June 30, 2025 • 28 mins
On Part 2 of today's podcast , Hosts Ramses Ja and Q Ward offer their thoughts on the mindset of Black Conservatives.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspectives, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
I'm your host, Rams' job and I am q ward.
He's the host. OJ's work here. Well, we both work
here and we both are the host. But we need
you to stick around because this is part of the show.
(00:22):
We're going to be talking about some more cool stuff.
I mean cool, I guess it is probably not the
best way to describe it, but we will be discussing reparations.
So depending on your sensibilities, you might think that's cool,
maybe you don't, But in any event, we are going
to talk about those who received reparations and you know,
fun fact not black folks, but again it might it
(00:45):
might make for case precedent if in the future. This
is something that makes us way to your doorstep. And
also we're going to take you into the mind of
the black conservative. There's a lot of data that is
associated with black conservatives that we feel you should need
to know about. So stick around for that and so
much more. But first up, it is time for qwords
clap back and one of the questions, or rather one
(01:08):
of the things that came up recently, is that you know,
people are trying to say that they're like tired of
talking about racism, and somehow because they're tired of it,
suggesting to themselves and trying to suggest us that we're
in a post racial society. But I think you put
it best, Q. Just because people are tired of talking
(01:28):
about racism, it doesn't mean that there's no more racism,
So take it away.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We are in such an interesting intersection of life history
and culture, pain, post traumatic stress disorder, violation of the constitution.
It's just an interesting time.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Man, Like.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Reverse racism is a thing that people think is real now,
civil rights legal precedent being used against black people and
programs designed to help black people, Like the right has
weaponized this thing called racial fatigue, and they want to
(02:21):
know why we won't just move on ramses. This is
like an enduring cultural fault line. Not this This is
the first time we've heard this type of conversation. It
just was kind of viewed as nonsense before now, and
it somehow has grown legs and been given some sense
of legitimacy now.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So you'll hear people.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Saying on talk shows and on what we used to
think was a news network until they paid almost a
billion dollars to say, sorry, we're just entertainers. I'm just
tired of everything being about race. You know, slavery was
so long ago. How come you guys won't just get
over it. You know you weren't a slave. I didn't
(03:05):
own any slaves. You know, you guys always bringing up
racism is what keeps us divided. And my favorite RAMS
is my favorite of all time. Need to put it
on a T shirt? Which one is that I don't
even see color. It's just a really really interesting thing
(03:27):
for us to have to go through collectively. And they
say they're tired of talking about race, tired of black history,
tired of our identity politics, tired of being told what's
racist and what isn't. But what they're really tired of
RAMS is accountability or the idea of being held accountable,
(03:48):
because they've never had to really face accountability. The conversation
isn't exhausting, it's revealing, and some people would rather be
comfortable than never have to face the actual truth. You
hear it everywhere, you know, But we need to be clear.
Ignoring racism is not some unifying idea. They just want
(04:12):
you to be quiet. Stop talking about it, you know,
marginalize people. Stop telling your truth out loud. It makes
my kids feel bad. So racial fatigue is not some
burden that oppressed people are carrying, you know, it's a
performance that's staged by people who've never had to carry
weight or who've never had to answer for their racial crimes.
(04:35):
Like Rama said before, we've had to deal with this
idea for all of our history, and then we're made
to be you know what do they call us race
baiters when we talk about the obvious truths. They think
that this is a process. They think getting rid of
(04:57):
the idea of racism is somehow justice for them. But
if you don't see color, do you or have you
ever seen injustice? Because color blindness is not some moral
clarity that you have. It's more like an avoidance, especially
when you belong to one of the marginalized groups. Ignoring
(05:20):
what race and color mean in this country is a
massive problem because who benefits from the silence? Like, who
really does it affect in a positive way if we
just stop talking about race. It's not kids that are
losing access to black history in schools or families that
are grieving another unarmed black person being killed by police.
(05:45):
It's not workers who get passed over. It's not voters
who get purged or disenfranchised, and it's not tenants who
are told you can't live here. So the systems that
built this country they saw race. They put it in
writing ironic that this push to ban books seems to
be finding authors that all belong to a certain group
(06:06):
or that have a certain point of view. So it's
about protecting power, not about reaching any real post racial America.
They say, we need to move on from housing discrimination
and police violence, from redlining to redistricting to diluting black
and brown voices, move on without repair, which is something
(06:28):
that we probably talk about a little bit more gas
lighting us into shutting up. Racism didn't end just because
people got tired of hearing about it. It hasn't and
won't disappear because the media has lost interest in holding
people accountable. And if your peace depends on us being quiet,
(06:49):
that's not unity, that's denial.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I will not be complicit. I know for a fact.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Ramsy's job will not be complicit because the truth, it's
not that it's not the enemy of healing.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
The truth is the beginning of it. Listen, man, you
are a role okay, And I think that it's so
potent when you when you put it, you know that
the country wants us to move on without repair. Hmm.
(07:28):
That part I think is key and critical and the
failure to acknowledge it and who benefits from the science
All of that stuff is so potent. Who benefits from
the silence? And what benefit is that? The benefit is
that you get to be a little bit more comfortable,
You get to not acknowledge things and deal with some
things that make you feel a little icky. You get
you have to come to terms of the fact that, yeah,
(07:49):
I did kind of get a little bit of a
head a leg up. I built this company, but it
wasn't all me. There was some stuff going on in
the background that might have helped. And for a lot
of people that's tough to process. But I think think
the part about moving on without repair really lends itself
to you know, the next you know part of our
show where we're gonna have some dialogue about reparations. So
(08:10):
you know, there are lots of people throughout the history
of this country in the world that have had to
move on, but they were there was some repair that
had taken place, there was some form of reparations, right,
And you know, there's a lot of people. I'm sure
we're gonna have guests on the show from time to
time that are going to be able to discuss at
(08:32):
length what reparations could look like, should look like, what
it will do. The lack of reparations, the harm that
the lack of reparations has allowed to you know, exist
beyond what is reasonable in this country's timeline and so forth.
But you know, for listeners that plan on being with
us for some time, I'd love to kind of establish
(08:54):
this as a as a groundwork, a ground floor level
of you know, the conversations that ultimately we will likely
have about reparations. So you know, one of the things
that comes up quite a bit is, of course, of course,
the first one is can we afford it? And you know,
we push back on that. You know, we saw a
properly motivated country put together a stimulus package, several of
(09:19):
them throughout our lifetime, but one in particular it was
the biggest by a long way out of thin air.
As a virus. Oh yeah, we got we gotta get
some money moving, right, Just like that, and obviously when
it comes to wars, when it comes to whatever the
government deems appropriate for that moment, they always have a
capacity to get the money and so forth. And this
(09:39):
has just kind of been a thorn in the side
of this government, and they can kind of ignore it,
kick the can down the road, put a couple of
people in some key places discuss about how an effective
and unlikely and unrealistic reparations are, and then we're gonna
deal with it another twenty years, right. But the fact
(10:02):
is it looms over this country's shoulder because it is
the great sin that was committed against what is now
her citizens, her sons and daughters, black folks, and this
country has not reconciled fully with it. Indeed, this country
continues to try to distance herself from that original sin
(10:23):
in the form of political disenfranchisement, as you mentioned, in
the form of you know, over policing, in the form
of you know, environmental racism, and form of you know
a number of things, things that we discussed timing to
get on the show. So one of the things is,
you know, will this create jealousy? Well, I'm going to
(10:45):
share some examples to show that this has happened before
they've been able to find the money. People might have
been jealous about it, but they got over it. You know, whatever,
does it not work well, you know, we're going to
share some examples where you know, maybe it didn't work
as well as folks were hoping. But critically, by paying reparations,
this country acknowledged on paper using currency that this injustice
(11:11):
had taken place and it had adverse effects on these
communities that I'm about to rattle off, right, And that
acknowledgment is if nothing else, is starting point to healing,
and that starting point has yet to take place. Yeah,
sure you can drink out of my water fountain. Sure
you can ride in the front of the bus, you know.
(11:33):
You know, well, yeah, we'll elect the guy who we
think is charismatic and he's you know, he's from you
guys community. That's fine, you know whatever. And I'm not
trying to make light of Obama. I'm not trying to
make light of drinking from the water fountain. I'm not
trying to do that. But here's what we owe you,
or here's a starting point to us acknowledging that we
owe you. You get to share in the in the
(11:55):
the the prosperity of this country to the degree that
we do, because we understand that it would not exist
this way if it weren't for you. We are the
children of the people that enslaved your fathers. You are
the children of the people that were enslaved by our fathers,
and the reality that we live in was shaped by
(12:17):
the people that came before us. We are enjoying the
fruits of history, and you are very much enjoying them
to a lesser degree. Okay. First up, In nineteen ninety,
the United States of America gave one point six billion dollars,
or the equivalent of twenty thousand dollars each to Japanese Americans. Okay.
(12:41):
Next up, nineteen ninety, Austria gave twenty five million dollars
to Holocaust survivors and Jewish folks with claims in Austria.
Nineteen eighty eight, Canada gave two hundred and fifty thousand
square miles of land to Indian and Eskimo people. In
nineteen eighty eight, Canada gave two hundred thirty million to
Japanese Canadians. These are all reparations. This is a government acknowledging.
(13:05):
Not only did we cause harm, but we're trying our
best to make it right. All right, Let's get back
to the USA, because we had a lot of USA
ones here. Nineteen eighty six, thirty two million dollars to
the Ottawas of Michigan for violating the eighteen thirty nine treaty.
Nineteen eighty five, the USA gave thirty one million dollars
to the Chippewas of Wisconsin. Nineteen eighty five, again, twelve
(13:28):
million dollars, twelve point three million dollars to be exact,
to the Seminoles of Florida nineteen eighty five. Again, one
hundred and five million dollars to the Sux of South
Dakota in nineteen eighty eighty one million dollars to the
Clamaths of Oregon, Okay. In nineteen seventy one, the USA
gave one billion dollars to Alaskan natives and millions of
(13:52):
acres of land in a land settlement agreement. Now there's
a form of reparations. Okay, let's go back. This is
over Germany of eight hundred and twenty two million dollars
to German Jewish Holo cost survivors. That's a settlement. That
they've paid back to the USA from nineteen sorry, from
eighteen sixty five to present day, the United States of
(14:16):
America has paid zero dollars to African Americans for slavery.
They've paid zero dollars for the Jim Crow era, which
basically post slavery eighteen what is it, eighteen sixty five
to the nineteen sixty civil rights movement, nineteen sixty five,
let's call it, so one hundred years of Jim Crow
(14:38):
in this country where black folks could not fully participate
in the economic systems legally was legal discrimination until the
Civil Rights Bill was passed. Okay, no reparations for any
of that. Okay, But I can go back and talk
about the Japanese folks. One point six billion United States
of America paid to Japanese people twenty thousand dollars the
(15:00):
East Japanese folks. Right, And here's the crazy thing. Flip this.
You know who did get reparations for slavery? Slaveholders in
Britain did They got paid for not having slaves anymore?
(15:21):
But also the slaveholders in the United States of America
got reparations. Imagine how hurtful that is, Imagine how insulting
that is that the government gave those people reparations. And
then when black folks come to the table and say, look,
there is no restorative economic justice in place for our people.
(15:41):
There is no economic apology acknowledgment for the labor that
our forefathers done. We did not receive wealth. It did
not translate to our people. Our communities did not grow
the way that other communities have grown. Your communities specifically,
you know what I mean. Result, our children go through
these trials and have these hurdles, and your children don't
(16:05):
have any of that. And you have the capacity to
pay reparations because indeed you pay them to the slave owners.
And you laugh in my face when I introduced the
topic of conversation, how dare you? I did it again? Q,
(16:25):
talk to me. That's how it goes, man, bring me home.
I won't even go all the way back to eighteen
sixty five. But since the end of World War Two
(16:45):
in nineteen forty six, the United States has provided over
three point eight trillion dollars in foreign aid to countries
all over the world. They have given zero dollars to
the descendants of African slaves in the United States of America.
(17:13):
I don't have much more to say that. I mean that,
I think that says a mouthful to the how are
we going to pay for it? Or where's the money
going to come from? People? Or who's going to be
jealous and all that. Yeah, I think that that's a mouthful.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
In the last eighty years, three point eight trillion dollars
in a to other countries.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
A trillion is a thousand billion, right.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I know, five hundred thousand million is a half a trillion, so.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
That's a thousand billions. So that's three thousand, eight hundred billions.
And then they laugh and are man, it's crazy, it's crazy.
But you know, now we at least have a foundation
for the conversation moving forward. All right, Uh, let's move
on to entertainment inside the mind of a black conservative.
(18:07):
I promise I'm not going to talk to this one, no,
but let me paint the picture. Okay. Some names you
might be familiar with, Okay, Tim Scott, Byron Donalds, the
representative from North Carolina, Mark Robinson, who's on record of
saying disrespectful things about Michelle Obama, win some sears, Daniel Cameron,
(18:28):
you know, saying that Breonna Taylor's murder was justified. Larry Elder,
Ben Carson, Herschel Walker, Clarence Thomas, Candice Owens, Jesse Peterson,
Thomas Soll. You know, these are these are some black
Conservatives that are prominent. These are some names you might
be familiar with. Right, let's take you inside the mind
of a black Conservative. So I'm gonna just share a
(18:49):
couple of talking points and then Q I want you to,
you know, give me your thoughts or give us your
thoughts here. So, Pew Research Group has a has a
listing of facts about Black Republicans that they put together
based on their research that they've done. So, first, of
black Republicans are less likely than Black Democrats to attend
(19:10):
black churches. Now, bear in mind black churches is that's
where a lot of the culture is, right of course.
I mean for people that you know live in cities,
you know, it's the club. And for people that live
in cities this you know, school, younger people especially school.
You know people that on the East coasters a lot
(19:30):
of hbc US. There's hbc US. But the great equalizer
is the church. Right, even if you don't go to
church yourself, you one person away from from a person
who is also black that goes to a black church,
right as a black person. Right, So black church is
something that we can all reach out and touch no
(19:51):
matter what, even if we haven't been to one. I'm
sure we got spidy since or something that will tingle
if we get close to a black church. If we
need to get to one, we could find one pretty easy.
So that's one difference between Black Democrats and Black Republicans
is again, black Republicans are less likely to attend black church.
That's a great cultural watering hole for our people. Black
(20:12):
Republicans are less likely than Black Democrats to say that
being black is a significant part of their personal identity. Right.
So again, folks with the more liberal philosophy, blackness is,
you know, we own it. You know, Black Republicans it's
I don't know this because I'm not one. I don't
(20:32):
want to speak for them, but it almost this, This
data point almost implies that they are pursuing whiteness or
trying to get closer to whiteness for whatever reason, economic
or otherwise or otherwise. It suggests that they're trying to
distance themselves from blackness. Again, I'll read it just to
(20:54):
help them make sense in your mind, how I got there.
Black Republicans are less likely than Black Day Democrats to
say being black is a significant part of their personal identity. Okay,
I'll move on. While six and ten black Republicans are
fifty eight percent say being black is an extremely or
very important part of how they think about themselves, and
even larger share of Black Democrats, or eighty two percent,
(21:17):
say the same. Black Republicans are also more likely than
Black Democrats twenty one percent versus six percent to say
blackness is a little or not at all important to
how they think about themselves. All right, there's a couple
more here. Black Republicans are less likely than black Democrats
to express a sense of a linked fate with black
(21:37):
people in the US. In other words, black Republicans, it's
more like, hey, look I figured it out. Y'all figure
it out too, as opposed to a linked fate. Now,
while I'm here, I want to say this because we
say it as often as we can. I think that
it's a truth that we should continue to share. But
in this moment, I'll speak for myself and Q you
(21:58):
know you're welcome to say the same. But I know
that people use me as the example, and they try
to use me against black people. Well, you made it,
you went to school, you have a job and a career,
and you you know you're not in jail, You're not
a gang beyer. And I'm like, well, I was really lucky.
I'm from Compton. I should have been a gang banger.
(22:18):
If I had have stayed in Compton, I would have
been a gang begger. Ain't no two ways about it.
Me gang banger groing, right, But I was also very
luckily lucky. People try to say they just work hard
and overcome your obstacles, and that is part of it.
But the truth is a big amount of it is luck.
(22:38):
One or two things go different in my life story.
I'm a completely different person. One or two opportunities don't
make their way to me. I'm in a completely different arena. Right.
They say that luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. Well
what happens if you're not in this predicament where the
opportunity reaches you. This is why DEI such an important thing,
(23:00):
because it doesn't matter how prepared you get if you
never get a shot. I got plenty of shots, Q
got plenty of shots. So we acknowledge that, but again,
Black Republicans are less likely to feel that sense of
linked fate. It's more of like, I, the individual made it,
And it's very easy for those folks to say I
made it because of me, not I made it because
of a fortunate set of circumstances that I happened to
(23:23):
find myself in. I was born this way, I had
this thing go right, I met this mentor whatever. Okay,
I'll continue, Black Republicans differ from Black Democrats in their
views on racial discrimination as a barrier to progress. That
checks out makes sense for those folks. Black Republicans are
about as likely as Black Democrats to report frequent experiences
(23:43):
of discrimination, which is something that if that is true,
you would imagine that Black Republicans would be just as
upset and vocal and so forth about it, But they
seem to just kind of take it in stride as
opposed to try to change it. Last thing, I'll say,
Black Republicans are just as skeptical as Black Democrats about
the prospects for equality, But I believe, on the one hand,
(24:05):
black Republicans are more likely to say, this is our reality.
We just have to deal with it. Every man for
him self, good luck, and black Democrats are more likely
to say, yes, this is our reality. We need to
change it because not everybody is going to thrive in
this system, and we collectively need a government and a
society that works for all of us. Again, if you
(24:27):
want to check these data points out, you can check
them out all in Pew Research Group. Que give me
your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
You know, there's an interesting thing that I don't think
is being factored into the data.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
What's that? Education?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Educated Black Republicans are more likely to be fiscally up.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Sure that's fair.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
They can afford to not care about the wealth and
help us as a collective because.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
They already eaten. Sure, yeah, I go with that.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Not just proximity to whiteness is proximity to wealth.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
You can vote with your wallet. Like, those problems that
you pores have to deal with are not going to
affect me in my home. So I hope y'all figure
it out. Those who are not wealthy who are black
Republicans are probably and I don't have the data in
(25:19):
front of me, but I'm.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Pretty sure it would work out this way.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Less informed and less educated voting, organizing and speaking out
against their own best interests because they don't know any better.
Some people just attribute it to self hate, but I
think that also is a byproduct of lack of resources,
lack of education. So it's a very very interesting data
set to sift through. You know, the acknowledgment that reparations
(25:50):
are probably not coming and these systems have failed us.
But you know, the whole country can't be racist if
I made it, Q and Rams as you guys are
on one hundred and fifty radio stations.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
One hundred and fifty one.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
So how are you, while you're speaking to millions of
people every month, going to tell us that the country
is racist with all the opportunities that have been provided
for you. And we'll talk you into discounting the experience
as of everybody who's not you, pretending that the counter
data doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's hard being black in America, man.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, it's like being constantly gas lit that everything that
you know to be true isn't actually happening or isn't
really a big deal. Perpetually. It's mentally, physically and spiritually exhausting. Man.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Well, this is the journey that we're on, and you know,
I I we'd be foolish to assume that you know,
everybody feels and you know, whatever people are born, different
people have different sensibilities and so forth and so on,
and you know, it's it's our duty to acknowledge that,
(27:12):
you know, black conservative conservatives exist. I think that goes
without saying. But I think more importantly, we have a
duty to acknowledge kind of the mental framework that they
have to make sense of the world. And while we
would condemn that worldview, I personally, I at least can
(27:36):
understand that it focuses the conversation on what the facts
are instead of like, is this self hatred? Which it
could be. But now we have some data points to hit,
we have we have ways to go about dealing with
these sensibilities and some things we know they're just barriers
or conversations. There's no middle ground there, and it helps
(27:58):
us be more strategic in our approach to folks that
disagree with us. So with that in mind, we'll leave
it right there, and that's going to do it for
us here at the qr CODE. Today's show, of course,
as always, was produced by Chris Thompson. If you have
some thought you'd like to share, please use the red
microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there,
to be sure to hit subscribe and download all of
(28:18):
our episodes. Also, we'd love for you to check us
out on social media on all platforms at Civic Cipher
and don't forget you can follow us on YouTube at
Civic Cipher as well. I have been your host rams'
Ja and you can find me on all social media
at rams' Ja. I am q Ward on all social
media as well, and once again, q Man, I love you.
(28:38):
Thank you so much for breaking things down from me.
I always learn so much from you and it is
a joy to continue to do this with you. I
couldn't have a better partner and a better teammate. And
join us both next time as we share our news
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
QR code
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspectives, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
I'm your host, Rams' job and I am q ward.
He's the host. OJ's work here. Well, we both work
here and we both are the host. But we need
you to stick around because this is part of the show.
(00:22):
We're going to be talking about some more cool stuff.
I mean cool, I guess it is probably not the
best way to describe it, but we will be discussing reparations.
So depending on your sensibilities, you might think that's cool,
maybe you don't, But in any event, we are going
to talk about those who received reparations and you know,
fun fact not black folks, but again it might it
(00:45):
might make for case precedent if in the future. This
is something that makes us way to your doorstep. And
also we're going to take you into the mind of
the black conservative. There's a lot of data that is
associated with black conservatives that we feel you should need
to know about. So stick around for that and so
much more. But first up, it is time for qwords
clap back and one of the questions, or rather one
(01:08):
of the things that came up recently, is that you know,
people are trying to say that they're like tired of
talking about racism, and somehow because they're tired of it,
suggesting to themselves and trying to suggest us that we're
in a post racial society. But I think you put
it best, Q. Just because people are tired of talking
(01:28):
about racism, it doesn't mean that there's no more racism,
So take it away.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We are in such an interesting intersection of life history
and culture, pain, post traumatic stress disorder, violation of the constitution.
It's just an interesting time.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Man, Like.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Reverse racism is a thing that people think is real now,
civil rights legal precedent being used against black people and
programs designed to help black people, Like the right has
weaponized this thing called racial fatigue, and they want to
(02:21):
know why we won't just move on ramses. This is
like an enduring cultural fault line. Not this This is
the first time we've heard this type of conversation. It
just was kind of viewed as nonsense before now, and
it somehow has grown legs and been given some sense
of legitimacy now.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So you'll hear people.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Saying on talk shows and on what we used to
think was a news network until they paid almost a
billion dollars to say, sorry, we're just entertainers. I'm just
tired of everything being about race. You know, slavery was
so long ago. How come you guys won't just get
over it. You know you weren't a slave. I didn't
(03:05):
own any slaves. You know, you guys always bringing up
racism is what keeps us divided. And my favorite RAMS
is my favorite of all time. Need to put it
on a T shirt? Which one is that I don't
even see color. It's just a really really interesting thing
(03:27):
for us to have to go through collectively. And they
say they're tired of talking about race, tired of black history,
tired of our identity politics, tired of being told what's
racist and what isn't. But what they're really tired of
RAMS is accountability or the idea of being held accountable,
(03:48):
because they've never had to really face accountability. The conversation
isn't exhausting, it's revealing, and some people would rather be
comfortable than never have to face the actual truth. You
hear it everywhere, you know, But we need to be clear.
Ignoring racism is not some unifying idea. They just want
(04:12):
you to be quiet. Stop talking about it, you know,
marginalize people. Stop telling your truth out loud. It makes
my kids feel bad. So racial fatigue is not some
burden that oppressed people are carrying, you know, it's a
performance that's staged by people who've never had to carry
weight or who've never had to answer for their racial crimes.
(04:35):
Like Rama said before, we've had to deal with this
idea for all of our history, and then we're made
to be you know what do they call us race
baiters when we talk about the obvious truths. They think
that this is a process. They think getting rid of
(04:57):
the idea of racism is somehow justice for them. But
if you don't see color, do you or have you
ever seen injustice? Because color blindness is not some moral
clarity that you have. It's more like an avoidance, especially
when you belong to one of the marginalized groups. Ignoring
(05:20):
what race and color mean in this country is a
massive problem because who benefits from the silence? Like, who
really does it affect in a positive way if we
just stop talking about race. It's not kids that are
losing access to black history in schools or families that
are grieving another unarmed black person being killed by police.
(05:45):
It's not workers who get passed over. It's not voters
who get purged or disenfranchised, and it's not tenants who
are told you can't live here. So the systems that
built this country they saw race. They put it in
writing ironic that this push to ban books seems to
be finding authors that all belong to a certain group
(06:06):
or that have a certain point of view. So it's
about protecting power, not about reaching any real post racial America.
They say, we need to move on from housing discrimination
and police violence, from redlining to redistricting to diluting black
and brown voices, move on without repair, which is something
(06:28):
that we probably talk about a little bit more gas
lighting us into shutting up. Racism didn't end just because
people got tired of hearing about it. It hasn't and
won't disappear because the media has lost interest in holding
people accountable. And if your peace depends on us being quiet,
(06:49):
that's not unity, that's denial.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I will not be complicit. I know for a fact.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Ramsy's job will not be complicit because the truth, it's
not that it's not the enemy of healing.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
The truth is the beginning of it. Listen, man, you
are a role okay, And I think that it's so
potent when you when you put it, you know that
the country wants us to move on without repair. Hmm.
(07:28):
That part I think is key and critical and the
failure to acknowledge it and who benefits from the science
All of that stuff is so potent. Who benefits from
the silence? And what benefit is that? The benefit is
that you get to be a little bit more comfortable,
You get to not acknowledge things and deal with some
things that make you feel a little icky. You get
you have to come to terms of the fact that, yeah,
(07:49):
I did kind of get a little bit of a
head a leg up. I built this company, but it
wasn't all me. There was some stuff going on in
the background that might have helped. And for a lot
of people that's tough to process. But I think think
the part about moving on without repair really lends itself
to you know, the next you know part of our
show where we're gonna have some dialogue about reparations. So
(08:10):
you know, there are lots of people throughout the history
of this country in the world that have had to
move on, but they were there was some repair that
had taken place, there was some form of reparations, right,
And you know, there's a lot of people. I'm sure
we're gonna have guests on the show from time to
time that are going to be able to discuss at
(08:32):
length what reparations could look like, should look like, what
it will do. The lack of reparations, the harm that
the lack of reparations has allowed to you know, exist
beyond what is reasonable in this country's timeline and so forth.
But you know, for listeners that plan on being with
us for some time, I'd love to kind of establish
(08:54):
this as a as a groundwork, a ground floor level
of you know, the conversations that ultimately we will likely
have about reparations. So you know, one of the things
that comes up quite a bit is, of course, of course,
the first one is can we afford it? And you know,
we push back on that. You know, we saw a
properly motivated country put together a stimulus package, several of
(09:19):
them throughout our lifetime, but one in particular it was
the biggest by a long way out of thin air.
As a virus. Oh yeah, we got we gotta get
some money moving, right, Just like that, and obviously when
it comes to wars, when it comes to whatever the
government deems appropriate for that moment, they always have a
capacity to get the money and so forth. And this
(09:39):
has just kind of been a thorn in the side
of this government, and they can kind of ignore it,
kick the can down the road, put a couple of
people in some key places discuss about how an effective
and unlikely and unrealistic reparations are, and then we're gonna
deal with it another twenty years, right. But the fact
(10:02):
is it looms over this country's shoulder because it is
the great sin that was committed against what is now
her citizens, her sons and daughters, black folks, and this
country has not reconciled fully with it. Indeed, this country
continues to try to distance herself from that original sin
(10:23):
in the form of political disenfranchisement, as you mentioned, in
the form of you know, over policing, in the form
of you know, environmental racism, and form of you know
a number of things, things that we discussed timing to
get on the show. So one of the things is,
you know, will this create jealousy? Well, I'm going to
(10:45):
share some examples to show that this has happened before
they've been able to find the money. People might have
been jealous about it, but they got over it. You know, whatever,
does it not work well, you know, we're going to
share some examples where you know, maybe it didn't work
as well as folks were hoping. But critically, by paying reparations,
this country acknowledged on paper using currency that this injustice
(11:11):
had taken place and it had adverse effects on these
communities that I'm about to rattle off, right, And that
acknowledgment is if nothing else, is starting point to healing,
and that starting point has yet to take place. Yeah,
sure you can drink out of my water fountain. Sure
you can ride in the front of the bus, you know.
(11:33):
You know, well, yeah, we'll elect the guy who we
think is charismatic and he's you know, he's from you
guys community. That's fine, you know whatever. And I'm not
trying to make light of Obama. I'm not trying to
make light of drinking from the water fountain. I'm not
trying to do that. But here's what we owe you,
or here's a starting point to us acknowledging that we
owe you. You get to share in the in the
(11:55):
the the prosperity of this country to the degree that
we do, because we understand that it would not exist
this way if it weren't for you. We are the
children of the people that enslaved your fathers. You are
the children of the people that were enslaved by our fathers,
and the reality that we live in was shaped by
(12:17):
the people that came before us. We are enjoying the
fruits of history, and you are very much enjoying them
to a lesser degree. Okay. First up, In nineteen ninety,
the United States of America gave one point six billion dollars,
or the equivalent of twenty thousand dollars each to Japanese Americans. Okay.
(12:41):
Next up, nineteen ninety, Austria gave twenty five million dollars
to Holocaust survivors and Jewish folks with claims in Austria.
Nineteen eighty eight, Canada gave two hundred and fifty thousand
square miles of land to Indian and Eskimo people. In
nineteen eighty eight, Canada gave two hundred thirty million to
Japanese Canadians. These are all reparations. This is a government acknowledging.
(13:05):
Not only did we cause harm, but we're trying our
best to make it right. All right, Let's get back
to the USA, because we had a lot of USA
ones here. Nineteen eighty six, thirty two million dollars to
the Ottawas of Michigan for violating the eighteen thirty nine treaty.
Nineteen eighty five, the USA gave thirty one million dollars
to the Chippewas of Wisconsin. Nineteen eighty five, again, twelve
(13:28):
million dollars, twelve point three million dollars to be exact,
to the Seminoles of Florida nineteen eighty five. Again, one
hundred and five million dollars to the Sux of South
Dakota in nineteen eighty eighty one million dollars to the
Clamaths of Oregon, Okay. In nineteen seventy one, the USA
gave one billion dollars to Alaskan natives and millions of
(13:52):
acres of land in a land settlement agreement. Now there's
a form of reparations. Okay, let's go back. This is
over Germany of eight hundred and twenty two million dollars
to German Jewish Holo cost survivors. That's a settlement. That
they've paid back to the USA from nineteen sorry, from
eighteen sixty five to present day, the United States of
(14:16):
America has paid zero dollars to African Americans for slavery.
They've paid zero dollars for the Jim Crow era, which
basically post slavery eighteen what is it, eighteen sixty five
to the nineteen sixty civil rights movement, nineteen sixty five,
let's call it, so one hundred years of Jim Crow
(14:38):
in this country where black folks could not fully participate
in the economic systems legally was legal discrimination until the
Civil Rights Bill was passed. Okay, no reparations for any
of that. Okay, But I can go back and talk
about the Japanese folks. One point six billion United States
of America paid to Japanese people twenty thousand dollars the
(15:00):
East Japanese folks. Right, And here's the crazy thing. Flip this.
You know who did get reparations for slavery? Slaveholders in
Britain did They got paid for not having slaves anymore?
(15:21):
But also the slaveholders in the United States of America
got reparations. Imagine how hurtful that is, Imagine how insulting
that is that the government gave those people reparations. And
then when black folks come to the table and say, look,
there is no restorative economic justice in place for our people.
(15:41):
There is no economic apology acknowledgment for the labor that
our forefathers done. We did not receive wealth. It did
not translate to our people. Our communities did not grow
the way that other communities have grown. Your communities specifically,
you know what I mean. Result, our children go through
these trials and have these hurdles, and your children don't
(16:05):
have any of that. And you have the capacity to
pay reparations because indeed you pay them to the slave owners.
And you laugh in my face when I introduced the
topic of conversation, how dare you? I did it again? Q,
(16:25):
talk to me. That's how it goes, man, bring me home.
I won't even go all the way back to eighteen
sixty five. But since the end of World War Two
(16:45):
in nineteen forty six, the United States has provided over
three point eight trillion dollars in foreign aid to countries
all over the world. They have given zero dollars to
the descendants of African slaves in the United States of America.
(17:13):
I don't have much more to say that. I mean that,
I think that says a mouthful to the how are
we going to pay for it? Or where's the money
going to come from? People? Or who's going to be
jealous and all that. Yeah, I think that that's a mouthful.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
In the last eighty years, three point eight trillion dollars
in a to other countries.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
A trillion is a thousand billion, right.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I know, five hundred thousand million is a half a trillion, so.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
That's a thousand billions. So that's three thousand, eight hundred billions.
And then they laugh and are man, it's crazy, it's crazy.
But you know, now we at least have a foundation
for the conversation moving forward. All right, Uh, let's move
on to entertainment inside the mind of a black conservative.
(18:07):
I promise I'm not going to talk to this one, no,
but let me paint the picture. Okay. Some names you
might be familiar with, Okay, Tim Scott, Byron Donalds, the
representative from North Carolina, Mark Robinson, who's on record of
saying disrespectful things about Michelle Obama, win some sears, Daniel Cameron,
(18:28):
you know, saying that Breonna Taylor's murder was justified. Larry Elder,
Ben Carson, Herschel Walker, Clarence Thomas, Candice Owens, Jesse Peterson,
Thomas Soll. You know, these are these are some black
Conservatives that are prominent. These are some names you might
be familiar with. Right, let's take you inside the mind
of a black Conservative. So I'm gonna just share a
(18:49):
couple of talking points and then Q I want you to,
you know, give me your thoughts or give us your
thoughts here. So, Pew Research Group has a has a
listing of facts about Black Republicans that they put together
based on their research that they've done. So, first, of
black Republicans are less likely than Black Democrats to attend
(19:10):
black churches. Now, bear in mind black churches is that's
where a lot of the culture is, right of course.
I mean for people that you know live in cities,
you know, it's the club. And for people that live
in cities this you know, school, younger people especially school.
You know people that on the East coasters a lot
(19:30):
of hbc US. There's hbc US. But the great equalizer
is the church. Right, even if you don't go to
church yourself, you one person away from from a person
who is also black that goes to a black church,
right as a black person. Right, So black church is
something that we can all reach out and touch no
(19:51):
matter what, even if we haven't been to one. I'm
sure we got spidy since or something that will tingle
if we get close to a black church. If we
need to get to one, we could find one pretty easy.
So that's one difference between Black Democrats and Black Republicans
is again, black Republicans are less likely to attend black church.
That's a great cultural watering hole for our people. Black
(20:12):
Republicans are less likely than Black Democrats to say that
being black is a significant part of their personal identity. Right.
So again, folks with the more liberal philosophy, blackness is,
you know, we own it. You know, Black Republicans it's
I don't know this because I'm not one. I don't
(20:32):
want to speak for them, but it almost this, This
data point almost implies that they are pursuing whiteness or
trying to get closer to whiteness for whatever reason, economic
or otherwise or otherwise. It suggests that they're trying to
distance themselves from blackness. Again, I'll read it just to
(20:54):
help them make sense in your mind, how I got there.
Black Republicans are less likely than Black Day Democrats to
say being black is a significant part of their personal identity. Okay,
I'll move on. While six and ten black Republicans are
fifty eight percent say being black is an extremely or
very important part of how they think about themselves, and
even larger share of Black Democrats, or eighty two percent,
(21:17):
say the same. Black Republicans are also more likely than
Black Democrats twenty one percent versus six percent to say
blackness is a little or not at all important to
how they think about themselves. All right, there's a couple
more here. Black Republicans are less likely than black Democrats
to express a sense of a linked fate with black
(21:37):
people in the US. In other words, black Republicans, it's
more like, hey, look I figured it out. Y'all figure
it out too, as opposed to a linked fate. Now,
while I'm here, I want to say this because we
say it as often as we can. I think that
it's a truth that we should continue to share. But
in this moment, I'll speak for myself and Q you
(21:58):
know you're welcome to say the same. But I know
that people use me as the example, and they try
to use me against black people. Well, you made it,
you went to school, you have a job and a career,
and you you know you're not in jail, You're not
a gang beyer. And I'm like, well, I was really lucky.
I'm from Compton. I should have been a gang banger.
(22:18):
If I had have stayed in Compton, I would have
been a gang begger. Ain't no two ways about it.
Me gang banger groing, right, But I was also very
luckily lucky. People try to say they just work hard
and overcome your obstacles, and that is part of it.
But the truth is a big amount of it is luck.
(22:38):
One or two things go different in my life story.
I'm a completely different person. One or two opportunities don't
make their way to me. I'm in a completely different arena. Right.
They say that luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. Well
what happens if you're not in this predicament where the
opportunity reaches you. This is why DEI such an important thing,
(23:00):
because it doesn't matter how prepared you get if you
never get a shot. I got plenty of shots, Q
got plenty of shots. So we acknowledge that, but again,
Black Republicans are less likely to feel that sense of
linked fate. It's more of like, I, the individual made it,
And it's very easy for those folks to say I
made it because of me, not I made it because
of a fortunate set of circumstances that I happened to
(23:23):
find myself in. I was born this way, I had
this thing go right, I met this mentor whatever. Okay,
I'll continue, Black Republicans differ from Black Democrats in their
views on racial discrimination as a barrier to progress. That
checks out makes sense for those folks. Black Republicans are
about as likely as Black Democrats to report frequent experiences
(23:43):
of discrimination, which is something that if that is true,
you would imagine that Black Republicans would be just as
upset and vocal and so forth about it, But they
seem to just kind of take it in stride as
opposed to try to change it. Last thing, I'll say,
Black Republicans are just as skeptical as Black Democrats about
the prospects for equality, But I believe, on the one hand,
(24:05):
black Republicans are more likely to say, this is our reality.
We just have to deal with it. Every man for
him self, good luck, and black Democrats are more likely
to say, yes, this is our reality. We need to
change it because not everybody is going to thrive in
this system, and we collectively need a government and a
society that works for all of us. Again, if you
(24:27):
want to check these data points out, you can check
them out all in Pew Research Group. Que give me
your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
You know, there's an interesting thing that I don't think
is being factored into the data.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
What's that? Education?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Educated Black Republicans are more likely to be fiscally up.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Sure that's fair.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
They can afford to not care about the wealth and
help us as a collective because.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
They already eaten. Sure, yeah, I go with that.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Not just proximity to whiteness is proximity to wealth.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
You can vote with your wallet. Like, those problems that
you pores have to deal with are not going to
affect me in my home. So I hope y'all figure
it out. Those who are not wealthy who are black
Republicans are probably and I don't have the data in
(25:19):
front of me, but I'm.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Pretty sure it would work out this way.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Less informed and less educated voting, organizing and speaking out
against their own best interests because they don't know any better.
Some people just attribute it to self hate, but I
think that also is a byproduct of lack of resources,
lack of education. So it's a very very interesting data
set to sift through. You know, the acknowledgment that reparations
(25:50):
are probably not coming and these systems have failed us.
But you know, the whole country can't be racist if
I made it, Q and Rams as you guys are
on one hundred and fifty radio stations.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
One hundred and fifty one.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
So how are you, while you're speaking to millions of
people every month, going to tell us that the country
is racist with all the opportunities that have been provided
for you. And we'll talk you into discounting the experience
as of everybody who's not you, pretending that the counter
data doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's hard being black in America, man.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, it's like being constantly gas lit that everything that
you know to be true isn't actually happening or isn't
really a big deal. Perpetually. It's mentally, physically and spiritually exhausting. Man.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Well, this is the journey that we're on, and you know,
I I we'd be foolish to assume that you know,
everybody feels and you know, whatever people are born, different
people have different sensibilities and so forth and so on,
and you know, it's it's our duty to acknowledge that,
(27:12):
you know, black conservative conservatives exist. I think that goes
without saying. But I think more importantly, we have a
duty to acknowledge kind of the mental framework that they
have to make sense of the world. And while we
would condemn that worldview, I personally, I at least can
(27:36):
understand that it focuses the conversation on what the facts
are instead of like, is this self hatred? Which it
could be. But now we have some data points to hit,
we have we have ways to go about dealing with
these sensibilities and some things we know they're just barriers
or conversations. There's no middle ground there, and it helps
(27:58):
us be more strategic in our approach to folks that
disagree with us. So with that in mind, we'll leave
it right there, and that's going to do it for
us here at the qr CODE. Today's show, of course,
as always, was produced by Chris Thompson. If you have
some thought you'd like to share, please use the red
microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there,
to be sure to hit subscribe and download all of
(28:18):
our episodes. Also, we'd love for you to check us
out on social media on all platforms at Civic Cipher
and don't forget you can follow us on YouTube at
Civic Cipher as well. I have been your host rams'
Ja and you can find me on all social media
at rams' Ja. I am q Ward on all social
media as well, and once again, q Man, I love you.
(28:38):
Thank you so much for breaking things down from me.
I always learn so much from you and it is
a joy to continue to do this with you. I
couldn't have a better partner and a better teammate. And
join us both next time as we share our news
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
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