#103: Busloads of Antifa!
There are no conspiracies.
CULTURE THING:
White readers: Have you been hearing from people in your life about rumored Antifa attacks in the past few weeks? This piece from Anne Helen Petersen — you should subscribe to her newsletter — about how propaganda convinced a bunch of suburban and rural white people that Antifa was coming to terrorize their small towns is a must-read.
How Antifa became the Boogeyman
Speaking of rumors, today’s Office Hours paid subscriber post is about government conspiracies!
As social media runs rampant with all kinds of information (and misinformation), I want to share an excerpt from a sociology book that truly changed my life.
Initially published in 1967, Who Rules America? was written by Professor G. William Domhoff in 1967. Domhoff — who currently heads the sociology department at the University of California Santa-Cruz — the book was written as a response to sociologist C. Wright Mills The Power Elite. This 1956 best-seller was so popular that it has directly led to the modern usage of “The Elite” as we know it in American culture. The term itself became so influential to culture to the point that it inspired the name of a successful pro wrestling company currently airing on TNT.
There Are No Conspiracies.
Honestly can’t stop looking at this graph from this Washington Post story on the economic gap between black and white America. It’s depressing, infuriating, and also somewhat comforting?
I say comforting because now there is proof. People who say, “Oh, there isn’t racism in America! Everyone has a chance to be successful” need to be immediately shown this chart. The people who complain that black athletes get paid too much? Show them the chart.
Why? Because it’s a great way to figure out if you want to continue a relationship with this person after the conversation!
There are two scenarios at play here: Either black people — despite hundreds of years of evidence to the contrary — are somehow incapable of earning money.
The other option is that maybe there are forces at play beyond the individual effort any black person can produce in this country that keeps the wealth disparity this gigantic.
MARKETING THING:
Dear White Corporate America, Black Employees Have Been Feeling Discomfort for Years
MUSIC THINGS:
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, welcome to my “Please Don’t Be A Secret Racist” list!
BULLETIN BOARD:
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Office Hours is written by Ernest Wilkins. Follow me on Twitter/IG @ErnestWilkins.
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