The Background Edition Three
It's time for the third edition of The Background, a collection of stories being lost in the strum of the news cycle or that simply give context to stories that are on going. This week we have an important story featuring revelations about where a significant amount of funding is coming from for hate groups across the nation, a jump in the number of hate groups in the US in 2018, a growing number of anti-Semitic acts in Brooklyn, the often unaddressed history of the FBI targeting independent Black own bookstores, more deaths while people are in border patrols custody, the FBI quietly attempting to dismantle the unit that investigates war crimes, a deep dive into the structural incentives in the Southern Baptist movement working against solving the problem of sexual abuse (noted in the first edition of The Background),
America's Biggest Charities Are Funneling Millions To Hate Groups Through Anonymous Donors
Sludge - All movements need money. Now, with a pretty exhaustive investigation, Sludge reveals how much of funding for hate groups is moving through some of the nations largest charities. This is something public pressure can change.
US Hate Groups Have Seen Ideas Enter Mainstream In Trump Era, Report Finds
The Guardian - Yes, part of the mission statement for The Background is preventing Trump from so dominating news that all other stories get eclipsed to the point of irrelevance. This isn't specifically about Trump, but is definitely about the general environment created when you have an explicit white supremacist (as opposed to the many implicit examples we've had) in the White House, whimpering on Twitter all day.
The chairman of the far-right Proud Boys sat behind Trump at his latest speech
Washington Post - Again, not so much about Trump himself, as a demonstration that "yes, white supremacist rhetoric and ideology is being mainstreamed." In case there is still any question among a contingent of even genuinely well meaning white folks about the idea that Trump and what passes for a conservative movement are indeed bringing explicit white supremacy into the political mainstream. It's less about Trump than it is about understanding how deeply and urgently anti-racist perspective has to be adopted by the whole of what is generally considered "The Left." Not just "not racist" policy, but genuine anti-racist policy.
Washington Post - A member of the US Coast Guard, serving at their headquarters in DC has been arrested after being discovered to be a white supremacist who has been preparing to commit a mass casualty attack since 2017. This is not the first time a white supremacist member of the military has been discovered with plans like this. It's in everyone's best interest the military begin looking a little harder at just who they're training to be killing machines.
Anti-Semitic Attacks Fuel Continuing Rise in Hate Crimes in New York
New York Times - Brooklyn, a borough which has had a number of Jewish enclaves in its history, is experiencing a worrying spike in anti-Semitic activity. This is one of the consequences of the normalization of white supremacist rhetoric spreading it's ideology.
The FBI's War on Black-Owned Bookstores
The Atlantic - Part of understanding how we came to have a president and media that can easily spread white supremacist rhetoric and ideology is understanding its history in the influencing so much of US society, politics and culture. This is a great article which demonstrates the depth to which it has been institutionalized, and the history of using law enforcement as a way to undermine self determination in the Black community.
Third migrant dies in Border Patrol custody in as many months
USA Today - When part of your set of policies that qualify under the UN definition of genocide (Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group), it can no longer be argued by the population that "we didn't know." We know. It's hard not to look at this and wonder how much it's a test to find out how badly things need to escalate further before the population decides it's too far.
How the GOP Is Stripping Students of Their Voting Rights
Rolling Stone - While we're on the subject of civil rights...
FBI is dismantling its war crimes unit
Reveal - This can join the increasingly long list of signs that the US, and it's law enforcement aren't generally all that interested in civil or human rights.
Why the Southern Baptists Won't Solve Their Abuse Problem
Playboy - With the revelations of a Catholic Church style attempt to prevent abuse members of their clergy from facing consequences, the Southern Baptists are facing considerable scrutiny. Christ Stroop has been writing on evangelicals for a few years now. His work is outstanding. He knows his subject intimately.