyLb9IFbna3URtCEkWQ-Nw8R8IIgPuIcPaNAABWRppLCavHjhpkXcOqrcb0y0SGkGiQlfla2nOJ6rLEcIuVe-Pisk8095YbPe6l" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2480" data-original-width="3508" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuLZq2T-GQsvYw8R5GzWny1LriWydg5RoieFezos3XLmqMiHwV78z9WRRh05OsgkfNigs9PXAakHzt_vzBdRMlvIyLb9IFbna3URtCEkWQ-Nw8R8IIgPuIcPaNAABWRppLCavHjhpkXcOqrcb0y0SGkGiQlfla2nOJ6rLEcIuVe-Pisk8095YbPe6l=w442-h314" width="442" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">J. Warner Wallace <a href="https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/testing-the-gospels-from-john-to-hippolytus/" target="_blank">talks about the chain of custody</a> from the first writers to the councils that formally approved a biblical canon that had already been informally adopted by widespread and consistent church use:</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0Ekt5hGArkKBhVGVklNwiIMayHuv2BnC_GmN4G7Ik4xomlxePaJs9oOCFiSVlPXpEf6tsaSBtojumLRn9N8LTFIwnWqSUNzPeX-coosUv7zHam16lER_DnI-Ngm2BlwXaaSLoR17jYz_GmSF0bPsyck7oHgDDX7Q-eOa-SOHw_fXHaUgWFGce6KT8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="2048" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0Ekt5hGArkKBhVGVklNwiIMayHuv2BnC_GmN4G7Ik4xomlxePaJs9oOCFiSVlPXpEf6tsaSBtojumLRn9N8LTFIwnWqSUNzPeX-coosUv7zHam16lER_DnI-Ngm2BlwXaaSLoR17jYz_GmSF0bPsyck7oHgDDX7Q-eOa-SOHw_fXHaUgWFGce6KT8=w459-h297" width="459" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You will see J. Warner Wallace show up again in the following links that offer great resources on this question of the reliability of Scripture.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/four-reasons-the-new-testament-gospels-are-reliable/" target="_blank">Four Reasons The New Testament Gospels Are Reliable</a><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxxhY8ueo7c" target="_blank">The Gospels are Historically Reliable: 6 Reasons.</a> <br /><a href="https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-the-ancient-christian-record-about-jesus-is-the-most-reliable/" target="_blank">Why The Ancient Christian Record About Jesus Is The Most Reliable </a><br /><a href="https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/there-are-good-reasons-to-believe-the-gospels-are-true-even-if-the-eyewitnesses-waited-years-to-write-them/" target="_blank">There Are Good Reasons To Believe The Gospels Are True, Even If The Eyewitnesses Waited Years To Write Them</a><br /><a href="https://www.bethinking.org/is-the-bible-reliable/recent-perspectives-on-the-reliability-of-the-gospels" target="_blank">Recent Perspectives on the Reliability of the Gospels</a></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Here's J. Warner Wallace on the Reliabity of Scripture.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="366" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oMJMbm-43c8" width="440" youtube-src-id="oMJMbm-43c8"></iframe></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">5. Jesus was real, and the biblical record accurately records his life life, death and resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">THE BACKGROUND<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Jewish people had been waiting for a Messiah (a Savior) since King David. Time and again they ended up overrun and enslaved to other nations. By the first century, they had spent several hundred years convinced that the Spirit of God had been removed from them. They were waiting for a Messiah who would do two key things to fix this broken world: defeat the enemy and liberate Israel (in Jesus' day, that was Rome), and purify / rebuild the temple. Plenty of people in that era claimed they were this promised Messiah. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">Judas Maccabeus</b><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">160's BC, entered Jerusalem at the head of an army, purified the temple, destroyed altars to other gods, but was eventually killed in battle.</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">Judas (of Galilee),</b><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">founder of the Zealots, led revolt against Romans AD 6 (Acts 5). It failed. He was crushed brutally.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">Theudas </b><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">(mentioned in Acts 5.36) claimed to be a Messiah, and led about 400 people to the Jordan River, where he would divide it to show his power.</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">He was stopped and executed in AD 46.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">The Anonymous Egyptian</b><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">(Jew),</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">with 30,000 unarmed Jews, did a reenactment of Exodus around AD 55. He led them to the Mount of Olives, where he claimed he would command the walls around Jerusalem to fall. His group was massacred by Procurator </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonius_Felix" style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;" title="Antonius Felix"><span lang="EN">Antonius Felix</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family: arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">, and he was never seen again.</span></span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 49.5pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">So after doing all kinds of miracles to show He was who He claimed he was, Jesus’ crucifixion suggested that he was just another failed messiah. He had not freed them from Roman rule and had not restored the Temple as they expected. Now he was dead and his followers were hiding. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">At this point, a number of theories have been offered to explain the account of the empty tomb. I will list them, as well as some responses.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>1. The Body Was Stolen.</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">T</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">he disciples would have needed to steal the body from Roman soldiers, who either fell asleep or were overpowered by the disciples, then kept this remarkable achievement secret (it's not recorded anywhere) while apparently reburying the body somewhere else - which meant they would have known their Messiah had failed in his mission.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2. Jesus Swooned Rather Than Died On The Cross, Then Escaped The Tomb</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">First, it is very hard to believe that he would survive a crucifixion. The Romans knew what they were doing. Second, </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Jesus would have been almost mummified in linen strip soaked in spices - about 75 pounds worth of overwhelming scent (John 19:39) which would have combined for a, uh, less than hospitable habitat for recovery. But having beaten those odds, h</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">e revived, got loose, rolled the seals stone back from the inside, and got past the guards. T</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">he next day, a massively tortured, dehydrated, exhausted Jesus convinced his disciples he’d conquered death by appearing gloriously.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">3. People Hallucinated</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Hallucinations are, of course, a thing. However, they do not produce long, multiple-sense, multiple-witness appearances. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">An easy response by the Romans or the Jewish leaders would have been to march people to the tomb and produced a body. Which didn't happen.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">All of these fall under the heading of conspiracy theories: the follower of Jesus were so desperate to not be exposed for their failed trust in a failed Messiah that they conspired to make it look like he didn't stay dead. Besides the fact that<a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-cold-case-detective-evaluates-covid.html" target="_blank"> a conspiracy of this size would be enormously difficult to keep quiet, </a>the change in the followers of Jesus following the emptying of the tomb is quite remarkable. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The early Christians claimed they had seen a Resurrected Messiah at a time when no one believed that individuals would be resurrected. The Greeks thought the soul would finally be rid of the body. The Jews believed in the coming Resurrection where the entire world would be renewed, but they did not believe in the personal resurrection of individuals.</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They didn’t appoint a successor (which was normal at the time – this was not their first ‘failed messiah’ rodeo).</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The early Christians said they had more hope than ever before, not because Roman rule was gone but because they had been offered life in a Kingdom that was not of this world.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">They claimed that Jesus had set them free from a much greater problem than Roman rule – the just and eternal consequence of their sin.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They claimed that the community of the church was now the temple in which a living God’s Spirit would dwell, and it was being restored as the people in it were transformed into the image of risen Christ who was at work inside them through His Spirit and His word.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">They worshipped Jesus at a time when worship of a human was blasphemous to the Jews and potentially traitorous to the Romans.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">They became Trinitarian – “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is One” essentially became, “The Lord is Three-In-One.”</span></span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The early followers of Christ reordered key parts of their worldview, changed their view of God, and radically changed their way of life to the point of being willing to die. Why? What had happened to cause them to confidently make this claim?</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“If we are to think in first-century Jewish terms, it is impossible to conceive what sort of religious or spiritual experience someone could have that would make them say that the kingdom of God had arrived when it clearly had not, that a crucified leader was the Messiah when he obviously was not, or that the resurrection occurred last month when it obviously did not.” - N.T. Wright<i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></i></span></i></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was more than a mere religious experience (though it certainly was not less). It was the actual, physical resurrection of Jesus landing with a thunderous and glorious crash in the middle of human history. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>RECOMMENDED RESOURCES</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/resurrection-evidence.htm" target="_blank"><i>"Evidence For The Resurrection of Christ." </i>Peter Kreeft</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://apologeticsguy.com/2011/07/is-jesus-a-myth-mithras-osiris-theory-christianity/" target="_blank"><i>“The Jesus Myth: Investigating Claims of Copying.” </i>MaryJo Sharp<i><o:p></o:p></i></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>Cold Case Christianity</u>, J. Warner Wallace<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>The Reason for God</u>, Timothy Keller<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>Mere Christianity</u>, C.S. Lewis<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>The Case for Christ/The Case for the Real Jesus</u>, Lee Strobel<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus,</u> Gary Habermas and Mike Liconna<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>The Jesus I Never Knew,</u> Phillip Yancey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u><a href="https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/resources-to-help-you-defend-the-historicity-of-jesus/" target="_blank">Resources To Help You Defend The Historicity Of Jesus</a></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://skepticproject.com/articles/zeitgeist/" target="_blank">The Skeptic Project: Zeitgeist </a>(debunking the movie Zeitgeist, which is a hot mess)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>AN ADDENDUM ON THE NATURE OF MIRACLES</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>“Miracles, if they occur, must, like all events, be revelations of that total harmony of all that exists... In calling them miracles we do not mean that they are contradictions or outrages; we mean that, left to her [Nature] own resources, she could never produce them… there are rules behind the rules, and a unity which is deeper than uniformity.” C.S. Lewis</i></span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">“The Problem of Miracles: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective.”</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> William Lane Craig, www.leaderu.com</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Miracles</u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">C.S. Lewis</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts.</u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Craig Keener</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts, </u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Craig Keener</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Chapter 6,</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><u style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Reasonable Faith,</u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">William Lane Craig</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Chapter 3,</span><u style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Is God Just a Human Invention?</u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sean McDowell</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“A Defense of the Rationality of Miracles,” Brett Kunkle</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; text-indent: -24px;">Here's former atheist and Oxford professor John Lennox addressing the question of miracles:</span></li></ul><div style="text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-indent: -24px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="372" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Kz4OgXsN1w" width="448" youtube-src-id="2Kz4OgXsN1w"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-13174580826321680012022-02-20T19:23:00.003-08:002024-03-02T06:39:29.005-08:00The History I Did Not Learn (Black History Month Edition)<p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Much of our identity is derived from our past, our cultural heritage – where we’ve come from…The white American ‘creation story,’ as it was framed in the melting pot analogy of the 1940s and ‘50s, is positive and exciting: a country forged in the ‘untamed wilderness’ out of nothing more than a healthy dose of curiosity and courage and a thirst for liberty, freedom, and – ironically – equality. The black American creation story, Asian American creation story, Latin American creation story, and Native American creation story are rooted in tragedy, kidnapping, enslavement, theft, coercion, rape, murder, genocide, inequality, exclusion, terrorism, and oppression in this country, all because of the color of their ancestors’ skin. There is no denying the powerful psychological influence of such a heritage, nor the difficulty involved with forging an identity out of such a painful past.”<a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[10]</b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;">No, this isn't CRT. It's just history. If we don't learn from it, we will repeat it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;">This is excerpted from a broader document to which I have added and will continue to add for years, so it's about the history of how POC in general have been treated in general, and the footnotes don't start at #1. Maybe I'll fix the footnotes next year.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;">I'm thinking I will post every year during Black History Month with any updates I have added throughout the year as I further my own education. Feel free to use this as a resource. You don't need my permission, and I don't need credit.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;">This is how the word is passed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;">_________________________________________________________</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Indian Wars began in 1609. They won’t end until 1924, by which time the Native American population will have dropped <i>by 95%.<a name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[14]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Slavery starts in the New World as early as 1619, when a Dutch ship that had stolen 20 or so Africans from a Portuguese slave trading ship called São João Bautista, or Saint John the Baptist, landed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1643, Virginia declared that black women (not black men, and not white or indigenous women) would be taxed. Immediately, it became more expensive for slave owners to own female slaves, so they were required to work harder – and better. Their ‘dues’ were often demanded sexually.<a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[15]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1653, Wall Street was named after a literal wall built by slaves to protect the Dutch from Indian raids. They were being attacked because Dutch forces have massacred over a hundred Lenape men, women, and children under the orders of governor Willem Keift. Wall Street had one of the largest slave markets in the country in the 1700s.<a name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">For every 100 people taken from Africa, only about 64 would survive the trip from the region's interior to the coast. Of those 64, around 48 would survive the weeks long journey across the Atlantic. Of those 48 who stepped off the ship in New York Harbor, only 28 to 30 would survive the first three to four years in the Colony. Historians refer to New York at this time as “a death factory for black people.”<a name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[17]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1656, the Dutch Reformed Church stopped baptizing black infants because baptism (it had been agreed) granted freedom. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1662, the Virginia Assembly said that, when black slave women were raped by their masters, the child would be born automatically a slave. This incentivized rape, as the children were automatically property of the rapist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1667, the Virginia Assembly allowed baptism of slaves to continue by simply ruling that baptism did not change one’s status, slave or free. Missionaries could make converts and not disrupt the slave trade. It’s small surprise that the missionaries’ message was not readily received.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bacon’s Rebellion resulted in laws taking away the rights of black slaves to bear arms – of any kind. In 1680, Virginia passed the Law For Preventing Negro Insurrections, which made it illegal for slaves to even fight back if one was attacked or beaten. Free Indians and blacks were not allowed to “lift up a hand in opposition against any Christian.”<a name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[18]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The impact of the French <i>Code Noir (Black Code)</i> of 1685, enacted in Louisiana, lingers to this day.<a name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[19]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1688, the Quakers of Germantown (later Philadelphia) wrote what one historian called “one of the first documents to make a humanitarian argument against slavery.”<a name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span></span></a> The Quakers would continue to be strong abolitionist voices, but they were overwhelmed by the multitude of voices around them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1694, Massachusetts offered the first bounties for the heads and scalps of American Indian children; in 1695 it specified £25 for women or children “<i>under the age of fourteen years, that shall be killed.” </i>There were at least 69 government-issued scalp edicts in New England from 1675 to 1760 (and at least 50 issued elsewhere in the United States until 1885).</span><span style="background-color: #fef9f5; color: #121212; font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In New England alone, records show government payments for 375 human scalps equaling government payments of millions of dollars in today’s money.<a name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[21]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Various colonial governments sought to limit property ownership among chattel<a name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[22]</span></span></a> slaves. For example, a 1692 Virginia law provided that <i>"all horses, cattle and hoggs marked of any negro or other slaves marke, or by any slave kept”</i> would be given to the white poor. This is the beginning of the crushing of generational wealth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Other Christian voices joined the Quakers as abolitionists. “<i>The same Bible that racists misused to support slavery and segregation is the one abolitionists and civil rights activists rightly used to animate their resistance. Whenever there has been racial injustice, there have been Christians who fought against it in the name of Jesus Christ.”</i><a name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[23]</span></span></a><i> </i>They were too few, and too far between.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1700, Puritan Judge Samuel Sewell (famous for the Salem Witch Trials) was one of those voices, He wrote<i> The Selling of Joseph</i></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, one of the first anti-slavery tracts. <i>"Liberty is in real value next unto Life: None ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon the most mature Consideration… man-stealing [is] an atrocious crime which would introduce among the English settlers people who would remain forever restive and alien… These </i></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia" title="Ethiopia"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Ethiopians</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, as black as they are; seeing they are the Sons and Daughters of the First </span></i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_(Bible)" title="Adam (Bible)"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Adam</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, the Brethren and Sisters of the Last Adam, and the Offspring of God; They ought to be treated with a Respect agreeable."</span></i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> And yet, like many who opposed slavery, he was not opposed to segregation. <i>"There is such a disparity in their Conditions, Colour, Hair, that they can never embody with us, and grow up into orderly Families, to the Peopling of the Land."</i><a name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[24]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John Saffin wrote a response to Judge Sewell’s tract using the Bible to defend slavery. It ended like this: <i>“The Negro’s Character: Cowardly and cruel are those blacks innate, Prone to revenge, imp of inveterate hate. He that exasperates them, soon espies Mischief and murder in their very eyes. Libidinous, deceitful, false and rude, Thy spume issue of ingratitude. The premises considered, all may tell, How near good Joseph they are parallel.“<a name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[25]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Between 1680 and 1700, Virginia’s slaves increased from 3,000 to 16,000. This prompted the 1705 Act Concerning Servants and Slaves, “American history’s most striking evidence that our nation’s greatest sins were achieved with clear forethought and determined maintenance.”<a name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span></span></a> New York passed one the same year. It included codes like this: if a slave <i>“shall happen to be killed in… correction, it shall not be counted a felony; but master, owner and every such person giving correction, shall be free and acquit of all punishment and accusation…as if such incident had never happened.”</i> (section 34)<a name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[27]</span></span></a> Virginia, by the way, was a state where the names of runaway slaves were posted on church doors.<a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[28]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1712, a few dozen slaves staged a rebellion in New York. When a group of men approached, they killed 9 of them. They were hunted down. Approximately 23 other slaves were convicted of being involved. 20 were hanged; one was roasted, slow-turning, over a fire; another broken on a wheel; a third had every bone methodically broken by a crowbar until he died. These punishments were consistent with the slave code of 1708.<a name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1739, in what is known as the Stono Rebellion, an uprising of slaves left 23 white South Carolinians dead. South Carolina passed the Negro Act of 1740, which restricted the right of slaves to assemble and educate themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1741, a grand jury in New York concluded black arsonists had set a series of fires to overthrow chattel slavery. 70 were sold to work in the Caribbean. 17 were hanged. 13 were burned at the stake. Compare this to the infamous Salem Witch Trials, in which 19 were executed, and none burned at the stake. <a name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">While some Christians were involved in the abolitionist movement (as previously noted) the majority were not. Jonathan Edwards owned household slaves. In fact, he purchased two Black children in his life—a 14-year-old girl (when he was 27) and a 3-year-old boy (when he was 52). The boy was included in his will – by listing him with the animals he owned.<a name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[31]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">George Whitefield bought a South Carolina plantation and became a slave owner before leading a push to get slavery legalized in Georgia in 1751.<a name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[32]</span></span></a> As you might imagine, Christians and preachers owning slaves was a lot for slaves to process.<a name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1754, Benjamin Franklin’s newspaper published a religious essay by Quaker preacher John Woolman entitled “Some Considerations on the Keeping of the Negroes,” which advocated strongly for emancipation. Franklin, however, did not have a high view of those who “blackened half of America.” <i>“Why increase the sons of Africa, by planting them in America, where we have so fair an opportunity, by excluding all blacks and tawneys, of increasing the lovely white and red?”<a name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[34]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1781, the U.S. Constitution was ratified. William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the abolitionist newspaper<i> The Liberator, </i>citing Isaiah 28, called it a “covenant with death” because it didn’t ban slavery in America.<a name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span></span></a><i></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Baptist General Committee eventually issued statements in 1785 and 1790 opposing slavery. After some pushback from within the church, they decided it was a civil issue rather than a church one, and individual churches could do whatever they wanted. <a name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[36]</span></span></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1786, George Washington - who 12 years earlier had written to a friend concerning the British that <i>“we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition that can be heaped upon us; till custom and use, will make us as tame, and abject slaves, as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway”<a name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[37]</b></span></span></a></i> - complained about Quakers trying to “liberate his slaves.” Soon after, Quakers in Philadelphia and North Carolina began to lay the groundwork for what would become the Underground Railroad.<a name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[38]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">17 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 owned a total of about 1,400 slaves. Of the first 12 U.S. presidents, eight would be slave owners.<a name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[39]</span></span></a> Washington had hundreds of slaves; Jefferson over 600; Madison over 100; Monroe around 250. Washington would later describe his ownership of slaves as “the only unavoidable subject of regret.” When Washington died, he freed the slaves he owned. He was the only Founding Father to do so.<a name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[40]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">_________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">Note: You can find quotes from most of the Founders opposing slavery even while they owned slaves; many thought freeing them was a good idea, but they didn’t want to live around them; more than a few expressed regret toward the end of their lives about their complicity in enabling the institution of slavery. Any narrative that paints them<i> entirely </i>as ruthless slaveholders or <i>entirely</i> as committed abolitionists does not do justice to the historical record.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">__________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There were 700,000 slaves in this land in 1790 (92% of the black population); 3.9 million in 1860 (89% of the black population).<a name="_ftnref41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[41]</span></span></a> About 25% of Southern households owned slaves (as high as 49% in Mississippi).<a name="_ftnref42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[42]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1790 Naturalization Act permitted only <i>"free white persons"</i> to become naturalized citizens, so only free white people could vote, serve on juries, hold office, and in many cases, own property.<a name="_ftnref43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[43]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Second Amendment, passed in 1791, almost certainly was intended to secure the right of slave owning states to have a militia that, at that time, was used to hunt escaped slaves. James Madison appears to have <span class="MsoHyperlink">rewritten the Second Amendment</span> from its original form in response to Patrick Henry (who owned 70 or more slaves) <span class="MsoHyperlink">demanding</span> that the slave patrols in Virginia (‘militias’) be protected. See three resources in this footnote for more information.<a name="_ftnref44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[44]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1792, at least 200 slaves began to help building the White House. All three of the original commissioners Washington appointed to oversee construction owned slaves. Some of the later commissioners even hired out their own enslaved people to help build the Capitol Building and the White House. As the White House website notes, “<i>The use of enslaved labor to build one of the most revered symbols of American democracy, and the home of the President of the United States, represents the paradoxical relationship between the institution of slavery and the ideals of freedom and liberty enshrined in America’s founding documents.”<a name="_ftnref45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[45]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The <span class="MsoHyperlink">Buttonwood Agreement</span>, which started what became the New York Stock Exchange, was signed in 1792 under a buttonwood tree in front of 68 Wall Street, about a block away from the slave market at the intersection of Wall and Water streets. The agreement covered transactions and companies involved in the slave trade, including shipping, insurance and cotton.”<a name="_ftnref46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[46]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1793, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, and Washington signed it. The act made it a federal crime to assist escaped slaves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The invention of the cotton gin (1793) led to an explosion in the expansion of slavery in order to meet the cotton demand. Much of the cotton in the South went through Northern ports, from which it was sent to England. “As the cotton trade went, so went the American economy… many white northerners had a vested interest in preserving slavery.”<a name="_ftnref47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[47]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the late 1700s, priests visting from other countries were recording the brutal realities of slavery and the ubiquitous rape of enslaved women – by the church. One Frenchman recorded the priests “<i>keeping harems of Negro women, from whom was born a mixed race.”<a name="_ftnref48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[48]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Dating back to the 1800s, Native American children were put in boarding schools – of which a third were run by Christian missionaries - to <i>“Kill the Indian and save the man,”</i> as Capt. Richard H. Pratt's put it in an 1892 speech at George Mason University. They were isolated from their families and trained into low-paying vocations. More on this later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1802, Leland Baptist in Massachusetts presented Thomas Jefferson with a 1200 pound block of cheese because of his famous “wall of separation between church and state” reply to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut. This was Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves and believed that “Indians should ‘be absorbed’ into the United States or face military obliteration.”<a name="_ftnref49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[49]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Standard civics class accounts of the Electoral College rarely mention the real demon dooming direct national election in 1787 and 1803: slavery. At the Philadelphia convention, the visionary Pennsylvanian James Wilson proposed direct national election of the president. But the savvy Virginian James Madison responded that such a system would prove unacceptable to the South: <i>‘The right of suffrage was much more diffusive [i.e., extensive] in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes.’</i> In other words, in a direct election system, the North would outnumber the South, whose many slaves (more than half a million in all) of course could not vote. But the Electoral College—a prototype of which Madison proposed in this same speech—instead let each southern state count its slaves, albeit with a two-fifths discount, in computing its share of the overall count. Virginia emerged as the big winner—the California of the Founding era—with 12 out of a total of 91 electoral votes allocated by the Philadelphia Constitution, more than a quarter of the 46 needed to win an election in the first round. After the 1800 census, Wilson’s free state of Pennsylvania had 10% more free persons than Virginia, but got 20% fewer electoral votes. Perversely, the more slaves Virginia (or any other slave state) bought or bred, the more electoral votes it would receive. Were a slave state to free any blacks who then moved North, the state could actually lose electoral votes. If the system’s pro-slavery tilt was not overwhelmingly obvious when the Constitution was ratified, it quickly became so. For 32 of the Constitution’s first 36 years, a white slaveholding Virginian occupied the presidency.”<a name="_ftnref50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[50]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Inspired by the Haitian revolution of slaves, slaves in Louisiana started a short-lived rebellion in 1811, led by Charles Deslondes. A group of several hundred slaves attacked plantations and killed the masters/owners. Within 48 hours, they were defeated by militia and federal troops. Many were decapitated, and their heads placed on fence posts. One naval officer wrote, <i>“They were brung here for the sake of their heads, which decorate our levee, all the way up the coast. I am told they look like crows sitting on long poles.” </i>The leader, Deslondes, had his hands chopped off before he was burned to death on top of a bale of straw.<a name="_ftnref51" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[51]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Francis Scott Key wrote the poem in 1814 that would become the national anthem and proclaim our nation ‘the land of the free.’ Like Jefferson, Key not only profited from slaves, he harbored racist conceptions of American citizenship and human potential. Africans in America, he <span class="MsoHyperlink">said</span>, were ‘a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community’…</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Key used his office as the District Attorney for the City of Washington from 1833 to 1840 to defend slavery, attacking the abolitionist movement in several high-profile cases.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">In response to <i>U.S. v. Reuben Crandall,</i> Key made national headlines by asking whether the property rights of slaveholders outweighed the free speech rights of those arguing for slavery’s abolishment. Key hoped to silence abolitionists, who, he <span class="MsoHyperlink">charged</span>, wished to ‘associate and amalgamate with the negro.’”<a name="_ftnref52" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[52]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The American Colonization Society (ACS), founded in 1816 by Presbyterian minister Robert Finley, sought to send freed slaves back to Africa as an alternative to emancipation. <i>“Could they be sent to Africa, a three-fold benefit would arise,” </i>the first reason being, <b><i>“</i></b><i>We should be cleared of them…”<b> </b></i>The ACS founded Liberia for this reason.<a name="_ftnref53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[53]</span></span></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1817, the African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Charleston. In 1818, the city shut it down out of fear of black people congregating and potentially planning insurrection. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Congress passes the Civilization Act of 1819 to assimilate Native Americans. This law provided U.S. government funds to subsidize Protestant missionary educators in order to convert Native Americans to Christianity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">David Walker (1796-1830), black abolitionist and son of a slave, wrote: ”<i>But Christian Americans not only hinder their fellow creatures, the Africans, but thousands of them will absolutely beat a colored person nearly to death, if they catch him on his knees, supplicating the throne of grace… Yes, I have known small collections of colored people to have convened together for no other purpose than to worship God Almighty, in spirit and in truth, to the best of their knowledge; when tyrants, calling themselves patrols would burst in upon them and drag them out and commence beating them as they would rattle-snakes—many of whom, they would beat so unmercifully, that they would hardly be able to crawl for weeks and sometimes for months.”<a name="_ftnref54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[54]</b></span></span></a> </i>It is important to note that this was not all Christians. But it was certainly some. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1823, the Supreme Court ruled (Johnson vs. M’Intosh) that, under the Doctrine of Discovery, <i>“when European, Christian nations discovered new lands, the discovering country automatically gained sovereign and property rights over the lands of non-Christians, non-European peoples, even though, obviously, the native peoples already owned, occupied and used these lands.” </i><a name="_ftnref55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[55]</span></span></a> When Georgians tried to take all the Cherokee land within the boundaries of their state, the Cherokees resisted; as a result, they were accused of attempting to establish a new and separate government. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the 1820s, Irish laborers working alongside black workers formed a bond to the point of the Irish advocating for abolition. This would not last. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> In 1829, Georgia prohibited teaching blacks to read. Those who broke the law were subject to fines and/or imprisonment. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1830: </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Congress passes Indian Removal Act, legalizing removal of all Indians east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the 1830s, National Negro Conventions began in the North. These were instrumental in encouraging abolitionist’s responses to slavery, such as the Underground Railroad. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1832, Alabama and Virginia passed laws prohibiting whites from teaching blacks to read or write, with punishments including floggings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1833, Georgia passed laws prohibiting blacks from working in jobs involving reading or writing; those who taught blacks to do so were punished by fines and whippings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Throughout the 1830s and '40s, white entertainer Thomas Dartmouth Rice (1808-1860) performed a black-face act supposedly modeled after a slave he overhead singing. He named the character Jim Crow.<a name="_ftnref56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[56]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The slaves owned by the Strickland family in Georgia were listed as “black” when bought in the 1830s. By 1860, 1/5 of their slaves were listed as “mulatto.” That’s a lot of rape. This was, unfortunately, a snapshot of the lives of many slaves. <a name="_ftnref57" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[57]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1837, Michigan abolished slavery. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1838, Michigan built its first state prison in Jackson. By 1843, prisoners were working for private contractors with no pay. This anticipates the “indentured servitude by incarceration” that will follow the Emancipation Proclamation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1840 Census concluded that free blacks were 11 times more likely to be mentally ill than enslaved blacks (they used figures that were “specious” or “invented” and as such helped them reach a conclusion that was <i>the exact opposite of the evidence</i>).<a name="_ftnref58" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[58]</span></span></a> The census was never formally corrected.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The <b>Trail of Tears</b> moved 60,000 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" title="Native Americans in the United States"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Native Americans</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> between 1830 and 1850 from their homes in what was known as the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_removal" title="Indian removal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Indian removal</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. Thousands died before reaching their destinations or shortly after from disease.<a name="_ftnref59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[59]</span></span></a> This is only the most notorious of many similar events.<a name="_ftnref60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[60]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In <i>Prigg vs Pennsylvania </i>(1842), the Supreme Court ruled that states could decline cooperation with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1846, the Episcopalian church ruled that no <i>“colored congregation [will] be admitted into union with this Convention, so as to entitle them to representation… They are socially degraded, and are not regarded as proper associates for the class of person who attend our Convention.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“J. Marion Sims, known as the ‘father of modern gynecology,’ contributed revolutionary tools and techniques to the medical field, like the <span class="MsoHyperlink">modern-day speculum</span> and the <span class="MsoHyperlink">Sims position</span>. His breakthroughs emerged from experiments on enslaved Black women without the use of anesthesia…</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <span class="MsoHyperlink">between 1846 and 1849</span>, Sims operated on at least 10 enslaved women without anesthesia. One enslaved woman, Anarcha, endured at least 30 painful surgeries.”<a name="_ftnref61" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[61]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1847, Missouri passed a law forbidding any attempt to help slaves achieve literacy. Also in 1847, some of Martha Washington’s slaves quarried the red sandstone that went into building the Smithsonian.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">One result of the California gold rush in 1848 was that, as 300,000 new people flooded California, the Native American population plummeted from 150,000 to 30,000 over 30 years. In places like Shasta City, Marysville and Honey Lake in 1851, you could have received $5 for each Indian head turned in. Struggling miners became bounty hunters, sometimes showing up with a dozen heads at a time. When there was no local bounty, freelancers would often get paid by the state.<a name="_ftnref62" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[62]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1850, California passed the Indian Indenture Act, under which people were allowed to enslave Indian adults and children. In the late 1800s, more than 4,000 Native American children were sold into slavery at prices ranging from $60 to $200.<a name="_ftnref63" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[63]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the South around this time, an estimated 50% of enslaved infants were stillborn or died within the first year of life.<a name="_ftnref64" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[64]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1850, Congress passed an even more restrictive Fugitive Slave Act, which overturned the <i>Prigg</i> decision in 1842.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Passed in 1850, the state’s disingenuously titled </span><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2001696098/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Act for the Government and Protection of Indians</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> legalized a range of unfree-labor practices. Under the law, Anglo and Hispanic heads of household could seize Native children from their families and use them as unpaid servants until they reached adulthood—or died. A petitioner merely had to bring a child’s “friend” before the court, have the friend corroborate that the parents were unfit to raise the child, and then claim legal guardianship for themselves. Who qualified as a friend was left to the discretion of the court. Unsurprisingly, the law encouraged rampant kidnapping. Slave raiders descended on Native communities, murdered the adults, and auctioned their orphans to California colonists. Because California Indians were prohibited from testifying against white people in court, such attacks went unpunished. Roughly </span><a href="https://www.cityofarcata.org/DocumentCenter/View/7104/Madley-Unholy-Traffic-in-Human-Blood-and-Souls"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">20,000 California Indians</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> were held in various states of bondage throughout the antebellum era. Thousands more could be found in the neighboring territories of Utah and New Mexico.”<a name="_ftnref65" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[65]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1852, Utah adopted a similar measure to California’s law on Indian child servitude, with an equally misleading name. The </span><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hB8wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=An+Act+for+the+Relief+of+Indian+Slaves+and+Prisoners&source=bl&ots=5_xsXSQ9h3&sig=ACfU3U1iuuQ7_LWrJROyMbWw7U3RRWcxqQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz16-HxqT0AhUE2qQKHTNXAZgQ6AF6BAgcEAM#v=onepage&q=An%20Act%20for%20the%20Relief%20of%20Indian%20Slaves%20and%20Prisoners&f=false"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Act for the Relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> allowed Utah’s white residents to purchase Indian children for “</span><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jmormhist.44.2.0001?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Hoak%2C+%22And+Who+Shall+Have+the+Children%3F%2C%22&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DHoak%252C%2B%25E2%2580%259CAnd%2BWho%2BShall%2BHave%2Bthe%2BChildren%253F%252C%25E2%2580%259D%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_expensive_solr_cloud%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Aad72451bc04e83638045f322685dd889#metadata_info_tab_contents"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">adoption</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">” into their households for up to 20 years. The children worked to pay off the price of their purchase while receiving food, clothing, and religious instruction. An estimated </span><a href="https://www.onlinenevada.org/sites/default/files/IndianSlaveTrade_VanHoak_1998.pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">60 percent</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> of Indigenous adoptees died by their early 20s.<a name="_ftnref66" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[66]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“About 40,000 Chinese immigrants arrived in the 1850s to mine for gold, and in the decade that followed, thousands more came to work on railroads. The Chinese and Japanese populations (few whites bothered to differentiate between the two) farmed, fished, mined, and worked as domestic labor throughout the century even while enduring brutal mistreatment and discrimination by Americans and European immigrants. ‘In many districts of the vast Pacific coast, so strong is the wild, free love of justice in the hearts of the people,’ wrote Mark Twain in <span class="MsoHyperlink">a bitter 1870 article</span>, ‘that whenever any secret and mysterious crime is committed, they say, “Let justice be done, though the heavens fall,” and go straightway and [hang] a Chinaman…’ ‘On average,’ writes Iris Chang in <i><span class="MsoHyperlink">The Chinese in America: A Narrative History,</span> </i>‘three laborers perished for every two miles of track laid. … Twenty thousand pounds of their bones [were] shipped [back] to China.’”<a name="_ftnref67" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[67]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote <u>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</u>,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">the second best-selling book of the 19th century (second to the Bible). An apocryphal story states that </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln" title="Abraham Lincoln"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Abraham Lincoln</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, said, on meeting Stowe, "So this is the little lady who started [the Civil War].”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott (1857), a slave who sued for his freedom, Judge Roger Taney wrote that black people were of <i>“an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race,”</i> and <i>“had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">An 1858 medical journal article by Savannah Medical College professor Juriah Harriss noted that “the ability to accurately determine the market value of Black bodies was one of the key professional competencies needed by southern doctors.”<a name="_ftnref68" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[68]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1859, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded by slaveholding members<a name="_ftnref69" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[69]</span></span></a>of the Southern Baptist Convention<i>.<a name="_ftnref70" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[70]</b></span></span></a> “The founding fathers of this school were deeply involved in slavery and deeply complicit in the defense of slavery,” </i>Albert Mohler said recently.<a name="_ftnref71" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[71]</span></span></a> The SBC recently issued a thorough apology, though some lingering issues remain.<a name="_ftnref72" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[72]</span></span></a><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By the mid-1800s, post-Second Great Awakening evangelicalism had established a significant focus on evangelism both near and far. This increasingly led to not only the preaching of the gospel, but also to political engagement for social justice and moral reform for Native Americans and slaves. A number of evangelical colleges rose up, including Oberlin College in Ohio (at which evangelist Charles Finney was a professor). Oberlin was unusually progressive in that it was both coed and multi-ethnic. Students there advocated strongly for the United States to keep its treaties with Native Americans; it was even a stopover for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1860, <span class="MsoHyperlink">the value of the slaves</span> was <i>“roughly three times greater than the total amount invested in banks… equal to about seven times the total value of all currency in circulation in the country, three times the value of the entire livestock population, twelve times the value of the entire U.S. cotton crop and forty-eight times the total expenditure of the federal government that year.”<a name="_ftnref73" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[73]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Between 1831 and 1865, two of the predecessor banks for JP Morgan Chase – Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana – accepted approximately 13,000 enslaved individuals as collateral on loans and took ownership of approximately 1,250 of them when the plantation owners defaulted on their loans.”<a name="_ftnref74" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[74]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“On huge plantations surrounding New Orleans, home of the largest slave market in the antebellum South, sugar production took off in the first half of the 19th century. By 1853, Louisiana was producing </span><a href="http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/83038/5/04%20Estados%20Unidos%20(Richard%20Follet).pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">nearly 25% of all exportable sugar in the world</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. Enslaved Black workers made that phenomenal growth possible. On the eve of the Civil War, Louisiana’s sugar industry was valued at US$200 million. More than half of that figure represented the valuation of the ownership of human beings.”<a name="_ftnref75" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[75]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The Slave Trail of Tears is the great missing migration—a thousand-mile-long river of people, all of them black, reaching from Virginia to Louisiana. During the 50 years before the Civil War, about a million enslaved people moved from the Upper South—Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky—to the Deep South—Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. They were made to go, deported, you could say, having been sold. This forced resettlement was 20 times larger than Andrew Jackson’s “Indian removal” campaigns of the 1830s, which gave rise to the original Trail of Tears as it drove tribes of Native Americans out of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama…</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Virginia was the source for the biggest deportation. Nearly 450,000 people were uprooted and sent south from the state between 1810 and 1860. ‘In 1857 alone, the sale of people in Richmond amounted to $4 million,’ McInnis said. ‘That would be more than $440 million today.’”<a name="_ftnref76" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[76]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1861 - 1865: Civil War. 620,000 -750,000 die (2% -2.5% of the population) over the issue of slavery. If this was a “states’ rights” war, it was about the right to own slaves.<a name="_ftnref77" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[77]</span></span></a> In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln hoped that “this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln (R) issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved people in the Confederate states.<a name="_ftnref78" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[78]</span></span></a> The 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment officially ended slavery in 1865. Frederick Douglass said at this time, “The Republican Party is the ship; all else is the sea.” The <i>Cincinnati Enquirer</i> opined, “Slavery is dead, but the negro is not, and there is the misfortune.”<a name="_ftnref79" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[79]</span></span></a><i></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Newspaper business boomed as slaves placed ads, trying to reunite with all the family members who had been sold.<a name="_ftnref80" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[80]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the South, the federal government never followed through on Sherman's Civil War plan to divide up plantations and give each freed slave "40 acres and a mule." The only compensation for slavery was $300 per slave ($5,000 in today’s money) - not to the slaves, but to slaveholders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Laws kicked in right away in the South that led to indentured servitude through prison labor. In South Carolina, a law prohibited black people from holding any occupation other than farmer or servant unless they paid an annual tax of $10 to $100. Then when they couldn't find (or afford) work, they were arrested for vagrancy; when challenged, they had to show proof they had a job. It was hard to win a case in court, because the judges and police were often former Confederate soldiers. In South Carolina, the children of ‘vagrant’ parents could be forcibly ‘apprenticed’ until they were 21 (men) or 18 (women), and could be captured if they ran away. In Louisiana, it was illegal for a black man to preach to a black congregation with written permission from the police.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Abraham Lincoln hated slavery, but he was wary of whites and blacks living together. He wanted to send freed slaves to live in Liberia or Haiti. In 1862 he said to a black audience: <i>“You and we are different races—we have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them, by living among us; while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side.<sup>”<a name="_ftnref81" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[81]</b></span></span></a></sup></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1862 Homestead Act gave away 270 million acres.<a name="_ftnref82" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[82]</span></span></a> It was available to any U.S. citizen who had never fought against the U.S. Government. Guess who couldn't legally be a citizen because they weren’t white and it was not yet 1868? (#The Fourteenth Amendment).</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 opened 46 million acres of federal land specifically for African Americans (at least at first). Many former slaves could not afford the fee, and Southern whites prevented many blacks from getting information. In addition, most of the land was forest and swamp. Fewer than 6,000 black families got land from a total of 1.6 million beneficiaries of these land grant programs.<a name="_ftnref83" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[83]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Congress also gave another 100 million acres of Indian land free to the railroads. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1864 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_Massacre" title="Sand Creek Massacre"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Sand Creek Massacre</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, which caused outrage in its own time, has been called genocide. Colonel </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chivington" title="John Chivington"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John Chivington</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> led a 700-man force of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Territory" title="Colorado Territory"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Colorado Territory</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_States)" title="Militia (United States)"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">militia</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> in a massacre of 70–163 peaceful </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne" title="Cheyenne"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Cheyenne</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Arapaho</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, about two-thirds of whom were women, children, and infants. Chivington and his men took </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalping" title="Scalping"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">scalps</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> and other body parts as trophies, including human </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus" title="Fetus"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">fetuses</span></a><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">and male and female </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genitalia" title="Genitalia"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">genitalia</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#cite_note-United_States_Congress._(1867)-123"><sup><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[122]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> In defense of his actions Chivington stated, “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.” <a name="_ftnref84" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[84]</span></span></a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">As it became clear to the Irish that this solidarity with black workers denied them entrance into white society – and that a black population moving North might deny them the jobs they had - the relationship changed. Irish violence against blacks became so common in New York City that bricks were known as “Irish confetti.” In 1865, a mob of 1,000 Irish immigrants attacked the black community, including children in an orphanage. They caused so much destruction and elicited such fear that the black population decreased by 20%.<a name="_ftnref85" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[85]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1865, Sherman issued Field Order No. 15, in which lands in South Carolina and Georgia were set apart “for the settlement of negroes,” particularly those freed from slavery. 40,000 freed people settled on 400,000 acres. In 1865, Andrew Johnson reversed it. Only former slaves who paid for it were allowed to remain. As you might imagine, former slaves sere not flush with cash. It had “no tangible benefit for Black citizens after President Johnson’s revocation.”<a name="_ftnref86" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[86]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Go to the footnote to read about the Missouri Escapes from 1840-1865, in which 1,500 escaped slavery.<a name="_ftnref87" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[87]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to free slaves that their Texan masters had refused to free. #juneteenth <i>“In October 1865, months after the June orders, white Texans in some regions ‘still claim and control [slaves] as property, and in two or three instances recently bought and sold them…To sustain slavery, some planters systematically murdered rebellious African-Americans to try to frighten the rest into submission.”</i> A report by the Texas constitutional convention stated that white Texans killed almost 400 Black people between 1865 and 1868.<a name="_ftnref88" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[88]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Civil Rights Act of 1866 became the nation’s first federal civil rights law. It was vetoed twice by Andrew Johnson. It was finally ratified in 1870 (after the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment passed). In addition to granting citizenship “without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude,” it established that “All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.” It was a noble effort. Practically, that kind of exercise of rights was going to take some time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1866, President Johnson said, after meeting Frederick Douglass at the White House, “he’s just like any n*****, and he would sooner cut a white man’s throat than not.”<a name="_ftnref89" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[89]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">"On May 1, 1866, in Memphis, Tennessee, white police officers began firing into a crowd of African American men, women, and children that had gathered on South Street, and afterward white mobs rampaged through Black neighborhoods with the intent to “kill every Negro and drive the last one from the city.” Over three days of violence, forty-six African Americans were killed (two whites were killed by friendly fire); ninety-one houses, four churches, and twelve schools were burned to the ground; at least five women were raped; and many Black people fled the city permanently."<a name="_ftnref90" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[90]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1868: The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to black people. Federal troops moved through the South, registering 700,000 black voters. The government specifically interpreted the law so it didn’t apply to Native Americans, who would not win the right to citizenship until 1924. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By 1868, the American Missionary Association (formed by the Congregational Church) had more than 500 teachers and missionaries working with the freed slaves. Among other things, they helped start two freedmen schools that became historically black colleges: Fisk University (1866) and Hampton Institute (1868).<a name="_ftnref91" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[91]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1868, in what is called the St. Landry Riot, a small group of armed African-Americans assembled to deal with the report of a black writer for a newspaper who had been severely beaten by white men because he had reported that armed white men harassed black families, shot at them outside of Opelousas ,the largest city in St. Landry Parish, and killed men, women and children with impunity – all to stop them from voting. This group was met by an armed group of white men, mounted on horses, outside Opelousas. 29 of the black men were taken to the local prison, and <span class="MsoHyperlink">27 of them were summarily executed</span>. The bloodshed continued for two weeks, with African-American families killed in their homes, shot in public, and chased down by vigilante groups. C.E. Durand, the other editor of the St. Landry Progress, was murdered in the early days of the massacre and his body displayed outside the Opelousas drug store. By the end of the two weeks, estimates of the number killed were around 250 people, the vast majority of them African-American.<a name="_ftnref92" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[92]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Thousands of Chinese workers landed in Louisiana between 1866 and 1870, recruited from the Caribbean, China and California. Bound to multiyear contracts, they symbolized Louisiana planters’ racial hope for a new system of slavery. “We can drive the n****** out and import coolies that will work better, at less expense,” journalist Whitelaw Reid </span><a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/coolies-and-cane"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">reported hearing all across the South in 1866</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, “and relieve us from this cursed n***** impudence.”<a name="_ftnref93" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[93]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The </span><a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299797"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Fifteenth Amendment</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> was passed by Congress and ratified during the Reconstruction Era (1870). African American men were not only granted voting rights but even held political office. An estimated 2,000 black men served at every level of government. It was an excellent change that generated hope, but only lasted a short time. The last of them left office in 1901. It would be 28 years before a black man regained office (in Chicago); not until the 1970s did Georgia and Texas elect black representatives. For North Carolina, it was 1992.<a name="_ftnref94" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[94]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1870, in Forsyth, Georgia, The Chicago Tribune reported that three black residents of Forsyth were “summarily hung one morning by the roadside, in front of the dwelling... Old Man Hutchins suspended to the limb of a tree by an old ox chain... and his two sons by green withes cut from the bushes.”<a name="_ftnref95" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[95]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">After the 15<sup>th</sup> Amendment granted blacks the right to vote, 700,000 blacks registered to vote in the South. This was larger than the white (male voting) population. Enter supremacist groups like the KKK to start a terrorist race war. KKK members lynched so many black voters in North Carolina 1870 that Governor Holden declared an insurrection and suspended habeus corpus. After Klansmen killed Republican state senator Stephens and Wyatt Outlaw, a black town commissioner, Holden hired a Union colonel and 300 troops to stop the violence (The Kirk-Holden War). But because black voters were successfully suppressed, the Democrats won the state legislature when they should have lost by thousands of votes. They impeached Holden and removed him from office. Not a one of the 100 terrorist leaders in the Kirk-Holden War were charged with a crime. In 1868, white supremacists opened fire on thousands of blacks at a political rally, so intimidating them that they swayed the election by thousands of votes so a Democratic governor would win. In 1869, 33 recently elected black legislators were removed from office when the state Supreme Court overturned the right of blacks to hold office. ¼ of them would be killed by white supremacists; a dozen anti-expulsion protestors were killed in the Camilla Massacre. In 1870, in Laurens, South Carolina, around a dozen white and black voters were killed by supremacists who “waited upon” them after they voted. So, Congress passed The Enforcement Act of 1870, and then a Second one, and then a Third one bluntly called the Ku Klux Klan Act, all in an attempt to stop white supremacist terrorism of black voters. It didn’t work. In 1871, the Klan slaughtered 30 people in Meridian, Mississippi. There’s more to come….<a name="_ftnref96" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[96]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1871, a white mob in Los Angeles attacks a Chinese community, killing 19 and destroying the community.<a name="_ftnref97" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[97]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“’At least 10% of black members of constitutional conventions in the South in 1867-68 became victims [of Klan violence], including seven who were murdered.’ White vigilantes lynched an estimated 400 black people across the South between 1868 and 1871. Thirty-eight black people were lynched in South Carolina between the elections of 1870 and the spring of 1871. About thirty African-Americans were killed in a single day in Meridian, Mississippi. A key motivation for these lynchings was the attempt to intimidate black people from voting.”<a name="_ftnref98" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[98]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">No one is quite sure how many people a militia mob killed on Easter Sunday in 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana. There were at least 81 black men; 20 more bodies were pulled from the Red River, and at least another 18 secretly buried.<a name="_ftnref99" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[99]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1874, the White League killed a dozen black Freemen in the Couschatta Massacre in Louisiana. A month later, the Crescent City White League overthrew the state government to install a Democratic governor (federal troops swooped in and reversed it). <a name="_ftnref100" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[100]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1872–1874: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">U.S. government permitted white traders to slaughter buffalo in order to rid the Plains of Indians. By 1874, Plain Indians — Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Comanche — had lost control of their territory.<a name="_ftnref101" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[101]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The <b>Civil Rights Act of 1875 </b>affirmed the “equality of all men before the law” and prohibited racial discrimination in public places and facilities such as restaurants and public transportation.<a name="_ftnref102" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[102]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The Compromise of 1877… secured the election of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes by giving him the electoral votes of Democratic South Carolina and Louisiana in exchange for a promise to withdraw the remaining federal troops from those statehouses.”<a name="_ftnref103" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[103]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Reconstruction collapsed with the withdrawal of Federal troops in 1877; voting rights for black men in the former Confederate states were restricted or taken away by local laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and fraud.<a name="_ftnref104" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[104]</span></span></a> The “grandfather clause” restricted voting rights to men who were allowed to vote, or whose male ancestors were allowed to vote, before 1867 – which was, or course, not black men.<a name="_ftnref105" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[105]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1878, California held a constitutional convention for the purpose of throwing the Chinese and Japanese out of the state; the following decades witnessed <span class="MsoHyperlink">scores of race riots</span>, in which Chinatowns and Japantowns were incinerated and Asians lynched.<a name="_ftnref106" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[106]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Carlisle Indian School (1879) and other boarding schools started with the aim to "civilize" and "Americanize" the Indian.<a name="_ftnref107" title=""><sup><sup>[107]</sup></sup></a> Richard Pratt wanted to “Kill the Indian and save the man,” so that instead of “feeding our civilization to the Indians”, we were “feeding the Indians to our civilization.”<a name="_ftnref108" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[108]</span></span></a> Survivors have described a culture of pervasive physical and sexual abuse. Medical attention was often scarce; in the early years, more died than graduated. Nearly 200 Native children are buried at the entrance of the Carlisle Barracks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Frederick Douglass (1817-1895): <i>“For between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.”<a name="_ftnref109" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[109]</b></span></span></a> </i>Once again, this is not every Christian, but it’s enough that it leaves an impression. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By 1880, 25% of convicts leased out for work in Mississippi were children, some as young as six. Within a few years, Alabama would basically stop recording reasons for arresting blacks, literally writing “not given” in the column for recording reasons for imprisonment. The mortality rate for blacks leased out for hard labor was 17%, which was 15% more than white convicts.<a name="_ftnref110" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[110]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When Congress debated excluding the Chinese from the United States in 1882, Rep. Horace F. Page of California argued that the United States could not allow the entry of “millions of cooly slaves and serfs.” <a name="_ftnref111" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[111]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Supreme-Court-of-the-United-States"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">U.S. Supreme Court</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional in the </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Cases"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Civil Rights Cases</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> (1883).<a name="_ftnref112" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[112]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), who coordinated the butchering of black and white Union soldiers at Fort Pillow, went on to become the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. <b>Many Klan members actively participated in their local churches</b><i>;</i> more than a few preached on Sunday.<a name="_ftnref113" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[113]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">From George Washington (1789) to Ulysses Grant (1877), more Presidents owned slaves than did not (12-6).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1880, South Carolina reopened its state university (which it had closed in 1876 instead of integrate) for whites only. It didn’t desegregate until 1963.<a name="_ftnref114" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[114]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Dawes Act (1887) was passed, calling for most designated tribal land to be divided up into individual allotments, on which were encouraged to take up agriculture despite the fact that much of the land was unsuitable for farming and many could not afford the equipment, livestock, and other supplies necessary for a successful enterprise</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.<a name="_ftnref115" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[115]</span></span></a> Those who accepted the parcels and agreed to live separately from the tribe were granted citizenship, effectively dismantling tribal governments and communally held land. Any “excess” land (2/3 of it) was confiscated by the federal government and sold on the open market.<a name="_ftnref116" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[116]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By the time the 1880s rolled around, <i>“The legal system entrapped thousands of black men, often on trumped up charges and without any due process protections, and earned money for sheriffs and state treasuries by selling their labor. It was worse than slavery.”<a name="_ftnref117" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[117]</b></span></span></a></i> </span><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/738-twice-the-work-of-free-labor"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Every southern state leased convicts</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">; 90% of all leased convicts were black. Historian David Oshinsky says, “The South’s economic development can be traced by the blood if its prisoners.”<a name="_ftnref118" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[118]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">General Ulysses S. Grant (late 1800s): <i>“The settlers and emigrants must be protected, even if the extermination of every Indian tribe [is] necessary.</i>” The following year, General Philip Sheridan reportedly proclaimed, <i>“The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">After the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre (300 Lakotaa men, women and children killed), the U.S. Army awarded 18 medals of honor to soldiers who participated.<a name="_ftnref119" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[119]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1890, James Kimble Vardaman, US Senator from Missouri, said of the motivation for the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention, “There is no use to equivocate or lie about the matter. Mississippi’s constitutional convention was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the n***** from politics; not the ignorant – but the n*****.”<a name="_ftnref120" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[120]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Author </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum" title="L. Frank Baum"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">L. Frank Baum</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> – you know him as the writer of the Wizard of Oz - wrote two editorials about Native Americans. After the killing of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Sitting Bull</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, Baum wrote: <i>" With his fall the nobility of the </i></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskin" title="Redskin"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Redskin</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> is extinguished, and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The Whites, by the law of conquest, by a justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians… better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are." </span></i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Following the Wounded Knee massacre, Baum wrote, <i>"The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the late 1800s, missionary activity surged. However, an embedded message of white superiority often undermined the message of the gospel: the conversion to the tenants of western culture and a response to the gospel was a package deal. Methodist Senator Albert Beveridge said, <i>“Of all our races, God has marked the American people as his chosen nation to finally lead to the regeneration of the world. This is a divine mission.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not require the elimination of racial distinction bot only the equal treatment of races. And with that, “separate but equal” became the standard in law for decades. It <i>“struck a fatal blow to…black aspirations for equality and assimilation into America’s vaunted melting pot.”<a name="_ftnref121" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[121]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By the early 1900s, nearly every southern state had functionally barred black citizens from voting, serving in public office, on juries and in the administration of the justice system.<a name="_ftnref122" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[122]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5325145031187510736/8843780922381004390" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">"Alabama rewrote its constitution in 1901. John B. Knox, a Calhoun County lawyer and president of the constitutional convention, opened the proceedings with a statement of purpose: 'Why it is within the limits imposed by the Federal Constitution, to establish white supremacy in this state.'”</span></a></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">President Theodore Roosevelt (early 1900s) said, <i>"I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are. And I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth."</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">At the first World Series in 1903, no black players were permitted. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">White primaries</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_election" title="Primary election"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">primary elections</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> in which only white voters were permitted to participate, were one way to disenfranchise black voters. This kind of primary was established by state legislatures in South Carolina (1896),<sup> </sup>Florida (1902),<sup> </sup>Mississippi and Alabama (also 1902), Texas (1905),<sup> </sup>Louisiana<sup> </sup>and Arkansas (1906),and Georgia (1900).<a name="_ftnref123" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[123]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The revival of the <b>Ku Klux Klan</b> in the 1900s was largely the effort <b>of Thomas Dixon Jr., an ordained Baptist preacher</b> who wrote an admiring book on of the KKK called The Clansman (1905). D.W. Griffith adapted this into the first blockbuster movie, The Birth of a Nation (1915).”<a name="_ftnref124" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[124]</span></span></a> When the movie first played at Fox Theater in Atlanta, the streets filled with men dressed up in sheets and pointy white hoods. <a name="_ftnref125" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[125]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There were 4,084 racially motivated lynchings in twelve Southern states between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the <i>1950’s.</i><a name="_ftnref126" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[126]</span></span></a> African-American leaders contended that white churches shared the blame for this. Walter White of the NAACP wrote, “Evangelical Christian denominations have done much towards creation of the particular fanaticism which finds an outlet in lynching.” This was surely not entirely fair, as many white evangelicals expressed concern. However, they typically lamented the lawlessness of the acts more than the racial hatred behind the response.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">A Southern Baptist resolution in1906 shows this equivocation about lynching: “Lynching blunts the public conscience, undermines the foundations on which societies stands, and if unchecked will bring on anarchy. But our condemnation is due with equal emphasis and many cases with much greater emphasis against the horrible crimes which caused the lynchings.” Crimes, I might add, which did not need to be proven to a lynch mob.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Here’s a map of lynchings just from 1900-1930. Multiply that by a lot for the big picture</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.<a name="_ftnref127" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[127]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Booker T. Washington wrote in the Birmingham Age-Herald in 1904: “Within the last fortnight three members of my race have been burned at the stake; one of these was a woman… All three of these burnings took place in broad daylight, and two of the occurred on Sunday afternoon in sight of a Christian church.” Washington notes all three were accused of murder. Accused, not convicted, and almost certainly not guilty.<a name="_ftnref128" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[128]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Not long after 1906, when San Francisco was leveled by earthquake and fire, the Chinese were evicted and Chinatown looted. The federal government tried to prevent rebuilding, but the intercession of China’s empress ensured that it was restored. Soon afterward, the federal government turned Angel Island in San Francisco Bay into basically a prison where 175,000 Asian immigrants were detained, sometimes for years, before being considered for admission to the United States.<a name="_ftnref129" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[129]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1908, a mob of around 5,000 white people attacked the black community in Springfield, Illinois, destroying businesses, driving families away, and lynching two black men.<a name="_ftnref130" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[130]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also In 1908, a pregnant woman named Mary Turner was killed in Lowndes County, Georgia for having openly grieved for her husband. When she threatened to swear out warrants against the men who had abducted and lynched him,” before a crowd that included women and children, Mary was stripped, hung upside down by the ankles, soaked with gasoline, and roasted to death. In the midst of this torment, a white man opened her swollen belly with a hunting knife and her infant fell to the ground, gave a cry, and was stomped to death.”<a name="_ftnref131" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[131]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By 1910, the war against black voting had shown itself to be effective. 30,334 black voters had registered in Louisiana in 1896; by 1910, there were 730. In Alabama, numbers dropped from 180,000 to 3,000; in Virginia and North Carolina, black voters were statistically 0%.<a name="_ftnref132" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[132]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1911, a black woman in Okemah, Oklahoma was killed for no crime other than defending her fifteen-year-old son against a lynch mob. Newspapers reported that when Laura Nelson confronted the white man who had accused her boy of stealing, Nelson was dragged from her house and repeatedly raped before she and her son she tried to protect were hanged side-by-side from a bridge over the Canadian River.<a name="_ftnref133" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[133]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">On September 10th, 1912, Forsyth County Sheriff arrested three black suspects on trumped-up charges for raping and murdering a white girl. One suspect was kidnapped from jail, beaten with crowbars, dragged through the streets with a rope around his neck, before being strung up on a and shot hundreds of times. A black preacher who protested barely escaped being burned alive. The other two were eventually convicted in a mockery of a trial filled with men who, before too long, would show up on the roles of a revived KKK. By the end of October of that year, night riders forced out almost all of the over 1,000 members of the African-American Community from the county following shootings, bombings, and burnings. The families that left either sold their stuff (including land) at a drastic discount, or simply left it there for the white residents to claim. It is now some of the most valuable real estate in suburban Atlanta. The loss of generational wealth is staggering. <a name="_ftnref134" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[134]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1914-1919 was the Great Migration, when 6 million blacks moved away from South to find “political asylum within their own country.” (The California Gold rush involved 100,000 people; the Dust Bowl displaced 300,000). This was spurred on by incidents some may have witnessed in Waco, Texas in 1916, where 18-year-old Jesse Washington was lowered by rope into flames to be burned alive while a crowd of 15,000 yelled, “Burn, burn, burn!”<a name="_ftnref135" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[135]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1917, mobs in East St. Louis forced black workers from factories and gave them the option of being shot or burned alive.<a name="_ftnref136" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[136]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The</span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/death-hundreds-elaine-massacre-led-supreme-court-take-major-step-toward-equal-justice-african-americans-180969863/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <b>1919 Elaine Massacre</b></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> refers to the time when white soldiers collaborated with local vigilantes to kill at least 200 black men, women and children who dared to criticize their low wages.<a name="_ftnref137" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[137]</span></span></a> The local newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, lied about a list of 21 white farmers the Progressive Farmers and Household Union had compiled in order to ask them about their farming practices, claiming it was a hit list.<a name="_ftnref138" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[138]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In Phillips County, Arkansas, where black sharecroppers were attempting to form unions, “emergency posses” killed at least 200 people.<a name="_ftnref139" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[139]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Ida Wells, one of the founders of the NAACP, called out <b>D.L. Moody</b> for downplaying the issue of lynching: <i>“American Christians are too busy saving the souls of white Christians from burning in Hell Fire to save the lives of black ones from present burning and fires kindled by white Christians.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">"Another public spectacle lynching took place in 1917 in Memphis, Tennessee, when a mob of twenty-five men seized Ell Persons from a train that was transporting him to stand trial for rape and murder. The mob had announced the lynching time and location in advance, and thousands of people attended, backing up traffic for miles. Food and gum vendors sold their wares to the many spectators as Mr. Persons was doused with gasoline and set on fire. A ten-year-old Black child was forced to sit next to the fire and watch him die. When members of the crowd complained that Mr. Persons would die too quickly if burned, the fire was extinguished, and attendees fought over Mr. Person’s clothes and remnants of the rope to keep as mementos. Two men cut off his ears for souvenirs, after which the head of Mr. Person’s corpse was removed and thrown into a crowd in Memphis’s Black commercial district. Later that year, just a few hours away in Dyersburg, Tennessee, Lation Scott was subjected to a brutal and prolonged lynching after being accused of “criminal assault.” Thousands gathered near a vacant lot across the street from the downtown courthouse and children sat atop their parents’ shoulders to get a better view as Mr. Scott’s clothes and skin were ripped off with knives. A mob tortured Lation Scott with a hot poker iron, gouging out his eyes, shoving the hot poker down his throat and pressing it all over his body before castrating him and burning him alive over a slow fire. Mr. Scott’s torturous killing lasted more than three hours."</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5325145031187510736/8843780922381004390">(From Lynching In America)</a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">__________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">Starting now, there are still people alive today who experienced these things.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Several black church leaders who attended Moody Bible Institute boosted NAACP campaigns for federal laws against lynching. In 1921, the National Baptist voice publicized the NAACP's attempt to get pastors to take a Sunday to preach on the theme of racial justice (“Justice to the Negro: The test of Christianity in America”), calling America “the archsinner among nations” because of the racial injustice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Woodrow Wilson, president from 1913-1921, had a notoriously racist tenure. He empowered cabinet members to segregate restaurants and bathrooms in government buildings. African-Americans were deemed ineligible for most government jobs. He wrote in his <u>History Of The American People</u> that “the great Ku Klux Klan” helped rid the South of “the intolerable burden of governments sustained by the votes of ignorant negroes.” In 1913, the director of the IRS’s Atlanta office said, “There are no government positions for Negroes in the South. A Negro’s place is in the cornfield.”<a name="_ftnref140" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[140]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1921 also brought the Tulsa Massacre, in which a highly prosperous black community known as Black Wall Street was attacked and pounded into rubble after a black boy accidentally jostled a white woman in an elevator. Hundreds were killed; more than 1,400 homes, businesses, schools and churches were burned; nearly 10,000 people were left homeless. The destruction of ‘legacy wealth’ is almost incalculable. The newspaper headline the next day read, “Two White People Killed In Race Riot.” The Tulsa race massacre was barely mentioned in history books until the late 1990s.<a name="_ftnref141" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[141]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Two years before that was the “Red Summer,” a summer of violent race riots sparked by things like a black boy on a raft floating into the white people’s section of Lake Michigan in Chicago. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">That’s the tip of the iceberg. Here is a map<a name="_ftnref142" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[142]</span></span></a> that shows the massacre of black people in America history. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1920s ushered in standardized testing, developed by eugenicists to filter out non-white college students.<a name="_ftnref143" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[143]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“A <i>Washington Post</i> investigation of censuses and other historical records found that more than 1,700 congressmen who served between the 18th and 20th centuries enslaved Black people during their lives. The<i> Post</i> created a database that shows these congressmen represented nearly 40 states across the nation and were part of both major parties—with 606 Democrats and 481 Republicans. The<i> Post</i> also found that well into the 1900s, former enslavers continued to serve in Congress, including the first woman to ever serve in the Senate, Rebecca Latimer Felton, a suffragist and white supremacist who was appointed to fill a vacancy in 1922 at the age of 87.”<a name="_ftnref144" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[144]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1924, Virginia passed the <b>Racial Integrity Act</b>, thanks in part to the influence of the </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Clubs_of_America"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. The act prohibited interracial marriage and classifying as "black" a person who had even one drop of black blood (known as the “one drop rule”). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In <u>Mein Kampf </u>(1925), Hitler praised America as the one state that has made progress toward a primarily racial conception of citizenship, by “excluding certain races from naturalization.”<a name="_ftnref145" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[145]</span></span></a> The infamous Nuremberg Laws of the Nazi regime were heavily influenced by Jim Crow laws in the United States.<a name="_ftnref146" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[146]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1917, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments could not explicitly create racial zones like those in apartheid South Africa. But another Supreme Court case in 1926 upheld racial covenants on properties. “In </span><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/271/323/"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Corrigan v. Buckley</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, the high court ruled that a racially restrictive covenant in a specific Washington, D.C., neighborhood was a legally binding document between private parties, meaning that if someone sold a house to Blacks, it voided the contract… That ruling paved the way for racially restrictive covenants around the country. In Chicago, for instance, the general counsel of the National Association of Real Estate Boards created a covenant template with a message to real estate agents and developers from Philadelphia to Spokane, Wash., to use it in communities.” From that followed a standardization and then intensification of the use of race-based Housing Covenants after 1926.<a name="_ftnref147" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[147]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The unofficial “last hired, first fired” policy pushed the black unemployment rate following the Great Depression to 50% - 70% in 1932 – a rate double and triple that of whites.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">My grandma, who is 96, lived through some of the previous things (years of lynchings) and everything that follows. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a huge push to build bigger and better public swimming pools to become “common melting pots” and build communities; the Works Progress Administration was dedicated to this. By WW2, there were thousands of pools, some of which could hold thousands of swimmers. Black people were not welcome. When lawsuits were filed in the 1950’s, quite a few pools just became private rather than public and admitted only white members. In 1959, Montgomery Public Parks went so far as to close rather than integrate. They filled their pool with cement, sold all the animals from a zoo, padlocked their community center, and closed every park</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.<a name="_ftnref148" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[148]</span></span></a><br /> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1927, Alabama stopped leasing convicts to outside businesses. They, along with other states, simply started their own in-house, for-profit ventures from the labor of prisoners.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">During the summer of 1930, about 150 Atlanta businessmen, along with American Legionnaires and members of law enforcement founded the American Fascisti Association and Order of Black Shirts to “foster the principles of white supremacy” and keep jobs in the city white. They would march with signs that read, “N*****s, back to the cotton fields – city jobs are for white folks.”<a name="_ftnref149" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[149]</span></span></a> While white America was flirting with an admiration of fascism<a name="_ftnref150" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[150]</span></span></a> (More than 100 fascist organizations formed after 1933<a name="_ftnref151" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[151]</span></span></a>), black America, inspired by the communists fighting the fascists oversees, resisted them by siding with communism.<a name="_ftnref152" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[152]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The KKK experienced a resurgence in the 1910s through the 1930s, with three to five million members in the North alone.<a name="_ftnref153" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[153]</span></span></a> <b>“<i>It’s estimated that 40,000 ministers were members of the Klan</i></b><i>, and these people were sermonizing regularly, explicitly urging people to join the Klan.”<a name="_ftnref154" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[154]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1931, nine African American men falsely accused of rape by two white women in what became known as the “Scottsboro Affair.” Judged and sentenced by an all-white jury, their case resulted in a landmark victory for civil rights when the Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied due process because they did not have a lawyer and were denied a jury of their peers by the barring of blacks from serving on the jury.<a name="_ftnref155" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[155]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Sometimes, the white medical facilities did active damage. In 1932, the Tuskegee Institute, working with the United States Public Health Service, began a study on syphilis originally called the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.” During this study, they lied to 200 black men whom they told were being treated for syphilis, when in fact they were not, even though a treatment was available. In the1970s, a class action lawsuit paid out 10 million dollars to wives, widows and children.<a name="_ftnref156" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[156]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Legislation turned for the better for tribes throughout the US with the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. Also known as the ‘Indian New Deal,’ the law reversed the privatization policy of the Dawes Act and restored tribal management of lands that had not yet been allotted to individuals. It aimed at restoring tribal sovereignty, particularly in the area of lands and resources.”<a name="_ftnref157" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[157]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Social Security Act of 1935 provided a safety net for millions of workers. But it excluded two occupations: agricultural workers and domestic servants, who were predominately African American, Mexican, and Asian. Harry Truman took the first step to correcting that in 1950.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1935 Wagner Act (collective bargaining for unions), which helped millions of workers join the middle class, permitted unions to exclude non-whites. Many unions remained nearly all-white well into the 1970s. In 1972 every single one of the 3,000 members of Los Angeles Steam Fitters Local #250 was still white. For more on how this played out in cities like Boston, see the link in this footnote.<a name="_ftnref158" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[158]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“When they started building the wall behind Margaret Watson’s house in northwest Detroit, she knew the reason without having to ask. As a child in the late 1930s, Watson had... roller-skated down those newly paved lanes at speeds that would have been impossible on the dirt roads that ran in front of her house. She knew the new streets had to be for white families — not Black ones like hers — so she wasn’t particularly surprised when, in the spring of 1941, a 6-foot-high, 4-inch-thick, half-mile-long concrete fortification suddenly appeared in her backyard. The divider — called the “Birwood Wall,” the “Eight Mile Wall” or the “Wailing Wall”... would have far-reaching repercussions for the people, both Black and white, who lived in its shadow. On the west side, the white side, some children who moved into the houses that sprouted along the new streets in the 1940s — now in their 70s and 80s — say they never knew the wall was there, just as they didn’t know that the houses their parents bought back then had deed restrictions barring residents who weren’t white... In a six-month investigation, NBC News and BridgeDetroit discovered that one of Detroit’s most prominent families built the wall and developed the adjacent white neighborhood. The reporting also examined the ways this single act of segregation has influenced generations of Detroiters... The side of the wall these residents called home would later affect the sale price of their houses, the value of their next homes, and, eventually, the wealth they might inherit from their parents. Their experience in elementary school would determine the classes they took in high school, their decisions about college or the military, and the ease with which they achieved their goals. And throughout their lives, the friendships they made would frame their interactions with classmates and colleagues, with doctors and law enforcement, in social settings and in job interviews." </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5325145031187510736/1394624870170882225"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Read the story here. </span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) introduced our modern mortgage lending system, which included <u>redlining</u><b> </b>policies in over 200 American cities. Redlining was a way of helping the government decide which neighborhoods would get home loans and which would not.<a name="_ftnref159" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[159]</span></span></a> The redlining overwhelmingly highlighted communities with black residents. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the 1930s, a remarkable and unexpected shift occurred: Black Protestants in general began moving solidly out of the Republican Party and into the Democratic Party. From 1932-1936 – just four years – the number of votes for the Republican presidential candidate dropped in half, from 56% to 28%. How did this happen?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">The impact of Franklin Roosevelt’s (D) New Deal can hardly be overstated;<a name="_ftnref160" title=""><sup><sup>[160]</sup></sup></a> it alone accounts for the 56/28 drop. The Great Depression had devastated the black population economically. Roosevelt appointed a lot of African Americans to positions within his administration than his predecessors; he was the first president to appoint an African American as a federal judge; he tripled the number of African Americans working in the federal government; he appointed special advisors for the New Deal known as the Black Cabinet.<a name="_ftnref161" title=""><sup><sup>[161]</sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researcher-discovers-last-known-survivor-transatlantic-slave-trade-180974530/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <b>Matilda McCrear</b></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, the last known survivor of the transatlantic slave trade, arrived from West Africa to Mobile, Alabama, in July 1860. McCrear died in 1940 at the age of 81 or 82.<a name="_ftnref162" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[162]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526 and 2527, which authorized the U.S. government to detain "potentially dangerous enemy aliens… The FDR administration furthermore, "on the basis of hemispheric security," offered to intern allegedly dangerous enemy aliens living in Latin American countries on unsubstantiated charges. More than 15 Latin American countries accepted the offer and deported a total of 6,600 individuals of Japanese, German and Italian descent to the U.S. for internment…A letter exchange between then-U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Roosevelt, dated Aug. 27, 1942, showed a discussion about exchanging American citizens in countries under Japanese occupation by sending "out Japanese in the same quantity," Hull wrote. At the end of <span class="MsoHyperlink">the correspondence</span> Hull offered his support to continue the hostage exchange agreement and efforts to "remove all the Japanese from these American republics countries for internment in the United States." <a name="_ftnref163" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[163]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1942: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">FDR signed Executive Order 9066, ordering the evacuation and mass incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, most of whom are U.S. citizens or documented immigrants. <a name="_ftnref164" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[164]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Pulitzer Prize - winning author Douglas Blackman, in his writing on convict leasing (<u>Slavery By Another Name</u>), writes, “Certainly, the great record of forced labor across the South demand that any consideration of the progress of civil rights remedy in the United States must acknowledge that slavery, real slavery, didn’t end until 1945.”<a name="_ftnref165" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[165]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Harry Truman (D) established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 and integrated the armed forces in 1948 after the NAACP pressured him to act after a black veteran, Isaac Woodard, was pulled off a bus in February of 1946, arrested, and beaten so badly (while in uniform) that he lost his eyesight. He also fixed the racially discriminatory parts of the Social Security system. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1947, only 2 of the more than 3,200 VA-guaranteed home loans (for veterans from WW2) in 13 Mississippi cities<span class="MsoHyperlink"> went</span> to Black borrowers. “These impediments were not confined to the South,”<span class="MsoHyperlink"> notes</span> historian Ira Katznelson. “In New York and the northern New Jersey suburbs, fewer than 100 of the 67,000 mortgages insured by the GI bill supported home purchases by non-whites.” Black veterans had trouble securing the GI Bill’s benefits. Some could not access benefits because they had not been given an honorable discharge—and a much larger<span class="MsoHyperlink"> number</span> of Black veterans were discharged dishonorably than their white counterparts. Veterans who did qualify could not find facilities that delivered on the bill’s promise. Black veterans in a vocational training program at a segregated high school in Indianapolis were<span class="MsoHyperlink"> unable</span> to participate in activities related to plumbing, electricity and printing because adequate equipment was only available to white students. Simple intimidation kept others from enjoying GI Bill benefits. In 1947, for example, a crowd<span class="MsoHyperlink"> hurled rocks</span> at Black veterans as they moved into a Chicago housing development. Thousands of Black veterans were<span class="MsoHyperlink"> attacked</span> in the years following World War II and some were singled out and lynched.<a name="_ftnref166" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[166]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Between 1934 and 1962, the federal government backed $120 billion of home loans. Less than 2% went to blacks, who constituted 12% of the population. Of the 350,000 new homes built with federal support in northern California between 1946 and 1960, fewer than 100 went to African Americans. That is .0003% of loans for 5% of the population.<a name="_ftnref167" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[167]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When courts began overturning redlining and race-based zoning laws, the government began building highways right on the former boundary lines at the request of community members.<a name="_ftnref168" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[168]</span></span></a> At times, highways were routed purposefully through minority communities. The government took property by eminent domain, and black neighborhoods lost homes, businesses, churches and schools.<a name="_ftnref169" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[169]</span></span></a> Constructing interstate highways through majority-black neighborhoods eventually reduced the populations to the poorest proportion of people financially unable to leave their destroyed community.<a name="_ftnref170" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[170]</span></span></a>(#”urbandecay”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">My Mom was born in 1942. Everything that follows has happened in her lifetime. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l16 level1 lfo22; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Detroit, 1942. The federal government opened up the Sojourner Truth housing project built especially for poor black families. When the first tenants arrived, neighborhood whites burned a cross in the field near the housing complex; the next morning, a mob of 1,200 armed white men rally to keep out black residents. When they finally moved into the complex, the residents had to be protected by 1,600 troops from the Michigan National Guard.<a name="_ftnref171" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[171]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l16 level1 lfo22; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also In 1942, Talmadge, the governor of Georgia, gave a campaign speech in which he answered the question about school integration by reassuring his base, “Before God, friend, the n****** will never go to a school which is white while I am governor.”<a name="_ftnref172" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[172]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l16 level1 lfo22; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l16 level1 lfo22; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that racist Housing Covenants unenforceable (though not yet illegal). Here is an example of a typical Housing Covenant, this one covering 1,700 homes in Kansas City: "None of said land may be conveyed to, used, owned, or occupied by negroes as owners or tenants."<a name="_ftnref173" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[173]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l16 level1 lfo22; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The Fairgrounds Park pool in St. Louis, Missouri, was the largest in the country and probably the world, with a sandy beach, an elaborate diving board, and a reported capacity of 10,000 swimmers. When the new city administration changed the park’s policy in 1949 to allow Black swimmers, the first integrated swim ended in bloodshed. On June 21, two hundred white residents surrounded the pool with ‘bats, clubs, bricks and knives’ to menace the first thirty or so black swimmers…a white mob that grew to 5,000 attacked every black person in sight around the Fairground Park. After the Fairground Park Riot…the city returned to a segregation policy using public safety as a justification, but a successful NAACP lawsuit reopened the pool to all St. Louisans the following summer. On the first day of integrated swimming, only seven white swimmers attended, joining three brave black swimmers under the shouts of two hundred white protestors….the city closed its pool six years later.<a name="_ftnref174" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[174]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l16 level1 lfo22; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“In 1950, President Truman appointed Millard Caldwell, Jr., as the first head of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA). The former Governor of Florida, Caldwell was a vocal segregationist who, along with many local civil defense authorities, fully intended to maintain segregation with “whites only” bomb-shelters,” much to the consternation of the NAACP.<a name="_ftnref175" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[175]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the mid-<b>1950s, pastors of Christians in Kirkwood, Georgia</b> actively urged their members not to sell their homes to black people. “ ‘If everyone simply refuses to sell to colored,’ the pastors assured residents, ‘then everything will be fine.’” They pleaded with church members: <b>“Please help us ‘Keep Kirkwood White’ and preserve our Churches and homes</b>.”<a name="_ftnref176" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[176]</span></span></a> I offer this example because it was not as unusual as we would like to think. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Negro Motorist Green Book</span></u><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">was published from 1936 to 1966 (three years before I was born), to help black motorists travel without getting in trouble. </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis" title="John Lewis"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John Lewis</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> recalled how his family prepared for a trip in 1951:<i>“There would be no restaurant for us to stop at until we were well out of the South, so we took our restaurant right in the car with us.... Stopping for gas and to use the bathroom took careful planning. Uncle Otis… knew which places along the way offered "colored" bathrooms and which were better just to pass on by. Our map was marked and our route was planned that way, by the distances between service stations where it would be safe for us to stop.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Many hotels, motels, and boarding houses refuse to serve black customers; by the end of the 1960s, there were an estimated 10,000 “sundown towns”<a name="_ftnref177" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[177]</span></span></a> across the United States, named because of signs that read, “N*****, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on You in This Town.”<a name="_ftnref178" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[178]</span></span></a> I worked as a camp counselor in Hazard County, Kentucky in the summers of 1987-1989. There was a town nearby that was unofficially still a “sundown town.”<a name="_ftnref179" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[179]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Black Hospital movement took place from 1865- 1960s.<a name="_ftnref180" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[180]</span></span></a> Black patients were usually not admitted to white hospitals or hired as staff, especially in the South, and for a long time could only get an education at a select few colleges in the North and Midwest. You can imagine the toll this took on the health of the black population.</span><a name="_ftnref181" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[181]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1952 was the first year since 1882 that there were no recorded lynchings in the United States. The photo you see is not unusual. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1952, California made it legal for Asian immigrants to own land.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The University of Texas developed a strategy to keep out black students in the face of the legal demands for segregation. The trustees estimated they could cut the black student population from 300 out of 2,700 to 70 out of 2,700. Notes from the UT president’s speech to the Rotary Club in Houston include, “Do not anticipate any great numbers of N’s, but to avoid appearing to discriminate against unqualified have tied it in with a selective admissions policy for all students without ref. to racial origin, etc.” Many other universities used standardized testing without any known racist intent, but it functionally kept minorities out of the elite schools.<a name="_ftnref182" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[182]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan has </span><a href="https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/question/2014/may.htm"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">documented the battle royals</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. They involved groups of young Black men and boys who were made to fight one another in a boxing ring, often blindfolded, for the pleasure of a white audience. They had to attack one another in a melee until one man was left standing; he'd win a prize of a few dollars…. The soul superstar James Brown, who grew up in extreme poverty in South Carolina in the 1930s and '40s, recalled his experience in "</span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/79034.The_Godfather_of_Soul"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Godfather of Soul: An Autobiography</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">." The museum's website includes a passage: ‘Because of my reputation the other kids always pointed me out to the white men who came around to recruit scrappy black boys to be in the battle royals they put on at Bell Auditorium. In a battle royal they blindfold you, tie one hand behind your back, put a boxing glove on your free hand, and shove you into a ring with other kids in the same condition. You swing at anything that moves, and whoever's left standing at the end is the winner. It sounds brutal, but a battle royal is really comedy. I'd be out there stumbling around, swinging wild, and hearing the people laughing. I didn't know I was being exploited.’"<a name="_ftnref183" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[183]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></u></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Billy Graham initially allowed segregated seating in southern cities, but he ended the practice in 1953.<a name="_ftnref184" title=""><sup><sup>[184]</sup></sup></a> Graham was not a civil rights activist, but he did put his reputation on the line over segregation. He appeared with Martin Luther King Jr. at a New York City Revival in 1957, where King offered a prayer at the assembly. Mahalia Jackson performed there, beginning a tradition of African-American vocalist singing at Graham Crusades. Graham's moderate pro-civil rights stands earned him the ire of many fundamentalists; he even got him hate mail from the KKK.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I<b>n 1954, a regional meeting of clergymen in the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS)</b> featured a speaker discussing a <b>“Christian view of Segregation.”</b> At that conference, the pastor of First Baptist Church in West Dallas gave a sermon entitled <b>“God the Original Segregationist.”<a name="_ftnref185" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[185]</b></span></span></a></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1954, the Supreme Court (<i>Tee-Hit-Ton Indians vs United States)</i> basically reaffirmed the M’Intosh ruling that declared European conquerors had the right to the land they forcibly took from Native American inhabitants. “That discovery gave an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title of occupancy, either by purchase or conquest.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1954, <i>Brown vs. Board of Education</i> declared that segregation in education was inherently unequal, and black children had the constitutional right to equal protection of their education. Read the backstory of what happened in Hearne, Texas to push this to the Supreme Court at the link in the footnote</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.<a name="_ftnref186" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[186]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Soon after the Supreme Court's decision, white Americans <span class="MsoHyperlink">formed</span> the White Citizens' Councils (WCC) in opposition to the landmark ruling. The organization primarily opposed racial integration in public schools. The WWC had around 60,000 members across the Southern states.<a name="_ftnref187" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[187]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1955: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">(Aug.) Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till is kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot and killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Two white men arrested for the murder are acquitted by an all-white jury and boast about the murder in a <i>Look </i>magazine interview</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.<a name="_ftnref188" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[188]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1955, Rev. George Lee was shot to death in Belzoni, Mississippi, after he helped 90+ American Africans register to vote. The sheriff claimed the lead pellets found in his shattered jaw were fillings from his teeth. The next day, the Jackson, Mississippi's Clarion-Ledger headline <span class="MsoHyperlink">read</span>, "Negro Leaders Dies in Odd Accident." Six months after Lee’s murder, a second Belzoni activist was shot in yet another unsolved shotgun ambush. Grocer Gus Courts survived, only to flee to Chicago. “My wife and I and thousands of us Mississippians have had to run away,’’ Courts testified in 1957 before a Senate committee in Washington. “We had to flee in the night. We are the American refugees from the terror in the South, all because we wanted to vote.’’<a name="_ftnref189" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[189]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By 1956, hospital integration was common in the North (83% of hospitals providing integrated services). In the South, only 6% of hospitals offered unrestricted services to black patients; 31% did not admit black patients under any conditions.<a name="_ftnref190" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[190]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The original GI Bill ended in July 1956. By that time, nearly 8 million World War II veterans had<span class="MsoHyperlink"> received</span> education or training, and 4.3 million home loans worth $33 billion had been handed out. But most Black veterans had been left behind. As employment, college attendance and wealth surged for whites, disparities with their Black counterparts not only continued, but widened. There was,<span class="MsoHyperlink"> writes</span> Katznelson, ‘no greater instrument for widening an already huge racial gap in postwar America than the GI Bill.’”<a name="_ftnref191" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[191]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">January 10-11, 1957: Sixty Black pastors and civil rights leaders from several southern states—including </span><a href="http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Martin Luther King, Jr.</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">—meet in Atlanta, </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/georgia"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Georgia</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> to coordinate nonviolent protests against racial discrimination and segregation.<a name="_ftnref192" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[192]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine Black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Brown v. Board of Education</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/segregation-united-states"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">segregation</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> in public schools unconstitutional. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the Black students’ entry into the high school. Later that month, President </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/dwight-d-eisenhower"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Dwight D. Eisenhower</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school...</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Although several of the Black students had positive experiences on their first day of school, according to a September 25, 1957, report in <i>The New York Times</i>, they experienced routine harassment and even violence throughout the rest of the year. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Melba Patillo, for instance, was kicked, beaten and had acid thrown in her face. At one point, white students burned an African American effigy in a vacant lot across from the school. Gloria Ray was pushed down a flight of stairs, and the Little Rock Nine were barred from participating in extracurricular activities. Minnijean Brown was expelled from Central High School in February 1958 for retaliating against the attacks. Harassment went beyond the students: Gloria Ray’s mother was fired from her job with the State of Arkansas when she refused to remove her daughter from the school. The 101st Airborne and the National Guard remained at Central High School for the duration of the year…</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In September 1958, one year after Central High was integrated, Governor Faubus closed all of Little Rock’s high schools for the entire year, pending a public vote, to prevent African American attendance. Little Rock citizens voted 19,470 to 7,561 against integration and the schools remained closed.”<a name="_ftnref193" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[193]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Sit-</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">ins” began in 1960, in which thousands of black customers would just sit in places that refused to serve blacks (it started in Woolworths). It was not the first sit-in, to be sure, but what happened in Greensboro triggered the movement. Throughout 1961, black and white activists, known as freedom riders, took bus trips through the American South to protest segregated bus terminals and attempted to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters. The </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5325145031187510736/1394624870170882225"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Freedom Rides</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> were marked by horrific violence from white protestors, but this drew international attention to their cause.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The United States passed civil rights bills in 1957, 1964 and 1965. The 24<sup>th</sup> Amendment (1964) finally assured voting rights for black citizens. This was thanks to Lyndon Johnson, first as Democrat Majority Leader then as President. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, by the way, finally made it illegal to practice racial gerrymandering - drawing districts that intentionally diluted the voting power of blacks and other minorities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John F. Kennedy’s (D) administration is remembered for fighting segregation (though it was his VP, Johnson, who really had a heart for the Civil Rights movement. He used JFK’s death as a rallying point to pass major legislation). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Strom Thurmond, who lost the presidential race to Truman, fought for decades as a Democrat to oppose civil right legislation. In 1964, Thurmond and other Southern Democrats, feeling racially betrayed by Democrats, jumped to the Republican Party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Literacy tests for voters, which overwhelmingly targeted black voters, were declared unconstitutional. Check out the footnote link for what these looked like, with special attention to Louisiana’s.<a name="_ftnref194" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[194]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Nixon (R, 1969-1974) fine-tuned the “southern strategy,” which catered to the disaffected Southern Democrats, the anti-civil rights political activists, who had turned Republican.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“As late as the mid-1930s, African American Republican </span><a href="https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/17259" title="John R.Lynch"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John R. Lynch</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, who had represented Mississippi in the House during and after Reconstruction, summed up the sentiments of older black voters and upper middle-class professionals: ‘The colored voters cannot help but feel that in voting the Democratic ticket in national elections they will be voting to give their indorsement [sic] and their approval to every wrong of which they are victims, every right of which they are deprived, and every injustice of which they suffer.’<a name="_ftnref195" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[195]</span></span></a>” That had changed dramatically by the 1960s; review the previous points where politicians had a (D) or (R) after their name, and see this article for broader reasons.<a name="_ftnref196" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[196]</span></span></a> During the 1960s, the 66% Democrat voting bloc moved to a full 90%. It has remained relatively close to there ever since.<a name="_ftnref197" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[197]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When the Supreme Court declared that schools needed to be integrated in the 1950s,<a name="_ftnref198" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[198]</span></span></a>those bothered by this<i> </i>started <b>segregation academies, </b>which were founded between 1954<a name="_ftnref199" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[199]</span></span></a> and 1976.<a name="_ftnref200" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[200]</span></span></a> Wikipedia lists 200 of these schools.<a name="_ftnref201" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[201]</span></span></a> <b>25 of them are clearly Christian. One even has evangelical in the name.</b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">February 1, 1960:</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Four African American college students in Greensboro, </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/north-carolina"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">North Carolina</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> refuse to leave a Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter without being served. The Greensboro Four—Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil—were inspired by the nonviolent protest of </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/india/mahatma-gandhi"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Gandhi</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. The </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Greensboro Sit-In</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, as it came to be called, sparks similar “sit-ins” throughout the city and in other states.<a name="_ftnref202" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[202]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1961:</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Throughout 1961, Black and white activists, known as freedom riders, took bus trips through the American South to protest segregated bus terminals and attempted to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters. The </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Freedom Rides</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> were marked by horrific violence from white protestors, they drew international attention to their cause.<a name="_ftnref203" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[203]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Over fifty bombings from 1947-1965 in a slowly integrating white neighborhood earned Birmingham the moniker “Bombingham.”<a name="_ftnref204" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[204]</span></span></a> From May 2 to May 10, 1963, police in Birmingham, Ala., aimed high-powered hoses and loosed dogs on black men, women and even children who were determined to actually do the school integration the Supreme Court had granted 9 hears earlier. In September of 1963, four young black girls were killed when KKK members detonated a bomb in Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.<a name="_ftnref205" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[205]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Read about the Treaty of Cambridge in 1963, in which ongoing disenfranchising racism was so bad (accompanied by increasingly violent protests) that the Kennedy Administration brokered a deal in which the local government would end school desegregation and desegregation of public facilities, establish a human rights commission, and create a provision for public housing. The town of Cambridge backed away from the deal, refusing to implement it, and doubled down by inviting George Wallace to speak at Cambridge in his 1964 run for President. <a name="_ftnref206" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[206]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“In 1964, Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools.”<a name="_ftnref207" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[207]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1965, Selma's 'Bloody Sunday' became a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.<a name="_ftnref208" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[208]</span></span></a> Selma, of which Martin Luther King Jr. said, “There are more negroes in jail with me than there are on the voting rolls.” George Wallace ordered state troopers “to use whatever measures are necessary to prevent a march” of approximately 600 voting rights advocates. Millions of ABC’s viewers saw their viewing of Judgment At Nuremberg interrupted with horrific footage of troopers beating protestors, and ““The juxtaposition struck like psychological lightning in American homes.”<a name="_ftnref209" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[209]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Among dozens of other voter protections, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally outlawed racial gerrymandering.<a name="_ftnref210" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[210]</span></span></a> Oh, and black women got the right to vote - 45 years after white women got the right. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The “urban renewal” that followed “urban decay” displaced millions of Americans. Black Americans (13 percent of the population in 1960) were at least 55 percent of the displaced. James Baldwin called it the “negro removal” for good reason. The Chancellor of the University of Chicago noted that urban renewal was </span><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hxH5WoQVMJQC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=%E2%80%9Can+effective+screening+tool%E2%80%9D+and+as+a+way+of+%E2%80%9Ccutting+down+the+number+of+Negroes%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=kOO9vwgwMT&sig=ACfU3U2WeO6wa7bwCtUnwgUgVduSIvCZ0g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8_YS58YvqAhWId98KHe2bDoMQ6AEwAXoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Can%20effective%20screening%20tool%E2%80%9D%20and%20as%20a%20way%20of%20%E2%80%9Ccutting%20down%20the%20number%20of%20Negroes%E2%80%9D&f=false"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“an effective screening tool” for “cutting down the number of Negroes”</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. His notes from a board of trustees meeting read simply: “Tear it down and begin over again. Negroes.”<a name="_ftnref211" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[211]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The largest political rally for human rights ever in the United States happened when an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 participants converged on the Mall in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963, to protest for jobs and freedom for African Americans. King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.<a name="_ftnref212" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[212]</span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The National Black Evangelical Association</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> branched off from the National Evangelical Association in 1963, largely motivated by frustration over white evangelicals refusing to get involved on civil rights issues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1964 – the year in which three civil rights workers were killed in Mississippi - <b>Bob Jones University gave segregationists Strom Thurmond and George Wallace - who stood in a doorway at the University of Alabama to block two Black students from registering - honorary doctorates.</b> Bob Jones Jr. described Wallace as a man “who fought for truth and righteousness.”<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1967, the Supreme Court overturned Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Fair Housing Act of 1968, signed by President Johnson (D) finally put an end to legally sanctioned redlining policies and Housing Covenants. That’s the year before I was born.<a name="_ftnref213" title=""><sup><sup>[213]</sup></sup></a> This was long overdue; just 2 percent of the $120 billion in FHA loans distributed between 1934 and 1962 were given to nonwhite families. <a name="_ftnref214" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[214]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“In the decades preceding the Fair Housing Act, government policies led many white Americans to believe that residents of color were a threat to local property values.<sup> </sup>For example, real estate professionals across the country who sought to maximize profits by leveraging this fear convinced white homeowners that Black families were moving in nearby and offered to buy their homes at a discount.<sup> </sup>These “blockbusters” would then sell the properties to Black families—who had limited access to FHA loans or GI Bill benefits—at marked-up prices and interest rates. Moreover, these homes were often purchased on contracts, rather than traditional mortgages, allowing real estate professionals to evict Black families if they missed even one payment and then repeat the process with other Black families. During this period, in Chicago alone, more than 8 in 10 Black homes were purchased on contract rather than a standard mortgage, resulting in cumulative losses of up to $4 billion.”<a name="_ftnref215" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[215]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Between 1945 and 1968, federal laws terminated more than 100 tribal nations’ recognition and placed them under state jurisdiction, contributing to the loss of millions of additional acres of tribal land. During this period, lawmakers again encouraged Native Americans to relocate—this time from reservations to urban centers, resulting in economic hardships and housing instability.”<a name="_ftnref216" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[216]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1966, Senator </span><a href="https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/9905" title="Edward Brooke"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Edward Brooke</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> of Massachusetts became the first African-American elected to the Senate since Reconstruction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1968 the Lyndon Johnson appointed Kerner Commission found that “<i>bad policing practices, a flawed justice system, unscrupulous consumer credit practices, poor or inadequate housing, high unemployment, voter suppression, and other culturally embedded forms of racial discrimination all converged to propel violent upheaval on the streets of African-American neighborhoods in American cities.”</i> <a name="_ftnref217" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[217]</span></span></a> One excerpt from the report notes, <i>“What white Americans have never fully understood—but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain, and white society condones it.”<a name="_ftnref218" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[218]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act granted Indigenous People most of the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, and protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Up to this date discrimination against Indigenous People was both condoned and legal.<a name="_ftnref219" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[219]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Nixon’s 1968 campaign employed the Southern Strategy, drawing white Southerners to the Republican Party. Nixon’s political strategist said in a 1970 interview, <i>“From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don’t need any more than that…but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That’s where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats.”<a name="_ftnref220" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[220]</b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">___________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was born in 1969. Everything that follows has been in my lifetime.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">A segregation academy was established in Escambia County, Alabama in 1970. I lived there. I was 1 when it was founded. My mom tells me that segregationists harassed our family when we attended a black church for a while in the early 70s. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“In 1970, John Perkins led more than 100 demonstrators in a march protesting segregated businesses in Mississippi. They chanted, ‘Do right, white man, do right.’ On the way home from the march, 20 college students were arrested and taken to the Rankin County jail. Fearing the students might be lynched, Perkins and two other boycott leaders rushed to bail them out. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">They found the sheriff’s deputies drinking corn whiskey. The deputies had forcibly shaved the heads of two protestors and were pouring the liquor over their raw scalps. When Edwards saw Perkins coming into the jail, he recognized him as the leader. He said, ‘This is the smart n—.’ Then he started beating him. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He hit Perkins, possibly with a blackjack, a weapon made out of wood and lead wrapped in leather. Perkins went down and Edwards kicked him, brutally and repeatedly, stopping only to retuck in his shirt. When the beating was finished, the sheriff made the minister get up and mop his own blood off the floor.”</span><a name="_ftnref221" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[221]</span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1971, the Supreme Court affirmed that draining public pools to avoid integration was okay. Jackson, Mississippi had closed four of its public pools and sold the fifth to a YMCA (that only allowed white members). The Supreme Court, in Palmer v. Thompson, ruled that the city could have no public facilities rather offer an integrated one, because by robbing the entire public, they were spreading equal harm. “There was no evidence of state action affecting Negroes differently from white, “ wrote Hugo Black.<a name="_ftnref222" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[222]</span></span></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1971, Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” a war that would go out of its way to focus on drugs used and sold in the black communities, despite equal use and greater selling in the white communities. Harper’s Magazine released an interview with John Erlichman, Nixon’s domestic policy chief. Erlichman explained: <i>“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt these communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.<b> Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” (emphasis mine)<a name="_ftnref223" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[223]</b></span></span></a></b></i><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1974, National Association of Real Estate Board finally retracted the following guideline that had been in place since 1924: “<i>The Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood…members of any race or nationality, or any individuals whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values in the neighborhood.”<a name="_ftnref224" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[224]</b></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Kentucky ratified the 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment in 1976.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The city of Tampa recently released a document chronicling a “development policy from 1900 to the 1970s” in which was “found widespread evidence of racially restrictive deed covenants, segregationist public-housing development and highway construction that purposefully destroyed Black, Latino and low-income neighborhoods.”<a name="_ftnref225" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[225]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Ron Sider, who wrote a book called <u>Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger </u>(1977), became a voice for the small but vocal white evangelical Left that emerged in the 60s. Left-leaning evangelicals insisted that sin was built into social structures, not just individual actions; believers needed to take seriously how institutional racism, unjust economic structures, and militaristic institutions – all of which are made up of sinful individuals in need of salvation – were also in need of transformation and redemption. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Indian schools as a movement lasted until 1978.<a name="_ftnref226" title=""><sup><sup>[226]</sup></sup></a> It was the, with the passing of the <span class="MsoHyperlink">Indian Child Welfare Act</span>, that Native American parents gained the legal right to deny their children’s placement in these schools.<a name="_ftnref227" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[227]</span></span></a> I first learned about the Indian schools from a student at NMC whose grandparents went to school at the one in Harbor Springs, which closed in 1983.<a name="_ftnref228" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><i><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[228]</b></span></i></span></a> On Navajo reservations, most people over the age of 50 are boarding school survivors, many with symptoms of PTSD.<a name="_ftnref229" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[229]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The IRS’s <b>guidelines about racial integration being tied to tax exempt status in 1978 sparked outrage among many Christians</b>. Congress received tens of thousands of messages. <i>“What galvanized the Christian community was not abortion, school prayer, or the Equal Rights Amendment. [It was] Jimmy Carter’s intervention against the Christian schools, trying to deny them tax-exempt status on the basis of… segregation..”<a name="_ftnref230" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[230]</b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1981, Lee Atwater, a Republican strategist, was recorded in an interview discussing how the infamous Southern Strategy would be implemented in politics in the 1980s and moving forward. “”You start out in 1954 saying ‘N****, n*****, n*****.’ By 1968 you can’t say ‘n*****’ – that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a by product of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites…’We want to cut this.’ is much more abstract than even the business things, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘N*****, n*****.’’<a name="_ftnref231" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[231]</span></span></a> They ended up targeting welfare, inner cities, and the “underserving poor.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 instituted mandatory minimum sentences for selling cocaine – but they were far, far harsher for crack (commonly found in black communities) than for powder (commonly found in white communities). That discrepancy would not be corrected until 2010. Meanwhile, after 1986, 90% of those admitted to prison for drug offenses were black or Latino, even though whites and black use drugs on a statistically even pace, and more whites deal drugs than do blacks.<a name="_ftnref232" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[232]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When civil rights protesters marched through Forsyth County, Georgia in 1987 – the year I graduated high school - they were met with Confederate flags, signs that said, “Forsyth stays white,” and crowds chanting. “Go home, n******.”. They were pelted with rocks and bottles and bricks, and some people held up nooses. <a name="_ftnref233" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[233]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1988, the U.S. government paid reparations to interned Japanese Americans who were citizens or residents of the United States as part of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This did not include the thousands of Japanese who had been sent to the United States to be used in a prisoner exchange program. The U.S. government eventually paid $5,000 to each interned Latin Japanese American, one-fourth of the compensation Japanese Americans received, with no formal apology.<a name="_ftnref234" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[234]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">From 1981 to 1997, the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture" title="United States Department of Agriculture"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">United States Department of Agriculture</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> denied loans to tens of thousands black farmers that were provided to white farmers in similar circumstances. Two lawsuit resulted in settlement agreements totaling 2.31 billion dollars.<a name="_ftnref235" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[235]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Just after Emancipation, African Americans owned only 0.5 percent of the total worth of the United States. But by 1990, a full 125 years after the abolition of slavery, black Americans still possessed only a meager 1 percent of national wealth.<a name="_ftnref236" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[236]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“After Edward Brooke’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 1978, no African American served in the Senate until the election of </span><a href="https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/18611" title="Carol MoseleyBraun"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Carol Moseley Braun</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> in 1992. She became just the fourth African American ever to serve in the Senate.”<a name="_ftnref237" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[237]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Mississippi ratified the 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment in 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">As recently as 2005, the Supreme Court cited the Doctrine of Discovery in <i>City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York.</i> They noted first that the “fee title” of Indian lands had gone to the “sovereign (the United States); they noted “the impracticality of returning to Indian control land that generations earlier passed into numerous private hands”; and that various laws “precluded the Tribe from rekindling embers of sovereignty that long ago grew cold.”<a name="_ftnref238" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[238]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“At the turn of the century, banks disproportionately issued speculative loans to Black and Latinx homebuyers, even when they qualified for less risky options. These “subprime loans” had higher-than-average interest rates that could cost homeowners up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional interest payments.<sup> </sup>During the financial crisis, Black and Latinx households lost 48 percent and 44 percent of their wealth, respectively, due in part to these practices.<sup>”<a name="_ftnref239" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[239]</span></span></a> </sup>Homes in black neighborhoods continue to be undervalued to the tune of $156 billion in cumulative losses nationwide.<a name="_ftnref240" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[240]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Since 2013, the National Congress of American Indians has requested all federal records for the hundreds of Native children who have disappeared or died while attending one of the hundreds of federally run or funded boarding schools. So far, there has been little response from federal officials, who say the requests are nearly impossible to fulfill.”<a name="_ftnref241" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[241]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has… documented the violent and traumatic legacies of Canadian residential schools and Indigenous child removal policies from the 1880s to 1996, which were modeled after U.S. boarding school policies. In 2015, the commission found that at least 6,000 Indigenous children died in Canadian residential schools. Canada had a total of 150 schools, less than half the 357 identified in the United States. It’s likely that the number of students who died in the United States is much higher.”<a name="_ftnref242" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[242]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Educational inequalities continue. Equally sized majority-nonwhite districts get </span><a href="https://edbuild.org/content/23-billion"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">$23 billion less in funding</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> every year ($2,226 per student) than majority-white districts.<a name="_ftnref243" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[243]</span></span></a> Why? Because schools are funded by property taxes, and the Supreme Court (</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/25/739493839/this-supreme-court-case-made-school-district-lines-a-tool-for-segregation"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Milliken v. Bradley</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">) in 1974 ruled that a school district line can be drawn anywhere for almost any reason.<a name="_ftnref244" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[244]</span></span></a> Many lines were drawn along the lines that started “urban decay” and defined “urban renewal.” This funding discrepancy has huge educational and economic implications.<a name="_ftnref245" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[245]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Health care inequalities continue. The black population has been hit the hardest of all ethnic demographics by COVID-19 due in part to the impact of racial discrimination that has a legacy to this day (housing, education, vocation, distrust of health care #tuskeegee<a name="_ftnref246" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[246]</span></span></a>…).<a name="_ftnref247" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[247]</span></span></a> “Socioeconomic status (SES) is a powerful determinant of human health and disease, and social inequality is a ubiquitous stressor for human populations globally. Lower educational attainment and/or income predict increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, many cancers and infectious diseases, for example. Furthermore, lower SES is associated with physiological processes that contribute to the development of disease, including chronic inflammation, insulin resistance and cortisol dysregulation. In this study, researchers found evidence that poverty can become embedded across wide swaths of the genome. They discovered that lower socioeconomic status is associated with levels of DNA methylation (DNAm) -- a key epigenetic mark that has the potential to shape gene expression -- at more than 2,500 sites, across more than 1,500 genes. In other words, poverty leaves a mark on nearly 10 percent of the genes in the genome.”<a name="_ftnref248" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[248]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">At the Republican National Convention in 2012, Clint Eastwood performed a 12-minute skit in which he criticized an empty chair representing President Obama. In a violent twist, instances of citizens "lynching" these symbolic empty chairs from trees began to pop up, often adding American flags and labels that referred to President Obama.<a name="_ftnref249" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[249]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 2016, the United States incarcerated people at the rate of 693 per 100,000. Here’s the breakdown by race: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo20; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Blacks - 2,306 per 100,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo20; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">American Indians - 895 per 100,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo20; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Hispanics - 831 per 100,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo20; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Whites - 450 per 100,000<a name="_ftnref250" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[250]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Michigan’s prison population has increased by 450% since 1973; blacks are massively overrepresented (14% of the population and 49% of prisoners); Latinos and Native Americans have rates equal to their population percentage; whites are massively underrepresented (77% of the population and 46% of prisoners). Most of this stems from things like “lifer laws” connected with drugs – a war that was clearly biased. Please read this link to better understand this.<a name="_ftnref251" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[251]</span></span></a> And this one.<a name="_ftnref252" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[252]</span></span></a> And this one. <a name="_ftnref253" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[253]</span></span></a> And this one.<a name="_ftnref254" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[254]</span></span></a> Neighborhoods were gutted; families divided; voter polls purged. Meanwhile, the state of Michigan loosened legislation to allow for convict labor<a name="_ftnref255" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[255]</span></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">It sure looks like modern segregation academies are happening again through the use of charter schools (not all of them, obviously).<a name="_ftnref256" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[256]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 2011, Countrywide Financial Corporation agreed to may $335 million to settle claims that it overcharged more than 200,000 black and Latinx borrowers, and steered 10,000 minority borrowers into risky subprime loans. Black customers were twice as likely to be steered into subprime loans as similarly qualified whites; in some markets it was 8x more likely.<a name="_ftnref257" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[257]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The discrimination experienced when “driving while black” is a very real phenomenon. Go to the Marshall Project for extensive information.<a name="_ftnref258" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[258]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">As reported in Clint Smith's book <u>How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With The History Of Slavery Across America</u>, the State Board of Education in Texas and publisher McGraw-Hill Education came under fire in 2015 for providing students with a textbook that described how the transatlantic slave trade "brought millions of workers from Africa to the Southern United States to work on agricultural plantations." In April of 2018, 8th graders in San Antonio were asked to complete a worksheet entitled” The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View,” which had two columns in which two students were meant to write the positive and negative elements of slavery. Another textbook that had been used at the school included a description of how slavery included “ kind and generous owners” and enslaved people who “ may not have been terribly unhappy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">As of 2017, there were 42 different Klan groups in 22 states. More than half had formed since 2014.<a name="_ftnref259" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[259]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Hate crimes have risen against Asian-Americans since the coronavirus started. This is largely attributed to how the constant drumbeat of the “China Virus” has focused anger and frustration on the Chinese as a group. Google “hate crimes Asian.” Nearly half of Chinese residents have report incidents tied to their ethnic background since the pandemic began. This is in line with the history of discrimination against Asians in our history.<a name="_ftnref260" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[260]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 2021, students at a local high school in Traverse City started a slave market online and bought and sold minority students while making terribly demeaning comments about them. I have friends in town who are now reconsidering sending their daughter there when she is old enough because they are concerned for her safety, as she would have been a target. A Texas high school made the news this year for the same reason. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 2020, someone in Traverse City stood up at the local school board meeting – streamed for the community to see – and felt quite comfortable using the n-word multiple times. In the screen, a black man sitting behind her is visibly undone by what she is saying. I know this man. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Today, approximately 3 in 4 neighborhoods—74 percent—‘redlined’ in the 1930s remain low to moderate income, and more than 60 percent are predominantly nonwhite.<a name="_ftnref261" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[261]</span></span></a> One thing that certainly didn't help is the rate of sub-prime loans for homeowners: a 2014 study showed that black homeowners – after controlling for a lot of other factors - are 103% more likely to get a subprime loan. They are three times as likely as whites with similar credit scores to have higher rate mortgages.<a name="_ftnref262" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[262]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 2020, the National Association of Realtors issued a formal apology for the racist practices in its history.<a name="_ftnref263" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[263]</span></span></a> NAR Director of Fair Housing Bryan Greene noted, "You can see in our neighborhoods the imprints of redlining from 80 years ago. Many of these discriminatory practices denied the opportunities for families to pass on wealth. We see that white Americans own 10 times the wealth of African-Americans. So, these are serious issues, and they have broader impacts on society beyond housing. It means that we have health disparities, employment disparities, educational disparities. This is the legacy of the past… We have to address it."<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Of the almost 80,000 tickets that the Louisiana State Police handed out in Jefferson Parish over nearly six years (2014-2020), not a single one was issued to a person labeled as Hispanic. It showed a similar pattern in Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office: Of the more than 73,000 traffic tickets the office issued between 2015 and September 2020, deputies identified only six of the cited people as Hispanic. As of 2020, Hispanics made up 18% of the parish’s population of more than 440,000…In fact, of the 167 tickets issued by deputies to drivers with the last name Lopez over a nearly six-year span, not one of the motorists was labeled as Hispanic, according to records provided by the Jefferson Parish clerk of court. The same was true of the 252 tickets issued to people with the last name of Rodriguez, 234 named Martinez, 223 with the last name Hernandez and 189 with the surname Garcia.<input type="submit" value="Sign Up" /> A Texas state law requires officers to record the race of every driver during traffic stops to combat racial profiling. But an investigation by TV station </span><a href="https://www.kxan.com/investigations/texas-troopers-ticketing-hispanic-drivers-as-white/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">KXAN in Austin</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> found that between 2010 and 2015, troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety misidentified ‘more than 1.9 million drivers with traditionally Hispanic names’ as white. And just like in Jefferson Parish, the “most common last names of drivers stopped and recorded as white by troopers [were]: Smith, followed by Garcia, Martinez, Hernandez, Gonzalez and Rodriguez…’ This kind of misidentification is widespread — and not without harm. Across America, law enforcement agencies have been accused of targeting Hispanic drivers, failing to collect data on those traffic stops, and covering up potential officer misconduct and aggressive immigration enforcement by identifying people as white on tickets. ‘If everybody’s white, there can’t be any racial bias,’ Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill, told WWNO/WRKF and ProPublica.”<a name="_ftnref264" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[264]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">For more on race and law enforcement – and there’s a LOT – see this link from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.<a name="_ftnref265" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[265]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There have been only 27 ethnic minority state governors in the history of the United States. Only 4 were African-American.<a name="_ftnref266" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[266]</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: small;">Right now, the Cherokee nation – a terribly oppressed people – is coming to grips with its own system of oppression through the use of slavery, and trying to figure out how to make it right. <a name="_ftnref267" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[267]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> _______________________________________________</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Resources with voices drawn from and geared toward the church in the United States:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Leave Loud</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> – Jemar Tisby’s story. His podcast Pass The Mic has a lot more insight into similar stories. </span><a href="https://thewitnessbcc.com/leave-loud-jemar-tisbys-story/"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">https://thewitnessbcc.com/leave-loud-jemar-tisbys-story/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Southside Rabbi: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Season 2, Episode 12, “Floyd, Chauvin, and the War on Empathy.” </span><a href="https://soundcloud.com/southsiderabbi"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">https://soundcloud.com/southsiderabbi</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">The Holy Post: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">“Let’s Talk About Race In America” (Parts 1 and 2) </span><a href="https://www.holypost.com/articles/categories/videos"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">https://www.holypost.com/articles/categories/videos</span></a><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Read:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">“The Bible and Race” by Tim Keller. </span><a href="https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/the-bible-and-race/"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/the-bible-and-race/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">This is the first article in the series on justice and race by Keller that includes: “<span class="MsoHyperlink">The Sin of Racism</span>” <span class="MsoHyperlink">A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory</span> and “<span class="MsoHyperlink">Justice in the Bible</span>”.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy Of The Doctrine Of Discovery</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">, by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">Reading While Black</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> by Esau McCaulley </span><a href="https://www.ivpress.com/reading-while-black"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">https://www.ivpress.com/reading-while-black</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089LYWWDS/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation </span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> by Lisa M. Bowens<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">The Color of Compromise</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">, by Jemar Tisby. </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity-ebook/dp/B07BB6R827"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity-ebook/dp/B07BB6R827</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l15 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">The Myth Of Equality, </span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">by Ken Wystma, lead pastor of the Village Church in Beaverton, Oregon<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Luke 19<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> John 4<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> “Able To Sympathize,” <u>Gentle And Lowly,</u> Dane Ortlund<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn4" title="">[4]</a> “The Heart Of Action,” G<u>entle And Lowly, </u>Dane Ortlund<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn5" title="">[5]</a> Researcher Brooke Hempell, quoted in the introduction of <u>The Myth Of Equality,</u> by Ken Wytsma.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Alister McGrath, an atheist who became a Christian, has noted that Christianity flourishes in nations that have had terrible atheist leadership…and atheism flourishes in nations where the church has a terrible track record. People don’t just leave a worldview because another one is nice. They leave because they think another one is better. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jemar Tisby, in <u>The Color Of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn8" title="">[8]</a> 2 Corinthians 5:11-21<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn9" title="">[9]</a> “His Heart In Action,” <u>Gentle And Lowly,</u> Dane Ortlund<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn10" title="">[10]</a> <u>The Myth Of Equality: Uncovering The Roots Of Injustice And Privilege</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> The Bible is clear that there is a legacy of sin that gets passed down (Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9), and I think that impact is not only in how the descendants of the perpetrators are influenced but in how the descendants of victims are as well. And yet Ezekiel is clear that, when we are committed to righteousness, our history is not our destiny any more than our ancestors’ history is our destiny (Ezekiel 18:19-20)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn12" title="">[12]</a> “Not seeing skin color is a form of not seeing reality.” Ken Wytsma, <u>The Myth of Equality. </u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> The early Church had its own divide: Jew and Gentile. Paul reminded them that now through Christ, <i>“You who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (2:13-14).</i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> By the close of the </span><a href="http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/american-indian-wars"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Indian Wars</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, fewer than 238,000 First Nation people remained from the original 5 -15 million living in North America when Columbus arrived in 1492.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn15" title="">[15]</a> “Black Women’s Labor,” Brenda Stevenson, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn16" title="">[16]</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-landmarks-that-were-built-by-slaves-2019-9#trinity-church-in-new-york-6">https://www.businessinsider.com/american-landmarks-that-were-built-by-slaves-2019-9#trinity-church-in-new-york-6</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn17" title="">[17]</a> <u>How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With The History Of Slavery Across America,</u> by Clint Smith<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn18" title="">[18]</a> “Bacon’s Rebellion, Heather McGhee, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn19" title="">[19]</a> <a href="https://revolution.chnm.org/d/335/">https://revolution.chnm.org/d/335/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn20" title="">[20]</a> “The Germantown Petition Against Slavery,” Christopher Lebron, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn21" title="">[21]</a> New England once hunted and killed humans for money. We’re descendants of the survivors.” Dawn Neptune Adams, Maulian Dana and Adam Mazo. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/15/new-england-once-hunted-and-humans-for-money-were-descendents-of-the-survivors">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/15/new-england-once-hunted-and-humans-for-money-were-descendents-of-the-survivors</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> People becoming private property on the same level as livestock.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jamar Tisby, <u>The Color of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn24" title="">[24]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sewall">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sewall</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn25" title="">[25]</a><a href="https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/fdscontent/uscompanion/us/static/companion.websites/9780199338863/whittington_updata/ch_2_saffin_a_brief_and_candid_answer.pdf">https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/fdscontent/uscompanion/us/static/companion.websites/9780199338863/whittington_updata/ch_2_saffin_a_brief_and_candid_answer.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn26" title="">[26]</a> “The Virginia Slave Codes,” Kai Wright, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn27" title="">[27]</a> Ibid<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn28" title="">[28]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us</u>, by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn29" title="">[29]</a> “The Revolt In New York,” Herb Boyd, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn30" title="">[30]</a> <u>How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With The History Of Slavery Across America,</u> by Clint Smith<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn31"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn31" title="">[31]</a> “Why John Perkins Didn’t Want More White Christians like Jonathan Edwards.” <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/john-perkins-jonathan-edwards-white-gospel-racism-violence.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/john-perkins-jonathan-edwards-white-gospel-racism-violence.html</a></p></div><div id="ftn32"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[32]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> He also converted and inspired key African-American evangelical leaders, including Olaudah Equiano and Phillis Wheatley – thus highlighting the inconsistent tension.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn33"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[33]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Read </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089LYWWDS/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation </span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">by Lisa M. Bowens.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn34"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn34" title="">[34]</a> “Race And The Enlightenment,” Dorothy Roberts, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn35"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn35" title="">[35]</a> “Slave Religion And Manifest Destiny,” <u>America’s Religious History,</u> Thomas Kidd.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn36"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[36]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Interestingly, a ground-swell of southern preachers in opposition to slavery found that they were simply dismissed or not paid by local congregations. In this sense, the broader colonial culture dictated the ethics of preachers, rather than the other way round.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn37"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn37" title="">[37]</a> <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery">https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn38"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn38" title="">[38]</a> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad">https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn39"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn39" title="">[39]</a> <a href="https://www.history.com/news/how-many-u-s-presidents-owned-slaves">https://www.history.com/news/how-many-u-s-presidents-owned-slaves</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn40"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn40" title="">[40]</a> <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery">https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn41"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[41]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> According to the US Census Bureau. Even by the most minimal calculations about how long slavery lasted, African-Americans have been free in this country for less time than they were enslaved.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn42"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[42]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/american-slavery-separating-fact-from-myth-79620"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://theconversation.com/american-slavery-separating-fact-from-myth-79620</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn43"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[43]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Still, remarkably, one in every seven <i>urban</i> African American families in the <i>upper </i>South managed to acquire land by the eve of the Civil War when local areas were more accommodating.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn44"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn44" title="">[44]</a> “Debunking the Mythic Origin of the Second Amendment,” Jonathan Jacobs. <a href="https://medium.com/the-new-leader/debunking-the-mythic-origin-of-the-second-amendment-bfe06dc06946">https://medium.com/the-new-leader/debunking-the-mythic-origin-of-the-second-amendment-bfe06dc06946</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText">“How Slave Owners Dictated the Language of the 2nd Amendment,” Nicolaus Mills, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-slave-owners-dictated-the-language-of-the-2nd-amendment">https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-slave-owners-dictated-the-language-of-the-2nd-amendment</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText">“Slave-Patrols And The Second Amendment: How Fears Of Abolition Empowered The Idea Of An Armed Militia,” Milwaukee Independent, <a href="http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/slave-patrols-and-the-second-amendment-how-fears-of-abolition-empowered-an-armed-militia/">http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/slave-patrols-and-the-second-amendment-how-fears-of-abolition-empowered-an-armed-militia/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn45"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn45" title="">[45]</a> <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house">https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn46"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn46" title="">[46]</a> <a href="https://www.theroot.com/how-slave-labor-made-new-york-1790895122">https://www.theroot.com/how-slave-labor-made-new-york-1790895122</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn47"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn47" title="">[47]</a> “The Slavery Controversy and the Civil War,” <u>America’s Religious History</u>, Thomas Kidd<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn48"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn48" title="">[48]</a> “Higher Education,” Craig Steven Wilder, <u>Four Hundred Souls.</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn49"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[49]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/thomas-jefferson-architect-of-indian-removal-policy"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/thomas-jefferson-architect-of-indian-removal-policy</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. This may have been hyperbolic language, aka “Kill the Indian and save the man.”<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn50"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn50" title="">[50]</a> “The Troubling Reason The Electoral College Exists.” TIME magazine. <a href="https://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/">https://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn51"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn51" title="">[51]</a> “The Louisiana Rebellion,” Clint Smith, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn52"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn52" title="">[52]</a> “Where’s the Debate on Francis Scott Key’s Slave-Holding Legacy?” <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wheres-debate-francis-scott-keys-slave-holding-legacy-180959550/?edit">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wheres-debate-francis-scott-keys-slave-holding-legacy-180959550/?edit</a></p></div><div id="ftn53"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[53]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Abraham Lincoln thought it was a good idea to send freed slaves to Liberia or Haiti. In 1862 he said to a black audience: <i>“You and we are different races—we have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them, by living among us; while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side.<sup>”</sup></i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn54"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[54]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>African American Readings of Paul</u>, Lisa M. Bowens<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn55"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[55]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn56"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[56]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/origins.htm"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/origins.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn57"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn57" title="">[57]</a> <u>Blood At The Root,</u> Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn58"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn58" title="">[58]</a> “James McCune Smith, M.D.” by Harriet Washington, Fo<u>ur Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn59"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[59]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Notably, the Supreme Court under John Marshall upheld the Cherokee’s case against the State of Georgia which had initiated the removal process. President Jackson said, “(Chief Justice) Marshall has made his decision, let him enforce it.” This is perhaps the most flagrant violation of the Constitution ever made by a president. Approximately ¼ of the removed Cherokee died on the Trail of Tears. Other tribes were also removed, but the Cherokee with their favorable Supreme Court ruling and unjust removal were particularly heart-breaking. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn60"><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><a name="_ftn60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[60]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Here’s another one. The 1864 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_Massacre" title="Sand Creek Massacre"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Sand Creek Massacre</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, which caused outrage in its own time, has been called genocide. Colonel </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chivington" title="John Chivington"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John Chivington</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> led a 700-man force of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Territory" title="Colorado Territory"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Colorado Territory</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_States)" title="Militia (United States)"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">militia</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> in a massacre of 70–163 peaceful </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne" title="Cheyenne"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Cheyenne</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Arapaho</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, about two-thirds of whom were women, children, and infants. Chivington and his men took </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalping" title="Scalping"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">scalps</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> and other body parts as trophies, including human </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus" title="Fetus"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">fetuses</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">and male and female </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genitalia" title="Genitalia"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">genitalia</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#cite_note-United_States_Congress._(1867)-123"><sup><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[122]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> In defense of his actions Chivington stated, “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.” </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#Indian_Removal_and_the_Trail_of_Tears"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#Indian_Removal_and_the_Trail_of_Tears</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There were worse ones. </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-site-worst-indian-massacre-us-history-180959091/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-site-worst-indian-massacre-us-history-180959091/</span></a><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></p></div><div id="ftn61"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn61" title="">[61]</a> “Fact check: Father of modern gynecology performed experiments on enslaved Black women,” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/19/fact-check-j-marion-sims-did-medical-experiments-black-female-slaves/3202541001/">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/19/fact-check-j-marion-sims-did-medical-experiments-black-female-slaves/3202541001/</a></p></div><div id="ftn62"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn62" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[62]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths,</u> Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn63"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn63" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[63]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn64"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn64" title="">[64]</a> “Black Maternal and Infant Health: Historical Legacies Of Slavery,” <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305243">https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305243</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn65"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn65" title="">[65]</a> “What Slavery Looked Like In The West,” The Atlantic. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/native-americans-indigenous-slavery-west/620785/?utm_medium=offsite&utm_source=flipboard&utm_campaign=all">https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/native-americans-indigenous-slavery-west/620785/?utm_medium=offsite&utm_source=flipboard&utm_campaign=all</a></p></div><div id="ftn66"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn66" title="">[66]</a> Ibid<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn67"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn67" title="">[67]</a> “The 1619 Project: An Autopsy,” CATO Institute, <a href="https://www.cato.org/commentary/1619-project-autopsy">https://www.cato.org/commentary/1619-project-autopsy</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn68"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn68" title="">[68]</a> “Black Maternal And Infant Health: Historical Legacies Of Slavery, <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305243">https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305243</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn69"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn69" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[69]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> They purposefully aligned with the confederacy. </span><a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/06/11/resolution-9-rescinding-critical-race-theory-civil-warsouthern-baptist-history/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://religionnews.com/2021/06/11/resolution-9-rescinding-critical-race-theory-civil-warsouthern-baptist-history/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn70"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn70" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[70]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> They broke away from northern Baptists in 1845 over the issue of slavery.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn71"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn71" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[71]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn72"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn72" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[72]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “We lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest, and we recognize that the racism which yet plagues our culture today is inextricably tied to the past.”<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn73"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn73" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[73]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/why-was-cotton-king/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/why-was-cotton-king/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn74"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn74" title="">[74]</a> From a statement released by JP Morgan Chase in 2005, as reported in <u>How The Word Is Passed</u>, by Clint Smith.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn75"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn75" title="">[75]</a> “Making sugar, making ‘coolies’: Chinese laborers toiled alongside Black workers on 19th-centuryLouisiana plantations.” <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831">https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn76"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn76" title="">[76]</a> “Retracing Slavery’s Trail of Tears.” <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn77"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn77" title="">[77]</a> <a href="https://psmag.com/education/of-course-the-civil-war-was-about-slavery-26265">https://psmag.com/education/of-course-the-civil-war-was-about-slavery-26265</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn78"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn78" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[78]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> It did not apply to the roughly 425,000 enslaved people living in Tennessee, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland because they had not seceded or were occupied by Union soldiers. This was a tactical move – Lincoln did not want those states to join the Confederacy – but it must have been a blow to the enslaved.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn79"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn79" title="">[79]</a> <u>Stony The Road,</u> Henry Louis Gates Jr.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn80"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn80" title="">[80]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us</u>, Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn81"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn81" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[81]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Lincoln said shortly before he died, <i>“I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes … I believe that it would be better to export them all to some fertile country…”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn82"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn82" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[82]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “In the Great Plains, they found success. A significant colony (as it was called) of about 150 people thrived at </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/welcome-to-blackdom-the-ghost-town-that-was-new-mexicos-first-black-settlement-10750177/" title="www.smithsonianmag.com"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Blackdom</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, near Roswell, N.M., during the opening decades of the 20th century. Dearfield was home to more than 200 homesteaders.” </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-disappearing-story-of-the-black-homesteaders-who-pioneered-the-west/2018/07/05/ca0b51b6-7f09-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-disappearing-story-of-the-black-homesteaders-who-pioneered-the-west/2018/07/05/ca0b51b6-7f09-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html</span></a><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></p></div><div id="ftn83"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn83" title="">[83]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us, </u>by Heather McGhee. An estimated 46 million people are the propertied descendants of those land grant beneficiaries.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn84"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn84" title="">[84]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#Indian_Removal_and_the_Trail_of_Tears">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#Indian_Removal_and_the_Trail_of_Tears</a><u>. </u>There were worse ones. <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-site-worst-indian-massacre-us-history-180959091/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-site-worst-indian-massacre-us-history-180959091/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn85"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn85" title="">[85]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn86"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn86" title="">[86]</a> “Sherman’s Field Order No. 15,” <a href="https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/shermans-field-order-no-15/">https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/shermans-field-order-no-15/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn87"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn87" title="">[87]</a> <a href="https://stampedes.dickinson.edu/escapes">https://stampedes.dickinson.edu/escapes</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn88"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn88" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[88]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://forward.com/opinion/471597/juneteenth-what-really-happened/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Main"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://forward.com/opinion/471597/juneteenth-what-really-happened/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Main</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn89"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn89" title="">[89]</a> <u>Stony The Road</u>, Henry Louis Gates Jr.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn90"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn90" title="">[90]</a> From the website Lynching In America<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn91"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn91" title="">[91]</a> “The Slavery Controversy And Civil War,” <u>America’s Religious History,</u> Thomas Kidd.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn92"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn92" title="">[92]</a> “The Deadliest Massacre in Reconstruction-Era Louisiana Happened 150 Years Ago.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-deadliest-massacre-reconstruction-era-louisiana-180970420/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-deadliest-massacre-reconstruction-era-louisiana-180970420/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn93"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn93" title="">[93]</a> “Making sugar, making ‘coolies’: Chinese laborers toiled alongside Black workers on 19th-centuryLouisiana plantations.” <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831">https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn94"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn94" title="">[94]</a> <u>Stony The Road,</u> Henry Louis Gates Jr. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn95"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn95" title="">[95]</a> <u>Blood At The Root: A Racial Cleansing In America</u>, Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn96"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn96" title="">[96]</a> “Reconstruction,” Michael Harriot, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn97"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn97" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[97]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn98"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn98" title="">[98]</a> <u>Stony The Road,</u> Henry Louis Gates Jr.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn99"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn99" title="">[99]</a> “Reconstruction,” Michael Harriot, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn100"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn100" title="">[100]</a> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn101"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn101" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[101]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn102"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn102" title="">[102]</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn103"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn103" title="">[103]</a> <u>Stony The Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, And The Rise Of Jim Crow,</u> Henry Louis Gates, Jr. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn104"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn104" title="">[104]</a> It’s worth noting that poll taxes alone also disenfranchised thousands of poor white voters. Voter turnout in poll tax states was 18% vs. a national average o 69%, according to Heather McGee in <u>The Sum Of Us.</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn105"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn105" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[105]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn106"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn106" title="">[106]</a> “The 1619 Project: An Autopsy,” CATO Institute. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn107"><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_ftn107" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[107]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="http://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/teach/kill-indian-and-save-man-capt-richard-h-pratt-education-native-americans"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">http://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/teach/kill-indian-and-save-man-capt-richard-h-pratt-education-native-americans</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn108"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn108" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[108]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths,</u> Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn109"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn109" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[109]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>African American Readings Of Paul</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn110"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn110" title="">[110]</a> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth of Equality</u>, Ken Wystma<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn111"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn111" title="">[111]</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831">https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn112"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn112" title="">[112]</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn113"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn113" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[113]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Frederick Douglass (1817-1895): <i>“For between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked… I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn114"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn114" title="">[114]</a> <u>Stony The Road</u>, Henry Louis Gates Jr.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn115"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn115" title="">[115]</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn116"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn116" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[116]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn117"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn117" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[117]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn118"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn118" title="">[118]</a> “Stolen Labor, <u>The Myth of Equality</u>, Ken Wystma<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn119"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn119" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[119]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn120"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn120" title="">[120]</a> <u>Stony The Road</u>, Henry Louis Gates Jr.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn121"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn121" title="">[121]</a> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth Of Equality,</u> Ken Wytsma<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn122"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn122" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[122]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/exploiting-black-labor-after-the-abolition-of-slavery-72482"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://theconversation.com/exploiting-black-labor-after-the-abolition-of-slavery-72482</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn123"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn123" title="">[123]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_primary">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_primary</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn124"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn124" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[124]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jemar Tisby, <u>The Color Of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn125"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn125" title="">[125]</a> <u>Blood At The Root</u>, Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn126"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn126" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[126]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> There were other lynchings that were not racially motivated. </span><a href="http://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">http://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn127"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn127" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[127]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> After the 1906 Race Riots, a confederate soldier and governor of Georgia named William Northern, <b>a Southern Baptist leader,</b> helped organize Christian anti-lynching activists, though he assured people that stopping lynching would not undermine white supremacy or lead to racial integration.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p></div><div id="ftn128"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn128" title="">[128]</a> “Booker T. Washington, Derrick Alridge, <u><o:p></o:p></u></p></div><div id="ftn129"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn129" title="">[129]</a> “The 1619 Project: An Autopsy,” CATO Institute<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn130"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn130" title="">[130]</a> <u>American On Fire,</u> Elizabeth Hinton<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn131"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn131" title="">[131]</a> <u>Blood At The Root</u>, Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn132"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn132" title="">[132]</a> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth Of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn133"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn133" title="">[133]</a> <u>Blood At The Root,</u> Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn134"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn134" title="">[134]</a> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn135"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn135" title="">[135]</a> “The Great Migration,” Isabel Wilkerson, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn136"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn136" title="">[136]</a> <u>America On Fire,</u> Elizabeth Hinton<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn137"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn137" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[137]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn138"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn138" title="">[138]</a> From Jemar Tisby’s intro to the re-release of T<u>he Coming Race Wars</u>, by William Pannell<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn139"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn139" title="">[139]</a> <u>America On Fire</u>, Elizabeth Hinton<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn140"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn140" title="">[140]</a> <u>Blood At The Root,</u> Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn141"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn141" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[141]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “In 1997 a Tulsa Race Riot Commission was formed by the state of Oklahoma to investigate the massacre and formally document the incident. Members of the commission gathered accounts of survivors who were still alive, documents from individuals who witnessed the massacre but had since died, and other historical evidence. Scholars used the accounts of witnesses and ground-piercing radar to locate a potential mass grave just outside Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery, suggesting the death toll may be much higher than the original records indicate. In its preliminary recommendations, the commission suggested that the state of Oklahoma pay $33 million in restitution, some of it to the 121 surviving victims who had been located. However, no legislative action was ever taken on the recommendation, and the commission had no power to force legislation. The <span class="MsoHyperlink">commission’s final report</span> was published on February 28, 2001. In April 2002 a private religious charity, the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, paid a total of $28,000 to the survivors, a little more than $200 each, using funds raised from private donations.” </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Tulsa-race-massacre-of-1921"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.britannica.com/event/Tulsa-race-massacre-of-1921</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn142"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn142" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[142]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> From the Decolonial Atlas.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn143"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn143" title="">[143]</a> Some links from the NEA’s article “The Racist Beginnings Of Standardized Testing”.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo21; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.tcpress.com/blog/dismantling-white-supremacy-includes-racist-tests-sat-act/">Dismantling White Supremacy Includes Ending Racist Tests like the SAT and ACT<b> TEACHERS COLLEGE PRESS <o:p></o:p></b></a></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo21; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/how-ut-used-standardized-testing-to-slow-integration/597814/">A Secret Strategy to Keep Out Black Students<b> THE ATLANTIC </b><span color="windowtext"><o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo21; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b> </b><a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2020/09/22/the-racist-and-classist-roots-of-standardized-testing-found-a-home-at-stanford-and-they-still-endure-today/">The Racist and Classist Roots of Standardized Testing Found a Home at Stanford University They Still Endure Today<b> THE STANFORD DAILY </b><span color="windowtext"><o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo21; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2020/09/22/the-racist-and-classist-roots-of-standardized-testing-found-a-home-at-stanford-and-they-still-endure-today/"><b> </b></a><a href="https://harvardcrcl.org/a-civil-rights-challenge-to-standardized-testing-in-college-admissions/">A Civil Rights Challenge to Standardized Testing in College Admissions<b> HARVARD CIVIL RIGHTS-CIVIL LIBERTES LAW REVIEW </b><span color="windowtext"><o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo21; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://harvardcrcl.org/a-civil-rights-challenge-to-standardized-testing-in-college-admissions/"><b> </b></a><a href="https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/the-gathering-resistance-to-standardized-tests/">The Gathering Resistance to Standardized Tests<b> RETHINKING SCHOOLS </b><span color="windowtext"><o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div id="ftn144"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn144" title="">[144]</a> “More Than 1,700 U.S. Congressmen Have Enslaved People.” <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/more-than-1700-us-congressmen-have-enslaved-people?source=cheats&via=rss">https://www.thedailybeast.com/more-than-1700-us-congressmen-have-enslaved-people?source=cheats&via=rss</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn145"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn145" title="">[145]</a> <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler">https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn146"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn146" title="">[146]</a> <a href="https://billmoyers.com/story/hitler-america-nazi-race-law/">https://billmoyers.com/story/hitler-america-nazi-race-law/</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-jim-crow">https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-jim-crow</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://aeon.co/ideas/why-the-nazis-studied-american-race-laws-for-inspiration">https://aeon.co/ideas/why-the-nazis-studied-american-race-laws-for-inspiration</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn147"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn147" title="">[147]</a> “Racial covenants, a relic of the past, are still on the books across the country.” <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1049052531/racial-covenants-housing-discrimination">https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1049052531/racial-covenants-housing-discrimination</a></p></div><div id="ftn148"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn148" title="">[148]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us</u>, by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn149"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn149" title="">[149]</a> “The Great Depression,” Robin Kelley, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn150"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn150" title="">[150]</a> <a href="https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/172004">https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/172004</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn151"><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_ftn151" title="">[151]</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/12/these-are-the-three-reasons-that-fascism-spread-in-1930s-america-and-might-spread-again-today/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/12/these-are-the-three-reasons-that-fascism-spread-in-1930s-america-and-might-spread-again-today/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn152"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn152" title="">[152]</a> <a href="https://liberationschool.org/communism-and-black-resistance-in-the-1930s-south/">https://liberationschool.org/communism-and-black-resistance-in-the-1930s-south/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn153"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn153" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[153]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> This is also when confederate monuments began to be built in earnest. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn154"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn154" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[154]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jemar Tisby, <u>The Color of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn155"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn155" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[155]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn156"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn156" title="">[156]</a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5325145031187510736/1394624870170882225">https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn157"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn157" title="">[157]</a> <a href="https://canoe.csumc.wisc.edu/LdFCanoe_subpage_South_History_3.html#ira">https://canoe.csumc.wisc.edu/LdFCanoe_subpage_South_History_3.html#ira</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn158"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn158" title="">[158]</a> “Union Construction’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Charade,” Stanford Social Innovation Review. <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/union_constructions_racial_equity_and_inclusion_charade">https://ssir.org/articles/entry/union_constructions_racial_equity_and_inclusion_charade</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn159"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn159" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[159]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/redlining-definition-4157858"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.thoughtco.com/redlining-definition-4157858</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn160"><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_ftn160" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[160]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Party Realignment And The New Deal.” </span><a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn161"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn161" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[161]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Last Hired, First Fired: How the Great Depression Affected African Americans.” </span><a href="https://www.history.com/news/last-hired-first-fired-how-the-great-depression-affected-african"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.history.com/news/last-hired-first-fired-how-the-great-depression-affected-african-americans</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn162"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn162" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[162]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn163"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn163" title="">[163]</a> “Family shines light on US prisoner exchange program that rounded up Japanese Latin Americans” <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/family-shines-light-us-prisoner-exchange-program-rounded/story?id=62856105">https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/family-shines-light-us-prisoner-exchange-program-rounded/story?id=62856105</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn164"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn164" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[164]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn165"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn165" title="">[165]</a> As quoted in “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth of Equality</u>, by Ken Wystma<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn166"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn166" title="">[166]</a> “How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans.” <a href="https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits">https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn167"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn167" title=""></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1947, home loans from the GI Bill after WWII disenfranchised black war veterans. <i>“In New York and the northern New Jersey suburbs, fewer than 100 of the 67,000 mortgages insured by the GI bill supported home purchases by non-whites.</i>”<sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[167]</span></sup></sup> 6% of soldiers were black; .02% got loans. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn168"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn168" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[168]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn169"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn169" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[169]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The real estate business practice of "blockbusting" was a for-profit catalyst for white flight, and a means to control non-white migration. By subterfuge, real estate agents would facilitate black people buying a house in a white neighborhood, either by buying the house themselves, or via a white proxy buyer, and then re-selling it to the black family. The remaining white inhabitants (alarmed by real estate agents and the local news media),</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#cite_note-78"><sup><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[78]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> fearing devalued residential property, would quickly sell, usually at a loss. The realtors profited from these <i>en masse</i> sales and the ability to resell to the incoming black families, through </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitrage" title="Arbitrage"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">arbitrage</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> and the sales commissions from both groups. By such tactics, the racial composition of a neighborhood population was often changed completely in a few years.” </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn170"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn170" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[170]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn171"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn171" title="">[171]</a> <u>Blood At The Root</u>, Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn172"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn172" title="">[172]</a> Ibid<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn173"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn173" title="">[173]</a> “Racial covenants, a relic of the past, are still on the books across the country.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1049052531/racial-covenants-housing-discrimination">https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1049052531/racial-covenants-housing-discrimination</a></p></div><div id="ftn174"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn174" title="">[174]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn175"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn175" title="">[175]</a> “Jim Crow’s Civil Defense Plans,” <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/jim-crows-civil-defense-plans/">https://daily.jstor.org/jim-crows-civil-defense-plans/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn176"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn176" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[176]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Color of Compromise </u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn177"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn177" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[177]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781620974681"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781620974681</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn178"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn178" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[178]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Wikipedia! Also, there are still at least 5 towns in the United States whose names come from the acronym ANNA – “Ain’t No N***** Allowed.” <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn179"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn179" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[179]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Two quotes from an article noting responses from readers concerning sundown towns. </span><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/reader-responses-the-legend-of-anna-illinois-sundown-towns"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.propublica.org/article/reader-responses-the-legend-of-anna-illinois-sundown-towns</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“This reminds me of a shocking event from my teens. In the late 60’s, my dad and I were waiting with our new housekeeper at a bus stop in Burbank, CA, when the police pulled up and told us our housekeeper had to be out of town before sunset-so disillusioning, horrifying, sad.” </span><a href="https://twitter.com/JBEnglish1/status/1194142020358393856?s=20"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">— @JBEnglish1</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The place was Golden Valley NC. I saw the sign in 1997. I could not find the picture, but I remember the sign, ‘The sun never set on a black man in Golden Valley’ - right on the side of the road. I couldn’t get it out of my mind for a long time, and still think about it.” </span><a href="https://twitter.com/No_Bod_There/status/1193646842782859264?s=20"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">— @No_Bod_There</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn180"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn180" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[180]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/blackhistorymonth/hospitals"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/blackhistorymonth/hospitals</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn181"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn181" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[181]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Sometimes, the white hospitals did active damage. In 1932, the Tuskegee Institute, working with the United States Piublic Health Service, began a study on syphilis originally called the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.” During this study, they lied to 200 black men whom they told were being treated for syphilis, when in fact they were not, even though a treatment was available. In th e1970s, a class action lawsuit paid out 10 million dollars to wives, widows and children. </span><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn182"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn182" title="">[182]</a> “A Secret 1950s Strategy To Keep Out Black Students,” The Atlantic. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/how-ut-used-standardized-testing-to-slow-integration/597814/">https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/how-ut-used-standardized-testing-to-slow-integration/597814/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn183"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn183" title="">[183]</a> “Decades before 'Squid Game,' real-life segregation-era 'battle royals' made Black men and boys fight in mass brawls.” <a href="https://www.insider.com/squid-games-in-real-life-the-fights-black-men-were-forced-into-2021-10">https://www.insider.com/squid-games-in-real-life-the-fights-black-men-were-forced-into-2021-10</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn184"><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_ftn184" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[184]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Dwight Moody and Billy Sunday both allowed segregation at their meetings. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn185"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn185" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[185]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> As noted in The Color of Compromise. In the mid-1950s, pastors of Christians in Kirkwood, Georgia actively urged their members not to sell their homes to black people. “ ‘If everyone simply refuses to sell to colored,’ the pastors assured residents, ‘then everything will be fine…Please help us ‘Keep Kirkwood White’ and preserve our Churches and homes.” This happened more often than we would like to think.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn186"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn186" title="">[186]</a> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-thurgood-marshall-paved-road-brown-v-board-education-180977197/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-thurgood-marshall-paved-road-brown-v-board-education-180977197/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn187"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn187" title="">[187]</a> “The Assassination Of Civil Rights Leader Rev. George Lee Isn't Taught In Schools, So Here's Everything You Need To Know.” <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mykethompson/what-they-didnt-teach-you-in-school-the-assassination-of">https://www.buzzfeed.com/mykethompson/what-they-didnt-teach-you-in-school-the-assassination-of</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn188"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn188" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[188]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn189"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn189" title="">[189]</a> Read more at “60 years later, murder still bedevils Mississippi Delta town.”<b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"> <a href="https://archive.commercialappeal.com/news/60-years-later-murder-still-bedevils-mississippi-delta-town-ep-1065723397-324406061.html/">https://archive.commercialappeal.com/news/60-years-later-murder-still-bedevils-mississippi-delta-town-ep-1065723397-324406061.html/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn190"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn190" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[190]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448322/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448322/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn191"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn191" title="">[191]</a> “How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans.” <a href="https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits">https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn192"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn192" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[192]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn193"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn193" title="">[193]</a> “Little Rock Nine.” <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration">https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration</a></p></div><div id="ftn194"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn194" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[194]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/voting-literacy-test"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://allthatsinteresting.com/voting-literacy-test</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn195"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn195" title="">[195]</a> <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/">https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn196"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn196" title="">[196]</a> “Why Did Black Voters Flee The Republican Party In The 1960s?” NPR.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/14/331298996/why-did-black-voters-flee-the-republican-party-in-the-1960s">https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/14/331298996/why-did-black-voters-flee-the-republican-party-in-the-1960s</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn197"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn197" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[197]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> As far back as 1932, <u>Pittsburgh Courier</u> editor Robert Vann had written, “My friends, go turn [R] Lincoln’s picture to the wall. The debt has been paid in full.”<sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[197]</span></sup></sup><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn198"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn198" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[198]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The <b>U.S.</b> Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 <b>U.S.</b> 483, on May 17, 1954. Tied to the 14th Amendment, the decision declared all laws establishing <b>segregated schools</b> to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all <b>schools</b> throughout the nation.” (Wikipedia)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn199"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn199" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[199]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> When the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court" title="United States Supreme Court"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">U.S. Supreme Court</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education" title="Brown v. Board of Education"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">ruled</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> that segregated <i>public</i> schools were unconstitutional.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn200"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn200" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[200]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> When the court </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runyon_v._McCrary" title="Runyon v. McCrary"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">ruled similarly</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> about private schools. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn201"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn201" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[201]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregation_academy#List_of_schools_founded_as_segregation_academies[n_1"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregation_academy#List_of_schools_founded_as_segregation_academies[n_1</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">]<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn202"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn202" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[202]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn203"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn203" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[203]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn204"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn204" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[204]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> At the end of this, in May of 1963, police in Birmingham, Ala., aimed high-powered hoses and loosed dogs on black men, women and even children who were determined to actually do the school integration the Supreme Court had granted 9 years earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn205"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn205" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[205]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn206"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn206" title="">[206]</a> “Treaty Of Cambridge,” <a href="https://snccdigital.org/events/treaty-of-cambridge/">https://snccdigital.org/events/treaty-of-cambridge/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn207"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn207" title="">[207]</a> “Legal Highlight: The Civil Rights Act Of 1964.” <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964">https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn208"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn208" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[208]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn209"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn209" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[209]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn210"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn210" title="">[210]</a> <a href="https://populationeducation.org/a-brief-history-of-how-gerrymandering-distorts-u-s-politics/">https://populationeducation.org/a-brief-history-of-how-gerrymandering-distorts-u-s-politics/</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div id="ftn211"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn211" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[211]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> http://bostonreview.net/race/brent-cebul-tearing-down-black-america<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn212"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn212" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[212]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2018/civil-rights-events-fd.html<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn213"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn213" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[213]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> I haven’t even covered the so-called Urban Renewal movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and how it took homes and businesses from tens of thousands of poor black families. </span><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/top-infrastructure-official-explains-how-america-used-highways-to-destroy-black-neighborhoods-96c1460d1962/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://thinkprogress.org/top-infrastructure-official-explains-how-america-used-highways-to-destroy-black-neighborhoods-96c1460d1962/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn214"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn214" title="">[214]</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn215"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn215" title="">[215]</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn216"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn216" title="">[216]</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn217"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn217" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[217]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1968-kerner-commission-got-it-right-nobody-listened-180968318/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1968-kerner-commission-got-it-right-nobody-listened-180968318/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn218"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn218" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[218]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6545/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6545/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn219"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn219" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[219]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn220"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn220" title="">[220]</a> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn221"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn221" title="">[221]</a> “Why John Perkins Didn’t Want More White Christians like Jonathan Edwards.” <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/john-perkins-jonathan-edwards-white-gospel-racism-violence.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/john-perkins-jonathan-edwards-white-gospel-racism-violence.html</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn222"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn222" title="">[222]</a> <u>The Sum of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn223"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn223" title="">[223]</a> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth Of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn224"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn224" title="">[224]</a> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn225"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn225" title="">[225]</a> “The racist history of Tampa's city planning and housing policy.” <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2021/04/22/tampa-racist-urban-planning-housing-policy">https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2021/04/22/tampa-racist-urban-planning-housing-policy</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn226"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn226" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[226]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> About one-third of the </span><a href="https://boardingschoolhealing.org/education/resources/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">357</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> known Indian boarding schools were managed by various Christian denominations.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn227"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn227" title="">[227]</a> <a href="http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools">http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn228"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn228" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[228]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Eric Hemenway, director of archives and records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, said in a 2017 interview, “We hear devastating stories of kids who survived the school and they grow up to be our elders and, you know, they talk about the situations they went through and how that affected their ability to raise children and develop relationships with other people because of what happened to them at the boarding schools.”</span><a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/post/harbor-springs-boarding-school-worked-erase-odawa-culture-until-1980s"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.michiganradio.org/post/harbor-springs-boarding-school-worked-erase-odawa-culture-until-1980s</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn229"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn229" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[229]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths,</u> Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn230"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn230" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[230]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Color of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn231"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn231" title="">[231]</a> <u>The Sum of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn232"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn232" title="">[232]</a> “<u>Stolen Labor,”</u> The Myth of Equality<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn233"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn233" title="">[233]</a> <u>Blood At The Root</u>, Patrick Phillips<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn234"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn234" title="">[234]</a> “Family shines light on US prisoner exchange program that rounded up Japanese Latin Americans.” <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/family-shines-light-us-prisoner-exchange-program-rounded/story?id=62856105">https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/family-shines-light-us-prisoner-exchange-program-rounded/story?id=62856105</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn235"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn235" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[235]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States#Reconstruction_Era_to_World_War_II"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States#Reconstruction_Era_to_World_War_II</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 2017, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. settled for $55 million over allegations that independent brokers charged African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher rates than white borrowers from 2006 to 2009, violating of the Fair Housing Act.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn236"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn236" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[236]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> A lot of information came from an article at </span><a href="https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-02.htm"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-02.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn237"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn237" title="">[237]</a> <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Permanent-Interest/Redistricting-Representation/">https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Permanent-Interest/Redistricting-Representation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn238"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn238" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[238]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn239"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn239" title="">[239]</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn240"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn240" title="">[240]</a> <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/devaluation-of-assets-in-black-neighborhoods/">https://www.brookings.edu/research/devaluation-of-assets-in-black-neighborhoods/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn241"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn241" title="">[241]</a> “The U.S. stole generations of Indigenous children to open the West,” High Country News. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west">https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn242"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn242" title="">[242]</a> <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west">https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn243"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn243" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[243]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.vox.com/22266219/biden-eduation-school-funding-segregation-antiracist-policy"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.vox.com/22266219/biden-eduation-school-funding-segregation-antiracist-policy</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn244"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn244" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[244]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/07/888469809/how-funding-model-preserves-racial-segregation-in-public-schools"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/07/888469809/how-funding-model-preserves-racial-segregation-in-public-schools</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn245"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn245" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[245]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> This graph from the New York Times shows the implications of this well: economic hardship takes a toll for a lot of reasons, and economic ease opens a lot of doors. There can be complex reasons for these discrepancies, but general patterns emerge clearly along economic lines, lines which have been repeatedly re-drawn for centuries. </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/29/upshot/money-race-and-success-how-your-school-district-compares.html"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/29/upshot/money-race-and-success-how-your-school-district-compares.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn246"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn246" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[246]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> For Native Americans, one source of that distrust is the 70,000 women sterilized against their will in the in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. </span><a href="https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzvpqv/this-film-is-exposing-the-forced-sterilization-of-native-americans?fbclid=IwAR1jX8QfvOmOQt8zwoohML7B9WJVvo3fnAy91jpF7eyx55z-hSRTdN0S5Mk"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzvpqv/this-film-is-exposing-the-forced-sterilization-of-native-americans?fbclid=IwAR1jX8QfvOmOQt8zwoohML7B9WJVvo3fnAy91jpF7eyx55z-hSRTdN0S5Mk</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn247"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn247" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[247]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> See </span><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-affecting-people-of-color"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-affecting-people-of-color</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also </span><a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-blacks-minorities-hardest-covid-.html"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-blacks-minorities-hardest-covid-.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">And </span><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn248"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn248" title="">[248]</a> “Poverty Leaves A Mark On Our Genes,” Northwestern University, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/nu-pla040419.php">https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/nu-pla040419.php</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div id="ftn249"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn249" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[249]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.eraseracismny.org/structural-racism-timeline2?start=40"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.eraseracismny.org/structural-racism-timeline2?start=40</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn250"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn250" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[250]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> As quoted in <u>Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy Of The Doctrine Of Discovery</u>, by Native American evangelical pastor Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn251"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn251" title="">[251]</a> <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/06/19/race-drugs-and-law-enforcement-united-states">https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/06/19/race-drugs-and-law-enforcement-united-states#</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn252"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn252" title="">[252]</a> <a href="https://eji.org/news/racial-double-standard-in-drug-laws-persists-today/">https://eji.org/news/racial-double-standard-in-drug-laws-persists-today/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn253"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn253" title="">[253]</a> <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/race-mass-incarceration-and-disastrous-war-drugs">https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/race-mass-incarceration-and-disastrous-war-drugs</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn254"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn254" title="">[254]</a> <a href="https://www.aclu.org/other/race-war-drugs?redirect=drug-law-reform/race-war-drugs">https://www.aclu.org/other/race-war-drugs?redirect=drug-law-reform/race-war-drugs</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn255"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn255" title="">[255]</a> “One Black Boy: The Great Lakes And The Midwest.” Tiya Miles, <u>Four Hundred Souls.</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn256"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn256" title="">[256]</a> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/06/29/are-us-taxpayers-funding-modern-segregation-academies-in-north-carolina/?sh=581ba2e171cd">https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/06/29/are-us-taxpayers-funding-modern-segregation-academies-in-north-carolina/?sh=581ba2e171cd</a>. Also <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED580846.pdf">https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED580846.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn257"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn257" title="">[257]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn258"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn258" title="">[258]</a> <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/1819-driving-while-black">https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/1819-driving-while-black</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn259"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn259" title="">[259]</a> ‘KKK Groups Still Active in These States in 2017.’ <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2017-08-14/the-kkk-is-still-based-in-22-states-in-the-us-in-2017">https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2017-08-14/the-kkk-is-still-based-in-22-states-in-the-us-in-2017</a></p></div><div id="ftn260"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn260" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[260]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/a-long-history-of-bigotry-against-asian-americans/"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/a-long-history-of-bigotry-against-asian-americans/</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn261"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn261" title="">[261]</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn262"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn262" title="">[262]</a> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn263"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn263" title="">[263]</a> “NAR President Charlie Oppler Apologizes for Past Policies that Contributed to Racial Inequality,” <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-president-charlie-oppler-apologizes-for-past-policies-that-contributed-to-racial-inequality">https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-president-charlie-oppler-apologizes-for-past-policies-that-contributed-to-racial-inequality</a></p></div><div id="ftn264"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn264" title="">[264]</a> “If Everybody’s White, There Can’t Be Any Racial Bias”: The Disappearance of Hispanic Drivers From Traffic Records,” ProPublica. <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/if-everybodys-white-there-cant-be-any-racial-bias-the-disappearance-of-hispanic-drivers-from-traffic-records">https://www.propublica.org/article/if-everybodys-white-there-cant-be-any-racial-bias-the-disappearance-of-hispanic-drivers-from-traffic-records</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn265"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn265" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[265]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><a href="https://www.nacdl.org/Content/Race-and-Policing"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.nacdl.org/Content/Race-and-Policing</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn266"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn266" title="">[266]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minority_governors_and_lieutenant_governors_in_the_United_States">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minority_governors_and_lieutenant_governors_in_the_United_States</a></p></div><div id="ftn267"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn267" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[267]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Cherokee Nation wants info on Black descendants linked to slavery.”<br /> </span><a href="https://www.axios.com/cherokee-nation-black-descendants-slavery-63b74d3b-b23b-409b-8ecc-8e5e190a051e.html"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">https://www.axios.com/cherokee-nation-black-descendants-slavery-63b74d3b-b23b-409b-8ecc-8e5e190a051e.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div id="ftn268"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn268" title="">[268]</a> “The Heart In Action,” <u>Gentle And Lowly</u><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn269"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn269" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[269]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> George Erasmus, quoted in <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn270"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn270" title="">[270]</a> Read the excellent chapter “Does Justice Belong In Our Gospel Conversation?” in Ken Wystma’s book <u>The Myth Of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-54953930664734932652022-01-15T08:37:00.001-08:002024-02-07T08:16:53.012-08:00Fatalism vs. Faith and COVID-19<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.” So the rowboat went on.</span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the motorboat went on.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></div><div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />I continue to see lots of memes posted that say something like, “I don't fear Covid, because God decides when it's my time to die.”<br /><br />At its best reading, this kind of meme could be trying to say that in the midst of all kinds of things in life that have the potential to kill us, we Christians still go about our life without constantly worrying about it because a) we believe that God oversees history and at minimum permits life to unfold as it does, and b) the Christian hope of life everlasting doesn’t put all our life eggs in this present basket. As far as Christian theology goes, fair enough. I’m tracking. Death is really hard on those who remain, but not on those who move on into a heavenly eternity.<br /><br />However, it often seems to means that someone is not willing to take any steps to avoid getting COVID (or to help other people not get it) because in some sense it just doesn't matter. If God controls the start and stop point of our lives, we have 0% control over either incident. Therefore, no action we take or choice we make will change anything. Que sera, sera.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />Now, I am sympathetic to at least some of the reasons people have for wondering what kind of political and medical machinations are going on behind the scenes or questioning just how safe and helpful every proposed solution is. Neither our government nor Big Pharma have a track record of consistent trustworthiness, though lack of consistency is not the same as never right. <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/04/three-anti-covid-vaccination-arguments.html" target="_blank">Click on this link to read more on this.</a><br /><br />The problem I have is that the stance (as stated in the meme above) is not one Christians take consistently.<br /><br /></span><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They still look both ways before crossing a street.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They drive with their eyes open instead of shut, and with a seatbelt on.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They wouldn't skydive or bungee jump without testing the parachute.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They will turn the farm equipment off before fixing it.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They have guns so they can defend themselves from being attacked and maybe killed.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They take pills, vitamins or supplements to enhance their health.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They visit a doctor (of some sort) when they have an illness.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They might even alter their diet so that they are healthier and…live longer.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">If they have a medical emergency, they go to medical professionals for treatment.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They don't touch live wires.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They wouldn't try to hand feed lions on a safari.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They're careful about the food they eat, making sure it's not spoiled, rancid or full of salmonella.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">They don't drink water from a pond while hiking.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">When they back up in a parking lot, they make sure no one is behind them so they don't run them over.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">When they build their house, they would like it up to code so it is safe.</span></li></ul><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br />In all these examples, my only point is that we believe, over and over in our life, there are things within our power to affect or even control, and that we have a responsibility as people with mind, will, and emotions - all given by God for a reason - to make wise choices as life unfolds. We are not fatalists. As Christians, we don't see this as contradictory to faith. We see this as wisdom. Isn’t that what the whole book of Proverbs is about? Choices matter.<br /><br />We are constantly not accepting the circumstances we are given (how many of us wear glasses or contacts?); we are constantly intervening to change things (diet choices or supplements), as if our free choices and actions matter. We do this over and over even while recognizing that God is sovereign. In Christian theology, God has a declarative and permissive will, and an awful lot of what unfolds in life falls under the category of things God permits. Those things He permits often involve our free choices.<br /><br />If God controls the timeline of our lives such that nothing we do matters in terms of the length (and I am guessing the quality) of our life or anyone else’s, what are we doing with any boundaries at all? Why would we not cast caution to the wind and ignore anything that has to do with safety?<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />Martin Luther had a phrase for that when he lived through the plague: “tempting God.” It wasn’t a good thing. Luther wrote in a letter about how he believed Christians should respond in the time of pandemic:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God."</i></div><br />One can be full of faith and prudence simultaneously.<br /><br />One can trust God and exercise caution at the same time.<br /><br />One can believe God heals diseases and try to avoid those diseases at the same time.<br /><br />They aren’t contradictory.<br /><br />Let’s not start a new theology of sickness – or free will and the value of responsibility - because of COVID-19. Maybe the government screwed the whole thing up; maybe we are being manipulated; maybe this whole thing has been handled terribly by everyone we had hoped would do it right. None of that should matter to our theology.<br /><br />God didn’t change during COVID-19. Whatever was true before is still true. If God allowed your free will to have an impact on your life before, then that’s still the case.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Don't lean on a shovel and pray for a hole." - Tommy Nelson</div></span><p></p> <style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-37966020182231341722021-12-19T06:04:00.003-08:002021-12-19T06:04:54.519-08:00 A Flyover of Christmas History, Folklore, and Celebrations<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Is Christmas based on pagan celebrations? Is there a War On Christmas? Why do we have the decorations we do? What does it even mean to get into the spirit of Christmas? What follows starts 2,000 years ago; meander through the Middle Ages, Puritans, and your local Starbucks; and end up in your heart. I hope you enjoy the journey! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">________________________________________________________</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The date of Jesus’ birth is not known. Dionysius (1st century) is known for doing the historical math and arriving at a birth year around BC 12.[1] Others disagreed.[2] Generally, Jesus’ birth date is now placed around 4 BC, but there is nothing of theological or spiritual significance that hangs on this date. It was not a priority in the early church, and no writer of Scripture saw fit to include a date. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The early church associated birthday celebrations with the pagan gods.[3] Early Christian writers (Irenaeus, 130–200; Tertullian, 155–240; Origen of Alexandria, 165–264) mocked Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices—a strong indication that Jesus’ birth was not marked with festivities at that place and time.[4]Origen (c.185-c.254) said it would be wrong to honor Christ in the same way Pharaoh and Herod were honored. Tertullian did not list it as a Christian holiday for sure.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">When Jesus’ birthdate was discussed, the date would have been figured out from a tradition that martyrs died on the same date they were conceived. If Jesus died on 14 Nisan (March 25), he was conceived on a March 25, which meant he was born on December 25 if the timing was perfect.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Hippolytus' Commentary on Daniel (AD 200) claimed either March or December 25 as the date for Jesus' birth; Clement thought March 25 as the date of Jesus conception, thus 9 months before his birth and death.[5]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i style="text-align: center;"><b>THE ROMAN INTERLUDE: Did Christians Join A Pagan Holiday?<span></span></b></i></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>SATURNALIA:</b> In the time that Jesus was born, Roman had been observing Saturnalia starting December 17 and generally lasting 6 days. It was a holiday in honor of Saturn, “the birthday of the unconquered sun,” and it was a party (to say the least) characterized by a lot of personal and societal chaos. It was a mix of good and bad for sure. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There seems to be little reason to think Christians chose December 25 to join or subvert a pagan holiday. The Jewish population from which Christianity emerged was quite good at establishing their own holidays, and their math was based on Jesus’ death date/conception date. Really, because the early church did not celebrate birthdays, the likelihood of Saturnalia influencing a Christmas celebration is small. The more likely candidate for potential overlap is the next one. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>SOLIS INVICTI.</b><span> “On December 25th, 274 AD, the Emperor Aurelian created a holiday called </span><i>Dies Natalis Solis Invicti</i><span> – the birthday of the Sun – officially elevating the Sun to the highest position among the gods.” [6]</span><span> </span><span>This would be a better candidate for the melding of Christian and pagan holidays, but by the time December 25 becomes a Christian celebration, Solas Invicti was largely more of a cultural festival than a religious one. [7] </span>In fact, a Christian writer in 320 insisted there was a marked difference in intent: “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.”[8]</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">A Roman almanac from 336 that lists the death (and thus birth) dates of various Christian bishops and martyrs, the first date listed, December 25, is marked: <i>natus Christus in Betleem Judeae</i>: “Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea. [9]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">By AD 386, Chrysostom celebrated December 25<sup>th</sup> as Jesus’ birthday, preaching, "Without the birth of Christ there is no <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/baptism-what-is-it-meaning-and-definition.html"><span style="color: black;">Baptism</span></a>, no Passion, no Resurrection, no Ascension and no Pouring out of the <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/10-supernatural-ways-the-holy-spirit-wants-to-empower-you.html"><span style="color: black;">Holy Spirit</span></a>..."[10]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Augustine (354-430 AD) wrote: “So then, let us celebrate the birthday of the Lord with all due festive gatherings.” [11]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 389 St Gregory (one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church) warned against 'feasting in excess, dancing and crowning the doors'. [12] Things were already getting a little rowdy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Feast of the Nativity spread to Egypt (in the 400s), England (in the 500s), Scandinavia by the 700s (we get the language of “Yule” and the tradition of Yule logs from them), and Russia by the 900s.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">During the Middle Ages (400-1400) the church formally increased the focus on Jesus’ birth, but a lot of the informal celebration was not as focused. This is where one could argue that a Saturnalia-type of influence began to significantly overlap. Wikipedia’s article on Saturnalia actually has a really good article making some correlations. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">From the mid-fourth century on, we do find Christians deliberately adapting and Christianizing pagan festivals. A famous proponent of this practice was Pope Gregory the Great, who, in a letter written in 601 C.E. to a Christian missionary in Britain, recommended that local pagan temples not be destroyed but be converted into churches, and that pagan festivals be celebrated as feasts of Christian martyrs. At this late point, Christmas may well have acquired some pagan trappings. But we don’t have evidence of Christians adopting pagan festivals in the third century, at which point dates for Christmas were established.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> [13]</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">One overlap was that the poor would go to the rich and demand their best food and drink, like a Christmas version of trick or treat. There was a significant economic Reason For The Season as Christmas became a time when the poor demanded that the rich unScrooge themselves for at least one holiday. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Catholic Church had the first Midnight Mass on Christmas (“Christ’s Mass”) Eve 1039; it was a celebration that marked a transition from fasting to feasting. [14] As much as the Church formally focused on Jesus, Christmas was never fully able to avoid excess in all kinds of feasting once it got outside the confines of the church building. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In the 12th century, we find the first suggestion that Jesus’ birth was deliberately aligned with pagan feasts. A biblical commentator from Syria claimed the Christmas holiday was actually shifted from January 6 to December 25 to align with the Sol Invictus holiday. There is no reason to believe this is true, though I think it’s fair to say the raucous cultural celebrations had an influence on the informal celebrations of Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Reformers (beginning 1517) hit the holiday celebration issue pretty hard, which is understandable considering the partying that was going on informally and their reforming push for the Catholic Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In the 1640s, Puritan Separatists who ‘separated’ from the Church of England sailed across the pond and came to America, with no desire to continue the observation of Christmas practiced in England. (Christmas was a time of drunkenness, rioting and “misrule’, unfortunately, and the religious tension was, uh, strong).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">When <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/oliver-cromwell"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Oliver Cromwell</span></a> and the Long Parliament took over England around that same time (1645), they vowed to rid England of decadence and, among other things, cancelled all Christian holidays except Sunday. They even changed the name of Christmas to “Christ-tide” to avoid the word “mass.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">AMERICAN HISTORY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Puritans did NOT bring Christmas with them to what we now call the New England states. In fact, from 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston (you could be fined five shillings for exhibiting Christmas spirit). In the War on Christmas in the history of U.S. culture, the Puritans win hands down. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/john-smith"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">John Smith</span></a> reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all at Jamestown, which was settled by Anglicans, people who still were loyal to the Church of England. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Whatever Christmas momentum might have started in Jamestown faded for a while after the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">American Revolution</span></a> (English customs were not popular, as you might imagine). Still, the Anglican South was for more hospitable to Christmas than the Puritan North. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Fast forward to the 1800s. Unemployment and poverty were high, and actual riots by the poor often occurred during Christmas. A policeman was killed trying to stop a fight between Catholics holding a Christmas Mass and Protestant fundamentalists trying to stop them.[15]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“Christmas joined Sabbath observance, slavery, women’s rights, corruption, immorality, crime, drugs, prostitution, gambling and alcohol, as major moral issues that risked plunging the city and the nation into chaos during the early decades of the young republic. In fact, daily violence reached such proportions that in 1828 the city established its first professional<i> </i>police force following an especially violent Christmas riot. “[16]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1819, Washington Irving wrote a book (<u>The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent)</u> that was basically a series of stories/essays that featured an English squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday where the two groups mingled in friendship. To Irving, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday that united people from every walk of life. He also wrote "Diederich Knickerbocker's History of New York," in which Sinterklaes rode through the skies in a horse and wagon and went down chimneys to deliver presents to children. [17] [18]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Around that time (1843), Charles Dickens wrote <u>A Christmas Carol</u>, a novel which had a huge impact in both England the U.S. It prominently features not a conversion to celebrating Jesus, but a conversion to a spirit of generosity (Dickens himself likely saw this as a necessary outworking of honoring the birth of Jesus). “God bless us, everyone,” is experienced through the practical provision charity and generosity and the warmth of family. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The U.S. being the melting pot that it was, people began building traditions from all sorts of sources, [19, 20] Still, as late as 1855, Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists did not celebrate Christmas, while Episcopalian, Catholic and German churches did. [21] Southern Baptists started moving in that direction after the Civil War ended in the 1860s.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In June 26, 1870, Christmas was officially declared a federal holiday (a number of states, especially from the Anglican tradition in the South, had already made it a state holiday).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Interestingly, by the mid 1900s, the main opposition to Christmas celebrations had been either within the church or between Christians and their Jewish spiritual cousins. The growing Jewish population in the U.S. found themselves very much at odds with a celebration of the birth of the Messiah, so they decided to join in attempts to secularize the holiday so it would be more like an American national holiday rather than a religious one. One of the main contributors was Irving Berlin (1888-1989), a Jewish immigrant whose family fled the pogroms in Russia.[22] He composed the all-time Christmas favorite “White Christmas” in 1942. The wait for snow replaces any expectation of the arrival of the Messiah. [23]</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b> </b><b>CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS [24]</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>THE CHRISTMAS TREE: </b>Pagans had long used trees as an accompaniment to their worship (the oak was a popular one). Christianity did not ban trees; it reframed the use. Around 700, the trees associated with pagan worship were replaced by the fir tree as symbol of Christianity (because of its triangle shape /the Trinity). The ‘ever green’ was also associated with eternal life. </span></p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>CHRISTMAS PRESENTS: </b>a reminder of the gifts of the Magi, and of God’s gift of Jesus to us.</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>CANDY CANE:</b> the shepherd’s crook of the Good Shepherd.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>POINSEETTIAS:</b> the star of Bethlehem. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>WREATH:</b> a symbol of true love, which never ceases.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>HOLLY:</b> a symbol of the crown of thorns worn by Christ on the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>BELLS:</b> they stand for joy, and as a reminder that Jesus is the Great High Priest (Jewish priests had bells attached to the hem of their robes).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>TREE BAUBLES OR BALLS:</b> in early church calendars of saints, December 24th was Adam and Eve's day. [25] The Christmas tree became a symbol of the tree of Paradise, and people started decorating it with red apples. Originally the apples were a reminder of sin; they morphed into a symbol for the fruits of the Spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>LIGHTS:</b> around 1500, Martin Luther brought a tree indoors and decorated it with candles in honor of Christ’s birth (indoor stars!). [26] Interesting side note: Thomas Edison (1847-1931) presented his first string of electric Christmas tree lights in 1880. [27] To advertise his new lights, Edison and his General Electric Company sent picture postcards to families in which strings of lights not only decorated the tree but were strung throughout the house. Since these indoor trees needed decorations, a businessman named Woolworth signed a monopoly agreement with the German manufacturers of glass ornaments which he marketed at his growing national chain of stores. The smaller ones sold for 5 cents and the larger ones for 10 cents, thus the origin of the 5 and 10 cent store. [28]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>MISTLETOE</b> (“dung twig”): In the Middle Ages in England, it was hung to ward off evil spirits and witches. In Scandinavia, it was a plant of peace. In Norse legend, it was a symbol that reminded them to protect life. In many cultures it was considered a cure-all medicine. The Catholic church banned it for a while because of how much the pagans loved it, but it’s easy to see how it blended into a celebration of a baby that would heal all nations and bring peace, and who died so we could live. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>SAINT NICHOLAS/SANTA CLAUS</b> The Catholic Church associated gift giving with Saint Nicholas, one of the bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. Legend says he became aware of some desperate needs in his congregation (a family selling their children into slavery, among other things), so he gave money, fruit, food, etc. [29] <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1087, a group of sailors moved his bones to Italy and basically worshipped him. This group (a cult, really) was eventually adopted into German and Celtic pagan religions. These Celts worshipped Odin/Woden (from whom we get the word Wednesday), who had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens. As these Celts converted into the Catholic Church, the church moved that horse ride through the heavens to December 25. St. Nicholas was the rider, not Woden. Problem solved. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1809, Washington Irving (remember him?) wrote a story [30] that featured a white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus. [31]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">An illustrator named Thomas Nast drew more than 2,000 cartoons of Santa for <i>Harper’s Weekly </i>during the mid-late 1800s. Nast added the North Pole, a workshop with elves and the good/bad list. [32] In 1931, Coca Cola insisted that Santa, who was the face of their new campaign, be in a bright, Coca Cola red suit. [33]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Santa Claus: A Christian bishop from the Council of Nicaea filtered through Celtic gods, Dutch culture and American cartoons, and brought to you by Coca-Cola. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>ADVENT (ARRIVAL) </b>Advent as a season had been around a long time, but the first printed Advent calendar appeared in Germany in the early 1900s. During WWII, the Nazi Advent calendar included swastikas and took traditional pictures (like Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus) and retold them (this was a woodcutter, a soldier, and a king who get lost, then meet a woman whose baby has wise advice).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">After the war, commercial production of Christian Advent calendars ramped up. Between that and the GIs who sent them home to their families in the States, it caught on here. [34]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">CURRENT APPLICATION<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">First, I think we need to relax with our concern about the War on Christmas. The early church didn’t celebrate for at least 250 years. For a lot of history, the birth of Christ was probably dishonored by how Christians informally celebrated. 200 years ago, if Starbucks had existed, and if they had put out cups promoting Christmas, we would have boycotted them. 200 years from now, that might be the case again. This holiday has been full of tensions <i>among Christians</i> over how to properly celebrate. The celebratory side has run the gamut from profoundly holy to amazingly vulgar, and finding a way to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a way that continually elevates Christ rather than money and over-indulgence has historically proven difficult. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Second, I can’t imagine Jesus or the early church encouraging Christians to be offended that those outside the church don’t embrace this time as a celebration of Jesus like we do. We, of all people, ought to be showing what good will on earth looks like. If Starbucks wants to print a cup that says “Happy Saturnalia,” and businesses require employees to say “Happy Humbug,” that’s their call. They don’t worship Jesus like I do; I don’t expect them to respond to his birth like I do. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p>To Christians, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of The King, and as such is loaded with implications of allegiance. I would expect this space to be a spiritual battleground of sorts in the sense that our allegiances and our hearts are tested. It’s unsettling to the leaders of earthly empires and spiritual principalities and powers that there is King to whom millions give their highest allegiance. The celebration of Christmas will always be joyfully tumultuous in the world. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Third, probably our biggest challenge as Christians is to make sure that our Christmas celebrations do not settle into the secularized version that focuses <i>merely </i>on giving gifts, feeling good and warm, and offering vague sentiments about peace and happiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I am not opposed to those things – I like all of those things, in fact – but I suspect we are far more likely to miss the heart of Christmas when our hearts are distracted rather than when a courthouse lawn doesn’t have a crèche or a school says “holiday break” instead of “Christmas break.” Donald Heinz [35] notes we must be careful not to focus <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“…on all the materials that claim to be good instead of on the Good that claims to be material [in Jesus].” <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other things can be a great and meaningful contribution – our gift-giving reminds us of the One who gave his life; our blessing others overflows from how God has blessed us; our feasting mimics the love feasts of the early church and points toward Revelation's Marriage Supper of the Lamb – but for Christians, those find their meaning, and the eternal hope, peace and joy we celebrate at Christmas - through Jesus. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></span></a> He received a tradition that the Roman emperor Augustus reigned 43 years and was followed by the emperor Tiberius. Jesus was 30 in the 15<sup>th</sup> year of Tiberius’ reign (Luke 3), which meant he lived 15 years under Augustus (so, born in the 28<sup>th</sup> year of Augustus reign).<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span></span></a> An anonymous document from North Africa placed Jesus birth on March 28; Clement (bishop of Alexandria) thought Jesus was born on November 18. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[3]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/why-december-25.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/why-december-25.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[4]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span></span></a> <a href="https://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/no-christmas-is-not-based-on-pagan.html?utm_content=bufferc1d95&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">https://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2015/12/no-christmas-is-not-based-on-pagan.html?utm_content=bufferc1d95&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[6]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-very-non-christian-history-of-christmas_us_5a30701de4b04bd8793e955d">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-very-non-christian-history-of-christmas_us_5a30701de4b04bd8793e955d</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/did-romans-invent-christmas">https://www.historytoday.com/archive/did-romans-invent-christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span></span></a> <a href="http://www.religionfacts.com/christmas">http://www.religionfacts.com/christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[9]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[10]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html">https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[11]</span></span></a> <a href="http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1046">http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1046</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[12]</span></span></a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas_1.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas_1.shtml</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span></span></a> “<a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/?fbclid=IwAR2fPwOV2O-kks_7IJwDMbm-cBf0ZCpcB_DIzTv-JhaF8avlh9J0u3Mlcd4">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/?fbclid=IwAR2fPwOV2O-kks_7IJwDMbm-cBf0ZCpcB_DIzTv-JhaF8avlh9J0u3Mlcd4</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[14]</span></span></a> <a href="http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=996">http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=996</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[15]</span></span></a> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span></span></a> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[17]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/new-york-invented-christmas-article-1.276163">https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/new-york-invented-christmas-article-1.276163</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn18" title="">[18]</a> In 1821, an American children's book called "The Children's Friend" changed Santa's horse and wagon to a reindeer and sleigh.</span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[19]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas">https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span></span></a> For example, German immigrants brought their tradition of putting lights, sweets and toys on the branches of evergreen trees placed in their homes.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[21]</span></span></a> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn22" title="">[22]</a> His family left Russia 3 years before the setting of Fiddler On The Roof. The only memory he would talk about was watching his family’s home burn to the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[23]</span></span></a> In Philip Roth’s novel <u>Operation Shylock</u> (1993), Roth boasts that Irving “de-Christs” Christmas. “He turns Christmas into a holiday about snow—he turns their religion into schlock (Yiddish for something cheap, shoddy, or inferior)… If supplanting Jesus Christ with snow can enable my people to cozy up to Christmas, then let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.” <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[24]</span></span></a> As for nativity scenes…the Gospels do not mention there being any oxen, donkeys, camels or Magi at the manger. The <i>Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew</i>, a medieval text, has heavily influenced the images in our heads as well as our Christmas songs.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Tradition about the Magi built from some assumptions from OT passages (Isaiah 1:2-3; 60:3, 6, 10-11;Psalm 72:10). An early church leader named Origen decided that Genesis 22 had something to say about the Magi, so he set the number at 3. Don’t ask me to explain why.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[25]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml">https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span></span></a> A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[27]</span></span></a> My Grandma was 6 years old when Thomas Edison died. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[28]</span></span></a> <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span></span></a> <a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html">https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-origin-of-christmas-traditions-and-christs-birth-1457395.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span></span></a>A satire of Dutch culture called <i>Knickerbocker History</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn31"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn31" title="">[31]</a> In 1822, we got this iconic poem (based on Irving’s writing): <i>“Twas the night before Christmas… in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” </i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn32"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[32]</span></span></a> “During the American Civil War, Nast mobilized Santa as a representation of American nationalism, often portraying him wearing a blue outfit with stars distributing gifts to Union soldiers and referring to him as ‘Santa Claus.’” <a href="https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs">https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=nyscas_pubs</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn33"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span></span></a> <a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/history-of-christmas/2566272.html">https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/history-of-christmas/2566272.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn34"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[34]</span></span></a> The first chocolate Advent calendar appeared in 1958; by 1971, Cadbury was all over it. Advent is now a chocolate cash cow.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn35"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span></span></a> I am quoting from a review of his book, <u>Christmas: Festival Of Incarnation</u> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-49678412700754952192021-10-29T09:55:00.002-07:002021-11-29T03:54:07.970-08:00A Response to, "For Christians, Dying From COVID (Or Anything Else) Is A Good Thing"<p> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I recently read an article at The Federalist called, "For Christians, Dying From COVID (Or Anything Else) Is A Good Thing." </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I found myself…unsettled as I read.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s not that I am bothered by the difference of opinion I have with the author about what churches should do or how cautiously Christians should respond to COVID. I think there is room for good faith disagreements as people genuinely wrestle with what to do.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I’m bothered by the manner in which the argument is made, especially because it misuses Scripture in the process of making the argument. This is a long post, but there is much to be said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I do not offer the following response to impugn the character of the writer, but to sort through the validity and soundness of the logical and scriptural arguments being made. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The quotes from the article are in italics; my response follows each quote.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">__________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Blaming people for contracting a catchy virus has been one of many widely deployed COVID manipulation tactics. That has shifted into blaming people for dying of a catchy virus after they decided their risks from taking the vaccines outweighed their risks from catching the disease. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Blaming is, according to multiple dictionaries, “assigning responsibility.” If someone who has smoked for thirty years gets lung cancer, we make the connection. It’s a tragedy, but it’s not, sadly, unexpected. There is proper blame to be placed in that case – not vindictively or maliciously, but simply as a matter of connecting the dots. If someone unexpectedly gets lung cancer, we have a different response: the patient is not to blame.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">There is a distinction between someone who catches COVID <i>in spite of</i> taking measures (of any kind) to stay healthy safe and someone who gets sick <i>because of</i> not exercising reasonable caution. There must be room here for a recognition that principles of cause and effect are at work in the world. Actions and inactions have consequences. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I certainly don’t like the hostility and shaming I have seen in some circles toward those who are unvaccinated and tragically die. As far as I know, those individuals were doing things other than taking vaccines in hopes of offsetting the ravages of COVID. Even if I think their approach is misguided, I respect that they were attempting to make wise choices. Even if they weren’t taking any precautions, I wouldn’t see that as a reason or feel like it was appropriate to shame them in death. It would be a time to grieve.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Shaming people for dying by accident is a bit twisted, but it might make sense if you believe life is over once a person stops breathing, and so cling to the illusion of human control over death to avoid the terror of acknowledging that’s impossible. It’s such pagan assumptions driving the ridiculous number of news articles with fear-porn titles like these: “</i><a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article254468953.html"><i>Kansas City area official who died from COVID was unvaccinated, ‘felt he was immune</i></a><i>’”; “</i><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/video/news/health/coronavirus/unvaccinated-husband-and-wife-die-of-covid-19-leaving-5-children-behind/65-6d3fd079-0ed0-4999-9cab-febd55fc81f3"><i>Unvaccinated husband and wife die of COVID-19 leaving 5 children behind</i></a><i>“; “</i><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/unvaccinated-father-inspired-other-family-members-get-shot-before-dying-covid-1634890"><i>Unvaccinated Father Inspired Other Family Members to Get Shot Before Dying From COVID</i></a><i>“; “</i><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/bride-planning-funeral-instead-wedding-after-unvaccinated-groom-dies-covid-1638189"><i>Bride Planning Funeral Instead of Wedding After Unvaccinated Groom Dies From COVID</i></a><i>.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The idea that we “…cling to the illusion of human control over death to avoid the terror of acknowledging that’s impossible” caught my eye. If we truly – truly – believed that there was nothing we could do to impact the timing of our death, we would live with utterly reckless abandonment. We would:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->eat anything we wanted no matter the health risk<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->drive like no one else was on the road and ditch the seat belt<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->never take supplements, vitamins or medicine<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->pour gas on a campfire right out of the can <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->resist treating cancer or going to the hospital when we have a heart attack<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->stop locking our doors at night<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->never call 911 in a health emergency<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">We don’t do this. There is a reason gun owners stress the importance of gun safety: they know that a gun used improperly can kill people. Yet I never hear them say, “You know what? If it’s our time to go, it’s our time to go. Point that wherever you want to and keep it loaded at all times for all I care.” As the course of our lives unfold, even we Christians, whether overflowing with or desperately lacking faith, think it’s reasonable to make smart decisions that steward our health and the health of others. I don’t understand why we have set COVID-related responses apart from literally everything else we do. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Christian teaching diametrically opposes the underlying theology pushed in such articles and in many other popular COVID narratives. That’s true despite the appearance generated by the majority of Western churches prioritizing obedience to men </i><a href="https://biblia.com/books/esv/Ac5.29"><i>instead of to God</i></a><i> by shutting themselves down over COVID-19. Doing so contradicts numerous clear commands of scripture.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">First, there are so many passages in Scripture on personal responsibility and stewardship of self and others. It is expected that we steward ourselves and others. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Second, God ordained human government and other structures of authority. There are times when it’s part of God’s plan that we are obedient to people. Clearly, there are times when following the orders of people would cause us to sin; that, of course, is where we draw the line. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">A key question is if the church would sin when responding to COVID mandates (like suspending corporate meetings) or it would be properly responding to God-ordained authority. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Last year I did a series of videos and articles on how to respond as Christians to the different dilemmas COVID brought. When I looked into history for precedent, I did not find as much as I would have hoped. However, I found at least a few times that civil authorities asked churches to join their community’s fight against disease by suspending services in order to stop the spread. <b>Historically, the church has followed the law when civil authorities asked them to stop large corporate gatherings in times of disease. It was seen as a reasonable thing to do.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">During the plague in Milan in the 1500s, churches were closed. St Charles became famous during this time. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal">He had altars set up in the streets so that people could see Mass celebrated from their windows; small groups of magistrates and religious orders would walk through the streets so people could see that their officials and clergy had not fled.<a name="_ftnref1" title="">[1]</a><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal">He practiced social distancing, putting up a grille so those consulting him would not be infected if he were sick. <o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal">Those who gave Communion to the sick were told to hold their fingers in a candle flame immediately afterwards. <o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal">Priests heard Confessions through closed doors, holding a stick to measure the distance they should stand from the threshold.<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal">Booklets were distributed with prayers to use at certain times of day, when the Cathedral’s bells would be rung so everyone knew that they were praying together.<a name="_ftnref2" title="">[2]</a><o:p></o:p></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">In the 1600s, Puritan Richard Baxter has a section in one of his books where he says, “If the magistrate asks you to refrain from meeting because of a pestilence, you do not meet. On the other hand, if the magistrate tries to force you not to meet because of persecution of Christianity, you meet anyway.”<a name="_ftnref3" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The following is an excerpt from <i>The Practical Works of Richard Baxter</i>, the fifth volume, in his <i>Christian Ecclesiastics</i>, where he details answers to nearly 200 questions dealing with Christians and matters of conscience. I am updating the English, because it’s old and weird. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>BAXTER ON MEETING WHEN FORBIDDEN BY THE GOVERNMENT</b> </i><b><i>Question 109: May we omit church assemblies on the Lord's Day if the magistrate forbid them?</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Answer:</i><i> It is one thing to forbid them for a time for some special cause such as infection by pestilence, fire, war, and another to forbid them continuously or profanely. It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it as an ordinary thing….The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished: If the magistrate, for a greater good (such as common safety) forbids church assemblies in a time of pestilence, assault of enemies, or fire, or a similar necessity, it is a duty to obey him. Positive duties (like assembly) give place to those great natural duties (I assume by this he means protecting human life) which are the purpose of the positive duties. Christ justified himself and his disciples’ violation of the positive duty of the rest of the Sabbath by saying, “The sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath” – in other words, it gave place to a greater duty. Because positive duties do not always bind us, keeping out-of-season duties become sins, because one individual Lord's day or assembly is not to be preferred over the observation of many of Lord’s days assemblies, and the many are likely to be obtained by the omission of the one. If princes profanely forbid holy assemblies and public worship… as a renunciation of Christ and our religion, it is not lawful to obey them. But it is lawful and even prudent… to omit some assemblies for a time, that we may have opportunity for more assemblies… “<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The Yellow Fever was an ongoing problem in the United States in the 1800s. Cities and churches responded very differently. In some places, meetings were suspended;<a name="_ftnref4" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></sup></sup></a> in other places, they were not.<a name="_ftnref5" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></sup></sup></a> It certainly didn’t help that there was a LOT of misinformation and misunderstanding about how the plague was spread, who was susceptible, etc. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Washington DC churches responded to a ban on public gatherings in 1918 by voting unanimously to agree with the decree. The pastors released the following statement:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Resolved, in view of the prevailing condition of our city (the widespread prevalence of influenza, that has called forth the request from the District of Columbia Commissioners) we do place ourselves on record as cheerfully complying with the request of the Commissioners, which, we understand applies to all churches alike. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">One hundred and thirty-one African-American churches also suspended services. Although personal responses to this order were mixed, churches demonstrated a unified response. One Presbyterian Church explained their cancellation of services in the following way:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Inasmuch as it has seemed wise to the Commissioners of the District to prohibit the gathering of the people on Sunday in their accustomed places of worship, may I suggest that at the usual hour of morning service you gather in your homes and unite in common prayer to the God of Nations and of families, that He will guide us in all wisdom in this time of trial, that our physicians and public officers may be led in their performance of duty and be strengthened by divine help, that the people may be wise and courageous, each in his place. Let us never forget that “Help cometh from the lord which made heaven and earth.” Behold He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.<a name="_ftnref6" title=""><sup><b><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></sup></b></sup></a><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">To be sure, they lobbied consistently to meet again as soon as they could. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">In an article entitled <a href="https://religionnews.com/2020/04/16/a-pandemic-billy-sunday-could-not-shut-down/">"A pandemic Billy Sunday could not shut down," </a>evangelical historian John Fea notes how prolific evangelist Billy Sunday went from claiming the Spanish flu was "fake news" by the Germans in WW1 ("The whole thing is a part of their propaganda; it started over there in Spain, where they scattered germs around, and that’s why you ought to dig down all the deeper and buy more Liberty bonds") to agreeing to suspend his revival meetings when the Providence Board of Aldermen closed all the city’s public venues. He said, “It is up to us to hope and pray. We are always willing to help anything that is for the public good and do it cheerfully. There is nothing drastic in the (aldermen’s) order, and it is issued in an attempt to stamp out this epidemic.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>It’s a mark of the weakness of the Western church that more church leaders have not proclaimed this to the world by now. They’ve left standing for basics of the faith to the far too few strong pastors such as </i><a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/calif-la-to-pay-800k-in-settlement-with-john-mcarthurs-church.html"><i>John MacArthur</i></a><i> and </i><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/capitol-hill-baptist-church-dc-settlement-covid-restrictions"><i>Mark Dever</i></a><i>. Let’s go through a few of these clear biblical teachings that even this theologically basic laywoman knows thanks to parents who read the Bible to her growing up and excellent pastoral instruction since then.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><i> </i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>For one thing, Christians believe that life and death belong entirely to God. There is nothing we can do to make our days on earth one second longer or shorter: “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” </i><a href="https://biblehub.com/psalms/139-16.htm"><i>says the Psalmist</i></a><i>. “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s,” says Saint Paul in Romans 14:8.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Okay, once again: we do not live as the author is suggesting in any other area of life. We assume personal responsibility is a thing. Would we say, as we step off a third story balcony, “God decides when I die, not gravity?” Would we cross a highway on foot without looking because “God will decided when I die, not a semi”? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I think the author is confusing what God <i>declares must</i> happen with what God <i>permits to</i> happen. God permits us to reap what we sow. God permits consequences. We are moral agents; our choices matter. The first verse simply notes God knows how our life is going to unfold; it should be read alongside <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+7%3A17&version=ESV"><b>Ecclesiastes 7:17</b></a><b> </b> <b>(“</b>Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?” and Proverbs 10:27 (<b>“</b>The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.”) <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">In addition, I think a logical conclusion from the author’s stance is that there is no need to fight abortion, because there is nothing that can be done on earth to make that unborn baby’s life one second longer. And if God claims the souls of the unborn for himself (as I believe He does), are we pro-life advocates not robbing them of the joy of heaven? I don’t think this, of course, and I am quite certain the author doesn’t either. But it seems like an unavoidable conclusion based on what she has written. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>For another thing, for Christians, death is good. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Yes and no. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Yes, in the sense that the one who dies enter into a better place: eternal life. “To die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). The mortal becomes immortal, the corruptible incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:54).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">And yet….Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead. <a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/raised-from-the-dead.html" target="_blank">The Bible records ten people brought back to life.</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">One would think that, if dying was the ultimate good, we ought not rejoice or marvel at any of these incidents recorded in Scripture. And yet we see them as miraculous gifts rather than the individual being robbed of heaven. Why is that? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Yes, death is also an evil — its existence is a result of sin. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">This, too, seems like a really important point. Death has marred the world, not enhanced it. To die is gain for the Christian who dies, but living is also important. It turns out lots of people are impacted by our death. Grief and loss can be brutal. And as in so many other areas of life where we seek to offset the ravages of sin in a broken world, we seek to avoid unnecessary death as well. We try to get better from diseases. We let doctors attempt to heal us when we are dying. We constantly make decisions to prolong our days (Proverbs 3:2), recognizing that God has a purpose for our earthly life.<a name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></a> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I should have died of a massive heart attack 6 years ago. I had a 100% blockage Widow Maker. I have only found one other person who has survived that, and I have really searched. Since then, I have realized I’m pretty comfortable with the idea of my own death. However, I have a wife and three boys who are not so comfortable with that idea. I would like to be around for them as long as I can. This is not me fearing death or clinging to some pagan notion that this life is all there is; this is me wanting to be a present and responsible husband and father to my family.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>But, thanks be to God, Jesus Christ has redeemed even death. In his resurrection, Christ has transformed death into a portal to eternal life for Christians. What Satan meant for evil, God has </i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Genesis%2050:20"><i>transformed into good</i></a><i>. Verse three of the 1540 Dutch hymn, “</i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/LSB2006/745"><i>In God, My Faithful God</i></a><i>,” beautifully expresses this timeless theology:<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>If death my portion be,<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>It brings great gain to me;<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>It speeds my life’s endeavor<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>To live with Christ forever.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>He gives me joy in sorrow,<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Come death now or tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Christian faith makes it very clear that death, while sad to those left behind and a tragic consequence of human sin, is now good for all who believe in Christ. A Christian funeral is a cause for rejoicing, albeit understandably through tears from those of us temporarily left behind.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Yes. Jesus has redeemed even death, so death is a cause for rejoicing for the one who’s gone to be with Jesus for eternity. I’m not sure how this relates to living in such a way that we take reasonable precautions to avoid our own death or potentially stop the spead of a fatal disease to others. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord,” says 2 Corinthians 5:8. This is not a small or unclear doctrine. It is </i><a href="https://www.openbible.info/topics/our_home_in_heaven"><i>repeated over and over again</i></a><i> in scripture. It flatly rejects the heathen idea that death is to be avoided at any cost.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">First of all, that verse is an encouragement in the midst of persecution: “If people torture and kill you for your faith, you will soon be with Jesus. Stay strong.” It’s not meant to suggest we be irresponsible in the use of the life God has given us. There is a vast difference between avoiding death and avoiding death at all cost. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Think of it this way: we all argue that life is precious; that our lives matter. We also recognize that while we are on this earth, we have the opportunity to represent God as His ambassador and spread the good news of the gospel to everyone we meet. The more we can reach, the better. So why would we not seek to avoid death if it gives us more opportunity to advance the Kingdom of God? It’s not an avoidance based on fear; it’s not an avoidance based thinking this life is better than the next. It’s an avoidance based on the premise that our lives here have an impact that ripples into eternity. Think of Paul, who couldn’t wait to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5), and yet who constantly ran away from avoidable death. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">There is another level of discussion worth having here as well. Christians have always rejected suicide. One ought not take their own life through acts of commission (active suicide) or omission (passive suicide). We assume we have a responsibility to steward our body; it is, after all, the temple of the Holy Spirit. This remains true during a pandemic. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Our Christian heritage also rejects the avoidance of death at any cost by venerating the millions of martyrs we honor precisely for choosing to confess Christ despite the indescribable costs to them of comfort, health, and life itself. Still today, our brothers and sisters are routinely martyred in countries like Communist China. In the Middle East, Christians are raped and ethnically cleansed to punish their beliefs. It’s time for we comparatively comfortable Westerners to despise the shame and get back to running our race like their fellow Christians, not cowards.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Once again, this is about not denying a commitment to Jesus. It’s about an attempt to exercise proper precautions so that our friends and neighbors are not put in harm’s way to the point of death. Here in Michigan, churches were exempt from all the closings. Most churches chose to close anyway for a time, not because the boot of the state was threating to stamp them out, but because church leaders were attempting to stop the march of a pandemic that is killing people who need Jesus. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>As </i><a href="https://www.biblehub.com/nkjv/philippians/1.htm"><i>the Apostle Paul proclaimed,</i></a><i> “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” He, of course, himself went on to make good on that statement with a martyr’s death.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">This is the same Paul who escaped and/or avoided all the persecution he could so that he was still around to spread the gospel. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>If he can do that, we can go to our safe, air-conditioned churches and worship. We can even go to the hospital rooms and bedrooms of those dying with infectious diseases and love them to the end, like the imitations of our Master Christians have boldly shown themselves to be for centuries, putting pagans to shame.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Giving our lives for the dying when there is no one else to care for them has been modeled by the church for 2,000 years. Demanding that we be allowed to continue to meet on our terms in our safe, air-conditioned churches is not. If we did not spread the disease to others, and all that was at stake was our own personal health, I could envision an argument that calls Christians to step up. But the nature of a pandemic of this sort is that my attendance may put my neighbor’s life at risk, not mine. There are all kinds of passages about giving our own lives for others; there are no passages about making other people potentially forfeit their lives.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Christian church has always faced a stronger prospect of suffering and death because “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” We are instructed to be, not driven by “consensus” and social comfort, but the truth as God has given it to us in His Word.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Right. That has to do with protecting the faith by making sure the voices that form our orthodoxy and orthopraxy are Christian. That is very different from seeking informed medical decisions about how to best keep ourselves and those around us safe during a pandemic. This isn’t about social comfort; it’s about an attempt to exercise social responsibility even if it brings discomfort – and often in spite of it bringing discomfort. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Christ our Lord </i><a href="https://biblehub.com/esv/matthew/10.htm"><i>says</i></a><i> in the 10th chapter of Matthew, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” It is this commanded, holy fear of God before all others that motivates not just the noble martyrs but all Christians today who decline to obey the rulers whose commands contradict God’s.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">First, making decisions intended to keep others alive during a pandemic strikes me as something God would favor. Ecclesiastes talks about there being seasons for all kinds of things. Surely there is pandemic season, and in it we make exceptions we would not otherwise in an effort to protect human life.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Second, the implication here is that not gathering in our church building on a Sunday morning during a pandemic is a command that contradicts God’s command to gather together. We have to clarify a couple things. First, what counts as ‘gather together’? Does it only count if we drive to a church building on Sunday mornings? Are there ever exceptions? Do small groups or home churches count? Here’s a more uncomfortable question: How many of have given ourselves some Sundays off? Were we sinning that Sunday? If not, why not? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Jesus is direct about what obeying Him, rather than men, can cost. He endured the worst of this cost Himself. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you,” </i><a href="https://biblehub.com/nkjv/john/15.htm"><i>Jesus says</i></a><i> in John. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">This has nothing to do with suspending in-person services for a season in the midst of a pandemic.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>A bit later in that gospel, Jesus again </i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2016:32-33&version=NKJV"><i>emphasizes</i></a><i>: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” To put it simply, people who want an effort-free, comfort-filled life need to fight that to be Christians.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Agreed. But just to clarify, Jesus is emphasizing persecution, not disease. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Christians are explicitly called to spurn pagans’ approval, advice, and beliefs for the sake of our souls: “Enter by the narrow gate,” </i><a href="https://biblehub.com/esv/matthew/7.htm"><i>Christ says in Matthew</i></a><i>. “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Responding to a medical crisis is not what this verse is talking about. And I need some clarification on what all we should spurn from the pagans. Because of common grace, truth and knowledge “rain on the just and unjust.” You don’t have to be a Christian to know things: in this case, to know things about medicine. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>In a time of crisis, what do people need most? Christians believe the answer to that is: Jesus. Not food, not water, not even health. First and foremost, we need Jesus.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Yes, first and foremost. But adding food, water and health is not contradictory. This is a both/and, not an either/or. The person bleeding out needs a tourniquet. The starving person needs food. I think Jesus had a parable about the importance of meeting the physical needs of people, almost as if what we doing stuff for them is like doing stuff for Jesus.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>This is why, for example, it has been the historic practice of the Christian church for pastors to bring the Sacraments to the sick and dying. Our faithful fathers and mothers knew that, while God certainly works through doctors and scientists, the most important work, one that belongs utterly to Him, is the “medicine of immortality.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“God certainly works through doctors and scientists” is actually a really important point. Remember the joke about the guy stranded on the roof of his house during a flood? He prays to be rescued, then keeps ignoring all the people who show up to rescue him because he wanted something miraculous. I’m also thinking of a saying I heard recently: “Don’t expect God to dig a hole for you while you are leaning on a shovel.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>It is this medicine that we sacramentalists crave and receive each Sunday.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I am sympathetic to this view for the sacramentalists who believes that communion is a means of grace, and therefore must be consumed on a regular basis. However, as the author noted, the sacrament can be brought to people.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> It is why there is for us no such thing as “Zoom church.” Church is not church without Jesus, and where </i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2018%3A20&version=KJV"><i>has Jesus promised to be</i></a><i>? “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The quoted verse is about church discipline. If you have a Bible that offers little headings for different areas of focus, the heading will tell you that. “Dealing With Sin in the Church” is the headline in the NIV. It has nothing to do with corporate worship gatherings. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">As for Zoom church services which allow participation in a service: does this suggest that homebound parishioners are not capable of being part of a church if they participate online? This is not the ideal, and I would argue that those who can be in person should be physically present, but I would be loathe to claim that those who have no other choice are not participating in church.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Where else has Jesus promised to be? In </i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2010:17&version=NKJV"><i>his Word</i></a><i> and </i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+10%3A16&version=NKJV"><i>Holy Communion</i></a><i>. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Well, and in the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3). And in His temple which is us (1 Corinthians 6:19). And everywhere (Jeremiah 23:23), and “with us always, even unto the ends of the earth” (Matthew 28:20). <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>We can’t get those at home by ourselves.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">As the author herself noted a few paragraphs earlier, communion can be brought to you. Even the most strict sacramentalists allow for this. And His Word? You can absolutely get that at home. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>That’s why we’re commanded to “not forsak[e] the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is” (Hebrews 10:25).<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">That’s a verse about people being together in order to encourage each other <i>as a course of habit</i> vs. not gathering together <i>as a course of habit </i>(or so the NIV translates <i>ethos</i>). It’s not about pausing corporate gatherings in order to stop the spread of a virus in the midst of a pandemic. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">In addition, since a key point of living in consistent church community has to do with accountability and support (as the context of Hebrews 10:25 stresses), one can certainly argue this can be experienced other ways besides being in person in a central building every Sunday if the need arises. Alternatives are not ideal, but they are not inherently sinful. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>To forsake assembling for worship also breaks the Third Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” We break this commandment, says Martin Luther’s catechism, when we “despise or neglect God’s Word,” which means “failing to gather together in worship to receive God’s Word and Sacraments” and “rejecting or disregarding God’s Word.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"> “First, the Sabbath was intended to help people, not burden them. In contrast with the grueling daily work as slaves in Egypt, the Israelites were commanded to take a full day of rest each week under the Mosaic Law. Pharisaical law had morphed the Sabbath into a burden, adding restrictions beyond what God’s law said…Jesus gives a similar reminder in <span class="MsoHyperlink">Mark 3:1–6</span> (also <span class="MsoHyperlink">Matthew 12:9–14</span>; <span class="MsoHyperlink">Luke 6:6–11</span>) when He heals a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were looking to accuse Jesus and closely watched His response to a man with a shriveled hand. “Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent” (<span class="MsoHyperlink">Mark 3:4</span>). The Sabbath was not intended to burden people but to ease their burden. For someone to forbid acts of mercy and goodness on God’s day of rest is contrary to all that is right…As believers, set free in Christ, we are not judged by whether or not we keep the Sabbath day (<span class="MsoHyperlink">Colossians 2:16</span>). Instead, we follow the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ. We find our rest in Him, and seven days a week are filled with worship of Him.” <a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/Sabbath-made-for-man.html">https://www.gotquestions.org/Sabbath-made-for-man.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Second, by all means, let’s look at Luther. This is from a letter he wrote concerning advice during the Black Plague. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">“They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are.<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">“They say that it is God’s punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so without medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health...<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">“It is even more shameful for a person to pay no heed to his own body and to fail to protect it against the plague the best he is able, and then to infect and poison others who might have remained alive if he had taken care of his body as he should have. <b>He is thus responsible before God for his neighbor’s death and is a murderer many times over.</b> Indeed, such people behave as though a house were burning in the city and nobody were trying to put the fire out. Instead they give leeway to the flames so that the whole city is consumed, saying that if God so willed, he could save the city without water to quench the fire…<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">“No, my dear friends, that is no good. If the people in a city were to show themselves bold in their faith when a neighbor’s need so demands, and cautious when no emergency exists, and if everyone would help ward off contagion as best he can, then the death toll would indeed be moderate. But if some are too panicky and desert their neighbors in their plight, and if some are so foolish as not to take precautions but aggravate the contagion, then the devil has a heyday and many will die. On both counts this is a grievous offense to God and to man — here it is tempting God; there it is bringing man into despair...<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">“It is not forbidden but rather commanded that by the sweat of our brow we should seek our daily food, clothing, and all we need and avoid destruction and disaster whenever we can, as long as we do so without detracting from our love and duty toward our neighbor. How much more appropriate it is therefore to seek to preserve life and avoid death if this can be done without harm to our neighbor, inasmuch as life is more than food and clothing, as Christ himself says in Matthew 5 [6:25].<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">“If someone is so strong in faith, however, that he can willingly suffer nakedness, hunger, and want without tempting God and not trying to escape, although he could do so, let him continue that way, but let him not condemn those who will not or cannot do the same… “<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><i> </i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>“How few are we within Thy fold, Thy saints by men forsaken! True faith seems quenched on every hand, Men suffer not Thy Word to stand; Dark times have us oe’rtaken,” laments Luther in </i><a href="https://hymnary.org/text/look_down_o_lord_from_heaven_behold#instances"><i>one of his Reformation hymns</i></a><i>. “…May God root out all heresy And of false teachers rid us.” <o:p></o:p></i><i>Sin destroys faith. </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><i>It is time for Christians individually and corporately to repent for the way we and our institutions responded to the COVID-19 outbreak. Our refusal to preach and obey the clear teachings of the Bible amid the world’s panic have betrayed Our Lord. Thanks be to God, there’s a way out for us. It’s the same as for Saint Peter, the coward Christ transformed into a lion. That way out is repentance! Then let us rejoice and sin no more.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Oh. So many thoughts here. Those who never stopped meeting, those who stopped and restarted, those who now meet with mitigations in place – they are all trying to follow the clear teaching of the Bible. I’d like to note how churches around the world have responded. This does not mean everyone is right; I only offer this because Christians everywhere are struggling with knowing what to do. Christians everywhere are balancing biblical tensions. And Christians everywhere are responding in different ways.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“In Italy, as elsewhere, Mass has been canceled to avoid people gathering. The Vatican said earlier that Holy Week and Easter services would be held without public participation, a step believed to be unprecedented in modern times.”<a name="_ftnref8" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The Lutheran World Federation’s statement to their congregation around the world: “We advise you to follow instructions from the public health structures of your countries and to follow the World Health Organization that is coordinating the global response to the outbreak.” <a name="_ftnref9" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“As India continues its attempt at the world’s biggest social isolation effort to halt the new coronavirus outbreak, millions are struggling to navigate weeks of canceled public transit, closed businesses, and therefore no Sunday services. After greeting Christians and praising “Lord Christ” in Good Friday and Easter tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this week his decision to extend the lockdown until May 3, due to the lack of widespread testing for the virus as the death toll rises. However, despite all the disruption and our inability to worship together as usual, I believe the pandemic lockdown is being used by God to use his church in a new way.”<a name="_ftnref10" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></sup></sup></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“The Church of God in Latin America has not been immune, either to the virus or to the resulting economic crisis. Several pastors and countless church members have been infected. The church in Tela, Honduras, recently lost a key leader, a father of young children, to the virus. Church services have been suspended for months, and since very few congregations have an option for online giving, pastors have gone weeks without income. Churches that can collect tithes and offerings do not receive much since so many of their congregants have lost their jobs.The situation is dire, and, yet there is a sense of hope. Even as we hear stories of struggle, we also see that God is at work. Nearly every conversation reminds us of how much we as North Americans have to learn from our brothers and sisters south of the border. A few days ago, I participated in Costa Rica’s monthly pastors’ meeting. Because Costa Rica has thus far struggled less than many countries, some churches have been allowed to open with strict hygiene protocols. Services are restricted to one hour and fifteen minutes (they normally last at least two). Congregants must wash their hands and sanitize their shoes on arrival. They have to wear masks and maintain social distancing. And, perhaps most difficult, singing is strictly off-limits.”<a name="_ftnref12" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“The churches in France and Italy are slowly returning to their church buildings, worshipping and praying side by side with people they haven’t seen in nearly four months. In France, some churches will have the capacity to receive back most of their members, but in Italy there are still some restrictions. These new ministry tools are still in use, and the churches continue looking for new and innovative ways to preach the gospel as they move forward into a new normal.”<a name="_ftnref13" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“The coronavirus global pandemic has forced the widespread closure of churches throughout the world, including Anglican churches in Melbourne, Australia and throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion. But churches have urged their members to remain active, helping each other and the community amid the growing threat from the COVID-19 virus. Worship services are also being livestreamed over the internet where possible.<a name="_ftnref14" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“Father Healey’s primary ministry in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is with small Christian communities... When the government stopped all gatherings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the small Christian community meetings were suspended, along with Masses and other church services throughout Kenya. In addition, four major cities, including Nairobi, restricted travel. The 5,500 communities in the capital were left with a simple choice, “go digital or die,” Father Healey said. “Now a window has opened, namely online small Christian communities that are also called virtual SCCs and digital SCCs,” said the missionary from Baltimore. Instead of physically going to a home in the local neighborhood, the parish or another meeting location, members of the “jumuiya” — Swahili for community — gather online, either via computer or their mobile phones, he said.... 'Many Catholics in Kenya have turned the problem of closed churches on Sunday into an opportunity.”<a name="_ftnref15" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">“Israel's caretaker-government has steadily tightened restrictions to stem the spread of the virus. Gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned. Residents should only venture out from their homes within a 100-meter radius or to buy essential items. Christian (and Islamic) leaders have adopted these emergency regulations. "This year, in short, there are cancellations, postponements and modifications: It will be an Easter week with the most live-streaming to date," says Wadie Abunassar, media advisor to the Catholic bishops in Jerusalem. "There will be no public processions, especially not along the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday. This is to keep people safe."<a name="_ftnref16" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[16]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Here is a really good article from Christianity Today about lessons from churches in Singapore<a name="_ftnref17" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[17]</span></sup></sup></a> and from Eurasia’s evangelical churches.<a name="_ftnref18" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[18]</span></sup></sup></a> It’s also interesting to see how Canadian Mennonites have responded,<a name="_ftnref19" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[19]</span></sup></sup></a> as well as the response of the church in Bostwana.<a name="_ftnref20" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[20]</span></sup></sup></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">For Christians, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In both living and dying, we have Jesus. There is never reason to be controlled by fear or live in hopeless despair.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">For Christians, protecting and preserving life is a good thing. This has been part of the Judeo-Christian ethos for thousands of years.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">For Christians, the Genesis mandated to steward our health, the health of others, and the health of the world is a good thing. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">For Christians, sticking around in the midst of a groaning and fallen world to act as ambassadors for Jesus is a noble calling and a daunting privilege.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> Some Catholic priests have replicated this during COVID-19. <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-10/amid-lockdown-churches-find-creative-ways-keep-touch-masses">https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-10/amid-lockdown-churches-find-creative-ways-keep-touch-masses</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn2" title="">[2]</a> From “Plagues bring fear and isolation - but Church history shows there are remedies.” Thomas Chacko, catholicherald.co.uk<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> I got these quotes from an article by John McArthur.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn4" title="">[4]</a> <a href="https://stlukesmuseum.org/the-yellow-fever-outbreak-of-1855-and-a-surprising-connection-to-st-lukes/">https://stlukesmuseum.org/the-yellow-fever-outbreak-of-1855-and-a-surprising-connection-to-st-lukes/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn5" title="">[5]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1793_Philadelphia_yellow_fever_epidemic">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1793_Philadelphia_yellow_fever_epidemic</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn6" title="">[6]</a> From the article “How DC Churches Responded When the Government Banned Public Gatherings During the Spanish Flu of 1918.” Caleb Morell, 9marks.org.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn7" title="">[7]</a> Source for the following list: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/How-To-Live-Long<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn8" title="">[8]</a> <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-10/amid-lockdown-churches-find-creative-ways-keep-touch-masses">https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-10/amid-lockdown-churches-find-creative-ways-keep-touch-masses</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn9" title="">[9]</a> <a href="https://www.lutheranworld.org/content/lwf-responds-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-pandemic">https://www.lutheranworld.org/content/lwf-responds-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-pandemic</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn10" title="">[10]</a> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/april-web-only/india-churches-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-lockdown.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/april-web-only/india-churches-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-lockdown.html</a></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn12" title="">[12]</a> <a href="https://www.chogglobal.org/church-in-the-time-of-covid-19-reflections-from-latin-america/">https://www.chogglobal.org/church-in-the-time-of-covid-19-reflections-from-latin-america/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn13" title="">[13]</a> <a href="https://nazarene.org/article/italy-france-churches-embrace-new-opportunities-amid-covid-19-pandemic">https://nazarene.org/article/italy-france-churches-embrace-new-opportunities-amid-covid-19-pandemic</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn14" title="">[14]</a> <a href="http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/news/Churches-close-pandemic-spreads-200320">http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/news/Churches-close-pandemic-spreads-200320</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn15" title="">[15]</a> <a href="https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/nation-and-world/kenyas-small-christian-communities-get-online-during-pandemic/">https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/nation-and-world/kenyas-small-christian-communities-get-online-during-pandemic/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn16" title="">[16]</a> <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/jerusalem-an-eerily-different-easter-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/a-53073445">https://www.dw.com/en/jerusalem-an-eerily-different-easter-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/a-53073445</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn17" title="">[17]</a> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/march-web-only/7-lessons-covid-19-coronavirus-churches-singapore-us-europe.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/march-web-only/7-lessons-covid-19-coronavirus-churches-singapore-us-europe.html</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn18" title="">[18]</a> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/july-web-only/pandemic-lessons-eurasia-churches-coronavirus-covid-russia.html">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/july-web-only/pandemic-lessons-eurasia-churches-coronavirus-covid-russia.html</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn19" title="">[19]</a> <a href="https://canadianmennonite.org/covid-impact">https://canadianmennonite.org/covid-impact</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn20" title="">[20]</a><a href="https://www.globalministries.org/the_response_of_the_church_in_bostwana_to_the_global_pandemic_of_covid_19">https://www.globalministries.org/the_response_of_the_church_in_bostwana_to_the_global_pandemic_of_covid_19</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-55828966440052422462021-08-07T16:01:00.005-07:002021-08-07T16:11:06.699-07:00 Where Do We Go From Here? (Planting The Wind; Harvesting The Whirlwind, Part 4)<span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This is the fourth post in a series on the history of slavery and racism in the United States.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-1619-to-emancipation-planting-wind.html" target="_blank">In Part One, "1619 To The Civil War: Slavery Before Emancipation,"</a> I noted the biblical basis for caring about the history and the legacy of racism in our country before giving an overview beginning in 1609 through the Civil War and Emancipation. Basically, <i><b>we should care because Jesus cares. </b></i>If you have not yet read the first post, I encourage you to do so. There is a lot of information that will add context to what you are reading.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/emancipation-to-great-migration-jim.html" target="_blank">"Emancipation To The Great Migration: Jim Crow, Reconstruction and Sundown Towns"</a> continued to look at the sinful impact and harsh legacy from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. So what can we do as Christians in response to racism and discrimination? I see a response happening in three different ways: how we respond personally, how we respond in our churches, and how we respond in political policy and governance. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-red-summer-to-today-lived.html" target="_blank">From The Red Summer To Today: The Lived Experiences Of This Generation,</a> I ended by quoting Esau McCauley:</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus asks us to see the brokenness in society and to articulate an alternative vision for how we might live. This does not mean that we believe that we can establish the kingdom on earth before his second coming. It does mean that we see society for what it is: less than the kingdom. We let the world know that we see the cracks in the facade. </span></span></i><i style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hungering for justice is a hungering for the kingdom. Therefore the work of justice, when understood as direct testimony to God’s kingdom, is evangelistic from start to finish. It is part (not the whole) of God’s work of reconciling all things to himself. </span></span></i><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This is the focus of this post. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span>How we respond personally</span></b><b><span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Christians are called to the most basic and most daunting of commands: to love others as Christ has loved us.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span>[1]</span></span></span></a> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It really does boil down to this. The book of 1 John is clear that if we don't love others, we don't love God.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span>[2]</span></span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul makes clear in his writing that there is no room for artificial divisions or hierarchies in the church.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span>[3]</span></span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> To his first century, predominantly Jewish audience, the divisions were male/female, Gentile/Jew, and slave/free. These kinds of barriers fall once we do life together with Christ as our Lord as God intended. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>There is no room whatsoever for judgment or the assigning of worth and value based on irrelevant distinctions. It doesn't mean that we ignore that these differences exist - I mean, men and women are different - but it does mean that those differences do not order the attribution of value, worth, or dignity. So it is with us today in the discussion of shades of melanin. If Paul were writing today, I suspect he would add black/white.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the fundamental foundation on which we Christians build. We love each other. The church is meant to be a foretaste of what eternity will be, when every tribe nation, and tongue is gathered around Christ</span><a name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span><span style="font-size: medium;">and living in perfect community and harmony in a kaleidoscope of glorious color. In anticipation of this, we honor all people, we look out for each other, we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice,</span><a name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> we keep a sharp eye out to exercise both justice and mercy,</span><a name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> and where we see these things lacking we move in to offer to the world the hope God has given to us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jemar Tisby uses the acronym ARC – Awareness, Relationship, Commitment.</span><a name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span>Awareness</span></b><span> Start by learning the history of United States, really digging into areas of which you were not previously aware especially in the area of race relations. Watch documentaries, listen to podcasts from racially and ethnically diverse sources, read books that represent minority voices. “Studying history teaches us how to place people, events and movements within the broader scope of God’s work in the world…we have to develop an awareness of the context to properly exegete the times and apply biblical solutions.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span>Relationship</span></b><span> Purposefully pursue a more diverse group of people with whom to interact. Ask them how they are experiencing the world, particularly in areas of justice. Find new places to hang out (stores, shops, gyms, book clubs, etc.) that broaden your experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span>Commitment</span></b><span> Get involved in doing concrete action to combat racial injustice. “Create something. Write a blog post. Write a book. Do a sermon. Do a Sunday School class. Host a forum. Write a song or poem…join (or donate money to) an organization that advocates for racial and social justice. Speak with candidates for elected office… vote.”</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>How did this mean you need to order your life? Well, that's up to you and God. I don't know where you live, what your opportunities are, what challenges you face. I do know this: you are surrounded by people who need to experience the love of God through the love of his people. If there is a way in which you can embody that love in a way that brings reconciliation into broken race relationships, pray for the wisdom to do it well.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span>How we respond in our churches</span></b><b><span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">On a day-to-day basis, it looks like the previous section. In addition, the task of the church is to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We followers of Jesus believe that He makes sinful hearts pure and broken lives whole. We believe God can bring something beautiful from the ashes of slavery and racism by transforming perpetrators and victims into the likeness of Jesus. The Gospel is about redemption, beginning in human hearts and spilling inevitably into the world around us as we spread the vision of the peaceable kingdom of Eden into all the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s the heart of our mission. With gospel-changed hearts and minds, we pour our strength into spreading the hope Christ brings – which includes water to the thirsty, clothes to naked, hope for those in bondage, and every other expression of creation’s groaning in its fallen state. </span><a name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[8]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Corporately, I think there are ways churches can creatively seek to address racism and its legacies. This will vary from city to city, as demographics are very different and church membership can vary considerably. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Since three of the biggest ongoing areas of concern for minority groups in the United States are education, health care, and the opportunity to build legacy wealth, I could see churches being purposeful in focusing outreach they are probably already doing for the impoverished or disadvantaged: creating educational scholarship funds (especially if they are affiliated with local Christian schools), hosting free health clinics, letting their buildings be used for different types of community outreach that address these needs, networking for job creation and opportunity, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Tisby recommends things like building trust funds for black youth to go toward education or down payments on houses; funding black-led church plants and non-profit religious organizations; starting modern-day Freedom Schools</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span>[9]</span></span></span></a> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">that integrate the gospel’s message of hope; or being part of starting a new seminary that purposefully integrates theology and justice issues in a racially and ethnically diverse setting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>In a world where the color line is often assumed to be hostile, simply having churches on the forefront of this kind of movement could go a long way in pointing toward the hope and love found in gospel-grounded communities. </span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span>How we respond in policy governance</span></b><b><span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First, the overlap today between poverty and race is undeniable. “The Intersection Of Race, Place, And Multidimensional Poverty” from the Brookings Institute</span><a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> offers a very clear overview of this. From slavery, the Indian Wars, Jim Crow, Indian boarding schools, and civil rights and other abuses that pushed minority populations into poverty (like redlining; the denials of loans, jobs, education, healthcare etc), public governance at local, state and federal levels has either allowed or enabled poverty-making practices.</span><a name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The previously mentioned Brookings Institute offered a short summary of ideas: “</span><span><span style="font-size: medium;">campaigns and outreach strategies to connect low-income workers to tax policies like the Earned Income Tax Credit; cradle-to-career education initiatives to build skills; work support programs that help people find and keep stable employment; health initiatives to close gaps in health outcomes; and place-based efforts to de-concentrate poverty.”</span><a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[12]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">In education, a very practical ‘leveling of the playing field’ would be to take the property taxes collected for public schools and distribute the monies more evenly throughout school districts in a given state. Many of the impoverished districts are drawn along lines that have a history of purposeful racial segregation. The poverty in the community means less funding for schools. Lower funding correlates with large discrepancies in test scores: in impoverished districts, everyone’s scores go down. Read the footnoted article for an insightful comparison of three cities</span><span><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><a name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[13]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As for enabling the accumulation of generational wealth – which has been undercut time and again throughout out national history – there are ways to address this: very low interest rates for first-time minority home buyers; improved housing vouchers; an increase in college grants for minority students; the purposeful encouragement of quality businesses in low-income neighborhoods. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, the criminal justice system is in need of overhaul. Research documents the inescapable reality of the unequal treatment of black people in particular.</span><a name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small; vertical-align: super;"><span>[</span><span>14]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> A visit to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama would take you through the common thread that runs from slavery to current mass incarceration.</span><a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[15]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> One can simultaneously be in favor of the arrest of criminals while simultaneously recognizing that a) passing laws intended to criminalize one group over another or b) focusing enforcement on one group of people more than another is unjust. Both of these are part of our national legacy. The solution is not to look away from crime. The solution is to right the wrongs in a criminal justice system that is currently weighted against POC. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> John 15:12<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn2" title="">[2]</a> 1 John 4:20, for example, but this idea permeates the book of 1 John<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> Galatians 3<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn4" title="">[4]</a> Revelation 7:9<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn5" title="">[5]</a> Romans 12:15<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn6" title="">[6]</a> Micah 6:8<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn7" title="">[7]</a> <u>The Color Of Compromise</u>, Jemar Tisby<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn8" title="">[8]</a> Matthew 25:35-40<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn9" title="">[9]</a> <a href="https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/exploring-history-freedom-schools" style="color: purple;">https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/exploring-history-freedom-schools</a>. Here’s what one of those looks like in Mississippi. <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/fifty-years-later-revamped-freedom-schools-still-help-struggling-students/" style="color: purple;">https://hechingerreport.org/fifty-years-later-revamped-freedom-schools-still-help-struggling-students/</a></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn10" title="">[10]</a> <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-intersection-of-race-place-and-multidimensional-poverty/" style="color: purple;">https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-intersection-of-race-place-and-multidimensional-poverty/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn11" title="">[11]</a> <span style="font-family: Cambria;">Median income for black households, while improving in recent years, remains significantly lower than Hispanic, white or Asian income.</span> <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/poverty-rates-for-blacks-and-hispanics-reached-historic-lows-in-2019.html" style="color: purple;">https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/poverty-rates-for-blacks-and-hispanics-reached-historic-lows-in-2019.html</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn12" title="">[12]</a> I think a purposeful way to address this is for cities and states to look at the previously redlined districts and see if that area has recovered from that blow. If not, they should invest very specifically in terms of infrastructure, health care, job creation, and education. They could also include places devastated by riots (such as Tulsa). <o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn13" title="">[13]</a> “An analysis of achievement gaps in every school in America shows that poverty is the biggest hurdle.”<b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://hechingerreport.org/an-analysis-of-achievement-gaps-in-every-school-in-america-shows-that-being-poor-is-the-biggest-hurdle/" style="color: purple;">https://hechingerreport.org/an-analysis-of-achievement-gaps-in-every-school-in-america-shows-that-being-poor-is-the-biggest-hurdle/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn14" title="">[14]</a> See :An Unjust Burden: The Disparate Treatment of Black Americans in the Criminal Justice System, by the Vera Institute of Justice. <a href="https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/for-the-record-unjust-burden-racial-disparities.pdf" style="color: purple;">https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/for-the-record-unjust-burden-racial-disparities.pdf</a> Or read this report sent to the UN by The Sentencing Project. <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/" style="color: purple;">https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">To be clear: crime is crime. I link to this not to suggest police be more lax, but to point out that the way in which policing occurs is neither fair not just, and that unjust enforcement fall along racial and class lines. It creates a ripple effect in the lives of individuals and families that has a huge impact. <i>This does not mean individual law enforcement officers are racist or unjust; </i>it means the system of governance enables or encourages law enforcement policies that, perhaps unintentionally, have racial implications.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a name="_ftn15" title="">[15]</a> <a href="https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/museum" style="color: purple;">https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/museum</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-13946248701708822252021-07-14T15:24:00.012-07:002024-03-02T06:41:08.245-08:00From The Red Summer To Today: The Lived Experiences Of This Generation (Planting The Wind; Harvesting The Whirlwind, Part 3)<style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the third in a series on the history of slavery and racism in the United States</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-1619-to-emancipation-planting-wind.html" target="_blank">In Part One, "1619 To The Civil War: Slavery Before Emancipation,"</a> I noted the biblical basis for caring about the history and the legacy of racism in our country before giving an overview beginning in 1609 through the Civil War and Emancipation. Basically, <i><b>we should care because Jesus cares. </b></i>If you have not yet read the first post, I encourage you to do so. There is a lot of information that will add context to what you are reading. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/emancipation-to-great-migration-jim.html" target="_blank">"Emancipation To The Great Migration: Jim Crow, Reconstruction and Sundown Towns"</a> continued to look at the sinful impact and harsh legacy from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We pick up our narrative in 1921. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Starting now, there are still people alive today who experienced these things. <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1921, the National Baptist voice publicized the NAACP's attempt to get pastors to take a Sunday to preach on the theme of racial justice (“Justice to the Negro: The Test of Christianity in America”), calling America “the archsinner among nations” because of the racial injustice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1921 also brought the Tulsa Massacre, in which a highly prosperous black community known as Black Wall Street was attacked and pounded into rubble after a black boy accidentally jostled a white woman in an elevator. Hundreds were killed; more than 1,400 homes, businesses, schools and churches were burned; nearly 10,000 people were left homeless. The destruction of ‘legacy wealth’ is almost incalculable. The newspaper headline the next day read, “Two White People Killed In Race Riot.” The Tulsa race massacre was barely mentioned in history books until the late 1990s</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[1]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Two years before that was the “Red Summer,” a summer of violent race riots sparked by things like a black boy on a raft being drowned after floating into the white people’s section of Lake Michigan in Chicago. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 1920s ushered in standardized testing, developed by eugenicists to filter out non-white college students</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><span><a name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span></span></a> </span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(I was a teacher for 20 years; this was news to me. Unfortunately, it’s true. Read the links. This is not to say standardized tests still do that, as this issue has been pointedly studied and addressed in the last few decades.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">• <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/more-than-1700-us-congressmen-have-enslaved-people?source=cheats&via=rss" target="_blank"> “A Washington Post investigation of censuses and other historical records found that more than 1,700 congressmen who served between the 18th and 20th centuries enslaved Black people during their lives. </a>The Post created a database that shows these congressmen represented nearly 40 states across the nation and were part of both major parties—with 606 Democrats and 481 Republicans. The Post also found that well into the 1900s, former enslavers continued to serve in Congress, including the first woman to ever serve in the Senate, Rebecca Latimer Felton, a suffragist and white supremacist who was appointed to fill a vacancy in 1922 at the age of 87.” </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act, thanks in part to the influence of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Clubs_of_America">Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America</a>. The act prohibited interracial marriage and classified as "black" a person who had even one drop of black blood (known as the “one drop rule”). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In </span><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Mein Kampf</span></u><span style="font-size: medium;"> (1925), Hitler praised America as the one state that has made progress toward a primarily racial conception of citizenship, by “excluding certain races from naturalization.”</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[3]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">The infamous Nuremberg Laws of the Nazi regime were heavily influenced by Jim Crow laws in the United States</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[4]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The unofficial “last hired, first fired” policy pushed the black unemployment rate following the Great Depression to 50% - 70% in 1932 – a rate double and triple that of whites.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a huge push to build bigger and better public swimming pools to become “common melting pots” and build communities; the Works Progress Administration was dedicated to this. By World War Two, there were thousands of pools, some of which could hold thousands of swimmers. You might expect where this is going – black people were not welcome. When lawsuits were filed in the 1950s, quite a few pools just became private rather than public and admitted only white members. In 1959, Montgomery Public Parks went so far as to close rather than integrate. They filled their pool with cement, sold all the animals from a zoo, padlocked their community center, and closed every park</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[5]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The Fairgrounds Park pool in St. Louis, Missouri, was the largest in the country and probably the world, with a sandy beach, an elaborate diving board, and a reported capacity of 10,000 swimmers. When the new city administration changed the park’s policy in 1949 to allow black swimmers… two hundred white residents surrounded the pool with ‘bats, clubs, bricks and knives’ to menace the first thirty or so black swimmers…a white mob that grew to 5,000 attacked every black person in sight around the Fairground Park. After the Fairground Park Riot…the city returned to a segregation policy using public safety as a justification, but a successful NAACP lawsuit reopened the pool to all St. Louisans the following summer. On the first day of integrated swimming, only seven white swimmers attended, joining three brave black swimmers under the shouts of two hundred white protestors….the city closed its pool six years later.</span><a name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[6]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">In 1927, Alabama stopped leasing convicts to outside businesses. They, along with other states, simply started their own in-house, for-profit ventures from the labor of prisoners.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">During the summer of 1930, about 150 Atlanta businessmen, along with American Legionnaires and members of law enforcement founded the American Fascisti Association and Order of Black Shirts to “foster the principles of white supremacy” and keep jobs in the city white. They would march with signs that read, “N*****s, back to the cotton fields – city jobs are for white folks.”</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">While white America was flirting with an admiration of fascism</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(More than 100 fascist organizations formed after 1933</span><a name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;">), the black America who resisted them were often inspired by communists,</span><a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">who were giving lip service to democracy at that time when they found it useful to undermine facists.</span><a name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The KKK experienced a resurgence in the 1910s through the 1930s,with three to five million members in the North alone.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[12]</span></span></span></a><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">“It’s estimated that 40,000 ministers were members of the Klan, and these people were sermonizing regularly, explicitly urging people to join the Klan.”</span><a name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[13]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1931, nine African American men were falsely accused of rape by two white women in what became known as the “Scottsboro Affair.” Judged and sentenced by an all-white jury, their case resulted in a landmark victory for civil rights when the Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied due process because they did not have a lawyer and were denied a jury of their peers by the barring of blacks from serving on the jury.</span><a name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[14]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Legislation turned for the better for tribes throughout the US with the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. Also known as the ‘Indian New Deal,’ the law reversed the privatization policy of the Dawes Act and restored tribal management of lands that had not yet been allotted to individuals. It aimed at restoring tribal sovereignty, particularly in the area of lands and resources.”</span><a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[15]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Social Security Act of 1935 provided a safety net for millions of workers. But it excluded two occupations: agricultural workers and domestic servants, who were predominately African American, Mexican, and Asian. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 1935 Wagner Act (collective bargaining for unions), which helped millions of workers join the middle class, permitted unions to exclude non-whites. Many unions remained nearly all-white well into the 1970s. In 1972 every single one of the 3,000 members of Los Angeles Steam Fitters Local #250 was still white. For more on how this played out in cities like Boston, see the link in this footnote.</span><a name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[16] </span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> "</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> "When they started building the wall behind Margaret Watson’s house in northwest Detroit, she knew the reason without having to ask. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">As a child in the late 1930s, Watson had...</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> roller-skated down those newly paved lanes at speeds that would have been impossible on the dirt roads that ran in front of her house. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">She knew the new streets had to be for white families — not Black ones like hers — so she wasn’t particularly surprised when, in the spring of 1941, a 6-foot-high, 4-inch-thick, half-mile-long concrete fortification suddenly appeared in her backyard.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The divider — called the “Birwood Wall,” the “Eight Mile Wall” or the “Wailing Wall”... would have far-reaching repercussions for the people, both Black and white, who lived in its shadow. On the west side, the white side, some children who moved into the houses that sprouted along the new streets in the 1940s — now in their 70s and 80s — say they never knew the wall was there, just as they didn’t know that the houses their parents bought back then had deed restrictions barring residents who weren’t white... In a six-month investigation, NBC News and BridgeDetroit discovered that one of Detroit’s most prominent families built the wall and developed the adjacent white neighborhood. The reporting also examined the ways this single act of segregation has influenced generations of Detroiters... </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The side of the wall these residents called home would later affect the sale price of their houses, the value of their next homes, and, eventually, the wealth they might inherit from their parents. Their experience in elementary school would determine the classes they took in high school, their decisions about college or the military, and the ease with which they achieved their goals. And throughout their lives, the friendships they made would frame their interactions with classmates and colleagues, with doctors and law enforcement, in social settings and in job interviews." </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/detroit-segregation-wall/index.html" style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">Read the story here. </a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) introduced our modern mortgage lending system, which included</span><b style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </b><u style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">redlining</u><b style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;">policies in over 200 American cities. Redlining was a way of helping the government decide which neighborhoods would get home loans and which would not.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[17]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;">The redlining overwhelmingly highlighted communities with black residents....The wall in Watson’s backyard was built by white real estate developers who struggled to secure financing for their white neighborhood until they cut it off from a Black one. It is one of a number of segregation walls built in the mid-20th century for this purpose and one of a few still standing."</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the 1930s, a remarkable and unexpected shift occurred: Black voters in general began moving out of the Republican Party and into the Democratic Party. From 1932-1936 – just four years – the number of votes for the Republican presidential candidate dropped in half, from 56% to 28%. How did this happen? The impact of Franklin Roosevelt’s (D) New Deal can hardly be overstated;</span><a name="_ftnref18" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[18]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> it alone accounts for the 56/28 drop. The Great Depression had devastated the black population economically. In addition, Roosevelt appointed more African Americans to positions within his administration than his predecessors did; he was the first president to appoint an African American as a federal judge; he tripled the number of African Americans working in the federal government; and he appointed special advisors for the New Deal known as the Black Cabinet.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref19" title=""><sup><sup>[19]</sup></sup></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">There are more reasons as that 56% moves closer to 90% – watch for the [D]s and [R]s as the story unfolds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researcher-discovers-last-known-survivor-transatlantic-slave-trade-180974530/"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Matilda McCrear</span></b></a><span style="font-size: medium;">, the last known survivor of the transatlantic slave trade, died in 1940 at the age of 81 or 82</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1942:</span><b style="font-size: x-large;"> </b></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">FDR signed Executive Order 9066, ordering the evacuation and mass incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, most of whom were U.S. citizens or documented immigrants</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. <a name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[21]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><a href="• The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan has documented the battle royals. They involved groups of young Black men and boys who were made to fight one another in a boxing ring, often blindfolded, for the pleasure of a white audience. They had to attack one another in a melee until one man was left standing; he'd win a prize of a few dollars…. The soul superstar James Brown, who grew up in extreme poverty in South Carolina in the 1930s and '40s, recalled his experience in "The Godfather of Soul: An Autobiography." The museum's website includes a passage: "Because of my reputation the other kids always pointed me out to the white men who came around to recruit scrappy black boys to be in the battle royals they put on at Bell Auditorium. In a battle royal they blindfold you, tie one hand behind your back, put a boxing glove on your free hand, and shove you into a ring with other kids in the same condition. You swing at anything that moves, and whoever's left standing at the end is the winner. It sounds brutal, but a battle royal is really comedy. I'd be out there stumbling around, swinging wild, and hearing the people laughing. I didn't know I was being exploited." " target="_blank">The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan has documented the battle royals. </a>They involved groups of young Black men and boys who were made to fight one another in a boxing ring, often blindfolded, for the pleasure of a white audience. They had to attack one another in a melee until one man was left standing; he'd win a prize of a few dollars…. The soul superstar James Brown, who grew up in extreme poverty in South Carolina in the 1930s and '40s, recalled his experience in "The Godfather of Soul: An Autobiography." The museum's website includes a passage: "Because of my reputation the other kids always pointed me out to the white men who came around to recruit scrappy black boys to be in the battle royals they put on at Bell Auditorium. In a battle royal they blindfold you, tie one hand behind your back, put a boxing glove on your free hand, and shove you into a ring with other kids in the same condition. You swing at anything that moves, and whoever's left standing at the end is the winner. It sounds brutal, but a battle royal is really comedy. I'd be out there stumbling around, swinging wild, and hearing the people laughing. I didn't know I was being exploited." </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Pulitzer Prize - winning author Douglas Blackman, in his writing on convict leasing </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">(</span><u style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Slavery By Another Name</u><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">),</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> writes, “Certainly, the great record of forced labor across the South demand that any consideration of the progress of civil rights remedy in the United States must acknowledge that slavery, real slavery, didn’t end until 1945</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;">.”<a name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[22]</span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Harry Truman (D) established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 and integrated the armed forces in 1948 after the NAACP pressured him to act when a black veteran, Isaac Woodard, was pulled off a bus in February of 1946, arrested, and beaten so badly (while in uniform) that he lost his eyesight. Truman also fixed the racially discriminatory parts of the Social Security system. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Between 1934 and 1962, the federal government backed $120 billion of home loans. Less than 2% went to blacks, who constituted 12% of the population. Of the 350,000 new homes built with federal support in northern California between 1946 and 1960, fewer than 100 went to African Americans. That is .0003% of loans for 5% of the population</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[23]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When courts began overturning redlining and race-based zoning laws, the government began building highways right on the former boundary lines at the request of community members</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[24]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> At times, highways were routed purposefully through minority communities. The government took property by eminent domain; black neighborhoods lost homes, businesses, churches and schools</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[25]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Constructing interstate highways through majority-black neighborhoods eventually reduced the populations to the poorest proportion of people financially unable to leave their destroyed community</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(#”urbandecay”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the mid-1950s, pastors of Christians in Kirkwood, Georgia actively urged their members not to sell their homes to black people. “ ‘If everyone simply refuses to sell to colored,’ the pastors assured residents, ‘then everything will be fine.’” They pleaded with church members: “Please help us ‘Keep Kirkwood White’ and preserve our Churches and homes.”</span><a name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[27]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> I offer this example because it was not as unusual as we would like to think. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Negro Motorist Green Book</span></u><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, </span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">published from 1936 to 1966 (three years before I was born), helped black motorists travel without getting in trouble. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis" title="John Lewis">John Lewis</a> recalled how his family prepared for a trip in 1951:<i>“There would be no restaurant for us to stop at until we were well out of the South, so we took our restaurant right in the car with us.... Stopping for gas and to use the bathroom took careful planning. Uncle Otis… knew which places along the way offered "colored" bathrooms and which were better just to pass on by. Our map was marked and our route was planned that way, by the distances between service stations where it would be safe for us to stop.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many hotels, motels, and boarding houses refuse to serve black customers; by the end of the 1960s, there were an estimated 10,000 “sundown towns”</span><a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[28]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> across the United States, named because of signs that read, “N*****, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on You in This Town.”</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">I worked as a camp counselor in Hazard County, Kentucky in the summers of 1987-1989. There was a town nearby that was unofficially still a “sundown town.”</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Black Hospital movement took place from 1865- 1960s</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[31]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Black patients were usually not admitted to white hospitals or hired as staff, especially in the South, and for a long time could only get an education at a select few colleges in the North and Midwest. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Sometimes, the white medical facilities did active damage. In 1932, the Tuskegee Institute, working with the United States Public Health Service, began a study on syphilis originally called the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.” During this study, they lied to 200 black men whom they told were being treated for syphilis, when in fact they were not, even though a treatment was available. In the1970s, a class action lawsuit paid out 10 million dollars to wives, widows and children.</span><a name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[32]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1952 was the first year since 1882 that there were no recorded lynchings in the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1952, California finally made it legal for Asian immigrants to own land.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">In the 1950s,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> t</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">he University of Texas developed a strategy to keep out black students in the face of the legal demands for segregation. The trustees estimated they could cut the black student population from 300 to 70 out of 2,700. Notes from the UT president’s speech to the Rotary Club in Houston include, “Do not anticipate any great numbers of N’s, but to avoid appearing to discriminate against unqualified have tied it in with a selective admissions policy for all students without ref. to racial origin, etc.” Many other universities used standardized testing without any known racist intent, but it functionally kept minorities out of the elite schools</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Billy Graham initially allowed segregated seating in southern cities, but he ended the practice in 1953</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref34" title=""><sup><sup>[34]</sup></sup></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Graham was not a civil rights activist, but he did put his reputation on the line over segregation. He appeared with Martin Luther King Jr. at a New York City Revival in 1957, where King offered a prayer at the assembly. Mahalia Jackson performed there, beginning a tradition of African-American vocalist singing at Graham Crusades. Graham's moderate pro-civil rights stands earned him the ire of many fundamentalists; he even got hate mail from the KKK.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1954, a regional meeting of clergymen in the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) featured a speaker discussing a “Christian view of Segregation.” At that conference, the pastor of First Baptist Church in West Dallas gave a sermon entitled “God the Original Segregationist.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1954, the Supreme Court (<i>Tee-Hit-Ton Indians vs United States)</i> basically reaffirmed the M’Intosh ruling that declared European conquerors had the right to the land they forcibly took from Native American inhabitants. “That discovery gave an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title of occupancy, either by purchase or conquest.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also in 1954, </span><i style="font-size: large;">Brown vs. Board of Education</i><span style="font-size: medium;"> declared that segregation in education was inherently unequal, and black children had the constitutional right to equal protection of their education. Read the backstory of what happened in Hearne, Texas to push this to the Supreme Court at the link in the footnote</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Those bothered by desegregation</span><i style="font-size: large;"> </i><span style="font-size: medium;">started segregation academies, which were founded between 1954</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[36]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">and 1976</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[37]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Wikipedia lists 200 of these schools</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[38]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">25 of them are clearly Christian. One even has evangelical in the name. </span><i style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">1955<b>:</b></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot and killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Two white men arrested for the murder were acquitted by an all-white jury; they went on to boast about the murder in a </span><i style="font-size: large;">Look </i><span style="font-size: medium;">magazine interview</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[39]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By 1956, hospital integration was common in the North (83% of hospitals providing integrated services). In the South, only 6% of hospitals offered unrestricted services to black patients; 31% did not admit black patients under any conditions</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[40]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">January 10-11, 1957: Sixty Black pastors and civil rights leaders from several southern states—including </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr">Martin Luther King, Jr.</a><span>—met in Atlanta, </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/georgia">Georgia</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> to coordinate nonviolent protests against racial discrimination and segregation</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[41]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">On </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">February 1, 1960,</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> four African American college students in Greensboro, </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/north-carolina">North Carolina</a><span> refuse to leave a Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter. The </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in">Greensboro Sit-In</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, inspires similar “sit-ins” throughout the city and in other states</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[42]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout 1961, black and white activists, known as freedom riders, took bus trips through the American South to protest segregated bus terminals and attempted to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters. The </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides"><span style="font-size: medium;">Freedom Rides</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> were marked by horrific violence from white protestors, but this drew international attention to their cause</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[43]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The United States passed civil rights bills in 1957, 1964 and 1965. The 24</span><sup style="font-size: large;">th</sup><span style="font-size: medium;"> Amendment (1964) finally assured voting rights for black citizens. This was thanks to Lyndon Johnson, first as Democrat Majority Leader then as President. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, by the way, finally made it illegal to practice racial gerrymandering - drawing districts that intentionally diluted the voting power of blacks and other minorities</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[44]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Literacy tests for voters, which overwhelmingly targeted black voters, were declared unconstitutional. Check out the footnote link for what these looked like, with special attention to Louisiana’s</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[45]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">John F. Kennedy’s (D) administration is remembered for fighting segregation, though it was his VP, Johnson, who really had a heart for the Civil Rights movement. He used JFK’s death as a rallying point to pass major legislation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Strom Thurmond [D to R], who lost the presidential race to Truman, fought for decades as a Democrat to oppose civil right legislation. In 1964, Thurmond and other Southern Democrats, feeling racially betrayed by Democrats, jumped to the Republican Party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over fifty bombings from 1947-1965 in a slowly integrating white neighborhood earned Birmingham the moniker “Bombingham.” From May 2 to May 10, 1963, police in Birmingham, Ala., aimed high-powered hoses and loosed dogs on black men, women and even children who were determined to actually do the school integration the Supreme Court had granted 9 years earlier. In September of 1963, four young black girls were killed when KKK members detonated a bomb in Sixteenth Street Baptist Church</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[46]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1965, Selma's 'Bloody Sunday' Became a Turning Point in the Civil Rights Movement</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span><a name="_ftnref47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[47]</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;">This was Selma, of which Martin Luther King Jr. said, “There are more negroes in jail with me than there are on the voting rolls.” George Wallace ordered state troopers “to use whatever measures are necessary to prevent a march” of approximately 600 voting rights advocates. Millions of ABC’s viewers saw footage of troopers beating protestors, and “The juxtaposition struck like psychological lightning in American homes.”</span><a name="_ftnref48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[48]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The “urban renewal” that followed “urban decay” displaced millions of Americans. Black Americans (13 percent of the population in 1960) were at least 55 percent of the displaced. James Baldwin called it the “negro removal” for good reason. The Chancellor of the University of Chicago noted that urban renewal was </span><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hxH5WoQVMJQC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=%E2%80%9Can+effective+screening+tool%E2%80%9D+and+as+a+way+of+%E2%80%9Ccutting+down+the+number+of+Negroes%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=kOO9vwgwMT&sig=ACfU3U2WeO6wa7bwCtUnwgUgVduSIvCZ0g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8_YS58YvqAhWId98KHe2bDoMQ6AEwAXoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Can%20effective%20screening%20tool%E2%80%9D%20and%20as%20a%20way%20of%20%E2%80%9Ccutting%20down%20the%20number%20of%20Negroes%E2%80%9D&f=false"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">“an effective screening tool” for “cutting down the number of Negroes”</span></b></a><span style="font-size: medium;">. His notes from a board of trustees meeting read simply: “Tear it down and begin over again. Negroes</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.”<a name="_ftnref49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[49]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The largest political rally for human rights ever in the United States happened when an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 participants converged on the Mall in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963, to protest for jobs and freedom for African Americans. King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[50]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The National Black Evangelical Association branched off from the National Evangelical Association in 1963, largely motivated by frustration over white evangelicals refusing to get involved on civil rights issues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1964 – the year in which three civil rights workers were killed in Mississippi - Bob Jones University gave segregationists Strom Thurmond and George Wallace (who stood in a doorway at the University of Alabama to block two Black students from registering) honorary doctorates. Bob Jones Jr. described Wallace as a man “who fought for truth and righteousness.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Among dozens of other voter protections, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally outlawed racial gerrymandering. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">In 1967, the Supreme Court overturned Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Fair Housing Act of 1968, signed by President Johnson (D), finally put an end to legally sanctioned redlining policies</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.<a name="_ftnref51" title=""><sup><sup>[51]</sup></sup></a></span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">This was long overdue; just 2 percent of the $120 billion in FHA loans distributed between 1934 and 1962 were given to nonwhite families</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. <a name="_ftnref52" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[52]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“In the decades preceding the Fair Housing Act, government policies led many white Americans to believe that residents of color were a threat to local property values.</span><sup style="font-size: large;"> </sup><span style="font-size: medium;">For example, real estate professionals across the country who sought to maximize profits by leveraging this fear convinced white homeowners that black families were moving in nearby and offered to buy their homes at a discount.</span><sup style="font-size: large;"> </sup><span style="font-size: medium;">These 'blockbusters' would then sell the properties to black families—who had limited access to FHA loans or GI Bill benefits—at marked-up prices and interest rates. Moreover, these homes were often purchased on contracts, rather than traditional mortgages, allowing real estate professionals to evict black families if they missed even one payment and then repeat the process with other black families. During this period, in Chicago alone, more than 8 in 10 black homes were purchased on contract rather than a standard mortgage, resulting in cumulative losses of up to $4 billion.”</span><a name="_ftnref53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[53]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Between 1945 and 1968, federal laws terminated more than 100 tribal nations’ recognition and placed them under state jurisdiction, contributing to the loss of millions of additional acres of tribal land. During this period, lawmakers again encouraged Native Americans to relocate—this time from reservations to urban centers, resulting in economic hardships and housing instability.”</span><a name="_ftnref54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[54]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lyndon Johnson’s Kerner Commission in 1968 found that “bad policing practices, a flawed justice system, unscrupulous consumer credit practices, poor or inadequate housing, high unemployment, voter suppression, and other culturally embedded forms of racial discrimination all converged to propel violent upheaval on the streets of African-American neighborhoods in American cities.” </span><a name="_ftnref55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[55]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">One excerpt from the report notes, “What white Americans have never fully understood—but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain, and white society condones it.”</span><a name="_ftnref56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[56]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Indian Civil Rights Act granted Indigenous People most of the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, and protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Up to this date discrimination against Indigenous People was legal</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref57" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[57]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nixon’s 1968 campaign employed the Southern Strategy, drawing white Southerners to the Republican Party and pushing black voters toward the Democratic Party. Nixon’s political strategist said in a 1970 interview, </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don’t need any more than that…but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That’s where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats.”</span><a name="_ftnref58" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[58]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1971, the Supreme Court affirmed that draining public pools to avoid integration was okay. Jackson, Mississippi had closed four of its public pools and sold the fifth to a YMCA (that only allowed white members). The Supreme Court, in Palmer v. Thompson, ruled that the city could have no public facilities rather offer an integrated one, because by robbing the entire public, they were spreading equal harm. “There was no evidence of state action affecting Negroes differently from white,“ wrote Hugo Black</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[59]</span></span></a></span><b style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also in 1971, Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” a war that would go out of its way to focus on drugs used and sold in the black communities despite equal use and greater selling in the white communities. Harper’s Magazine released an interview with John Erlichman, Nixon’s domestic policy chief. Erlichman explained: </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt these communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.</span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” (emphasis mine)</span><a name="_ftnref60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[60]</span></b></span></span></a></b></i><b style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1974, National Association of Real Estate Board finally retracted the following guideline that had been in place since 1924: “</span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">The Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood…members of any race or nationality, or any individuals whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values in the neighborhood.”</span><a name="_ftnref61" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[61]</span></b></span></span></a></i><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Kentucky ratified the 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment in 1976. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> T</span></span><a href="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2021/04/22/tampa-racist-urban-planning-housing-policy" style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">he city of Tampa recently released a document chronicling </a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">a “development policy from 1900 to the 1970s” in which was “found widespread evidence of racially restrictive deed covenants, segregationist public-housing development and highway construction that purposefully destroyed Black, Latino and low-income neighborhoods."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Indian schools as a movement lasted until 1978</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref62" title=""><sup><sup>[62]</sup></sup></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">With the passing of the </span><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="font-size: medium;">Indian Child Welfare Act</span><span style="font-size: medium;">, Native American parents gained the legal right to deny their children’s placement in these schools</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.<a name="_ftnref63" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[63]</span></span></a></span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">On Navajo reservations, most people over the age of 50 are boarding school survivors, many with symptoms of PTSD</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref64" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[64]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> I first learned about the Indian schools from a student at NMC whose grandparents went to school at the one in Harbor Springs, which closed in 1983</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref65" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><i><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span>[65]</span></b></span></i></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The IRS’s guidelines about racial integration being tied to tax exempt status in 1978 sparked outrage among many Christians. Congress received tens of thousands of messages. </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“What galvanized the Christian community was not abortion, school prayer, or the Equal Rights Amendment. [It was] Jimmy Carter’s intervention against the Christian schools, trying to deny them tax-exempt status on the basis of… segregation..”</span><a name="_ftnref66" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[66]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1981, Lee Atwater, a Republican strategist, was recorded in an interview discussing how the infamous Southern Strategy would be implemented in politics in the 1980s and moving forward. “”You start out in 1954 saying ‘N*****, n*****, n*****.’ By 1968 you can’t say ‘n*****’ – that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a by product of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites…’We want to cut this.’ is much more abstract than even the business things, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘N*****, n*****.’’</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref67" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[67]</span></span></span></a><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">They ended up targeting welfare, inner cities, and the “underserving poor.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 instituted mandatory minimum sentences for selling cocaine – but they were far, far harsher for crack (commonly found in black communities) than for powder (commonly found in white communities). That discrepancy would not be corrected until 2010. Meanwhile, after 1986, 90% of those admitted to prison for drug offenses were black or Latino, even though whites and black use drugs on a statistically even pace, and there are more white than black drug dealers.</span><a name="_ftnref68" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[68]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just after Emancipation, African Americans owned only 0.5 percent of the total worth of the United States. But by 1990, a full 125 years after the abolition of slavery, black Americans had gained half a percent for a grand total of 1% of the national wealth.</span><a name="_ftnref69" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[69]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">From 1981 to 1997, the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture" title="United States Department of Agriculture"><span style="font-size: medium;">United States Department of Agriculture</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> denied loans to tens of thousands black farmers that were provided to white farmers in similar circumstances. Two lawsuit resulted in settlement agreements totaling 2.31 billion dollars</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Mississippi ratified the 13<sup>th</sup> Amendment in 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As recently as 2005, the Supreme Court ci</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>ted the Doctrine of Discovery in </span><i>City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York.</i><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">They noted first that the “fee title” of Indian lands had gone to the “sovereign” (the United States); they noted “the impracticality of returning to Indian control land that generations earlier passed into numerous private hands”; and that various laws “precluded the Tribe from rekindling embers of sovereignty that long ago grew cold.”</span><a name="_ftnref72" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[72]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“At the turn of the century, banks disproportionately issued speculative loans to Black and Latinx homebuyers, even when they qualified for less risky options. These “subprime loans” had higher-than-average interest rates that could cost homeowners up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional interest payments.</span><sup style="font-size: large;"> </sup><span style="font-size: medium;">During the financial crisis, Black and Latinx households lost 48 percent and 44 percent of their wealth, respectively, due in part to these practices</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">”<a name="_ftnref73" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[73]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;">Homes in black neighborhoods continue to be undervalued to the tune of $156 billion in cumulative losses nationwide.</span><a name="_ftnref74" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[74]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the Republican National Convention in 2012, Clint Eastwood performed a 12-minute skit in which he criticized an empty chair representing President Obama. In a violent twist, instances of citizens "lynching" these symbolic empty chairs from trees began to pop up, often with labels that referred to President Obama</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref75" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[75]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Since 2013, the National Congress of American Indians has requested all federal records for the hundreds of Native children who have disappeared or died while attending one of the hundreds of federally run or funded boarding schools. So far, there has been little response from federal officials, who say the requests are nearly impossible to fulfill.”</span><a name="_ftnref76" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[76]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has… documented the violent and traumatic legacies of Canadian residential schools and Indigenous child removal policies from the 1880s to 1996, which were modeled after U.S. boarding school policies. In 2015, the commission found that at least 6,000 Indigenous children died in Canadian residential schools. Canada had a total of 150 schools, less than half the 357 identified in the United States. It’s likely that the number of students who died in the United States is much higher.”</span><a name="_ftnref77" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[77]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Educational inequalities continue. Equally sized majority-nonwhite districts get </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://edbuild.org/content/23-billion" style="font-family: Cambria;"><b>$23 billion less in funding</b></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> every year ($2,226 per student) than majority-white districts.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a name="_ftnref78" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[78]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Why? Because schools are funded by property taxes, and the Supreme Court (</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/25/739493839/this-supreme-court-case-made-school-district-lines-a-tool-for-segregation" style="font-family: Cambria;">Milliken v. Bradley</a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">) in 1974 ruled that a school district line can be drawn anywhere for almost any reason.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref79" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[79]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Many lines were drawn along the lines that began with redlining, continued through “urban decay,” and defined “urban renewal.” This effectively separated people by socioeconomic stratification - the 'better' the school system, the more expensive the housing and the cost of living, so the better the tax base for the school funding. Practically speaking, this separated yet again by race, as the</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> economic disparity often correlated with race, having previously been entrenched by racially discriminatory practices</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/schools-are-still-segregated-and-black-children-are-paying-a-price/" target="_blank">According to the Economic Policy Institute, </a>"Only about one in eight white students (12.9%) attends a school where a majority of students are black, Hispanic, Asian, or American Indian... nearly seven in 10 black children (69.2%) attend such schools...</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> Less than one in three white students (31.3%) attend a high-poverty school, compared with more than seven in 10 black students (72.4%). </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This funding discrepancy has huge educational and economic implications</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span></span><a name="_ftnref80" style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[80]</span></span></span></a></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Health care inequalities continue. The black population has been hit the hardest of all ethnic demographics by COVID-19 (3.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people) due in part to the impact of racial discrimination that has left a legacy to this day, including distrust of the health care system</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref81" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[81]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">For Native Americans, one source of distrust is the 70,000 women sterilized against their will in the in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <a name="_ftnref82" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[82]</span></a></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">A few more words to clarify the importance of the health care issue. I believe our national history has shown how minority groups have repeatedly been pushed if not into poverty than at least towards it. Once there, significant hurdles not of their choosing hindered their ability to get out of it, and certainly undermined their ability to give the next generation a financial boost. Recent studies are revealing the real biological impact of poverty that passes on through generations. </span><i style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Socioeconomic status (SES) is a powerful determinant of human health and disease, and social inequality is a ubiquitous stressor for human populations globally. Lower educational attainment and/or income predict increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, many cancers and infectious diseases, for example. Furthermore, lower SES is associated with physiological processes that contribute to the development of disease, including chronic inflammation, insulin resistance and cortisol dysregulation. In this study, researchers found evidence that poverty can become embedded across wide swaths of the genome. They discovered that lower socioeconomic status is associated with levels of DNA methylation (DNAm) -- a key epigenetic mark that has the potential to shape gene expression -- at more than 2,500 sites, across more than 1,500 genes. In other words, poverty leaves a mark on nearly 10 percent of the genes in the genome.”</span></i><a name="_ftnref83" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[83]</span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">This would be in addition to the lack of good health care coverage that usually accompanies poverty. In 2014, 20% of Black adults could not access health insurance compared to 10% of white adults. Predominantly Black zip codes were 67% more likely to not have enough primary care physicians</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref84" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[84]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Black people aged 51–55 are 28% more likely to already have a chronic illness compared to white people of the same age, likely due to numerous factors such as chronic stress, chronic </span><a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248423" style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">inflammation</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">, lower rates of insurance coverage, and less access to quality healthcare or PCPs</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.</span><a name="_ftnref85" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[85] </span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The National Institute of Health notes black women are three to four more times likely to die a pregnancy-related death compared to white women. The reasons are many, but they definitely include the impact of racism</span><span><span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">. </span><a name="_ftnref86" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[86]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I recommend you read “Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans,” at the Century Foundation, for a sobering look at the racial disparity in health and health care</span><span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.</span><a name="_ftnref87" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[87]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Michigan’s prison population has increased by 450% since 1973; blacks are massively overrepresented (14% of the population and 49% of prisoners); Latinos and Native Americans have rates equal to their population percentage; whites are massively underrepresented (77% of the population and 46% of prisoners). Much of this stems from things like “lifer laws” connected with drugs – a war that was clearly biased. Please read this link to better understand this</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.<a name="_ftnref88" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[88]</span></span></a></span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">And this one</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.<a name="_ftnref89" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[89]</span></span></a></span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">And this one</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref90" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[90]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> And this one</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref91" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[91]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, the state of Michigan loosened legislation to allow for convict labor</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref92" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[92]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It sure looks like modern segregation academies are happening again through the use of some charter schools</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref93" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[93]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2011, Countrywide Financial Corporation agreed to may $335 million to settle claims that it overcharged more than 200,000 black and Latinx borrowers, and steered 10,000 minority borrowers into risky subprime loans. Black customers were twice as likely to be steered into subprime loans as similarly qualified whites; in some markets it was 8x more likely</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref94" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[94]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The discrimination experienced when “driving while black” is a very real phenomenon. Go to the Marshall Project for extensive information</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref95" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[95]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2017, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. settled for $55 million over allegations that independent brokers charged African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher rates than white borrowers from 2006 to 2009, violating of the Fair Housing Act</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref96" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[96]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hate crimes have risen against Asian-Americans since the coronavirus started. This is largely attributed to how the constant drumbeat of the “China Virus” has focused anger and frustration on the Chinese as a group. Google “hate crimes Asian.” Nearly half of Chinese residents have report incidents tied to their ethnic background since the pandemic began</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref97" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[97]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today, approximately 3 in 4 neighborhoods‘redlined’ in the 1930s remain low to moderate income, and more than 60 percent are predominantly nonwhite</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref98" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[98]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> One thing that certainly didn't help is the rate of sub-prime loans for homeowners: a 2014 study showed that black homeowners – after controlling for a lot of other factors - are 103% more likely to get a subprime loan. They are three times as likely as whites with similar credit scores to have higher rate mortgages</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref99" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[99]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;">In 2020, the National Association of Realtors issued a formal apology for the racist practices in its history. <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-president-charlie-oppler-apologizes-for-past-policies-that-contributed-to-racial-inequality" target="_blank">NAR Director of Fair Housing Bryan Greene noted,</a> "You can see in our neighborhoods the imprints of redlining from 80 years ago. Many of these discriminatory practices denied the opportunities for families to pass on wealth. We see that white Americans own 10 times the wealth of African-Americans. So, these are serious issues, and they have broader impacts on society beyond housing. It means that we have health disparities, employment disparities, educational disparities. This is the legacy of the past… We have to address it."</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The SBC, which issued an apology for its racist history, is still struggling to address this issue. Here are excerpts from a letter sent in early 2020 to the trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention’s</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref100" title=""><sup><sup>[100]</sup></sup></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission by its then-president, Russell Moore</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref101" title=""><sup><sup>[101]</sup></sup></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> “</span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">My family and I have faced constant threats from white nationalists and white supremacists, including within our convention. Some of them have been involved in neo-Confederate activities going back for years. Some are involved with groups funded by white nationalist nativist organizations. Some of them have just expressed raw racist sentiment, behind closed doors… From the very beginning of my service, I have been attacked with the most vicious guerilla tactics on such matters, and have been told to be quiet about this by others. One SBC leader who was at the forefront of these behind-closed-doors assaults had already ripped me to shreds verbally for saying, in 2011, that the Southern Baptist Convention should elect an African-American president…This same leader told a gathering that “The Conservative Resurgence is like the Civil War, except this time unlike the last one, the right side won.” I walked out of that gathering…This is just a tiny sample of what I experience every single day…</span></i><i style="font-size: large;"> </i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> As reported in Clint Smith's book </span><u style="font-family: Cambria;">How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With The History Of Slavery Across America</u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, the State Board of Education in Texas and publisher McGraw-Hill Education came under fire in 2015 for providing students with a textbook that described how the transatlantic slave trade "brought millions of workers from Africa to the Southern United States to work on agricultural plantations." In April of 2018, 8th graders in San Antonio were asked to complete a worksheet entitled” The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View,” which had two columns in which two students were meant to write the positive and negative elements of slavery. Another textbook that had been used at the school included a description of how slavery included “ kind and generous owners” and enslaved people who “ may not have been terribly unhappy.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">• “Of the almost 80,000 tickets that the Louisiana State Police handed out in Jefferson Parish over nearly six years (2014-2020), not a single one was issued to a person labeled as Hispanic. It showed a similar pattern in Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office: Of the more than 73,000 traffic tickets the office issued between 2015 and September 2020, deputies identified only six of the cited people as Hispanic. As of 2020, Hispanics made up 18% of the parish’s population of more than 440,000…In fact, of the 167 tickets issued by deputies to drivers with the last name Lopez over a nearly six-year span, not one of the motorists was labeled as Hispanic, according to records provided by the Jefferson Parish clerk of court. The same was true of the 252 tickets issued to people with the last name of Rodriguez, 234 named Martinez, 223 with the last name Hernandez and 189 with the surname Garcia. A Texas state law requires officers to record the race of every driver during traffic stops to combat racial profiling. But an investigation by TV station KXAN in Austin found that between 2010 and 2015, troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety misidentified ‘more than 1.9 million drivers with traditionally Hispanic names’ as white. And just like in Jefferson Parish, the “most common last names of drivers stopped and recorded as white by troopers [were]: Smith, followed by Garcia, Martinez, Hernandez, Gonzalez and Rodriguez…’ This kind of misidentification is widespread — and not without harm. Across America, law enforcement agencies have been accused of targeting Hispanic drivers, failing to collect data on those traffic stops, and covering up potential officer misconduct and aggressive immigration enforcement by identifying people as white on tickets. ‘If everybody’s white, there can’t be any racial bias,’ Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill, told WWNO/WRKF and ProPublica." <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/if-everybodys-white-there-cant-be-any-racial-bias-the-disappearance-of-hispanic-drivers-from-traffic-records" target="_blank">(“If Everybody’s White, There Can’t Be Any Racial Bias”: The Disappearance of Hispanic Drivers From Traffic Records," ProPublica)</a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> I haven’t even touched on the issues swirling around race and law enforcement, and that issue is the one we read the most about in the news. See this link in the footnote from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;">.<a name="_ftnref102" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[102]</span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A brother in Christ named Esau McCauley, author of <u>Reading While Black</u>, gets the final word on this section:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“And what more shall we say? For the time would fail me to tell of the lynching tree, the Red summer, the dogs and the water hoses, the sit-ins, Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., the people who defied governors and presidents, braved mobs, and sang victory, people of whom the world was not worthy. The history of Black people in this country is a litany of suffering. </span></i></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet we are definitely more than this suffering. There is a thread of victory woven into the tale of despair. We are still here! Still, sometimes it’s hard to see that thread when the cloth is stained with blood. When a Black person learns the history of our suffering and then continues to experience the aftershocks of the seismic disruption of slavery in our ongoing oppression, a feeling of rage or even nihilism begins to rise. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our suffering is not an inadvertent consequence of an otherwise just system. It was designed to be that way. What are we do with this anger, this pain? How does Christianity speak to it? What does the cross have to say, not simply to human suffering, but the particular suffering of African Americans?<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is what many of our black and brown brothers and sisters are mourning. This legacy, and its ongoing impact. This is what breaks the heart of God as he sees the impact of racist sin. If we want to have the eyes of God, we must see what God sees. If we want to have the heart of God, we must feel what he feels. What breaks God's heart must break ours. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dane Ortlund writes, “The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.”</span><a name="_ftnref103" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[103]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When we spend time saying, “But I don’t like how the world is responding to racism,” rather than saying, “Here’s how we as Christians should be responding to racism,” we are in trouble. It looks like the world is more serious about addressing injustice and sin than we are. It might even seem like the church is a hostile environment if there is a barrage of complaints about over even talking about the reality and ongoing legacy of racism. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve heard the argument that minorities are better off in the U.S. today than in any other time in our history, so we should all just relax. That may be true by comparison to times of <b><i>slavery and lynching and bombings and massacres</i></b>, but…that’s a low, low standard. People can be at a better place than ever and<i> still</i> be in a deeply unjust place. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Nobody tells the victim of domestic violence that since the physical abuse is over, the onging verbal and emotional abuse is just fine because, “You’ve never been in such a good place before!” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Nobody suggested to the children of Israel that the wilderness was sufficient after they left slavery in Egypt. The goal was a land flowing with milk and honey; the goal is righteousness and justice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are never called to “settle” short of that. And it begins by seeing and listening well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“’Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.’ The United States of America has a white majority that remembers a history of discovery, opportunity, expansion, and exceptionalism. Meanwhile, our communities of color have the lived experiences of stolen lands, broken treaties, slavery, Jim Crow laws, Indian removal, ethnic cleansing, lynchings, boarding schools, segregation, internment camps, mass incarceration, and families separated at borders. Our country does not have a common memory.”</span><a name="_ftnref104" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[104]</span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We can’t go back and re-experience things together, but we can learn to empathize; we can share in the collective memories in our nation; we can, by the grace of God, learn from history and create new memories, full of hope and truth and justice, united by Jesus. Gospel-centered love requires us to imitate Jesus’ example:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“I see your pain.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·</span> <i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“I hear your story.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“I will weep with you as you weep in hopes that we can rejoice together when it is time to rejoice.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“I want to walk with you into this injustice and offer a gospel-oriented solution. How can we support each other on a path of restoration and hope?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are 34 places in Scripture where justice and righteousness are used synonymously. Check out Isaiah 59:14-17 and Proverbs 8:20 as just two examples. Those of us who claim to hunger for righteousness must also hunger for justice</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref105" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[105] </span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Esau McCauley gets the last word yet again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hungering and thirsting for justice is nothing less than the continued longing for God to come and set things right. It is a vision of the just society established by God that does not waver in the face of evidence to the contrary. Mourning is not enough. We must have a vision for something different. Justice is that difference. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus, then, calls for a reconfiguration of the imagination in which we realize that the options presented to us by the world are not all that there is. There remains a better way and that better way is the kingdom of God. He wants us to see that his kingdom is something that is possible, at least as a foretaste, even while we wait for its full consummation. To hunger for justice is to hope that the things that cause us to mourn will not get the last word. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What does all of this have to do with the public witness of the church? Jesus asks us to see the brokenness in society and to articulate an alternative vision for how we might live. This does not mean that we believe that we can establish the kingdom on earth before his second coming. It does mean that we see society for what it is: less than the kingdom. We let the world know that we see the cracks in the facade.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hungering for justice is a hungering for the kingdom. Therefore the work of justice, when understood as direct testimony to God’s kingdom, is evangelistic from start to finish. It is part (not the whole) of God’s work of reconciling all things to himself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/08/from-red-summer-to-today-where-do-we-go.html" target="_blank">Part Four: Where Do We Go From Here? </a></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Listen to/watch:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Southside Rabbi: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Season 2, Episode 12, “Floyd, Chauvin, and the War on Empathy.” <a href="https://soundcloud.com/southsiderabbi">https://soundcloud.com/southsiderabbi</a>.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Symbol; text-decoration: none;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Holy Post: </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Let’s Talk About Race In America” (Parts 1 and 2) <a href="https://www.holypost.com/articles/categories/videos">https://www.holypost.com/articles/categories/videos</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Leave Loud</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> – Jemar Tisby’s story. His podcast Pass The Mic offers more insight into similar stories. There are political comments that will be off-putting, but just listen. You don’t have to agree with every conclusion he reaches. <a href="https://thewitnessbcc.com/leave-loud-jemar-tisbys-story/">https://thewitnessbcc.com/leave-loud-jemar-tisbys-story/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Read:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“The Bible and Race” by Tim Keller. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/the-bible-and-race/">https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/the-bible-and-race/</a> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">This is the first article in the series on justice and race by Keller that includes: “<span class="MsoHyperlink">The Sin of Racism</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">,” <span class="MsoHyperlink">A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory</span>, and “<span class="MsoHyperlink">Justice in the Bible.</span>”</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy Of The Doctrine Of Discovery</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Reading While Black</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> by Esau McCaulley <a href="https://www.ivpress.com/reading-while-black">https://www.ivpress.com/reading-while-black</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089LYWWDS/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title">African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation </a> by Lisa M. Bowens<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Symbol; text-decoration: none;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Color of Compromise</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, by Jemar Tisby. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity-ebook/dp/B07BB6R827">https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity-ebook/dp/B07BB6R827</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Symbol; text-decoration: none;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Myth Of Equality, </span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">by Ken Wystma, lead pastor of the Village Church in Beaverton, Oregon<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">__________________________________________________________</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “In 1997 a Tulsa Race Riot Commission was formed by the state of Oklahoma to investigate the massacre and formally document the incident. Members of the commission gathered accounts of survivors who were still alive, documents from individuals who witnessed the massacre but had since died, and other historical evidence. Scholars used the accounts of witnesses and ground-piercing radar to locate a potential mass grave just outside Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery, suggesting the death toll may be much higher than the original records indicate. In its preliminary recommendations, the commission suggested that the state of Oklahoma pay $33 million in restitution, some of it to the 121 surviving victims who had been located. However, no legislative action was ever taken on the recommendation, and the commission had no power to force legislation. The <span class="MsoHyperlink">commission’s final report</span> was published on February 28, 2001. In April 2002 a private religious charity, the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, paid a total of $28,000 to the survivors, a little more than $200 each, using funds raised from private donations.” <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Tulsa-race-massacre-of-1921">https://www.britannica.com/event/Tulsa-race-massacre-of-1921</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Some links from the NEA’s article “The Racist Beginnings Of Standardized Testing”.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-decoration: none;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.tcpress.com/blog/dismantling-white-supremacy-includes-racist-tests-sat-act/">Dismantling White Supremacy Includes Ending Racist Tests like the SAT and ACT,<b>TEACHERS COLLEGE PRESS <o:p></o:p></b></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Cambria; text-decoration: none;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/how-ut-used-standardized-testing-to-slow-integration/597814/">A Secret Strategy to Keep Out Black Students,<b> THE ATLANTIC </b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Cambria; text-decoration: none;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b> </b><a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2020/09/22/the-racist-and-classist-roots-of-standardized-testing-found-a-home-at-stanford-and-they-still-endure-today/">The Racist and Classist Roots of Standardized Testing Found a Home at Stanford University They Still Endure Today,<b> THE STANFORD DAILY </b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Cambria; text-decoration: none;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2020/09/22/the-racist-and-classist-roots-of-standardized-testing-found-a-home-at-stanford-and-they-still-endure-today/"><b> </b></a><a href="https://harvardcrcl.org/a-civil-rights-challenge-to-standardized-testing-in-college-admissions/">A Civil Rights Challenge to Standardized Testing in College Admissions,<b> HARVARD CIVIL RIGHTS-CIVIL LIBERTES LAW REVIEW </b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: Cambria; text-decoration: none;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://harvardcrcl.org/a-civil-rights-challenge-to-standardized-testing-in-college-admissions/"><b> </b></a><a href="https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/the-gathering-resistance-to-standardized-tests/">The Gathering Resistance to Standardized Tests,<b> RETHINKING SCHOOLS </b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler">https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://billmoyers.com/story/hitler-america-nazi-race-law/">https://billmoyers.com/story/hitler-america-nazi-race-law/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-jim-crow">https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-jim-crow</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://aeon.co/ideas/why-the-nazis-studied-american-race-laws-for-inspiration">https://aeon.co/ideas/why-the-nazis-studied-american-race-laws-for-inspiration</a></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us</u>, by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Great Depression,” Robin Kelley, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/172004">https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/172004</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/12/these-are-the-three-reasons-that-fascism-spread-in-1930s-america-and-might-spread-again-today/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/12/these-are-the-three-reasons-that-fascism-spread-in-1930s-america-and-might-spread-again-today/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://liberationschool.org/communism-and-black-resistance-in-the-1930s-south/">https://liberationschool.org/communism-and-black-resistance-in-the-1930s-south/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/13937517.pdf">https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/13937517.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[12]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> This is also when confederate monuments began to be built in earnest. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jemar Tisby, <u>The Color of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[14]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[15]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://canoe.csumc.wisc.edu/LdFCanoe_subpage_South_History_3.html#ira">https://canoe.csumc.wisc.edu/LdFCanoe_subpage_South_History_3.html#ira</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Union Construction’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Charade,” Stanford Social Innovation Review. <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/union_constructions_racial_equity_and_inclusion_charade">https://ssir.org/articles/entry/union_constructions_racial_equity_and_inclusion_charade</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[17]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/redlining-definition-4157858">https://www.thoughtco.com/redlining-definition-4157858</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[18]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Party Realignment And The New Deal.” <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/">https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[19]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Last Hired, First Fired: How the Great Depression Affected African Americans.” <a href="https://www.history.com/news/last-hired-first-fired-how-the-great-depression-affected-african">https://www.history.com/news/last-hired-first-fired-how-the-great-depression-affected-african-americans</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[21]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[22]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> As quoted in “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth of Equality</u>, by Ken Wystma<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn23" title=""></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[23]</span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1947, home loans from the GI Bill after WWII disenfranchised black war veterans. <i>“In New York and the northern New Jersey suburbs, fewer than 100 of the 67,000 mortgages insured by the GI bill supported home purchases by non-whites.</i>” 6% of soldiers were black; .02% got loans. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[24]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways">https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[25]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The real estate business practice of "blockbusting" was a for-profit catalyst for white flight, and a means to control non-white migration. By subterfuge, real estate agents would facilitate black people buying a house in a white neighborhood, either by buying the house themselves, or via a white proxy buyer, and then re-selling it to the black family. The remaining white inhabitants (alarmed by real estate agents and the local news media),<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#cite_note-78"><sup>[78]</sup></a> fearing devalued residential property, would quickly sell, usually at a loss. The realtors profited from these <i>en masse</i> sales and the ability to resell to the incoming black families, through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitrage" title="Arbitrage">arbitrage</a> and the sales commissions from both groups. By such tactics, the racial composition of a neighborhood population was often changed completely in a few years.” <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight#Government-aided_white_flight</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[27]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Color of Compromise </u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[28]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781620974681">https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781620974681</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Wikipedia! Also, there are still at least 5 towns in the United States whose names come from the acronym ANNA – “Ain’t No N***** Allowed.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Two quotes from an article noting responses from readers concerning sundown towns. <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/reader-responses-the-legend-of-anna-illinois-sundown-towns">https://www.propublica.org/article/reader-responses-the-legend-of-anna-illinois-sundown-towns</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“This reminds me of a shocking event from my teens. In the late 60’s, my dad and I were waiting with our new housekeeper at a bus stop in Burbank, CA, when the police pulled up and told us our housekeeper had to be out of town before sunset-so disillusioning, horrifying, sad.” <a href="https://twitter.com/JBEnglish1/status/1194142020358393856?s=20">— @JBEnglish1</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The place was Golden Valley NC. I saw the sign in 1997. I could not find the picture, but I remember the sign, ‘The sun never set on a black man in Golden Valley’ - right on the side of the road. I couldn’t get it out of my mind for a long time, and still think about it.” <a href="https://twitter.com/No_Bod_There/status/1193646842782859264?s=20">— @No_Bod_There</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn31"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[31]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/blackhistorymonth/hospitals">https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/blackhistorymonth/hospitals</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn32"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[32]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm">https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn33"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “A Secret 1950s Strategy To Keep Out Black Students,” The Atlantic. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/how-ut-used-standardized-testing-to-slow-integration/597814/">https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/how-ut-used-standardized-testing-to-slow-integration/597814/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn34"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[34]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> D.L. Moody and Billy Sunday both allowed segregation at their meetings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn35"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-thurgood-marshall-paved-road-brown-v-board-education-180977197/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-thurgood-marshall-paved-road-brown-v-board-education-180977197/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn36"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[36]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> When the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court" title="United States Supreme Court">U.S. Supreme Court</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education" title="Brown v. Board of Education">ruled</a> that segregated <i>public</i> schools were unconstitutional.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn37"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[37]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> When the court <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runyon_v._McCrary" title="Runyon v. McCrary">ruled similarly</a> about private schools. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn38"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[38]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregation_academy#List_of_schools_founded_as_segregation_academies[n_1">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregation_academy#List_of_schools_founded_as_segregation_academies[n_1</a>]<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn39"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[39]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn40"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[40]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448322/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448322/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn41"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[41]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline">https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn42"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[42]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline">https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn43"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[43]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline">https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn44"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[44]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://populationeducation.org/a-brief-history-of-how-gerrymandering-distorts-u-s-politics/">https://populationeducation.org/a-brief-history-of-how-gerrymandering-distorts-u-s-politics/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn45"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[45]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/voting-literacy-test">https://allthatsinteresting.com/voting-literacy-test</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn46"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[46]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793">https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn47"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[47]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement">https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn48"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[48]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement">https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn49"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[49]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://bostonreview.net/race/brent-cebul-tearing-down-black-america">http://bostonreview.net/race/brent-cebul-tearing-down-black-america</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn50"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[50]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2018/civil-rights-events-fd.html">https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2018/civil-rights-events-fd.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn51"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn51" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[51]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> I have barely covered the Urban Renewal movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and how it took homes and businesses from tens of thousands of poor black families. See this link: <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/top-infrastructure-official-explains-how-america-used-highways-to-destroy-black-neighborhoods-96c1460d1962/">https://thinkprogress.org/top-infrastructure-official-explains-how-america-used-highways-to-destroy-black-neighborhoods-96c1460d1962/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn52"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn52" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[52]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn53"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[53]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn54"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[54]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn55"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[55]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1968-kerner-commission-got-it-right-nobody-listened-180968318/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1968-kerner-commission-got-it-right-nobody-listened-180968318/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn56"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[56]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6545/">http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6545/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn57"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn57" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[57]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/">https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn58"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn58" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[58]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn59"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[59]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn60"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[60]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth Of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn61"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn61" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[61]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn62"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn62" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[62]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> About one-third of the <a href="https://boardingschoolhealing.org/education/resources/">357</a> known Indian boarding schools were managed by various Christian denominations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn63"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn63" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[63]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools">http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn64"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn64" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[64]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn65"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn65" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[65]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Eric Hemenway, director of archives and records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, said in a 2017 interview, “We hear devastating stories of kids who survived the school and they grow up to be our elders and, you know, they talk about the situations they went through and how that affected their ability to raise children and develop relationships with other people because of what happened to them at the boarding schools.”<a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/post/harbor-springs-boarding-school-worked-erase-odawa-culture-until-1980s">https://www.michiganradio.org/post/harbor-springs-boarding-school-worked-erase-odawa-culture-until-1980s</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn66"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn66" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[66]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Color of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn67"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn67" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[67]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn68"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn68" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[68]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “<u>Stolen Labor,”</u> The Myth of Equality<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn69"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn69" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[69]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> A lot of information came from an article at <a href="https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-02.htm">https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-02.htm</a></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn71"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn71" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[71]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Permanent-Interest/Redistricting-Representation/">https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Permanent-Interest/Redistricting-Representation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn72"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn72" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[72]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn73"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn73" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[73]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn74"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn74" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[74]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/devaluation-of-assets-in-black-neighborhoods/">https://www.brookings.edu/research/devaluation-of-assets-in-black-neighborhoods/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn75"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn75" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[75]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.eraseracismny.org/structural-racism-timeline2?start=40">https://www.eraseracismny.org/structural-racism-timeline2?start=40</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn76"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn76" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[76]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The U.S. stole generations of Indigenous children to open the West,” High Country News. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west">https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn77"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn77" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[77]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west">https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn78"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn78" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[78]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.vox.com/22266219/biden-eduation-school-funding-segregation-antiracist-policy">https://www.vox.com/22266219/biden-eduation-school-funding-segregation-antiracist-policy</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn79"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn79" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[79]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/07/888469809/how-funding-model-preserves-racial-segregation-in-public-schools">https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/07/888469809/how-funding-model-preserves-racial-segregation-in-public-schools</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn80"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn80" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[80]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> This graph from the New York Times shows the implications of this well: economic hardship takes a toll for a lot of reasons, and economic ease opens a lot of doors. There can be complex reasons for these discrepancies, but general patterns emerge clearly along economic lines, lines which have been repeatedly re-drawn for centuries. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/29/upshot/money-race-and-success-how-your-school-district-compares.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/29/upshot/money-race-and-success-how-your-school-district-compares.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn81"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn81" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[81]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> See <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-affecting-people-of-color">https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-affecting-people-of-color</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-blacks-minorities-hardest-covid-.html">https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-blacks-minorities-hardest-covid-.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html">https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn82"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn82" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[82]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzvpqv/this-film-is-exposing-the-forced-sterilization-of-native-americans?fbclid=IwAR1jX8QfvOmOQt8zwoohML7B9WJVvo3fnAy91jpF7eyx55z-hSRTdN0S5Mk">https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzvpqv/this-film-is-exposing-the-forced-sterilization-of-native-americans?fbclid=IwAR1jX8QfvOmOQt8zwoohML7B9WJVvo3fnAy91jpF7eyx55z-hSRTdN0S5Mk</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn83"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn83" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[83]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Poverty Leaves A Mark On Our Genes,” Northwestern University, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/nu-pla040419.php">https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/nu-pla040419.php</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn84"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn84" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[84]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racism-in-healthcare%23how-racism-impacts-health">https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racism-in-healthcare#how-racism-impacts-health</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn85"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn85" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[85]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racism-in-healthcare%23Chronic-illness">https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racism-in-healthcare#Chronic-illness</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn86"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn86" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[86]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5915910/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5915910/</a></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn87"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn87" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[87]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/?agreed=1">https://tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/?agreed=1</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn88"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn88" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[88]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/06/19/race-drugs-and-law-enforcement-united-states">https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/06/19/race-drugs-and-law-enforcement-united-states#</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn89"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn89" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[89]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eji.org/news/racial-double-standard-in-drug-laws-persists-today/">https://eji.org/news/racial-double-standard-in-drug-laws-persists-today/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn90"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn90" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[90]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/race-mass-incarceration-and-disastrous-war-drugs">https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/race-mass-incarceration-and-disastrous-war-drugs</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn91"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn91" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[91]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.aclu.org/other/race-war-drugs?redirect=drug-law-reform/race-war-drugs">https://www.aclu.org/other/race-war-drugs?redirect=drug-law-reform/race-war-drugs</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn92"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn92" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[92]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “One Black Boy: The Great Lakes And The Midwest.” Tiya Miles, <u>Four Hundred Souls.</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn93"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn93" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[93]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/06/29/are-us-taxpayers-funding-modern-segregation-academies-in-north-carolina/?sh=581ba2e171cd">https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/06/29/are-us-taxpayers-funding-modern-segregation-academies-in-north-carolina/?sh=581ba2e171cd</a>. Also <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED580846.pdf">https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED580846.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn94"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn94" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[94]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn95"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn95" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[95]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/1819-driving-while-black">https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/1819-driving-while-black</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn96"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn96" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[96]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States#Reconstruction_Era_to_World_War_II">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States#Reconstruction_Era_to_World_War_II</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn97"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn97" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[97]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/a-long-history-of-bigotry-against-asian-americans/">https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/a-long-history-of-bigotry-against-asian-americans/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn98"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn98" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[98]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn99"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn99" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[99]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn100"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn100" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[100]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The world's largest <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists" title="Baptists">Baptist</a> denomination, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism_in_the_United_States" title="Protestantism in the United States">largest</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism">Protestant</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_United_States" title="Christianity in the United States">second-largest</a> Christian denomination in the United States, smaller only than the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_the_United_States" title="Catholic Church in the United States">Roman Catholic Church</a> according to self-reported membership statistics.” (Thanks, Wikipedia)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn101"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn101" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[101]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/06/02/russell-moore-to-erlc-trustees-they-want-me-to-live-in-psychological-terror/?fbclid=IwAR19AnVipn-RwqpdWZ7_fPApWWC45Z0xCcnCe-SB2n-42TxnhVtzPI1nf7E">https://religionnews.com/2021/06/02/russell-moore-to-erlc-trustees-they-want-me-to-live-in-psychological-terror/?fbclid=IwAR19AnVipn-RwqpdWZ7_fPApWWC45Z0xCcnCe-SB2n-42TxnhVtzPI1nf7E</a></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn102"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn102" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[102]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.nacdl.org/Content/Race-and-Policing">https://www.nacdl.org/Content/Race-and-Policing</a></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn103"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn103" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[103]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Heart In Action,” <u>Gentle And Lowly</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn104"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn104" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[104]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> George Erasmus, quoted in <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn105"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn105" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[105]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Read the excellent chapter “Does Justice Belong In Our Gospel Conversation?” </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">in Ken Wystma’s book <u>The Myth Of Equality</u></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-88437809223810043902021-07-14T08:32:00.011-07:002024-03-02T06:41:25.980-08:00 Emancipation To the Great Migration: Jim Crow, Reconstruction And Sundown Towns (Planting The Wind; Harvesting the Whirlwind, Part 2)<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14pt;">T</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">his is the second in a series on the history of slavery and racism in the United States.</span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-1619-to-emancipation-planting-wind.html" target="_blank">From 1619 To Emancipation</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Emancipation To the Great Migration: Jim Crow, Reconstruction And Sundown Towns</span></li><li><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-red-summer-to-today-lived.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">From The Red Summer To Today: The Lived Experience Of This Generation</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></a></li><li><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/08/from-red-summer-to-today-where-do-we-go.html" target="_blank">Where Do We Go From Here?</a></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-1619-to-emancipation-planting-wind.html" target="_blank">In From 16019 To Emancipation, </a>I started by noting the biblical basis for caring about the history and the legacy of racism in our country before giving an overview beginning in 1609 through the Civil War and Emancipation. Basically, <b><i>we should care because Jesus cares.</i></b> If you have not yet read the first post, I encourage you to do so. There is a lot of information that will add context to what you are reading. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We pick up our narrative right after the Emancipation Proclamation.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* * * * *</span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Newspaper business boomed as slaves placed ads, trying to reunite with all the family members who had been sold</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the South, the federal government never followed through on Sherman's Civil War plan to divide up plantations and give each freed slave "40 acres and a mule." The only compensation for slavery was $300 per slave ($5,000 in today’s money) - not to the slaves, but to slaveholders.</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Laws kicked in right away in the South that led to indentured servitude through prison labor. In South Carolina, a law prohibited black people from holding any occupation other than farmer or servant unless they paid an annual tax of $10 to $100. When they couldn't find (or afford) work, they were arrested for vagrancy <i>simply for not having a job.</i> In Louisiana, it was illegal for a black man to preach to a black congregation with written permission from the police. <a href="https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/for-the-record-unjust-burden-racial-disparities.pdf" target="_blank">In some areas, blacks could be arrested for “walking without a purpose” or “walking at night.” </a> In South Carolina, the children of ‘vagrant’ parents could be forcibly ‘apprenticed’ until they were 21 (men) or 18 (women), and could be captured if they ran away. It was hard to win a case in court, because the judges and police were often former Confederate soldiers.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Abraham Lincoln hated slavery, but he was wary of whites and blacks living together. He wanted to send freed slaves to live in Liberia or Haiti. In 1862 he said to a black audience: </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“You and we are different races—we have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them, by living among us; while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<sup>”<a name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[2]</b></span></span></a></sup></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><a name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><br /></b></span></span></a></sup></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 1862 Homestead Act gave away 270 million acres.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[3]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">It was available to any U.S. citizen who had never fought against the U.S. Government. Guess who couldn't legally be a citizen because they weren’t white and it was not yet 1868? (#The Fourteenth Amendment). The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 opened 46 million acres of federal land (to be clear, this was land taken from Native Americans) specifically for African Americans (at least at first). Many former slaves could not afford the fee, and Southern whites prevented many blacks from getting information. In addition, most of the land was forest and swamp. Fewer than 6,000 black families got land from a total of 1.6 million beneficiaries of these land grant programs</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[4]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Congress also gave another 100 million acres of Native American land to the railroads for free. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Irish immigrants initially established comradery with their black co-workers, but as it became clear to the Irish that this solidarity with black workers denied them entrance into white society – and that a black population moving North might deny them the jobs they had - the relationship changed. Irish violence against blacks became so common in New York City that bricks were known as “Irish confetti.” In 1865, a mob of 1,000 Irish immigrants attacked the black community, including children in an orphanage. They caused so much destruction and elicited such fear that the black population decreased by 20%</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to free slaves that their Texan masters had refused to free. </span><b style="font-size: large;">#juneteenth</b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“In October 1865, months after the June orders, white Texans in some regions ‘still claim and control [slaves] as property, and in two or three instances recently bought and sold them…To sustain slavery, some planters systematically murdered rebellious African-Americans to try to frighten the rest into submission.”</span></i><span style="font-size: medium;"> A report by the Texas constitutional convention stated that white Texans killed almost 400 Black people between 1865 and 1868</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[6]</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> "On May 1, 1866, in Memphis, Tennessee, white police officers began firing into a crowd of African American men, women, and children that had gathered on South Street, and afterward white mobs rampaged through Black neighborhoods with the intent to “kill every Negro and drive the last one from the city.” Over three days of violence, forty-six African Americans were killed (two whites were killed by friendly fire); ninety-one houses, four churches, and twelve schools were burned to the ground; at least five women were raped; and many Black people fled the city permanently." (From <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/" target="_blank">Lynching In America)</a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1868: The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to black people. Federal troops moved through the South, registering 700,000 black voters. The government specifically interpreted the law so it didn’t apply to Native Americans, who would not win the right to citizenship until 1924. </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By 1868, the American Missionary Association (formed by the Congregational Church) had more than 500 teachers and missionaries working with the freed slaves. Among other things, they helped start two freedmen schools that became historically black colleges: Fisk University (1866) and Hampton Institute (1868)</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Thousands of Chinese workers landed in Louisiana between 1866 and 1870, recruited from the Caribbean, China and California. Bound to multiyear contracts, they symbolized Louisiana planters’ racial hope for a new system of slavery. “<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831" target="_blank">We can drive the n*****s out and import coolies that will work better, at less expense,” journalist Whitelaw Reid reported hearing all across the South in 1866, “and relieve us from this cursed n****r impudence.”</a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> T</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">he </span><a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299797" style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Fifteenth Amendment</a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"> was passed by Congress and ratified during the Reconstruction Era (1870). African American men were granted voting rights and even held political office. It was an excellent change that generated hope, but only lasted a short time.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The newly registered 700,000 blacks voters in the South outnumbered the white (male voting) population. Enter supremacist groups like the KKK to start a terrorist race war. KKK members lynched so many black voters in North Carolina 1870 that Governor Holden declared an insurrection and suspended habeus corpus. After Klansmen killed Republican state senator Stephens and Wyatt Outlaw, a black town commissioner, Holden hired a Union colonel and 300 troops to stop the violence (The Kirk-Holden War). But because black voters were successfully suppressed, the Democrats won the state legislature when they should have lost by thousands of votes. They impeached Holden and removed him from office. Not a one of the 100 terrorist leaders in the Kirk-Holden War were charged with a crime. In 1868, white supremacists opened fire on thousands of blacks at a political rally, so intimidating them that they swayed the election by thousands of votes so a Democratic governor would win. In 1869, 33 recently elected black legislators were removed from office when the state Supreme Court overturned the right of blacks to hold office. ¼ of them would be killed by white supremacists; a dozen anti-expulsion protestors were killed in the Camilla Massacre. In 1870, in Laurens, South Carolina, around a dozen white and black voters were killed by supremacists who “waited upon” them after they voted. So, Congress passed The Enforcement Act of 1870, and then a Second one, and then a Third one bluntly called the Ku Klux Klan Act, all in an attempt to stop white supremacist terrorism of black voters. It didn’t work. In 1871, the Klan slaughtered 30 people in Meridian, Mississippi.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1871, a white mob in Los Angeles attacks a Chinese community, killing 19 and destroying the community</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[9]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No one is quite sure how many people a militia mob killed on Easter Sunday in 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana. There were at least 81 black men; 20 more bodies were pulled from the Red River, and at least another 18 secretly buried</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[10]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1874, the White League killed a dozen black Freemen in the Couschatta Massacre in Louisiana. A month later, the Crescent City White League overthrew the state government to install a Democratic governor (federal troops stormed in and reversed it)</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. <a name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[11]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">1872–1874: </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The</span><b style="font-size: x-large;"> </b></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">U.S. government permitted white traders to slaughter buffalo in order to rid the Plains of Indians. By 1874, Plain Indians — Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Comanche — had not only lost a key source of livelihood but lost control of their territory</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[12]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Civil Rights Act of 1875</span><b style="font-size: large;"> </b><span style="font-size: medium;">affirmed the “equality of all men before the law” and prohibited racial discrimination in public places and facilities such as restaurants and public transportation</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">This would not stand for long.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Reconstruction collapsed with the withdrawal of Federal troops in 1877; among other setbacks, voting rights for black men in the former Confederate states were restricted or taken away by local laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and fraud</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[14]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">The “grandfather clause” restricted voting rights to men who were allowed to vote, or whose male ancestors were allowed to vote, before 1867 – which was, or course, not black men</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[15]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1878, California held a constitutional convention for the purpose of throwing the Chinese and Japanese out of the state; the following decades witnessed </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Out-Forgotten-against-Americans/dp/0520256948"><span style="font-size: medium;">scores of race riots</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;">, in which Chinatowns and Japantowns were incinerated and Asians lynched</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carlisle Indian School (1879) and other boarding schools started with the aim to "civilize" and "Americanize" the Indian</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref17" title=""><sup><sup>[17]</sup></sup></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Richard Pratt wanted to “kill the Indian and save the man,” so that instead of “feeding our civilization to the Indians”, we were “feeding the Indians to our civilization</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.”<a name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[18]</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Survivors have described a culture of pervasive physical and sexual abuse. Medical attention was often scarce; in the early years, more died than graduated. Nearly 200 Native children are buried at the entrance of the Carlisle Barracks.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Frederick Douglass (1817-1895): </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“For between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.”<a name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[19]</b></span></span></a> </span></i><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, this is not every Christian, but it’s enough that it leaves an impression. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By 1880, 25% of convicts leased out for work in Mississippi were children, some as young as six. Within a few years, Alabama would basically stop recording reasons for arresting black prisoners, literally writing “not given” in the column for recording reasons for imprisonment. The mortality rate for blacks leased out for hard labor was 17%, which was 15% more than the mortality rate for white convicts</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> When Congress debated excluding the Chinese from the United States in 1882,<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sugar-making-coolies-chinese-laborers-toiled-alongside-black-workers-on-19th-century-louisiana-plantations-173831" target="_blank"> Rep. Horace F. Page of California argued that the United States could not allow the entry of “millions of cooly slaves and serfs.”</a> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> The </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Supreme-Court-of-the-United-States">U.S. Supreme Court</a><span> declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional in the </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Cases"><i>Civil Rights Cases</i></a><span> (1883)</span></span><span><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><a name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: xx-small;">[21]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><a name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), who coordinated the butchering of black and white Union soldiers at Fort Pillow, went on to become the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Many Klan members actively participated in their local churches<i>;</i> more than a few preached on Sundays.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">From George Washington (1789) to Ulysses Grant (1877), more Presidents owned slaves than did not (12-6).</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Dawes Act (1887) called for most designated tribal land to be divided up into individual allotments, on which Native Americans were encouraged to take up agriculture despite the fact that much of the land was unsuitable for farming and many could not afford the equipment, livestock, and other supplies necessary for a successful enterprise</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[22]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Those who accepted the parcels and agreed to live separately from the tribe were granted citizenship, effectively dismantling tribal governments and communally held land. Any “excess” land (2/3 of it) was confiscated by the federal government and sold on the open market</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[23]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By the time the 1880s rolled around, “The legal system entrapped thousands of black men, often on trumped up charges and without any due process protections, and earned money for sheriffs and state treasuries by selling their labor. It was worse than slavery.”</span><a name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[24]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/738-twice-the-work-of-free-labor"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every southern state leased convicts</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;">; 90% of all leased convicts were black. Historian David Oshinsky says, “The South’s economic development can be traced by the blood if its prisoners</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.”<a name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[25]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">General Ulysses S. Grant (late 1800s): <i>“The settlers and emigrants must be protected, even if the extermination of every Indian tribe [is] necessary.</i>” The following year, General Philip Sheridan reportedly proclaimed, <i>“The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre (300 Lakotaa men, women and children killed), the U.S. Army awarded 18 medals of honor to soldiers who participated, 3 for flushing Indians out of a ravine in which they were hiding</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum" title="L. Frank Baum">L. Frank Baum</a> – you know him as the writer of <u>The Wizard of Oz </u>- wrote two editorials about Native Americans. After the killing of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a>, Baum wrote: <i>" With his fall the nobility of the </i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskin" title="Redskin"><i>Redskin</i></a><i> is extinguished, and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The Whites, by the law of conquest, by a justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians… better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are." </i>Following the Wounded Knee massacre, Baum wrote, <i>"The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.”</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the late 1800s, missionary activity surged. However, an embedded message of white superiority often undermined the message of the gospel: the conversion to the tenants of western culture and a response to the gospel was a package deal. Methodist Senator Albert Beveridge said, <i>“Of all our races, God has marked the American people as his chosen nation to finally lead to the regeneration of the world. This is a divine mission.”</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not require the elimination of racial distinction but only the equal treatment of races. And with that, “separate but equal” became the standard in law for decades. It “struck a fatal blow to…black aspirations for equality and assimilation into America’s vaunted melting pot</span><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.”</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://canoe.csumc.wisc.edu/LdFCanoe_subpage_South_History_3.html" name="_ftnref27" target="_blank" title="">[27]</a></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;">By the early 1900s, nearly every southern state had barred black citizens from voting, serving in public office, sitting on juries or partipating in the administration of the justice system</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span><a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[28] </span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/" name="_ftnref28" target="_blank" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: medium;"> "Alabama rewrote its constitution in 1901. John B. Knox, a Calhoun County lawyer and president of the constitutional convention, opened the proceedings with a statement of purpose: 'Why it is within the limits imposed by the Federal Constitution, to establish white supremacy in this state.'”</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">President Theodore Roosevelt (early 1900s) said, <i>"I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are. And I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth."</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The revival of the </span><span>Ku Klux Klan</span><span> in the 1900s was largely the effort </span><span>of Thomas Dixon Jr., an ordained Baptist preacher</span><span> who wrote an admiring book on of the KKK called </span><u>The Clansman</u><span> (1905). D.W. Griffith adapted this into the first blockbuster movie, </span><u>The Birth of a Nation</u><span> (1915), which was screened in the White House</span></span><span><span style="font-size: medium;">.”</span><a name="_ftnref29" style="font-size: x-small;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><a name="_ftnref29" style="font-size: x-small;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There were 4,084 racially motivated lynchings in twelve Southern states between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the </span><span style="font-size: medium;">1950’s</span><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: italic;">.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">African-American leaders contended that white churches shared the blame for this. Walter White of the NAACP wrote, “Evangelical Christian denominations have done much towards creation of the particular fanaticism which finds an outlet in lynching.” This was surely not entirely fair, as many white evangelicals expressed deep concern. However, they typically lamented the lawlessness of the acts more than the racial hatred behind the response.</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A Southern Baptist resolution in1906 shows this equivocation about lynching: “Lynching blunts the public conscience, undermines the foundations on which societies stands, and if unchecked will bring on anarchy. But our condemnation is due with equal emphasis and many cases with much greater emphasis against the horrible crimes which caused the lynchings.” Crimes, I might add, which was often made up and did not need to be proven to a lynch mob</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[31]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Booker T. Washington wrote in the </span><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Birmingham Age-Herald</span></u><span style="font-size: medium;"> in 1904: “Within the last fortnight three members of my race have been burned at the stake; one of these was a woman… All three of these burnings took place in broad daylight, and two of the occurred on Sunday afternoon in sight of a Christian church.” Washington notes all three were accused of murder. Accused, not convicted, and likely not guilty</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[32]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Not long after 1906, when San Francisco was leveled by earthquake and fire, the Chinese were evicted and Chinatown looted. The federal government tried to prevent rebuilding, but the intercession of China’s empress ensured that it was restored. Soon afterward, the federal government turned Angel Island in San Francisco Bay into basically a prison where 175,000 Asian immigrants were detained, sometimes for years, before being considered for admission to the United States</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span></span></a> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1908, a mob of around 5,000 white people attacked the black community in Springfield, Illinois, destroying businesses, driving families away, and lynching two black men</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[34]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By 1910, the war against black voting had shown itself to be effective. 30,334 black voters had registered in Louisiana in 1896; by 1910, there were 730. In Alabama, numbers dropped from 180,000 to 3,000; in Virginia and North Carolina, black voters were statistically 0%</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">In 1917, mobs in East St. Louis forced black workers from factories and gave them the option of being shot or burned alive. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1914-1919 was the Great Migration, when 6 million blacks moved away from South to find “political asylum within their own country.” (The California Gold rush involved 100,000 people; the Dust Bowl displaced 300,000). This was spurred on by incidents some may have witnessed in Waco, Texas in 1916, where 18-year-old Jesse Washington was lowered by rope into flames to be burned alive while a crowd of 15,000 yelled, “Burn, burn burn!” </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;">In 1917, mobs in East St. Louis forced black workers from factories and gave them the option of being shot or burned alive</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;">.<a name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[36]</span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: large;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><span>The</span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/death-hundreds-elaine-massacre-led-supreme-court-take-major-step-toward-equal-justice-african-americans-180969863/"> <b>1919 Elaine Massacre</b></a><span> refers to the time when white soldiers collaborated with local vigilantes to kill at least 200 black men, women and children who dared to criticize their low wages</span><span>.<a name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[37]</span></span></a> </span><span>The local newspaper, the </span><u>Arkansas Democrat-Gazette</u><span>, lied about a list of 21 white farmers the Progressive Farmers and Household Union had compiled. The list identified white farmers with whom to discuss farming practices. The newspaper claimed it was a hit list.</span><a name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[38]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><br /></span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Phillips County, Arkansas, where black sharecroppers were attempting to form unions, “emergency posses” killed at least 200 people</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.<a name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[39]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ida Wells, one of the founders of the NAACP, called out D.L. Moody for downplaying the issue of lynching: “American Christians are too busy saving the souls of white Christians from burning in Hell Fire to save the lives of black ones from present burning and fires kindled by white Christians.”</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> "Another public spectacle lynching took place in 1917 in Memphis, Tennessee, when a mob of twenty-five men seized Ell Persons from a train that was transporting him to stand trial for rape and murder. The mob had announced the lynching time and location in advance, and thousands of people attended, backing up traffic for miles. Food and gum vendors sold their wares to the many spectators as Mr. Persons was doused with gasoline and set on fire. A ten-year-old Black child was forced to sit next to the fire and watch him die. When members of the crowd complained that Mr. Persons would die too quickly if burned, the fire was extinguished, and attendees fought over Mr. Person’s clothes and remnants of the rope to keep as mementos. Two men cut off his ears for souvenirs, after which the head of Mr. Person’s corpse was removed and thrown into a crowd in Memphis’s Black commercial district. Later that year, just a few hours away in Dyersburg, Tennessee, Lation Scott was subjected to a brutal and prolonged lynching after being accused of “criminal assault.” Thousands gathered near a vacant lot across the street from the downtown courthouse and children sat atop their parents’ shoulders to get a better view as Mr. Scott’s clothes and skin were ripped off with knives. A mob tortured Lation Scott with a hot poker iron, gouging out his eyes, shoving the hot poker down his throat and pressing it all over his body before castrating him and burning him alive over a slow fire. Mr. Scott’s torturous killing lasted more than three hours."<a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/" target="_blank">(From Lynching In America)</a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1914-1919 was the Great Migration, during which 6 million blacks moved away from South to find “political asylum within their own country.” (The California Gold rush involved 100,000 people; the Dust Bowl displaced 300,000). This was spurred on by incidents some may have witnessed such as the one in Waco, Texas in 1916, where 18-year-old Jesse Washington was lowered by rope into flames to be burned alive while a crowd of 15,000 yelled, “Burn, burn burn!”</span><a name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[40]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-red-summer-to-today-lived.html" target="_blank">Part 3: From The Red Summer To Today: The Lived Experience Of This Generation</a> </b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> <u>T</u><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">he Sum Of Us</span></u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">, Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Lincoln said shortly before he died, <i>“I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes … I believe that it would be better to export them all to some fertile country…”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “In the Great Plains, they found success. A significant colony (as it was called) of about 150 people thrived at <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/welcome-to-blackdom-the-ghost-town-that-was-new-mexicos-first-black-settlement-10750177/" title="www.smithsonianmag.com">Blackdom</a>, near Roswell, N.M., during the opening decades of the 20th century. Dearfield was home to more than 200 homesteaders.” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-disappearing-story-of-the-black-homesteaders-who-pioneered-the-west/2018/07/05/ca0b51b6-7f09-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-disappearing-story-of-the-black-homesteaders-who-pioneered-the-west/2018/07/05/ca0b51b6-7f09-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html</a><u><span style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us, </u>by Heather McGhee. An estimated 46 million people are the propertied descendants of those land grant beneficiaries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us,</u> by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://forward.com/opinion/471597/juneteenth-what-really-happened/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Main">https://forward.com/opinion/471597/juneteenth-what-really-happened/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Main</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Slavery Controversy And Civil War,” <u>America’s Religious History,</u> Thomas Kidd.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Reconstruction,” Michael Harriot, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Reconstruction,” Michael Harriot, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[12]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf">https://eastsideforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/History-of-Racism-and-Immigration-Timeline.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[14]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> It’s worth noting that poll taxes alone also disenfranchised thousands of poor white voters. Voter turnout in poll tax states was 18% vs. a national average o 69%, according to Heather McGee in <u>The Sum Of Us.</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[15]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote">https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The 1619 Project: An Autopsy,” CATO Institute. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[17]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="http://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/teach/kill-indian-and-save-man-capt-richard-h-pratt-education-native-americans">http://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/teach/kill-indian-and-save-man-capt-richard-h-pratt-education-native-americans</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[18]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths,</u> Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[19]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>African American Readings Of Paul</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth of Equality</u>, Ken Wystma<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[21]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[22]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[23]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/">https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/racism-and-the-land-a-timeline/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[24]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/">https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[25]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Stolen Labor, <u>The Myth of Equality</u>, Ken Wystma<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[27]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth Of Equality,</u> Ken Wytsma<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[28]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/exploiting-black-labor-after-the-abolition-of-slavery-72482">https://theconversation.com/exploiting-black-labor-after-the-abolition-of-slavery-72482</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jemar Tisby, <u>The Color Of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> There were other lynchings that were not racially motivated. <a href="http://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/">http://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn31"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[31]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> After the 1906 Race Riots, a confederate soldier and governor of Georgia named William Northern, <b>a Southern Baptist leader,</b> helped organize Christian anti-lynching activists, though he assured people that stopping lynching would not undermine white supremacy or lead to racial integration.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn32"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[32]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Booker T. Washington,” by Derrick Alridge <u><o:p></o:p></u></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn33"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The 1619 Project: An Autopsy,” CATO Institute<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn34"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[34]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>American On Fire,</u> Elizabeth Hinton<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn35"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Stolen Labor,” <u>The Myth Of Equality</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn36"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[36]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>America On Fire,</u> Elizabeth Hinton<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn37"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[37]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn38"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[38]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> From Jemar Tisby’s intro to the re-release of T<u>he Coming Race Wars</u>, by William Pannell<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn39"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_ftn39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[39]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>America On Fire</u>, Elizabeth Hinton<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div id="ftn40"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: medium;">[40]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> “The Great Migration,” Isabel Wilkerson, </span><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Four Hundred Souls</span></u></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-33661962954018300812021-07-13T20:00:00.024-07:002024-03-02T06:41:43.165-08:00From 1619 To Emancipation (Planting The Wind; Harvesting The Whirlwind, Part 1)<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We learn some important things about how we, the followers of Jesus, ought to be present in the world simply by looking at how Jesus was present with the people in his time.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b>H</b></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>e “saw” people</span><a name="_ftnref1" title=""><sup><b><sup><span>[1]</span></sup></b></sup></a></span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> </span><span>(It’s a loaded word - see Matthew 9:36 – but it led to compassionate action.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b> H</b></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">e listened and thoughtfully responded</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> (See the Rich Young Ruler</span><a name="_ftnref2" title=""><sup><sup><span>[2]</span></sup></sup></a><span>; the woman who touched his garment</span><span><a name="_ftnref3" title=""><sup><sup>[3]</sup></sup></a>;</span><span> the woman caught in adultery.)</span><a name="_ftnref4" title=""><sup><sup><span>[4]</span></sup></sup></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b>H</b></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">e spent time with them</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> (He was that crazy ‘friend of sinners,'</span><a name="_ftnref5" title=""><sup><sup><span>[5]</span></sup></sup></a><span> an insult Jesus embraced.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He invited himself into their homes.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> (Zaccheus)</span><a name="_ftnref6" title=""><sup><sup><span>[6]</span></sup></sup></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He went to their unclean neighborhoods.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> (Samaria)</span><a name="_ftnref7" title=""><sup><sup><span>[7]</span></sup></sup></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He empathized with them (Hebrew 4:15). </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><a name="_ftnref8" title=""><sup><sup>[8]</sup></sup></a> </span><i><span>“In our pain; Jesus is pained. In our suffering, he feels the suffering as his own even though it isn’t… his heart is feelingly drawn into our distress.. His human nature engages our troubles comprehensively.”</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">[9]</span></b></span></span></i><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He poured out his life for them.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> (#crucifixion)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He offered them hope. </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“I have come that you might have life.” (John 10:10)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">This is what the love of God looked like expressed through Jesus. We model the loving example of Jesus when we see, listen, spend time together with others, seek to sympathize and empathize, and pour out our lives so that we might faithfully and lovingly re-present Jesus in hope-filled attitudes, actions, and words. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Because I want to write about an aspect of life that ought to inspire a motivating sorrow as we see the impact of evil in the world, it’s worth noting that a key way in which is described: “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.”</span><a name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[10]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>“Twice in the Gospels we are told that Jesus broke down and wept. And in neither case is it sorrow for himself or his own pains. In both cases it is sorrow over another – and in one case, Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and in the other, his deceased friend, Lazarus (John 11:35). What was his deepest anguish? The anguish of others. What drew his heart out to the point of tears? The tears of others.”</span><a name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">[11]</span></b></span></span></a></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>There is a movement of people leaving white evangelicalism (#leaveloud) because of ongoing frustrations with how the brutal legacy and ongoing painful reality of racism is (or isn’t) being addressed. A recent Barna survey revealed that “more than any segment of the population, white evangelical Christians demonstrate a blindness to the struggle of their African American brothers and sisters.”</span><span><a name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[12]</span></span></a> </span><span>It doesn’t feel to many non-white evangelicals like the church is a place where the heart of Jesus for those hurt by sin is on display. Their experience is that the church is refusing to see, listen and take seriously the ongoing legacy of the pain of racism. That feels a lot like a refusal to love by a refusal to empathize<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span><a name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[13]<span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Here’s a practical example about what’s at stake. The Nation of Islam began in the 1930s and quickly became an alternative to Christianity for many black people who had become disillusioned with the Christian religion’s seeming impotence in the face of racial prejudice. Muhammad Ali once explained that he had embraced “the Nation” as a teenager after a NOI member gave him one of their newspapers with a cartoon depicting a white slave owner whipping an enslaved black man while also telling him to pray to Christ.</span><a name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[14]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Maybe the lack of honest tackling of this issue is happening because there are a lot of ways for this discussion to potentially go wrong. We are seeing that on display as our nation tries to address it. But I also know this: not talking about is a way that will definitely go wrong. With that in mind, I am walking into this praying that this will go right. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation </span><span><a name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[15]</span></span></a>;</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> we can’t be part of that if we don’t understand what needs to be reconciled, and how, and why.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I have preached a lot of sermons and done a lot of posts calling out sin and discussing the impact with which sin lands on its victims. This is just as true for racism as any other sin.</span><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> If we don’t rightly name sin</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> for what it is, we can too easily dismiss sin, not see sin, or fall into it rather than pursue righteousness. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I will define racism as</span><i style="font-family: Cambria;"> the dismissing, demeaning, objectifying, discarding and/or brutalizing of image bearers off God simply because their ethnicity or melanin differs from one’s own. </i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Globally</span><i style="font-family: Cambria;">, </i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">racism is not unique to one group of people.</span><a name="_ftnref20" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span style="font-size: x-small;">[20]</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>In the United States, the legacy of racism directed at particular groups of people by other groups of people has historically been focused in particular ways, and that’s what we will look at: our history in the United States.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> If we don’t rightly see this sin,</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> we will not see the victims of sin; if we do, we won’t see </span><span>how profoundly it lands.</span><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> We see and listen </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>so we can know and understand how legacies have shaped our collective national and American church history so that we might clearly intervene with righteousness and move both victims and perpetrators toward healing and restoration.</span><a name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[21]</span></span></span></a><span> In the Old Testament, the Israelites constantly recited their history. They did not forget. Read Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9. He begs for God’s mercy for the actions of generations past; Daniel was not responsible for their sin, but he was responsible for what he did with the legacy they left him. </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote in relation to the compassion Jesus felt, “</span><i style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>When [Christ] saw the people in misery, his bowels yearned within him; the works of grace and mercy in Christ, they came from his bowels first.”</span><a name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">[16]</span></b></span></span></a></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> If we don’t see how profoundly it lands,</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> sin will continue without Christians moving into those sin-ravaged places and stopping the chaos and pain by bringing gospel healing to those who are the victims of it. What we learn should provoke us to love well so that we might have more wisdom on how to be faithfully and lovingly present in attitude, action, and word with those who have both experienced racism - and perpetrated it. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> If we don’t move into those sin-ravaged places,</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> especially as it shows up in the legacy of the church, the presentation of the gospel and the experience of doing life together with God’s people are going to suffer great harm. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We want the community of the church to become a compelling place</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span> that embodies the heart and mind of Jesus for a world that is groaning from the weight of sin in every corner as it awaits redemption.</span><a name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[22]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Bible is clear that there is a legacy of sin that gets passed down (Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9). Ken Wytsma, a pastor in Beaverton, Oregon, looks at how racism leaves a legacy by summarizing our different American histories this way: </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>“Much of our identity is derived from our past, our cultural heritage – where we’ve come from…The white American ‘creation story,’ as it was framed in the melting pot analogy of the 1940s and ‘50s, is positive and exciting: a country forged in the ‘untamed wilderness’ out of nothing more than a healthy dose of curiosity and courage and a thirst for liberty, freedom, and – ironically – equality. The black American creation story, Asian American creation story, Latin American creation story, and Native American creation story are rooted in tragedy, kidnapping, enslavement, theft, coercion, rape, murder, genocide, inequality, exclusion, terrorism, and oppression in this country, all because of the color of their ancestors’ skin. There is no denying the powerful psychological influence of such a heritage, nor the difficulty involved with forging an identity out of such a painful past.”</span><a name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span>[17]</span></b></span></span></a></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There is no doubt our histories form us; the legacies of which we are a part shape our view of the world and the stories we tell ourselves about our place in it. Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah talk about Historical Trauma Response (HTR), a diagnosis developed by a social worker working with Native Americans. It’s a type of trans-generational trauma that happens when any people group endures widespread and prolonged trauma on a communal level. It’s “transferred from the first generation of trauma survivors to the second and further generations of offspring of the survivors via complex post-traumatic stress disorder mechanisms.” One example will, I hope, suffice: The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors are overrepresented by 300% in referrals to child psychiatry clinics in comparison to the general population.</span><a name="_ftnref18" style="font-family: Cambria;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[18]</span></span></span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We have to take the legacy of sin seriously. We must see how racism has landed like a bomb in particular communities, sometimes for generation upon generation. We must not ignore how trauma lingers in a broken creation crying out for redemption. Not seeing this is refusing to see reality.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>And yet.... Ezekiel is clear: when we are committed to righteousness, our history is not our destiny any more than our ancestors’ history is our destiny (Ezekiel 18:19-20) </span><a name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[19]</span></span></span></a><span> The whole point of the Gospel is that God can bring beauty from ashes, and that God’s people have the opportunity to spread the righteous and just boundaries of Eden into the wilderness of the world, bringing life and hope into places of death and despair. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">So, we are going to look at racism in American and specifically American church history. If what follows feels really personal to you – like I am attacking you as an individual or you as a white person - then you’ve got something going on I don’t know about. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I’m not going to shame you, or tell you that you are a racist, or that being white automatically makes you complicit in racism. As far as I know, nothing I cover will overlap with what you have done in your life. If it does, own it. If it doesn’t, don’t project false guilt onto yourself. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Because I have been reading and listening to black and Native American evangelical writers and podcasters this past year, their historical experience will by my primary (though not sole) focus. There is going to be an avalanche of information, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">This will be a four part series: </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">1619 To Emancipation; </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/emancipation-to-great-migration-jim.html" target="_blank"> </a></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/emancipation-to-great-migration-jim.html" target="_blank">Emancipation To the Great Migration: Jim Crow, Reconstruction And Sundown Towns;</a> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-red-summer-to-today-lived.html" target="_blank">From The Red Summer Until Today: The Lived Experience Of This Generation</a>; and <a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/08/from-red-summer-to-today-where-do-we-go.html" target="_blank">Where Do We Go From Here</a>?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I beg of you to <i>see and listen</i> in order to <i>build sympathy</i> and <i>provoke empathy,</i> so we can be a loving, righteous and ultimately hope-filled presence in our culture and with our brothers and sisters in Christ.<span></span></span></p><!--more--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">* * * * *</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The Indian Wars began in 1609. They won’t end until 1924, by which time the Native American population will have dropped </span><i><span>by 95%.</span><a name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">[23]</span></b></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Slavery starts in the New World as early as 1619, when a Dutch ship that had stolen 20 or so Africans from a Portuguese slave trading ship called São João Bautista, or Saint John the Baptist, landed.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1643, Virginia declared that black women (not black men, and not white or indigenous women) would be taxed. Immediately, it became more expensive for slave owners to own female slaves, so they were required to work harder – and better. Their ‘dues’ were often demanded sexually.</span><a name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[24]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1653, Wall Street was named after a literal wall built by slaves to protect the Dutch from Indian raids. They were being attacked because Dutch forces have massacred over a hundred Lenape men, women, and children under the orders of governor Willem Keift. Wall Street had one of the largest slave markets in the country in the 1700s.</span><a name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[25]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">For every 100 people taken from Africa, only about 64 would survive the trip from the region's interior to the coast. Of those 64, around 48 would survive the weeks long journey across the Atlantic. Of those 48 who stepped off the ship in New York Harbor, only 28 to 30 would survive the first three to four years in the Colony. Historians refer to New York at this time as “a death factory for black people.” </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> In 1656, the Dutch Reformed Church stopped baptizing black infants because baptism (it had been agreed) granted freedom. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1662, the Virginia Assembly said that, when black slave women were raped by their masters, the child would be born automatically a slave. This actually incentivized rape, as the children were automatically a valuable property of the rapist.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1667, the Virginia Assembly allowed baptism of slaves to continue by simply ruling that baptism did not change one’s status, slave or free. So, missionaries could make converts and not disrupt the slave trade. It’s no small surprise that their message was not readily received.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Bacon’s Rebellion resulted in laws taking away the rights of black slaves to bear arms – of any kind. In 1680, Virginia passed the Law For Preventing Negro Insurrections, which made it illegal for slaves to even fight back if one was attacked or beaten. Free Indians and blacks were not allowed to “lift up a hand in opposition against any Christian.”</span><a name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[26]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The impact of the French </span><i>Code Noir (Black Code)</i><span> of 1685, enacted in Louisiana, lingers to this day.</span><a name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[27]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1688, the Quakers of Germantown (later Philadelphia) wrote what one historian called “one of the first documents to make a humanitarian argument against slavery.”</span><a name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[28]</span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>The Quakers would continue to be strong abolitionist voices, but they were overwhelmed by the multitude of voices around them. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1694, Massachusetts offered the first bounties for the heads and scalps of American Indian children; in 1695, it specified £25 for women or children “<i>under the age of fourteen years, that shall be killed.” </i></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There were at least 69 government-issued scalp edicts in New England from 1675 to 1760 (and at least 50 issued elsewhere in the United States until 1885). <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/15/new-england-once-hunted-and-humans-for-money-were-descendents-of-the-survivors" target="_blank">In New England alone, records show government payments for 375 human scalps equaling government payments of millions of dollars in today’s money.</a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Various colonial governments sought to limit property ownership among chattel</span><span><a name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[29]</span></span></a> </span><span>slaves. For example, a 1692 Virginia law provided that </span><i>"all horses, cattle and hoggs marked of any negro or other slaves marke, or by any slave kept”</i><span> would be given to the white poor. This is the beginning of the crushing of generational wealth.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Other Christian voices joined the Quakers as abolitionists. “</span><i>The same Bible that racists misused to support slavery and segregation is the one abolitionists and civil rights activists rightly used to animate their resistance. Whenever there has been racial injustice, there have been Christians who fought against it in the name of Jesus Christ.”</i><a name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[30]</span> </span></span></span></a><span>They were too few, and too far between.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1700, Puritan Judge Samuel Sewell (famous for the Salem Witch Trials) was one of those voices crying in the wilderness. He wrote<i> </i><u>The Selling of Joseph</u></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><u>,</u> one of the first anti-slavery tracts. </span><i>"Liberty is in real value next unto Life: None ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon the most mature Consideration… man-stealing [is] an atrocious crime which would introduce among the English settlers people who would remain forever restive and alien… These </i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia" title="Ethiopia"><i>Ethiopians</i></a><i>, as black as they are; seeing they are the Sons and Daughters of the First </i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_(Bible)" title="Adam (Bible)"><i>Adam</i></a><i>, the Brethren and Sisters of the Last Adam, and the Offspring of God; They ought to be treated with a Respect agreeable."</i><span> And yet, like many who opposed slavery, he was not opposed to segregation. </span><i>"There is such a disparity in their Conditions, Colour, Hair, that they can never embody with us, and grow up into orderly Families, to the Peopling of the Land."</i><a name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[31]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>John Saffin, a politician and judge in New England, wrote a response to Judge Sewell’s tract using the Bible to defend slavery. It ended like this: </span><i><span>“The Negro’s Character: Cowardly and cruel are those blacks innate, Prone to revenge, imp of inveterate hate. He that exasperates them, soon espies Mischief and murder in their very eyes. Libidinous, deceitful, false and rude, Thy spume issue of ingratitude. The premises considered, all may tell, how near good Joseph they are parallel.“</span><a name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">[32]</span></b></span></span></a></i><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>Between 1680 and 1700, Virginia’s slaves increased from 3,000 to 16,000. This prompted the 1705 Act Concerning Servants and Slaves, <i>“American history’s most striking evidence that our nation’s greatest sins were achieved with clear forethought and determined maintenance.”</i></span><a name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[33]</span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>New York passed one the same year. It included codes like this: if a slave </span><i>“shall happen to be killed in… correction, it shall not be counted a felony; but master, owner and every such person giving correction, shall be free and acquit of all punishment and accusation…as if such incident had never happened.”</i><span> </span><a name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[34]</span></span></span></a><span> Virginia, by the way, was a state where the names of runaway slaves were posted on church doors. </span><a name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[35]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>In 1712, two dozens slaves staged a rebellion in New York. When a group of men approached, they killed 9 of them. They were captured, and approximately 23 other slaves were convicted of being involved. 20 were hanged; one was roasted, slow-turning, over a fire; another broken on a wheel; a third had every bone methodically broken by a crowbar until he died. These punishments were consistent with the slave code of 1708. </span><span><a name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[36]</span></span></a> </span><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1739, in what is known as the Stono Rebellion, an uprising of slaves left 23 white South Carolinians dead. South Carolina then passed the Negro Act of 1740, which restricted the right of slaves to assemble and educate themselves. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">In 1741, a grand jury in New York concluded black arsonists had set a series of fires to overthrow chattel slavery. 70 were sold to work in the Caribbean. 17 were hanged. 13 were burned at the stake. Compare this to the infamous Salem Witch Trials, in which 19 were executed, and none burned at the stake. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> While some Christians were involved in the abolitionist movement (as previously noted) the majority were not. Jonathan Edwards owned household slaves. George Whitefield bought a South Carolina plantation and became a slave owner before leading a push to get slavery legalized in Georgia in 1751.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-small; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[37]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">As you might imagine, Christians and preachers owning slaves was a lot for slaves to process.</span><a name="_ftnref38" style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[38]</span></span></span></a></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1754, Benjamin Franklin’s newspaper published a religious essay by Quaker preacher John Woolman entitled “Some Considerations on the Keeping of the Negroes,” which advocated strongly for emancipation. Franklin, however, did not have a high view of those who “blackened half of America.” </span><i><span>“Why increase the sons of Africa, by planting them in America, where we have so fair an opportunity, by excluding all blacks and tawneys, of increasing the lovely white and red?”</span><a name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[39]</span></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1781, the U.S. Constitution was ratified. William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the abolitionist newspaper</span><i> The Liberator, </i><span>citing Isaiah 28, called it a “covenant with death” because it didn’t ban slavery in America<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span><a name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[40]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The Baptist General Committee eventually issued statements in 1785 and 1790 opposing slavery. After some pushback from within the church, they decided it was a civil issue rather than a church one, and churches could do whatever they wanted. </span><a name="_ftnref41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[41]</span></span></span></a></span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-small;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1786, George Washington - who 12 years earlier had written to a friend concerning the British that </span><i><span>“we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition that can be heaped upon us; till custom and use, will make us as tame, and abject slaves, as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway”</span><a name="_ftnref42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[42]</span></span></span></a></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span>- complained about Quakers trying to “liberate his slaves.” Soon after, Quakers in Philadelphia and North Carolina began to lay the groundwork for what would become the Underground Railroad.</span><a name="_ftnref43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[43]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>17 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 owned a total of about 1,400 slaves. Of the first 12 U.S. presidents, eight were slave owners.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[44] </span></span></a> </span><span>Washington had hundreds of slaves; Jefferson over 600; Madison over 100; Monroe around 250. Washington would later describe his ownership of slaves as “the only unavoidable subject of regret.” When Washington died, he freed the slaves he owned. He was the only Founding Father to do so.</span><a name="_ftnref45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[45]</span></span></span></a><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">_________________________________________________________________</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Note: You can find quotes from most of the Founders opposing slavery even while they owned slaves; many thought freeing them was a good idea, but they didn’t want to live around them; more than a few expressed regret toward the end of their lives about their complicity in enabling the institution of slavery. Any narrative that paints them<i> entirely </i>as ruthless slaveholders or <i>entirely</i> as committed abolitionists does not do justice to the historical record.</span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">_________________________________________________________________</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>There were 700,000 slaves in this land in 1790 (92% of the black population); 3.9 million in 1860 (89% of the black population).</span><span><a name="_ftnref46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[46]</span></span></a> </span><span>6 to 7 million enslaved people were imported to the New World during the 18th century. About 25% of Southern households owned slaves (as high as 49% in Mississippi).</span><a name="_ftnref47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[47]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The 1790 Naturalization Act permitted only </span><span>"free white persons"</span><span> to become naturalized citizens, so only free white people could vote, serve on juries, hold office, and in many cases, own property.</span><a name="_ftnref48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[48]</span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>The Second Amendment, passed in 1791, almost certainly was intended to secure the right of slave owning states to have a militia that, at that time, was used to hunt escaped slaves. James Madison appears to have </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/06/17/how-fears-of-abolition-shaped-the-second-amendment_partner/">rewritten the Second Amendment</a><span> from its original form in response to Patrick Henry (who owned 70 or more slaves) </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/06/17/how-fears-of-abolition-shaped-the-second-amendment_partner/">demanding</a><span> that the slave patrols in Virginia (‘militias’) be protected. See three resources in this footnote for more information.</span><a name="_ftnref49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[49]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1792, at least 200 slaves began to help building the White House. All three of the original commissioners Washington appointed to oversee construction owned slaves. Some of the later commissioners even hired out their own enslaved people to help build the Capitol Building and the White House. As the White House website notes, “</span><i><span>The use of enslaved labor to build one of the most revered symbols of American democracy, and the home of the President of the United States, represents the paradoxical relationship between the institution of slavery and the ideals of freedom and liberty enshrined in America’s founding documents.”</span><a name="_ftnref50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[50]</span></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>“The </span><a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/stock_market.html">Buttonwood Agreement</a><span>, which started what became the New York Stock Exchange, was signed in 1792 under a buttonwood tree in front of 68 Wall Street, about a block away from the slave market at the intersection of Wall and Water streets. The agreement covered transactions and companies involved in the slave trade, including shipping, insurance and cotton.”</span><a name="_ftnref51" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[51]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1793, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, and Washington signed it. The act made it a federal crime to assist escaped slaves. This was the same year slaves helped to build the Capital building.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The invention of the cotton gin (1793) led to an explosion in the expansion of slavery in order to meet the cotton demand. Much of the cotton in the South went through Northern ports, from which it was sent to England. <i>“As the cotton trade went, so went the American economy.”</i></span><a name="_ftnref52" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[52]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In the late 1700s, priests from other countries were recording the brutal realities of slavery and the ubiquitous rape of enslaved women – by the church. One Frenchman recorded the priests were “</span><i><span>keeping harems of Negro women, from whom was born a mixed race.”</span><a name="_ftnref53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[53]</span></span></span></a></i><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Dating back to the 1800s, Native American children were put in boarding schools – of which a third were run by Christian missionaries - to </span><i style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">“Kill the Indian and save the man,”</i><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> as Capt. Richard H. Pratt put it in an 1892 speech at George Mason University. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west" target="_blank">“In Indian civilization I am a Baptist,” Pratt wrote, “because I believe in immersing the Indians in our civilization and when we get them under holding them there until they are thoroughly soaked.”</a> In these 367 schools, they were isolated from their families, treated terribly (disease and malnutrition was rampant), and trained into low-paying vocations. More on this later.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1802, Leland Baptist in Massachusetts presented Thomas Jefferson with a 1200 pound block of cheese because of his famous “wall of separation between church and state” reply to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut. This was Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves and believed that “Indians should ‘be absorbed’ into the United States or face military obliteration.”</span><a name="_ftnref54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[54]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>“Standard civics class accounts of the Electoral College rarely mention the real demon dooming direct national election in 1787 and 1803: slavery. At the Philadelphia convention, the visionary Pennsylvanian James Wilson proposed direct national election of the president. But the savvy Virginian James Madison responded that such a system would prove unacceptable to the South: </span><i>“The right of suffrage was much more diffusive [i.e., extensive] in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes.”</i><span> In other words, in a direct election system, the North would outnumber the South, whose many slaves (more than half a million in all) of course could not vote. But the Electoral College—a prototype of which Madison proposed in this same speech—instead let each southern state count its slaves, albeit with a two-fifths discount, in computing its share of the overall count. Virginia emerged as the big winner—the California of the Founding era—with 12 out of a total of 91 electoral votes allocated by the Philadelphia Constitution, more than a quarter of the 46 needed to win an election in the first round. After the 1800 census, Wilson’s free state of Pennsylvania had 10% more free persons than Virginia, but got 20% fewer electoral votes. Perversely, the more slaves Virginia (or any other slave state) bought or bred, the more electoral votes it would receive. Were a slave state to free any blacks who then moved North, the state could actually lose electoral votes. If the system’s pro-slavery tilt was not overwhelmingly obvious when the Constitution was ratified, it quickly became so. For 32 of the Constitution’s first 36 years, a white slaveholding Virginian occupied the presidency.”</span><a name="_ftnref55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[55]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Inspired by the Haitian revolution of slaves, slaves in Louisiana started a short-lived rebellion in 1811, led by Charles Deslondes. A group of several hundred attacked plantation and killed the masters/owners. Within 48 hours, they were defeated by militia and federal troops. Many were decapitated, and their heads placed on fence posts. One naval officer wrote, </span><i>“They were brung here for the sake of their heads, which decorate our levee, all the way up the coast. I am told they look like crows sitting on long poles.” </i><span>The leader, Deslondes, had his hands chopped off before he was burned to death on top of a bale of straw<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span><a name="_ftnref56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[56]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The American Colonization Society (ACS), founded in 1816 by Presbyterian minister Robert Finley, sought to send freed slaves back to Africa as an alternative to emancipation. </span><i>“Could they be sent to Africa, a three-fold benefit would arise,” </i><span>the first reason being, </span><b><i>“</i></b><i>We should be cleared of them…”<b> </b></i><span>The ACS founded Liberia for this reason.</span><a name="_ftnref57" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[57]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1817, the African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Charleston. In 1818, the city shut it down out of fear of black people congregating and potentially planning insurrection. </span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Congress passes the Civilization Act of 1819 to assimilate Native Americans. This law provided U.S. government funds to subsidize Protestant missionary educators in order to convert Native Americans to Christianity. One aspect of this was the schools mentioned previously, and which will make an appearance again.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>David Walker (1796-1830), black abolitionist and son of a slave, wrote: ”</span><i><span>But Christian Americans not only hinder their fellow creatures, the Africans, but thousands of them will absolutely beat a colored person nearly to death, if they catch him on his knees, supplicating the throne of grace….Yes, I have known small collections of colored people to have convened together for no other purpose than to worship God Almighty, in spirit and in truth, to the best of their knowledge; when tyrants, calling themselves patrols would burst in upon them and drag them out and commence beating them as they would rattle-snakes—many of whom, they would beat so unmercifully, that they would hardly be able to crawl for weeks and sometimes for months.”</span><span><a name="_ftnref58" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[58]</span></span></a> </span></i><span>It is important to note that this was not all Christians. But it was certainly some. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1823, the Supreme Court ruled (Johnson vs. M’Intosh) that, under the Doctrine of Discovery, </span><i>“when European, Christian nations discovered new lands, the discovering country automatically gained sovereign and property rights over the lands of non-Christians, non-European peoples, even though, obviously, the native peoples already owned, occupied and used these lands.”<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[59]</span></span></a> </span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">When Georgia tried to take all the Cherokee land within their state, the Cherokees resisted; as a result, they were accused of attempting to establish a new and separate government.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> In the 1820s, Irish laborers working alongside black workers formed a bond to the point of the Irish advocating for abolition. This would not last. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1829, Georgia prohibited teaching blacks to read. Those who broke the law were subject to fines and/or imprisonment. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">1830: </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">Congress passes Indian Removal Act, legalizing removal of all Indians east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> Also i</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">n the 1830s, National Negro Conventions began in the North. These were instrumental in encouraging abolitionist’s responses to slavery, such as the Underground Railroad.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> In </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1832, Alabama and Virginia passed laws prohibiting whites from teaching blacks to read or write, with punishments including floggings.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1833, Georgia passed laws prohibiting blacks from working in jobs involving reading or writing; those who taught blacks to do so were punished by fines and whippings.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>Throughout the 1830s and '40s, white entertainer Thomas Dartmouth Rice (1808-1860) performed a black-face popular song-and-dance act supposedly modeled after a slave he overhead singing. He named the character Jim Crow.</span><a name="_ftnref60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[60]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1837, Michigan abolished slavery. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> In 1838, Michigan built its first state prison in Jackson. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> By 1843, prisoners were working for private contractors with no pay. This anticipates the “indentured servitude by incarceration” that will follow the Emancipation Proclamation.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">• <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/19/fact-check-j-marion-sims-did-medical-experiments-black-female-slaves/3202541001/" target="_blank"> “J. Marion Sims, known as the ‘father of modern gynecology,’ contributed revolutionary tools and techniques to the medical field, like the modern-day speculum and the Sims position. His breakthroughs emerged from experiments on enslaved Black women without the use of anesthesia (which he used on his white patients)… between 1846 and 1849, Sims operated on at least 10 enslaved women without anesthesia. One enslaved woman, Anarcha, endured at least 30 painful surgeries.” </a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The 1840 Census concluded that free blacks were 11 times more likely to be mentally ill than enslaved blacks. The census takers used figures that were “specious” or “invented” and as such helped them reach a conclusion that was </span><i>the exact opposite of the evidence</i><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref61" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[61]</span></span></span></a><span> The census was never formally corrected.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>The </span><b>Trail of Tears</b><span> moved 60,000 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" title="Native Americans in the United States">Native Americans</a><span> between 1830 and 1850 from their homes in what was known as the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_removal" title="Indian removal">Indian removal</a><span>. Thousands died before reaching their destinations or shortly after from disease.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref62" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[62]</span></span></a> </span><span>This is only the most notorious of many similar events.</span><a name="_ftnref63" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[63]</span></span></span></a><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">In <i>Prigg vs Pennsylvania </i>(1842), the Supreme Court ruled that states could decline cooperation with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. This was good news. It would not last.</span><i><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In 1846, the Episcopalian church ruled that no <i>“colored congregation [will] be admitted into union with this Convention, so as to entitle them to representation… They are socially degraded, and are not regarded as proper associates for the class of person who attend our Convention.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> In </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;">1847, Missouri passed a law forbidding any attempt to help slaves achieve literacy. Also in 1847, some of Martha Washington’s slaves quarried the red sandstone that went into building the Smithsonian.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">One result of the California gold rush in 1848 was that, as 300,000 new people flooded California, the Native American population plummeted from 150,000 to 30,000 over 30 years. In places like Shasta City, Marysville and Honey Lake in 1851, you could have received $5 for each Indian head turned in. Struggling miners became bounty hunters, sometimes showing up with a dozen heads at a time. When there was no local bounty, freelancers would often get paid by the state</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>.<a name="_ftnref64" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[64]</span></span></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1850, California passed the Indian Indenture Act, under which people were allowed to enslave Indian adults and children. In the late 1800s, more than 4,000 Native American children were sold into slavery at prices ranging from $60 to $200.</span><a name="_ftnref65" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[65]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Also in 1850, Congress passed an even more restrictive Fugitive Slave Act, which overturned the <i>Prigg</i> decision in 1842.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> “Passed in 1850, the state’s disingenuously titled Act for the Government and Protection of Indians legalized a range of unfree-labor practices. Under the law, Anglo and Hispanic heads of household could seize Native children from their families and use them as unpaid servants until they reached adulthood—or died. A petitioner merely had to bring a child’s “friend” before the court, have the friend corroborate that the parents were unfit to raise the child, and then claim legal guardianship for themselves. Who qualified as a friend was left to the discretion of the court. Unsurprisingly, the law encouraged rampant kidnapping. Slave raiders descended on Native communities, murdered the adults, and auctioned their orphans to California colonists. Because California Indians were prohibited from testifying against white people in court, such attacks went unpunished. Roughly 20,000 California Indians were held in various states of bondage throughout the antebellum era. Thousands more could be found in the neighboring territories of Utah and New Mexico.” <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/native-americans-indigenous-slavery-west/620785/?utm_medium=offsite&utm_source=flipboard&utm_campaign=all" target="_blank">("What Slavery Looked Like In The West," The Atlantic)</a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>“About 40,000 Chinese immigrants arrived in the 1850s to mine for gold, and in the decade that followed, thousands more came to work on railroads. The Chinese and Japanese populations (few whites bothered to differentiate between the two) farmed, fished, mined, and worked as domestic labor throughout the century even while enduring brutal mistreatment and discrimination by Americans and European immigrants. ‘In many districts of the vast Pacific coast, so strong is the wild, free love of justice in the hearts of the people,’ wrote Mark Twain in </span><a href="https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/playscripts/galaxy01.html">a bitter 1870 article</a><span>, ‘that whenever any secret and mysterious crime is committed, they say, “Let justice be done, though the heavens fall,” and go straightway and [hang] a Chinaman…’ ‘On average,’ writes Iris Chang in </span><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-America-Narrative-History/dp/0142004170">The Chinese in America: A Narrative History,</a> </i><span>‘three laborers perished for every two miles of track laid. … Twenty thousand pounds of their bones [were] shipped [back] to China.’”</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref66" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[</span><span>66]</span></span></span></a><span> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote <u>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</u>,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">the second best-selling book of the 19th century (second to the Bible). An apocryphal story states that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a>, said, on meeting Stowe, "So this is the little lady who started [the Civil War].</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott (1857), a slave who sued for his freedom, Judge Roger Taney wrote that black people were of <i>“an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race,”</i> and <i>“had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> An 1858 medical journal article by Savannah Medical College professor Juriah Harriss noted that <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305243" target="_blank">“the ability to accurately determine the market value of Black bodies was one of the key professional competencies needed by southern doctors.” </a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1859, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded by slaveholding members</span><a name="_ftnref67" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[67] </span></span></span></a><span>of the Southern Baptist Convention</span><i><span>.</span><a name="_ftnref68" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[68]</span></span></span></a><span> “The founding fathers of this school were deeply involved in slavery and deeply complicit in the defense of slavery,” </span></i><span>Albert Mohler acknowledged recently.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a name="_ftnref69" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[69]</span></span></a> </span><span>The SBC recently issued a thorough apology, though some lingering issues remain.</span><a name="_ftnref70" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[70]</span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-american-south-would-have-killed-charles-spurgeon/" name="_ftnref70" target="_blank" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><i> </i> Charles Spurgeon hated slavery - and he was hated in the South for it. </span></span></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">By the mid-1800s, post-Second Great Awakening evangelicalism had established a significant focus on evangelism both near and far. This increasingly led to not only the preaching of the gospel, but also to political engagement for social justice and moral reform for Native Americans and slaves. A number of evangelical colleges rose up, including Oberlin College in Ohio (at which evangelist Charles Finney was a professor). Oberlin was unusually progressive in that it was both coed and multi-ethnic. Students there advocated strongly for the United States to keep its treaties with Native Americans; it was even a stopover for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>In 1860, </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=-dbFUlQvcRYC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=equal+to+about+seven+times+the+total+value+of+all+currency+in+circulation+in+the+country+deyle&source=bl&ots=rqECS_7IZN&sig=6QrWB7zgD1-m-xviFE0Ul1uVCEQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jI4OUfkGs6rQAZLKgNAF&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=equal%20to%20about%20seven%20times%20the%20total%20value%20of%20all%20currency%20in%20circulation%20in%20the%20country%20deyle&f=false">the value of the slaves</a><span> was </span><i><span>“roughly three times greater than the total amount invested in banks… equal to about seven times the total value of all currency in circulation in the country, three times the value of the entire livestock population, twelve times the value of the entire U.S. cotton crop and forty-eight times the total expenditure of the federal government that year.”</span><a name="_ftnref71" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[71]</span></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Between 1831 and 1865, two of the predecessor banks for JP Morgan Chase – Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana – accepted approximately 13,000 enslaved individuals as collateral on loans and took ownership of approximately 1,250 of them when the plantation owners defaulted on their loans.” </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1861 - 1865: Civil War. 620,000 -750,000 die (2% -2.5% of the population) over the issue of slavery. If this was a “states’ rights” war, it was about the right to own slaves.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-small; text-indent: -0.25in;"><a name="_ftnref72" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[72]</span></span></a> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/" target="_blank">"When eleven Southern states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America, sparking the Civil War in 1861, they made no secret of their ultimate aim: to preserve the institution of slavery. As Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens explained, the ideological 'cornerstone' of the new nation they sought to form was that 'the negro is not equal to the white man' and 'slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and moral condition.'”</a></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;">In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln expressed the hope that “this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom.”</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span>On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln (R) issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved people in the Confederate states.</span><span><a name="_ftnref73" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-size: x-small;">[73]</span></span></a> </span><span>The 13</span><sup>th</sup><span> Amendment officially ended slavery in 1865. Frederick Douglass said at this time, </span><i>“The Republican Party is the ship; all else is the sea.” </i><span>I am noting party affiliation because there will be a seismic shift over time. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-brutal-trade-in-enslaved-people-within-the-us-has-been-largely-whitewashed-out-of-history-165442" target="_blank"> By the time slavery ended in 1865, more than 1 million enslaved people had been forcibly moved across state lines in their own country; hundreds of thousands more had been bought and sold within individual states.</a></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"> The Thirteenth Amendment (officially) brought freedom to African Americans, but not to Indigenous people in large parts of the West. Two years after the Civil War, Indian captives...could still be found in an estimated 10 percent of all New Mexican households; Native people in the state continued to work against their will for decades to come. A Navajo captive named Deluvina, for example, served Lucien Maxwell’s family into the 1930s. <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=nm#inbox/KtbxLzFzXtDtfxVBqZPRwkSbnxCJDVcnxV" target="_blank">("What Slavery Looked Like In The West," The Atlantic)</a></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://empiresandmangers.blogspot.com/2021/07/emancipation-to-great-migration-jim.html#more" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Part Two - </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -24px;">Emancipation To the Great Migration: Jim Crow, Reconstruction And Sundown Towns</span></a></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: -24px;">____________________________________________________________________</span></b></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Matthew 5:1; 9:36, for example<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Mark 10<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Matthew 9<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> John 8:1-11<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Matthew 11: 16-19 & John 8: 1-11<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Luke 19<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> John 4<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Hebrews 4:15 <i>“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize </i>(literally, “to have a fellow feeling with” in both Strong’s and the NAS Exhaustive Concordance; Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says “to be affected with the same feeling as another”) <i>with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.”</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Able To Sympathize,” <u>Gentle And Lowly,</u> Dane Ortlund<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn10"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Isaiah 53:3<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn11"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Heart Of Action,” G<u>entle And Lowly, </u>Dane Ortlund<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn12"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[12]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Researcher Brooke Hempell, quoted in the introduction of <u>The Myth Of Equality,</u> by Ken Wytsma.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn13"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Alister McGrath, an atheist who became a Christian, has noted that Christianity flourishes in nations that have had terrible atheist leadership…and atheism flourishes in nations where the church has a terrible track record. People don’t just leave a worldview because another one is nice. They leave because they think another one is better. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn14"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jemar Tisby, in <u>The Color Of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn15"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[15]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> 2 Corinthians 5:11-21<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn16"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[16]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “His Heart In Action,” <u>Gentle And Lowly,</u> Dane Ortlund<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn17"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Myth Of Equality: Uncovering The Roots Of Injustice And Privilege</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn18"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[18]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> See the chapter “The Complex Trauma Of The American Story” in <u>Unsettling Truths,</u> by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn19"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[19]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> The Bible is clear that there is a legacy of sin that gets passed down (Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9), and I think that impact is not only in how the descendants of the perpetrators are influenced but in how the descendants of victims are as well. And yet Ezekiel is clear that, when we are committed to righteousness, our history is not our destiny any more than our ancestors’ history is our destiny (Ezekiel 18:19-20)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn20"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[20]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism">https://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn21"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[21]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Not seeing skin color is a form of not seeing reality.” Ken Wytsma, <u>The Myth of Equality. </u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn22"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[22]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> The early Church had its own divide: Jew and Gentile. Paul reminded them that now through Christ, <i>“You who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (2:13-14).</i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn23"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[23]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> By the close of the <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/american-indian-wars">Indian Wars</a>, fewer than 238,000 First Nation people remained from the original 5 -15 million living in North America when Columbus arrived in 1492.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn24"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[24]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Black Women’s Labor,” Brenda Stevenson, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn25"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[25]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-landmarks-that-were-built-by-slaves-2019-9#trinity-church-in-new-york-6">https://www.businessinsider.com/american-landmarks-that-were-built-by-slaves-2019-9#trinity-church-in-new-york-6</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn26"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[26]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Bacon’s Rebellion, Heather McGhee, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn27"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[27]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://revolution.chnm.org/d/335/">https://revolution.chnm.org/d/335/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn28"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[28]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Germantown Petition Against Slavery,” Christopher Lebron, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn29"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[29]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> People becoming private property on the same level as livestock.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn30"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[30]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Jamar Tisby, <u>The Color of Compromise</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn31"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[31]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sewall">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sewall</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn32"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[32]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/fdscontent/uscompanion/us/static/companion.websites/9780199338863/whittington_updata/ch_2_saffin_a_brief_and_candid_answer.pdf">https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/fdscontent/uscompanion/us/static/companion.websites/9780199338863/whittington_updata/ch_2_saffin_a_brief_and_candid_answer.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn33"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[33]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Virginia Slave Codes,” Kai Wright, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn34"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[34]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Ibid<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn35"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[35]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>The Sum Of Us</u>, by Heather McGhee<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn36"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[36]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Revolt In New York,” Herb Boyd, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn37"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[37]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> He also converted and inspired key African-American evangelical leaders, including Olaudah Equiano and Phillis Wheatley – thus highlighting the inconsistent tension.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn38"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[38]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089LYWWDS/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title">African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation </a>by Lisa M. Bowens.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn39"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[39]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Race And The Enlightenment,” Dorothy Roberts, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn40"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[40]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Slave Religion And Manifest Destiny,” <u>America’s Religious History,</u> Thomas Kidd.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn41"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[41]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Interestingly, a ground-swell of southern preachers in opposition to slavery found that they were simply dismissed or not paid by local congregations. In this sense, the broader colonial culture dictated the ethics of preachers, rather than the other way round.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn42"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[42]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery">https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn43"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[43]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad">https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn44"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[44]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Ibid<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn45"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[45]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery">https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn46"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[46]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> According to the US Census Bureau. Even by the most minimal calculations about how long slavery lasted, African-Americans have been free in this country for less time than they were enslaved.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn47"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[47]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-slavery-separating-fact-from-myth-79620">https://theconversation.com/american-slavery-separating-fact-from-myth-79620</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn48"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[48]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Still, remarkably, one in every seven <i>urban</i> African American families in the <i>upper </i>South managed to acquire land by the eve of the Civil War when local areas were more accommodating.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn49"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[49]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Debunking the Mythic Origin of the Second Amendment,” Jonathan Jacobs. <a href="https://medium.com/the-new-leader/debunking-the-mythic-origin-of-the-second-amendment-bfe06dc06946">https://medium.com/the-new-leader/debunking-the-mythic-origin-of-the-second-amendment-bfe06dc06946</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">How Slave Owners Dictated the Language of the 2nd Amendment,” Nicolaus Mills, </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-slave-owners-dictated-the-language-of-the-2nd-amendment">https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-slave-owners-dictated-the-language-of-the-2nd-amendment</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Slave-Patrols And The Second Amendment: How Fears Of Abolition Empowered The Idea Of An Armed Militia,” Milwaukee Independent, </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><a href="http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/slave-patrols-and-the-second-amendment-how-fears-of-abolition-empowered-an-armed-militia/">http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/slave-patrols-and-the-second-amendment-how-fears-of-abolition-empowered-an-armed-militia/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn50"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[50]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house">https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn51"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn51" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[51]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.theroot.com/how-slave-labor-made-new-york-1790895122">https://www.theroot.com/how-slave-labor-made-new-york-1790895122</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn52"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn52" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[52]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Slavery Controversy and the Civil War,” <u>America’s Religious History</u>, Thomas Kidd<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn53"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[53]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “Higher Education,” Craig Steven Wilder, <u>Four Hundred Souls.</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn54"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[54]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/thomas-jefferson-architect-of-indian-removal-policy">https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/thomas-jefferson-architect-of-indian-removal-policy</a>. This may have been hyperbolic language, aka “Kill the Indian and save the man.”<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn55"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[55]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Troubling Reason The Electoral College Exists.” TIME magazine. <a href="https://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/">https://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn56"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[56]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The Louisiana Rebellion,” Clint Smith, <u>Four Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn57"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn57" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[57]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Abraham Lincoln thought it was a good idea to send freed slaves to Liberia or Haiti. In 1862 he said to a black audience: <i>“You and we are different races—we have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffers very greatly, many of them, by living among us; while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side.<sup>”</sup></i><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn58"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn58" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[58]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>African American Readings of Paul</u>, Lisa M. Bowens<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn59"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[59]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths</u>, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn60"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[60]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/origins.htm">https://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/origins.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn61"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn61" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[61]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “James McCune Smith, M.D.” by Harriet Washington, Fo<u>ur Hundred Souls</u><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn62"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn62" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[62]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Notably, the Supreme Court under John Marshall upheld the Cherokee’s case against the State of Georgia which had initiated the removal process. President Jackson said, “(Chief Justice) Marshall has made his decision, let him enforce it.” This is perhaps the most flagrant violation of the Constitution ever made by a president. Approximately ¼ of the removed Cherokee died on the Trail of Tears. Other tribes were also removed, but the Cherokee with their favorable Supreme Court ruling and unjust removal were particularly heart-breaking. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn63"><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><a name="_ftn63" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[63]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Here’s another one. The 1864 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_Massacre" title="Sand Creek Massacre">Sand Creek Massacre</a>, which caused outrage in its own time, has been called genocide. Colonel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chivington" title="John Chivington">John Chivington</a> led a 700-man force of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Territory" title="Colorado Territory">Colorado Territory</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_States)" title="Militia (United States)">militia</a> in a massacre of 70–163 peaceful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne" title="Cheyenne">Cheyenne</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho">Arapaho</a>, about two-thirds of whom were women, children, and infants. Chivington and his men took <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalping" title="Scalping">scalps</a> and other body parts as trophies, including human <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus" title="Fetus">fetuses</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span>and male and female <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genitalia" title="Genitalia">genitalia</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#cite_note-United_States_Congress._(1867)-123"><sup>[122]</sup></a> In defense of his actions Chivington stated, “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.” <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#Indian_Removal_and_the_Trail_of_Tears">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_indigenous_peoples#Indian_Removal_and_the_Trail_of_Tears</a>There were worse ones. <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-site-worst-indian-massacre-us-history-180959091/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-site-worst-indian-massacre-us-history-180959091/</a><u><span style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p></div><div id="ftn64"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn64" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[64]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <u>Unsettling Truths,</u> Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn65"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn65" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[65]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn66"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn66" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[66]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “The 1619 Project: An Autopsy,” CATO Institute, <a href="https://www.cato.org/commentary/1619-project-autopsy">https://www.cato.org/commentary/1619-project-autopsy</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn67"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn67" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[67]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> They purposefully aligned with the confederacy. <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/06/11/resolution-9-rescinding-critical-race-theory-civil-warsouthern-baptist-history/">https://religionnews.com/2021/06/11/resolution-9-rescinding-critical-race-theory-civil-warsouthern-baptist-history/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn68"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn68" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[68]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> They broke away from northern Baptists in 1845 over the issue of slavery.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn69"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn69" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[69]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/">https://eji.org/news/southern-baptist-seminary-documents-history-of-racial-injustice/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn70"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn70" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[70]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> “We lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest, and we recognize that the racism which yet plagues our culture today is inextricably tied to the past.”<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn71"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn71" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[71]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/why-was-cotton-king/">https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/why-was-cotton-king/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn72"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn72" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[72]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> <a href="https://psmag.com/education/of-course-the-civil-war-was-about-slavery-26265">https://psmag.com/education/of-course-the-civil-war-was-about-slavery-26265</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="ftn73"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn73" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[73]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> It did not apply to the roughly 425,000 enslaved people living in Tennessee, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland because they had not seceded or were occupied by Union soldiers. This was a tactical move – Lincoln did not want those states to join the Confederacy – but it must have been a blow to the enslaved.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-84826457892726900542021-05-31T20:03:00.002-07:002021-05-31T20:06:14.901-07:00 Thinking From Behind A COVID-19 "Veil Of Ignorance" <p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(a thought experiment inspired by John Rawls)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">John Rawls (1921-2002) argued that we could determine just ethical principles by seeing what a free and rational people would choose if they attempted to create a just society from behind a ‘veil of ignorance’. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"></span></i></p><blockquote><p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;">John Rawls proposed a famous thought-experiment in which a group of humans come together and have to devise a set of principles for their society to work by. The imaginary part of this is that the individuals doing the deciding are told that there will be some people of greater and lesser intelligence, greater and lesser degrees of health, greater and lesser pigment in their skin, ability to lead, to follow, to carve wood, to care for babies, etc etc – in other words, these people would represent a reasonable cross-section of the types found in human society. However, the deciding individuals did not know which attributes they themselves possessed...<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;">This <b>‘veil of ignorance’</b> Rawls thought would ensure a just distribution of rights and duties in his hypothetical society – just as if you were in charge of cutting up a pizza to share and only knowing that you would get the last piece: you would do your best to cut it equally. (“Deontological Ethics.” http://www.sevenoaksphilosophy.org/ethics/deontology.html)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i></p></blockquote><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Rawls thought that people would likely agree to things that would benefit the population no matter their situation: freedom of speech; a limited role for a government influenced by or answerable to the people; an equitable social system wherein people have equal opportunity, access to resources; a system that encourages virtue, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">This <b>veil of ignorance</b> would make people aware that that they could be among the disadvantaged or marginalized, and they would want to make laws that would protect them if they were one of the weaker members of society and not punish them if they were one of the stronger. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">With that foundation in mind, let’s apply that idea to COVID-19.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">* * * * *</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are going to wake up tomorrow in March of 2020 in the United States a different person than you are right now. You are going to be randomly assigned a number from each of the categories that appear at the end of this article. #1 is either the lowest risk for getting COVID-19 or the lowest possibility of having your income impacted; #4 is highest. When you wake up tomorrow, you will find yourself in a body in which your risk range runs from 10-40, with 10 meaning you’ve won the COVID-19 lottery, and 40 meaning you didn’t.<a name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">But today, you have been selected to make COVID-19 policy for the state of Michigan. You are going to look at issues of personal and economic health in making your recommendations. Keep in mind that <i>another panel will decide the constitutionality/legality of your recommendations.</i> Your recommendations will be filtered through the legal system. You are just making recommendations that you believe will best keep people alive, society stable, and the economy afloat.</span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Once you have reached a decision, you are going to roll a 4-sided dice for each of these categories. This will be who you are when you wake up and begin your life in the context you helped to create. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br />Then, you will wake up in March of 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">These are the categories from which your new life will be formed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">A. GENETICS</span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Blood Type in the O family (much lower risk of needing a ventilator; mortality 1%)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Blood Type A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Blood Type B.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Blood Types in the A family (1.6 higher chance of serious illness, mortality at 4-5%)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">B. VOCATION<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are able to stay at home<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">White collar job (can mostly work from home or in empty offices)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Frontline worker (medical)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Frontline worker (non-medical)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 27pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">C. FAMILY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You and your family are healthy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i>2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></i><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You <b>or</b> someone in your family have a significant comorbidity/immune compromise that raises the danger of getting really sick from COVID-19.<a name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">[2]</span></span></span></a> </span><i>(COMORBIDITIES OF CONCERN FOR COVID-19: Cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung diseases, including COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension, demetia, alzheimers, diabetes, Down Syndrome, Heart conditions (such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or hypertension), HIV, weakened immune system, liver disease, obesity, sickle cell disease, smoking, Solid organ or blood stem cell transplant, Stroke or cerebrovascular disease, substance abuse).<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You <b>and</b> someone in your household have <i>a</i> comorbidity. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You <b>and </b>someone in your household have <i>multiple</i> comorbidities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">D. AGE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Under 25 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">25-45<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">45-65 (95% of cases in 45 and older)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 63pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">65+ (80% of cases in 65+)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">E. FINANCIAL STATUS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Wealthy (this pandemic is a blip on your financial radar)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Upper class (you can take a significant financial hit and be okay)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Middle class (you can take a minor financial hit and be okay)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Lower class (paycheck to paycheck; a financial hit is disastrous. 2 weeks off to quarantine, and everything goes on a credit card.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">F. HEALTH CARE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Great coverage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Good coverage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Okay coverage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">No coverage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">G. MENTAL/EMOTIONAL HEALTH<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are mentally/emotionally stable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are able to cope with mental/emotional health issues with the help of strong and consistent support from friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are in counseling/on medication that helps you achieve stability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You struggle significantly with mental and emotional health issues, and isolation and withdrawal are not good at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">H. HOUSING<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You live in a cabin in the woods/van down by the river<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You live in a house in a subdivision<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You live in an apartment building<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You live in a congregate setting/group home<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">I. LIVELIHOOD<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You make your livelihood from a virtual business<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You make your livelihood from a brick and mortar business (essential)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You make your livelihood from a brick and mortar business (non-essential)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You make your livelihood at public venues (musician, athlete, etc) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">J. GEOGRAPHY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You spend a lot of time outdoors<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are generally in well-ventilated and open spaces<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You are more indoorsy that outdoorsy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 176.35pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You spend most of your time indoors<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Alright. After the </span><span style="font-size: 17.33333396911621px;">discussion, you are going to roll that four sided dice that randomly determines who you will be when you wake up. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">What policies would you like to see enacted? And </span><span style="font-size: 17.33333396911621px;">how are they similar or different to what happened over the past year?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">BONUS:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">You might wake up as the pastor of a church – and you are waking up on a Saturday, so you need to decide something very important now. Your religious services are exempt from the mandates, so you have to decide if, when, and how to be open. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">What will your service look like?<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> The US population is not split up into neat quarters like this in terms of the percentage of people, of course. I can only add so much detail to this thought experiment <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">:)</span></span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> It appears that “45.4% of US adults were estimated to be at heightened risk of COVID-19 complications due to co-morbidities, increasing from 19.8% for ages 18-29 years to 80.7% for ages 80+ years, with state-to-state variation.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.20043919v1"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.20043919v1</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> 94% of COVID-19 deaths occurred in people with comorbid conditions. </span><a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/covid-19-comorbidities-are-the-elephant-in-the-room-7d185bd6cfe2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">https://towardsdatascience.com/covid-19-comorbidities-are-the-elephant-in-the-room-7d185bd6cfe2</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-26319699414363689822021-05-26T06:46:00.008-07:002024-03-02T06:42:40.989-08:00MemeTalk: Are We Being Conditioned To View Freedom As Selfish?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I've been seeing commentary on freedom during COVID-19 pop up on social media, and why not? Who doesn't love freedom? And who doesn't want to avoid being conditioned by "they"? It got me thinking about how we Christians wrestle with notion of freedom in general, especially our exercise of the freedoms guaranteed to us as citizens of the United States. <div><br /></div><div>My thoughts are almost certainly incomplete and perhaps misguided, but I really think we need to wrestle more deeply with the broader theme that this meme addresses.<span><a name='more'></a></span> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">* * * * *</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the reality: some freedoms are deeply important for the common good, and the exercise of them is not selfish at all. Some freedoms are remarkably detrimental to the public good, and the exercise of them is, in fact, selfish. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are a Christian familiar with the Bible, you know this to be true. Read what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8-10. Ye, this is about church life rather than civil life in this particular case, but as best as I can tell this principle is a foundational one for Christians in all of life.</div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><li><i>“We have the right to eat anything we want, even food sacrificed to idols. But if what I eat is going to call my brother to stumble because he thinks eating such food would be sinful, I’m not going to eat it. In fact, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.” </i><b>(1 Corinthians 8)</b></li><li><i>"Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?... Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a wife along with us? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.... I have not used any of these rights.... What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."</i> <b>(1 Corinthians 9)</b></li><li><i>“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others... If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. So you ask, “Why should I give up my freedom to accommodate the scruples of another?” or, “If I am eating with gratitude to God, why am I insulted for eating food that I have properly given thanks for?” These are good questions...Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.</i> <b>(1 Corinthians 10)</b></li></blockquote></ul></div><div><div><br /></div><div>If I am understanding Paul correctly, freedom is a complicated issue for Christians. In the Bible we are freed in two ways:<i> from </i>and <i>to</i>. We are not simply freed <i>from</i> the chains of sin; we are freed <i>to</i> serve God righteously. We are not simply freed <i>from</i> hatred; we are freed <i>to</i> love. We are not simply freed <i>from</i> stinginess; we are freed <i>to</i> generosity. We are freed <i>from </i>selfishness<i> to </i>selflessness. </div><div><br /></div><div>American freedom tends to be presented primarily as freedom <i>from </i>the government's attempts to unjustly impose restraints on our lives.<i> </i>That is an excellent start, to be sure, and our Constitution is a pretty remarkable foundation. However, freedom <i>from</i> is not enough. The questions is what are we freed <i>to do</i>? The United States, while establishing important foundational aspects of what we<i> can </i>do in a free civilization, has not provided direction on what we <i>should</i> do as we exercise those freedoms. And without that sense of direction, terrible misuses of freedoms often follow. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Pornography, anyone? It follows free speech. So does the remarkably crass entertainment that is so ubiquitous. We are freed <i>from</i> the government stopping free expression, but freedom can be used horribly and destructively. It's possible to exercise the freedom of speech selfishly.</li><li>We have a "right to privacy," a freedom <i>from </i>government intrusion into personal autonomy. It's possible to exercise a freedom that has a terrible impact on others. Pro-life advocates have been making this argument for years. So have opponents of the legalization of drugs.</li><li>We are free <i>from</i> a government that might want to take our guns - and, as our gun crime statistics show, it's possible to use this freedom selfishly. </li><li>We are free <i>from</i> a government that wants to stop our free assembly - but we can assemble with neo-Nazis, or storm the capital, or clog up traffic such that ambulances can't get their patients to the ER, etc. We can assemble selfishly. </li><li>We are free<i> from</i> government intrusion into worship. We can also form cults that abuse people financially, physically, and spiritually. We can exercise religious freedom selfishly. </li></ul></div><div>It's just too simplistic to complain that boundaries or structure or rules are a menacing act of brainwashing. It turns out some freedoms are, in fact, exercised selfishly. I think we all agree on this point. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, to be clear, there is doubt that there are some power-hungry politicians who would love to selfishly wrest freedom away from we the people so that their power increases. That, too, has been part and parcel of the history of the world, and we are no exception. That danger always lurks. The panic that followed the beginning of the pandemic is the kind of "soft spot" that opportunists can exploit, and in that sense I am sympathetic to what the meme is (I think) trying to address. It is very possible that the curtailing of freedoms was unconstitutional; we already see that some restrictions have been shot down in the courts, and others will surely be analyzed in hindsight and affirmed or rejected. I appreciate living in a country that focuses on curtailing creeping facism. </div><div><br /></div><div>But - and now I am back to the broader theme of freedoms in general - pointing out that an insistence on exercising freedoms might be selfish is not necessarily brainwashing, unless you think the Apostle Paul was brainwashing the early church. </div><div><br /></div><div>If our track record is any indication, a <i>freedom can be both protected by the constitution and selfish in at least some of its expressions. </i>These are not mutually contradictory stances. I know that requires us to wrestle with ethical complexities, but it's a complex world. It ought to be expected. </div><div><br /></div><div>I hope we can be honest about a reality of life that touches on all our freedoms: they are ripe for misuse, and selfishness crouches outside the door of the best of us, and it would be good for us to go through thoughtful reflection on how we exercise <b><i>all the freedoms</i></b> that we fight to protect. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of our freedoms are freeing us to <i>do </i>something. What is it we ought to<i> do</i> with the freedoms we have? <i>How do we best serve others with our freedoms?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Let's think and talk deeply about the complexities of living in a world where we are not only (hopefully) free <i>from</i> injustice and selfishness, but also free <i>to</i> pursue righteousness and selflessness. </div></div><div><p></p></div></div></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-56425734542486586192021-05-24T06:25:00.003-07:002022-05-03T18:50:59.074-07:00 Living In Fear Or Faith? COVID-19 Edition<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Person A wears a mask all the time, social distances, and sanitizes because they do not want to get the coronavirus. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Person B takes Vitamin D, some herbs, essential oils, and works on building their immune system naturally because they do not want to get the coronavirus. </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">1. A is living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">2. B is living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">3. A and B are both living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #1 or #2, what distinguishes the two?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #4, what word would you use to describe them: “They are living in _______”<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Person A gets the vaccine because they do not want to get the coronavirus. They think that possible side effects from COVID-19 are worse than the vaccine, and they will take their chances.<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Person B does not get the vaccine because they think it will make them sick or even kill them (and may not want to be around others who got the vaccine because they might “shed” it). </b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">1. A is living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">2. B is living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">3. A and B are both living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #1 or #2, what distinguishes the two?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #4, what word would you use to describe them: “They are living in _______”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Person A thinks the coronavirus is part of a fallen world and worries we might never get back to normal.<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Person B thinks the coronavirus is part of a conspiracy and we might be headed toward facism (or population control).</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">1. A is living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">2. B is living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">3. A and B are both living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #1 or #2, what distinguishes the two?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #4, what word would you use to describe them: “They are living in _______”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Person A says, “I don’t need to take precautions knowing that if God says it’s my time to die, it will be my time to die.” <o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Person B says, “I am taking all the precautions I can knowing that if God says it’s my time to die, it will be my time to die.”</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">1. A is living in faith.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">2. B is living in faith.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">3. A and B are both living in faith.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">4. Neither A nor B are living in faith.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #1 or #2, what distinguishes the two?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If #4, what word would you use to describe them: “They are living in _______”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Other options:</b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->We have not sufficiently wrested with, as Christians, what is appropriate and inappropriate fear within the Christian worldview. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->We have not properly defined faith, and what it means to live in it. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->There are a lot of assumptions about people’s motivations embedded in this.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->We are not taking seriously the biblical tension of God’s sovereignty and human agency<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">And if these other options resonate with you, perhaps we should be more thoughtful – and even kind (!) - when we talk about the examples posted at the beginning. <o:p></o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-70989256268409576842021-04-21T17:36:00.004-07:002021-04-21T18:09:45.104-07:00The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, The African Preacher. Compiled and Written by Himself (1811)<p>I recently purchased <u>African American Readings Of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation</u>, by Lisa M. Bowens, Emerson B. Powery and Beverly Roberts Gaventa. Beginning in the 1700’s, this book draws from personal narratives and historical accounts to uncover the religious dynamics of various eras in American history, focusing on how African Americans have handled the writing of the Apostle Paul in the face of often terrible misuses from the white population around them. </p><p>Today I was reading a section recounting incidents from the life of John Jea as compiled in his narrative <u>The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, The African Preacher. Compiled and Written by Himself (1811).</u> Like all the stores from the slave era, it’s a heartbreaking read. The physical violence, dehumanization and humiliation coupled with purported ministers of the gospel butchering the Bible to enable slavery is really hard (but important) to read. One thing that stands out is how God brought the truth of His Word to life to the enslaved even in the midst of such overwhelming misrepresentation. </p><p>Jea was born in 1773 in Old Callabar, Africa. He and his family were stolen, shipped to America, and sold as enslaved Africans in New York to a Dutch couple. The following contains excerpts pulled directly from the book. I am italicizing only Jea’s entries so as not to cause confusion with the book’s additional commentary. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Our labour was extremely hard, being obliged to work in the summer from about two o’clock in the morning, till about ten or eleven o’clock at night, and in the winter from four in the morning, till ten at night… We dared not murmur, for if we did we were corrected with a weapon an inch and-a-half thick, and that without mercy, striking us in the most tender parts… often they treated the slaves in such a manner as caused their death, shooting them with a gun, or beating their brains out with some weapon, in order to appease their wrath, and thought no more of it than if they had been brutes…After our master had been treating us in this cruel manner, we were obliged to thank him for the punishment he had been inflicting on us, quoting that Scripture which saith, “Bless the rod, and him that appointed it.” But, though he [the master] was a professor of religion, he forgot that passage which saith, “God is love, and whoso dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”</i></p><p>Despite professing Christianity, Jea’s enslaver taught him and other enslaved Africans that <i>“when we died, we should be like the beasts that perish; not informing us of God, heaven, or eternal punishments”,</i> and that <i>“we poor slaves had no God…Frequently did they [masters] tell us we were made by, and like the devil, and commonly called us black devils.”</i></p><p>Jea’s masters forced him to go to a church where the white minister preached God’s approval of the slavery and the God-ordained servility of the slaves. Not unsurprisingly, Jea rejected Christianity. However, simply being exposed to the message of the gospel started to get to him, and he eventually converted to Christianity through conversation with another minister who was not authorized by Jae’s master. The Quakers were in charge of that area of the country, and they had a policy that if slaves gave a convincing account of salvation, they would be set free. True to their word, they declared him free. </p><p>This created a problem. His masters wanted him to hear a message that God wanted him to be a slave. They didn’t want him to actually convert and go free. Conversion meant that the slaveholders’ authority was not all-encompassing and that they, too, had to answer for their deeds. Equally significant, conversion meant that God cared about the enslaved Africans’ plight and they had not been forgotten. If Jea really believed the message of the Bible and genuinely converted, it was going to be…disruptive to the enterprise of slavery.</p><p>The master and his sons decided to convince Jea that God did not actually want him to be free, that there was indeed a God-ordained hierarchy of superior (white) people and inferior (black) people. They told him the Bible was literally speaking to them and telling him that Jea was wrong. They would hold the Bible up to their ears and pretend it was whispering to them. Jea couldn’t read; he couldn’t check if what they said was true. So he began begging God to let him hear the Book whisper to him too. </p><p>After five or six weeks of prayer, Jae writes in his narrative that God miraculously grants Jea’s petition in an unexpected way. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Thus the Lord was pleased in his in finite mercy, to send an angel, in a vision, in shining raiment, and his countenance shining as the sun, with a large bible in his hands, and brought it unto me, and said, “I am come to bless thee, and to grant thee thy request,” as you read in the Scriptures. Thus my eyes were opened at the end of six weeks, while I was praying, in the place where I slept; although the place was as dark as a dungeon, I awoke, as the Scripture saith, and found it illuminated with the light of the glory of God, and the angel standing by me, with the large book open, which was the Holy Bible, and said unto me, “Thou has desired to read and understand this book, and to speak the language of it both in English and in Dutch; I will therefore teach thee, and now read”; and then he taught me to read the first chapter of the gospel according to St. John; and when I had read the whole chapter, the angel and the book were both gone in the twinkling of an eye, which astonished me very much, for the place was dark immediately; being about four o’clock in the morning in the winter season.” </i></p><p>The next day, Jea speaks to his minister [not the pro-slavery one] about this miracle, proclaiming to the minister that he can read. Refusing to believe him, the minister brings him a Bible, and Jea reads the Scripture to him, prompting the minister to ask Jea how he learned to read. Jea remarks that the Lord taught him. Since Jea could not read any other books the minister presented to him and could not spell, the minister and his wife become convinced that the Lord had indeed taught Jea to read only the Bible.</p><p>Jea is brought before the local magistrates, who ask him if he can read. After answering affirmatively, they give him a Bible, and upon hearing him read, they ask how he learned to do so. Jea recounts, </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>“They believed that I was of God, for they were persuaded that no man could read in such a manner, unless he was taught of God. From that hour, in which the Lord taught me to read, until the present, I have not been able to read in any book, nor any reading whatever, but such as contain the word of God.” </i></p><p>After continuing to serve as a preacher in a local church for four years, Jea leaves for Boston to preach there and travels elsewhere in the United States and the world to proclaim the gospel, including New Orleans, the East Indies, Holland, France, Germany, Ireland, England, and Asia.</p><p>Until he died, the only book he could read was the Bible. </p>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325145031187510736.post-32051725329665686802021-04-11T19:57:00.005-07:002021-05-07T03:27:18.160-07:00 Three Anti-COVID Vaccination Arguments I Understand (But Don’t Necessarily Agree With), One I Kind of Do, and One I Don’t<div><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">THE THREE ARGUMENTS I UNDERSTAND</span></b></div></span></b></div><div><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span>“The COVID-19</span></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> <b>vaccine is morally compromised.”</b> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Christians (such as myself) have consistently wrestled with whether or not we <a href="https://www.immunize.org/talking-about-vaccines/furton.pdf " target="_blank"><i>formally </i>or <i>materially </i>cooperate with evil if we use vaccines developed from the stem cell lines of aborted fetuses harvested in the 1970s and 1980s.</a> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Questioning the development (and testing) of COVID-19 vaccines is consistent with this concern. Because I share that concern,<b> </b>I’ve read numerous statements from church leaders and Christian bioethicists concerning the COVID-19 vaccines. Here is a short sampling:</span></span><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><li> <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20201221_nota-vaccini-anticovid_en.html " style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">From the Vatican</a></li></ul><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><li> <a href=" https://s27589.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/An-Ethics-Assessment-of-COVID-19-Vaccine-Programs_On-Point-46.pdf" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">From the Charlotte Lozier Institute</a></li></ul><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><li> <a href="https://cbhd.org/content/coronavirus-vaccine-ethics#9_mRNA" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">From The Center For Bioethics And Human Dignity</a></li></ul><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><li> <a href="https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/explainer-covid-19-raises-concern-about-abortive-fetal-cells-in-medicine/" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">From The Ethics And Religious Liberty Commission</a></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Generally, Pfizer and Moderna get a green light; Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca get a yellow light tinged with red. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">So while I understand and appreciate the moral concern associated with COVID-19 vaccines, I believe there are at least two options that avoid the potential for immoral cooperation in a bad thing.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">“<b>The COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe.”</b> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There has long been concern over the introduction of vaccines into the human body, </span><a href="https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/safety/side_effects" style="text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">as there are often side effects. </a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> With the COVID-19 vaccine, there is the additional concern over a) the </span><a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/how-were-researchers-able-develop-covid-19-vaccines-so-quickly" style="text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">speed in which the vaccines have been rolled out,</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> b) the use of <a href="https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines#eua-vaccines" target="_blank">Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA</a> rather than straight up approval, and c) the <a href="https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2021/jan/covid-19-vaccine-what-do-we-know-about-long-term-side-effects/" target="_blank">lack of time to do long-term studies on side effects</a>. These all deserve serious responses. It’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/health/eua-coronavirus-vaccine-history/index.html" target="_blank">not like the history of vaccines has been above reproach, </a>and we have only had months instead of years to study the impact of the recent vaccines. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">From what I can tell, the speed in which these vaccines reached the public was the result of a number of things. <span><a name='more'></a></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -24px;">First, it’s an RNA-based vaccine that</span><a href="https://cbhd.org/content/coronavirus-vaccine-ethics#9_mRNA" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -24px;" target="_blank"> uses a standard template of sorts (that’s my non-scientist analogy) thanks to the research done for viruses like SARS and MERS.</a><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -24px;"> There was already a foundation on which a specific vaccine is much easier to build</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-indent: -24px;"><span>. It's new technology that has only recent cut the time frame for vaccine development.</span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #494949; font-family: inherit;">Second,</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2020/12/03/the-peoples-vaccine-modernas-coronavirus-vaccine-was-largely-funded-by-taxpayer-dollars/?sh=1ae11a146303" target="_blank"> a loooot of money was thrown at the problem</a> from the public and private sector. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Third, </span><a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-319" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Operation Warp Speed. </a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fourth</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/heres-how-it-was-possible-to-develop-covid-19-vaccines-so-quickly#There-was-already-research-to-build-on " style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">“the <span class="MsoHyperlink">Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI)</span> was formed due to the Ebola outbreak in 2015. CEPI is a global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations that works to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.” </a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are clearly side effects to the vaccines, as reported anecdotally and officially, but there is </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/cdc-vaers-reporting-vaers-website-does-covid-vaccine-cause-miscarriages-vaers-database-fact-check-vaers-reports-death-miscarriage-doesnt-mean-covid/65-c0a96de2-b86b-4479-a21f-4b6a453d88ac" target="_blank">little reason to believe that the COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States have caused deaths. </a> UPDATE: <a href="https://flipboard.com/article/u-s-calls-for-pause-on-johnson-and-johnson-vaccine-due-to-clotting-reports-cdc/a-9JBLJWkdRz-bMfbj8acrEg%3Aa%3A129163366-f06d54d350%2Fflipboard.com" target="_blank">as of today (April 13, Johnson and Johnson is being checked to see if the vaccine has caused blood clots). </a> However, it's also worth noting that you are <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/covid-brain-clot-astrazeneca-vaccine-b1831876.html" target="_blank">8x more likely to get a blood clot if you get COVID-19 than if you get the shot. </a></span></li></ul>So once again, I understand the concern about taking a vaccine that might be unsafe. I don't share the concern (click on all the links I embed to see all the reasons), but I take seriously the concerns of those who do.</div><div><br /><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I don’t trust the government’s push for vaccination.”</span></b></div><div><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Remember the Tuskegee Experiment? Yeah, that time the government pretended to treat syphilis in black men but gave them placebos? It may not shock you to know that plenty of people are still leery when the government says, “I would like to inject you with something that I promise will help.” By the way, the Tuskegee Experiment started in 1932 but the story broke in 1972, by which time </span><a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-infamous-40-year-tuskegee-study" style="text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank">“28 participants had perished from syphilis, 100 more had passed away from related complications, at least 40 spouses had been diagnosed with it and the disease had been passed to 19 children at birth.”</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-infamous-40-year-tuskegee-study" style="text-indent: -0.25in;" target="_blank"><br /></a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>That story broke in my lifetime. It’s not that long ago.<a href="https://time.com/5925074/black-americans-covid-19-vaccine-distrust/" target="_blank"> I am really sympathetic to those who distrust doctors from the government who are here to help.</a> </span><span> So I understand the reluctance, even while I personally am not reluctant (I have already had both Pfizer vaccination shots). </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think we all ought to be willing to have good faith discussion about all three points above. We don’t have to agree for me to take you seriously (and I hope the same is true in the other direction). There is room here for iron to sharpen iron. I have opinions; I think (and hope) I am right, but I hold my opinions in an open hand. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">THE ARGUMENT I KIND OF UNDERSTAND</span></b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span><br /></span></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span>“It’s not that dangerous.”</span></b><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Compared to Ebola (50% death rate), the Black Plague (killed 30% to 60% of the English population), SARS (10% case fatality rate) or MERS (34% case fatality rate), COVID-19 is nowhere close to as dangerous. The H1N1 pandemic in 1918-1920 (the Spanish Flu) had a 2% - 2.5% case fatality rate and killed 675, 000 people in the United States (which had 1/3 of the population at that time) by the time the official pandemic was over after 2 years. Absolutely, that was worse. </span><span>So I understand why people would reach this conclusion viewed in the light of a historical context that focuses in more severe plagues. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>However, it doesn’t make COVID-19 inconsequential. COVID-19 can be bad even if other things are worse.</span><span> </span></span>Since I mentioned the historical context of worse pandemics earlier, let's look at another historical context.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">COVID-19 <a href="https://omniatlas.com/blogs/stray-maps/covid-19-vs-spanish-flu/" target="_blank">clearly is far more dangerous compared to things we are used to (like the common flu).</a> It</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality ">has a 1.8% case fatality rate in the United States (it's as low as 0.9% in Turkey and as high as 9.1% in Mexico).</a></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> That’s a lot worse than the common flu. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Worldometer currently reports approximately 571,000 deaths in the US from COVID-19. <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778361?resultClick=1" target="_blank">That's almost certainly an undercount</a>. In contrast, U.S. flu deaths for the 2019-2020 flu season were 22,000, and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the flu is barely registering so far in 2021. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The CDC presumes an average of 61,000 flu deaths per year over time. <a href=" https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html " target="_blank">Based on the CDC’s estimates, since December 2019, COVID-19 has killed more people in the U.S. than influenza has in the last 10 years (that number drops to 5 years if you use the upper limits of the CDC estimates,</a> but that’s still a lot)</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Flu deaths in Michigan in 2020 were officially </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2,179</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">; 2021 has been in the single digits. Coronavirus deaths over the same time frame are over </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">17,343. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020 behind cancer and heart disease. We had over 1,700 deaths a day from COVID-19 since late November until early March, making COVID-19 the #1 case of death in the U.S. during that time frame (heart disease and cancer account for an average of 1700 and 1600 deaths per day, respectively). </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The different strains that are starting to make their rounds globally are causing some serious issues (like in Brazil right now). No one is quite sure what impact these mutated strains will have, or how the vaccines will respond to all of them</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-pandemic-long-covid-chronic-conditions-523973c9-392f-42ff-8d27-f10c7107ef02.html" target="_blank">In "The next wave of the pandemic: Long Covid, " Axios notes some sobering realities about the long-term effect of COVID-19 on individuals: </a>between one and six months post-infection, people whose coronavirus cases didn't require hospitalization <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03553-9_reference.pdf" target="_blank">had a 60% higher risk of death than people who hadn't been infected with the virus;</a> non-hospitalized COVID patients also had a 20% greater chance of needing outpatient medical care over those six months post-infection. Their symptoms spanned across organ systems and also included mental health issues; <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7017e3.htm?s_cid=mm7017e3_w" target="_blank">69% of nonhospitalized adults who'd had COVID had one or more outpatient visits between 28 and 180 days after their diagnosis</a>. Of these, two-thirds received a new primary diagnosis. "“We found it all,” Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of the research and development service at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and an author of the study, told the NYT. “What was shocking about this when you put it all together was like ‘Oh my God,’ you see the scale." “We have hundreds of thousands of people with an unrecognized syndrome and we are trying to learn about the immune response and how the virus changes that response and how the immune response can include all the organ systems in the body,” Eleftherios Mylonakis, chief of infectious diseases at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School and Lifespan hospitals, told the NYT.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>So while I understand why someone would say it’s not that dangerous in light of more serious historical viruses, something can still be dangerous even when it’s not as dangerous as something else.</span><span> </span><span>Surely there is a place to say, “It might not be as bad as all the hype, but it’s still really serious.”</span><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">THE ARGUMENT I DON’T UNDERSTAND</span></b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hear this argument specifically from fellow Christians - not all, not even a majority, but I am seeing it enough on social media or in interviews that I think it bears addressing. The argument goes something like this:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><i>“I'm not going to get the vaccine, because if it's my time to die, God will take me no matter what I do."<br /></i><i>“I'm not getting the vaccine because I don't live in fear. God is in control. Doctors can't save me.”<br /></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>The idea behind statements like this seems to be that Christians who truly trust the sovereignty of God and have faith in His plans won't need to get the vaccine, as if there is a fated course for our life in which no decision we make about the coronavirus will have an impact when it comes to our health (or the health of others with whom we come in contact).</span><span> </span></span>This argument seems strange to me because I haven't heard it made in virtually any other area of life. For example:<ul style="text-align: left;"><li> I am congratulated when I tell people that my cholesterol and blood pressure are down thanks to a change in diet, exercise, or medication. No one has said to me that I should stop living in fear, or that God is in control and I shouldn't worry about my vital statistics.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When I went to the emergency room for my heart attack, no one criticized me afterwards for trusting in doctors instead of God. If anything, they criticized me for not calling an ambulance instead of having my wife drive me in to the ER.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When I got a stent, nobody cautioned me that God was in control and doctors can't save me. When I started taking follow up medication, there was certainly conversation about how helpful different proposed medications were, and how I could address things naturally or holistically, but there was never a suggestion that I shouldn't address it; in fact, there were strong suggestions that I should. People wanted me to stay around, and there was a shared belief that I could do something about it.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When I went on blood thinners permanently and started wearing those tight stretchy socks around my calves because of a history of blood clots, I was encouraged to do this by everybody. Everybody. Not a single person told me I lacked faith, or that I should passively wait for God to take me. </li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Martin Luther wrote, during the plague he lived through, about how he believed Christians should respond in the time of pandemic: be responsible so that you are not responsible for a preventable death in you or others. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and <b>I have done what he has expected of me </b>and so <b>I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others.</b> If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because <b>it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God."</b></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span> Luther is pointing out something important: </span><span>We seem to believe that there are actually things within our control that can alter when we die and how healthy we are - and even at times impact those around us. It’s a tacit acknowledgment, I think, that God has given us genuine free will, with real consequences that follow real choices. In Scripture, the analogy is “reaping and sowing.” We do a thing, and something follows. Actions have consequences.</span><span> </span><span>It’s why we…</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">look both ways before we pull out onto the road.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">follow driving rules and wear seatbelts. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">throw food away when it expires. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">don't let little children play unattended around fires. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">hide poisonous or caustic substances in our kitchens so kids don't get them.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">protect our kids from human traffickers.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">build buildings to code.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">caution against not just smoking but inhaling second-hand smoke.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">store guns in such a way that people can't just access them and play with them. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">eat less fried food and cut out sugar and go on diets.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">get yearly physicals.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">use essential oils, herbs and spices to address sickness.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">do something about a cancer diagnosis with a known solution.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">scrape our windshield after a hard frost before we drive on the road.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">go to a doctor if half our face goes numb. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">tell our parents to take care of themselves (we want them around longer). </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">get snow tires for safer driving in the winter. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">fix a breech pregnancy.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">encourage mothers with at-risk pregnancies to rest.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">want police to stop violent crime. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">wear protective goggles when working around things that could damage our eyes. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">own and often carry guns. Gun owners don’t think, “Well, if someone tries to kill me, it’s my time to go.” They take active measure to avoid going.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In all of these things, we are tacitly if not directly acknowledging that <i>the choices we make matter.</i>We can do things that will lengthen or shorten our life, and in some cases the lives of others. We can do things that will raise or lower the quality of our life. We live every day this way.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So what has changed with the response to vaccines and COVID-19? That's the question I can't figure out. Why would COVID-19 be the <i>one thing</i> where we are being encouraged by some Christians to live as if we can do nothing to impact the potential length or quality of our life? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the stance that bothers me, because there is theology at stake here. This is a stance that has something to do with the character and nature of God, of how God works in the world, of what God expects of us. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Now, if you read that whole list I wrote and thought, “Actually, I would not do any of those things or tell you to do any of those things,” then kudos for being consistent. This is not directed at you, though we should have a different theological discussion. </span>But if you nodded your way through my list and still think we should not get the vaccine because "if it's my time to die, God will take me," I am going to really need help understanding why this situation is different. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unless it’s not actually about theology. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unless theology is being used as a smoke screen for something else. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s hard for me to see how this argument is not a diversion from the real issue because it makes no sense when placed in the context of the normal course of life. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does it have to do with an alignment with party politics? A defense of freedom as individuals understand them in light of the Constitution? A pushback against what is seen as encroaching facism? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If it’s about party politics, that’s a bad reason. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If it’s about a fight for a particular understanding of constitutional freedoms, cool. Just name it, and let’s have that discussion. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If it’s pushback against an overreaching government, let’s have that discussion. It’s an important question.</span></li></ul></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But if you have a reason along those lines, JUST SAY IT. If it’s actually those reasons, claim them. Stand boldly on the real reason. 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mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:2.5in;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l3:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:3.0in;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l3:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:3.5in;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l3:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:4.0in;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l3:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:4.5in;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l3:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:5.0in;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l4
{mso-list-id:1793355037;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:1991140964 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l4:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l4:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l4:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l4:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l4:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l4:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l5
{mso-list-id:1970891888;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1483065978 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l5:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l5:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l5:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l5:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l5:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l5:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l5:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l5:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l5:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
-->
</style></div>Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422741111661150588noreply@blogger.com0