September 21, 2025 • 55 mins
BIN News anchors Bri Wood and Morgyn Wood join hosts Ramses Ja and Q Ward to review the major news stories of the past week.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's been another busy news week and we like to
review the major stories of the week here on the
bi In. Today, we are joined by bi In News
anchors Morgan Would and Bree Would to discuss this week's
major stories. This is the QR code. He is q
Ward and he is Rams's jaw. All right, Bri and Morgan,
welcome back to the show. I think it's been a
(00:23):
little over a month since we last spoke, so Morgan, yeah,
tell me. We'll start with you. Morgan, tell me what's
the latest.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Ooh, there's too much to get into.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I know it.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
It's so much. Where do I begin? But overall things
are just you know, they're good. And your girl is
still low key in the DMV trying to stay out
the way.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I heard that, Bri talk to me.
Speaker 5 (00:47):
Hi.
Speaker 6 (00:48):
Well, I've been extremely busy myself. I am doing some
work with the Obama Foundation right now. Matter of fact,
when we get done here, I've got some interviews to
prepare for. So yeah, just preparing for the grant opening
of that on the South Side of Chicago, hopefully top
of next year. So yeah, been exciting and very busy.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I love it. Okay, Well, I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
All right, Well, let's give the people what they came
for first. Up, As more details surrounding the death of
Charlie Kirk surface, a group of Texas teachers who has
opposed his political views, along many other critics of Kirk,
are learning the hard way that the right to exercise
free speech often comes with repercussions. Bree, let's get Toda's
show started with you tell us more about this story
(01:30):
and then marketing Q.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
We'll get your thoughts after.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (01:34):
Well, Governor Greg Abbott he announced that over one hundred
Texas teachers will have their teaching certificates suspended due to
some inappropriate social media posts following the assassination of political
activist Charlie Kirk. Now, the Texas Education Agency is investigating
these educators who allegedly called, called for, or incited violence
(01:57):
in response to kirse death. So that is the whole point.
They're saying that the comments went above and beyond. So
Governor Abbott stated that these teachers will be ineligible to
teach in Texas schools, and the Texas Education Agency Commissioner
Mike Marath confirmed that the agency has received around one
hundred and eighty complaints about Texas teachers thus far. He
(02:18):
also noted that the distinction between poor taste comments and
those that incite violence, with the latter being unacceptable and
grounds for disciplinary action according to their guidelines. So they're
really basing everything off of what the code of conduct
is for them, and basically these teachers violated that in
(02:41):
his opinions. So similar investigations are also underway in some
other states. It's not just Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio,
and Mississippi are also being targeted. School employees say that
they are facing scrutiny there for their social media activity
related to Kirk's assassination. In all five of those states,
(03:01):
by the way, are at will employment states, and so
that means employers can terminate you at any time for
any reason or no reason at all, as long as
it's not illegal. So the exceptions to that include something
like public policy violations that would be like whistleblower protections
for example, or written contracts, and also retaliation for protected
(03:21):
activities and so as far as reactions go. Rina Honey,
she is the president of Alliance Dallas Teachers Union.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Alliance AFT.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
She says that she is deeply concerned over the attacks
educators are facing from the Texas Education Agency and Governor Abbott,
and also the Texas American Federation of Teachers. The president
his name is Zef Coppo. He called the investigations a
weaponization of state authority and warned that this is part
of a broader trend where lawmakers are hunting down and
(03:55):
firing educators for personal opinions shared online. Now, comparing the
situation to authoritarian regimes, he said, they'll take as much
as the rest of us are willing to give them.
And we also have a teacher from Houston. Her name
is Sarah Rollwitz. She said she was fired from the
Bilingual Education Institute for an Instagram post criticizing the public
(04:16):
response to Kirk's deph and she described the experience as
devastating and she happens to now be consulting lawyers like
I'm sure many other of these teachers are. So. Finally,
Vanessa matsis MacCready. She is an employment law expert. She said,
just to be clear, free speech protections are limited in
private workplaces under at will employment laws, which is why
(04:37):
I went ahead and looked up if those states were
at will, and they all are So that's what it is.
You can say what you want to say, but if
you care about your job, you need to make sure
that they can't see who you are, because they don't
really have to give you too much of an explanation
if they want you gone bargain.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Ain't that the truth? Okay?
Speaker 4 (04:58):
So it's my understanding that the tech the state of
Texas is arguing that educators have a higher standard of
responsibility and that their words one line carry wait far
beyond personal opinion.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Now here's what I'm taking away from it.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
There is, of course tension, as we're learning even with
recent the recent news from yesterday with the removal of
Jimmy Kimmel's show from ABC, that yes, we all have
a right to free speech, but free speech apparently is
not free from consequence, and especially not when you are
a public servant like a teacher, in charge of shaping
the minds of young people. But that also raises and
(05:34):
these situations raise confusion and questions around things like, well,
where exactly do we draw the line between offensive opinion
and incitement? Is their punishment consistent and fair or could
it be applied on a case by case basis? Regarding politics?
Or who's in office, and should we or should a
teacher say If a teacher says what's on their mind personally,
(05:59):
you know, in their personal time, can that be enough
to strip them away from their career? So this is
of course regarding what's happening with these teachers, Regarding what's
happening with Jim and Kimmel. I'm sure this is a
big moment in our history regarding this free speech conversation,
because it's not necessarily about what people say, but it
is about how the people in power respond to it
(06:20):
and what kind of precedent that sets for everyone else.
So we really just need to redefine as a nation
what free speech is. Free speech is overall or free
speech when you at work, not at work, your free
speech outside of work? Does it impact your work? These
are things that I think the American people need answers
(06:40):
to these questions so that we all don't get in trouble.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Before you jump INQ, I want to respond to that. So, yeah,
in Texas over one hundred teachers fired or investigation or
social media posts, and you know, free speech does come
(07:10):
into question at this point. And I want to approach
this kind of the way that Republicans, right wingers would
approach it. So their concern has always been that education
is somehow indoctrination. I've heard it said best that the
(07:36):
truth often has a liberal bias. So based on that
interpretation of facts, the more facts that people learn, the
more they will see that there is a liberal philosophy
to indeed the universe.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And I believe that to be true.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
You know, education, traveling experiences, those sorts of things expands
frame of reference. Okay, However, historically speaking, Republicans, certainly in
modern history, have looked to educated, educated peoples and education
as though it's somehow liberal indoctrination, and their push has
(08:17):
always been let's keep your personal opinions out of the classroom. Now,
if this was an attack by Republicans in Texas on
what teachers were teaching in the classroom, sure, sure, it's
consistent with your you know, your brand philosophy. You know
(08:40):
education is in doctrination, Sure you don't, you don't appreciate education, sure,
et cetera. But this took place outside of the classroom.
And then the spin here is that they're saying that
these teachers were inciting violence, and based on what I've seen,
(09:03):
none of these teachers were inciting violence.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
They just.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Did not appreciate what it is that this man stood for.
And the reaction of half of the country is surprising
because half of the country got what they needed from him.
And this is the part where you know, one half
(09:28):
of the country pushes back like, hey, politics, just because
my politics reflect this reality doesn't mean I'm racist, okay,
And the rest of us say, well, the fact that
you can ignore the racism to find your policy, to
find your politics feels like textbook racism. Like racism isn't
(09:48):
necessarily saying the inward or going out of your way.
Racism is the invisible part too. The people that are
complicit that just go along, They just swim in the stream,
that don't push back against what moral is just right,
and you don't have to push with your whole life
and put your body on the line, but you know,
to swim along with it. I think Muhammad Ali said
(10:11):
it best. If there's ten thousand rattlesnakes coming at me,
you know what I mean, And I knew that a
thousand of them were good, I'm gonna shut the door
on all of them. It doesn't matter how many good rattlesnakes.
There's nine thousand other rattlesnakes that are coming after me,
and the overwhelming push on that side is either based
(10:34):
in racism, based in erasing or shifting the optics around
that racism, or it's you know, simply a matter of
you know, them being complicit while other people do the
racism for them, and they pick a thing that they like, Oh,
I'm just a fiscal conservative, and then they just swim
in that stream, ignoring that it changes fundamentally the material
(10:59):
reaction for the rest of us on the ground in
the United States of America, and there's a stunning silence.
They're surprisingly okay with that, and these teachers pointing that
out is not inciting violence. I wonder what the state
of the country will be when we're all speaking Mandarin,
(11:19):
because indeed, this is the fall of the Roman Empire.
And they couldn't be bothered. They're so happy right now.
So and they're not now that I mention it, they're
not even happy. They're still mapped. And I wish somebody
was happy besides billionaires and exceptionally wealthy people. But they're
(11:41):
cheering while Rome burns. So Q your thoughts.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
You know, The most interesting thing that I've noticed is
the people who are being pulled off of air fired
from their jobs are being accused of either making fun
of the death of Charlie Kirk or in this case,
inciting violence, Except when you go back and read what
they're saying, they're either pointing out the hypocrisy in the
(12:08):
coverage of Charlie Kirk's death, right him being memorialized, this
solemn solidarity of reverence that the entire country is supposed
to pay to the man that has these types of views,
or they're pointing out that in the wake of his demise,
the right tried to weaponize their politics and point blame
(12:32):
at the left, and then once they found out that
this was not a leftist, transgendered person but the son
of right Republican MAGA supporters, they fell silent on that
and still try to incite, you know, violence against black
(12:52):
people and trans people and you know, the.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Far radical left.
Speaker 7 (12:57):
So it's the lack of accountability by the right, the
hypocrisy of the right that's being called into question. People
aren't dancing on Kirk's grave, people aren't making fun of
the way that this man's life, And did I think
all of us collectively, Rams and I were together. It
was a sad thing to see, and I vehemently disagree
with everything I've ever heard the man say. But when
(13:18):
people are calling out that, hey, there's a very clear
double standard here. When other people have been killed by
gun violence, especially those who opposed it, they were not canonized,
they were not made into heroes. They were not shown
this solemn solidarity by the federal government lowering the flags
and holding a vigil at the Capitol. It was quite
(13:41):
the contrary, And the man himself talked about lack of empathy.
His lack of empathy, talked about how he felt gun
violence and gun deaths were an acceptable price to pay
for his right.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
To bear arms.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
So when people just call these things out, they're accused
of inciting violence, they're accused of making fun of his death,
when all they're doing is pointing out truths and contradictions.
So it's a very interesting thing to witness the gymnastics
that the right will do to kind of uphold, you know,
their view of what facts are moving away.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask either one of
you have any thoughts about the NFL and how they
were calling for the NFL to have a moment of
silence before their games as they were starting, and there
were what was it four or five Morgan NFL teams
that decided not to, and online all I could see
was very staunch supporters of I won't even say, I
(14:40):
don't know whether they were Republican or Democrat, but obviously
offended and they would comment and say, well, how dare you?
Speaker 5 (14:46):
That's un American.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
And these are the things I'm reading on like Instagram
x and you know, threads, and I just want us
to know what you guys thought about the NFL teams
who decided not to have a moment of silence for
Charlie Kirk, because some people found that disrespectful. But like
you said, he's not like a head of state. He
was not you know, he was a public figure, but
he wasn't a political figure. And it really is like
(15:09):
they're trying to, I don't know, make it seem like
he deserves some type of sainthood for his opinion.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
But when Kaepernick was kneeling, I mean, same type of
energy with that, and frankly, I'm actually let me be
careful with my words, because you know, free speech and
all of that but I will just say that my
city and your city, bree who we will yes, even
right now a little bit. You know, we'll meet on Monday, well,
and we'll be friends again after that. But you know,
(15:38):
my city and your city chose not to have a
moment of silence or some sort of.
Speaker 6 (15:44):
We do.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
And I'm referencing Baltimore and Detroit by the way, those
spell teams chose not to reference this. And frankly, I
think that sports should stay away from politics.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
That's just how I'm gonna put that.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
If I'm us, you know, the president, or like you said,
someone of high ranking president vice president shown that was.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
Voted in somewhere that has, you know, a position that
affects everybody. Charlie Kirk didn't have that position, but he
did in his own right. He definitely has a follower
for sure. Do we need to be lowering the flags?
Do we need to be having a moment of silence.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
At a really a game that has nothing to do
with you, right?
Speaker 6 (16:24):
And I appreciate the fact that they ended up letting
the teams decide because I feel that that should always
be the case.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
And Dan Campbell was like, nah.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Well, trust and believe, Yeah, I mean, the city of
Baltimore is probably like, no, now.
Speaker 6 (16:38):
We're just going to play football, And it was not
a political statement. It was just that we're gonna avoid that.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think that's fair that the
you guys called for politics and these things to be
removed from the sport when Kaepernick was kneeling.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
So where's that energy now, That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 7 (16:55):
Yeah, the same people calling for politics to be removed
from sports were the ones calling for a moment of
silence for Charlie Kirk. So again, Layton, hypocrisy is always
very very loud, and giving players a choice in this
matter should be a thing. Except most of these owners
realize that the very very high percentages of the people
(17:16):
that make up their teams would not be for something
like this, so they just do it without consulting them
in the first place, that the NFL electing to take
in racism off of a lot of the helmets some
of them got rid of in racism in their end zones.
To then decide that Charlie Kirk you should be, as
(17:36):
you guys said, canonized in a way, like he was
some great person for all humanity. You know, I think
his body was brought back to Arizona on Air Force two.
That's not normal, you.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Guys, escorted by the Vice president, by the way.
Speaker 7 (17:51):
That's not a normal thing. But again, the rules do
not apply for them in the same way that they
do everybody else. So you know, here we are in
this dystopian reality where free speech and everything else is
defined in real time by the people in power.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
And when they say free.
Speaker 7 (18:09):
Speech, they mean as long as you agree with, think like,
love like, and pray like me, you can do and
say whatever you want. Anything that's opposite of that will
be policed, governed, canceled, fired, etc. So here we are
moving on. The state of Mississippi made headlines this week
(18:29):
when two separate but similar and very disturbing crimes were reported. Morgan,
let's start with you this time. Tell us more about
these two Mississippi cases, and then breathe and ramsys, we'll
come back to you next.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
So there are two related, deeply troubling cases from Mississippi
this week. That might I also add, we're not mentioned
by the administration in any way, at least to my
my coverage and what I've found. So tomar Travian Trey
read twenty one years old, a black student was found
hanging from a tree near a pickleball courts on the
(19:03):
campus of Delta State University in Mississippi. Now, authorities are
saying there's no foul play or signs of foul play,
no lacerations, contusions, broken bones, or other physical injuries that
would constitute with an assault. Now there is an autopsy
being carried out and videos exist and are in the
hands of investigators, but so far authorities have described the
(19:23):
incident as an isolated incident. Now Trey's family has retained
civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump, and they are demanding transparency
and of course the surveillance footage, full autopsy results, clarity
on how and why the body was found the way
it was now Elsewhere in Vicksburg, Mississippi. On the same day,
(19:44):
another man identified as Cory Zukadis was found hanging in
a wooded area near the AmeriStar Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Now early reports say he was an unhoused individual and
the case is being investigated. As the latest authorities say
that foul play is not immediately suspected in his death either.
(20:04):
But both deaths happened in very local, basically local areas
where you know there's foot traffic, but they were reported
within hours of each other. Trey Reid's case has some
racial concerns explicitly in the foreground, given the status as
a black student in Mississippi considering the history of lynchings
(20:25):
in that state, while the other case, Corey Zukadas is
not being framed at least publicly overall with those same
racial overtones, and Zuccatis has been identified as not necessarily
identified as a non black individual or or white. Now,
the existence of these rumors and conflicting information where the
(20:46):
body was found, what the injuries were, what the initial
law enforcement messaging was, was particularly acute. And trey Reid's case,
now let's take a look again at the history in Mississippi.
They're no stranger to lynchings, and so because of this,
the commune unity does have a right to deserve answers
because it could be one of us right and of course,
transparency is key regarding these types of situations because conflicting
(21:09):
reports are coming out as to what could have fueled
these types of incidents to happen, thus and therefore creating
mistrust amongst the community, which is not needed, so families
deserve clear evidence, autopsy results and that video or review. Furthermore,
the thing that's kind of getting me is how authorities
are so quick to say, oh, no, foul play was suggested,
(21:32):
or they suggest suicide, but can cut off deeper questions
regarding threats, harassment, or contacts. So again, both of these
cases rather interesting, very very sad. They have both sparked
national attention, but they haven't received the same spotlight. Race
and social status, of course play a factor in these cases,
(21:54):
and regardless of the outcomes, they still steer fear and
grief and trauma in the area of where you know,
these people, these communities, These communities have to deal with
these types of situations while not actually having answers around it.
So again it just begins to raise more questions and
(22:15):
more confusion. We don't have a conclusive result to this
as to you know, well, what do we do now
as a community, as a people, do we divide ourselves?
Do we look at this as, oh, it's just another
quote unquote suicide as authorities essentially you're saying or alluding to,
or do we actually break out of you know, what
(22:35):
we're being told and start to investigate these things ourselves.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I mean, where does that leave us.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
It's a very very sad and tough situation regarding and
thinking that you know, you, you're a lot further ahead
than than then this.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You know, lynchings in Mississippi. You would think that we're
not in this.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
It's not the fifties and the sixties, it's not the forties,
you know. But here we are dealing with these types
of situations in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
It's very unfortunate.
Speaker 7 (23:03):
Yeah, unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans would like it
to be the twenties and the fifties again. And what
you said that really stood out to me was how
fast they concluded that there was no foul play. To
have already reached that conclusion at such a blistering speed
definitely caught my attention.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Brie.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
You know what.
Speaker 6 (23:23):
Bothers me is, I'll piggyback off of what Morgan said,
because you just beautifully summed all of that up.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
So I'll just say this, the fact that.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
A black man, if he were suicidal, which she was hanging,
that's not something that you really see across the country
that is really concentrated towards the South, like you said, Morgan,
because of the history of it. So immediately that bothers
me because if I can't put myself in the mind
of a person who is suicidal. But let's just say
(23:56):
he was. Out of all the things he could have done,
he wanted to hang up himself. Then on a college
campus where there should be eyes everywhere, like you said,
no camera footage, nothing, but he had enough strength to
get up a tree and hang himself and nobody saw anything.
And so this is why his parents are not rocking
with that no foul play that the authorities are saying
(24:21):
right now, And I really don't blame them. I'm glad
they lawyered up. Attorney Ben Crump, you can't get better
than that. They want an independent investigation, which they absolutely
should have, because it's hard to believe that nobody saw
anything when you choose to allegedly unalive yourself in that way.
So that's what immediately stood out to me. And then
(24:42):
also with this other case, zukaidis mister Zuchaides, a white,
thirty six year old man originally from Brandon, Mississippi, is
how they described him. Homeless and a history of drug
use is how they described him on the news as well,
and again him hanging the didn't say it had anything
racial that we know of, but again in the South,
(25:04):
we're talking about someone choosing to hang themselves from a
tree to take themselves out. That just bothers me so much.
So both of these are continuing to be under investigation.
But I'll tell you I do feel like I don't
know that these cases are related. Police say they're not related,
but as far as Dumarentrevian goes, I think there's something
(25:25):
else there. And I'm just really interested to see what
further investigation, especially the independent investigation that his family is
calling for, will reveal in the coming weeks. This will
be an story that we update a few times more.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
I'm sure.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Rams is Jah.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Steward.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
So when we had a chance to talk about this
when it first broke, obviously we had less information than
we had now, but just to reiterate, and I think
that Morgan, you made this point. Okay, this is Mississippi,
(26:09):
So anybody hanging from a tree in Mississippi is going
to have context. Anybody in this country hanging from a
tree is going to have context, especially if they're black. Right,
hanging from a doorway hanging from something else. Sure, maybe
you know what I mean, Maybe the person who suicide
w having some mental health problem.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Sure, hanging from a tree is a very very.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Specific type of Uh yeah, I'll call it an execution
from a very specific chapter in this country's history. And
given after the assassination that many folks were calling for
a civil war, and many folks were expecting.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
That this would be.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Some black activist or some I don't know why I
think Q and I we had this conversation yesterday talking
about how seventy percent of political violence comes from the right,
and I think it's like eleven percent of political deaths
come from the right, whereas two percent of political deaths
come from the left, and then eighty five percent of
(27:21):
the deaths come from nine to eleven in the Oklahoma
City bombings, right, but a far greater impact in terms
of political violence comes from the right. However, these people
reeling from the assassination were assuming that this was some
(27:42):
sort of leftist plot despite the data. You know, Trump
said smart people don't like him. He loves the poorly educated.
So despite the data, people were assuming this was an
attack from the left organized or this had something to
a black folk in Utah somehow or whatever, and they
(28:03):
were calling for violence. So when we look at a
black man hanging from a tree on a college campus,
that feels on brand for what the right was calling for.
And you know, based on the part of the country
and given the history and the context.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Of that specific type of execution.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
You know, it's very natural to conclude, Okay, this is
something that is a response from right, you know, rural
southern poorly educated individuals, you know, trying to get their
lick back because of the assassination. But that could simply
(28:46):
just sit in the space of conspiracy theory. Lord knows
that we have a good number of them because we
don't always get the truth.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
We rarely get the truth.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
In my estimation, we get the truth when the police
mess up and it gets discovered that they were being corrupt,
and then we uncover a pattern of years of history
of corruption.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
That's when we get the truth.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
But you know, these people hide the truth from us constantly,
and many families, and we all know this, but many
families never get the answers for what happened to their
loved ones, or what happened to their votes, or what
happened to their communities or whatever.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Yeah, which is unfortunate, super unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
But it could it could you know, follow me, it
could be conspiracy theory. But I think when I think,
we get to the point where it's not adding up
like in a shared reality is And again I think
you made this point. Okay, this is a college campus
(29:48):
at seven in the morning. Now, I went to college
a lot, and I know that's seven in the morning.
Is you know the campus has people moving around. First off,
they're security on college campuses, they're supposed to be. That's
(30:09):
what I thought, exactly right. But then there's grounds keepers,
there's teachers that need to get there early because they
have to do office hours, they have to get their
lessons plan lesson plans done, they have to do prep work,
all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
And indeed there are students, yes, because I.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
Had early morning classes every semester and I tried not to.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
I couldn't get out.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Of it, thank you.
Speaker 6 (30:28):
Oh you will find me shuffling down the campus at seven,
eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
All right, all right, so you're helping me out here. Okay,
So imagine a black body hanging from a tree and
from six am to seven am, when there's people shuffling
back and forth. Nobody sees this, right, and no one
(30:53):
sees as you mentioned him climbing a tree, you know,
that sort of thing, and I'm sure whatever goes along
with this, you know, it feels like an inside job,
you know what I mean, based on uh.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Once you get more and more of the.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Details, it feels like, okay, this is this feels like
some foul play.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
It's not like That's why I said.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
It bothers me, right, because we don't have the details,
so I can't say for sure.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
Maybe he's it, but it bothers me.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
That fit in the equation most naturally feel like the
ones we're discussing now, And so it's you start to
get beyond the conspiracy and you start to say, wait
a minute, hold on, is this a cover up?
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Is this hard of that? You know?
Speaker 1 (31:34):
And of course there's no you know, uh, scratches to
the body, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
I don't want to, you know, overlook that.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And if indeed that's true, you know, absolutely sure, you know, but.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
I get scratched.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
But okay, Sagan, who climbs a tree and don't get
scratched a little bit by the bark. Okay, excuse me, sorry, continue,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So you know, and then on top of that, even
if you know the version of this that we might
be concerned is true, is true. You don't necessarily need
to scratch up a body in order to string a
person from a tree. Some people are over to power them,
especially if you got six or eight people. It's easy
to grab someone put their hands behind, especially if they're
not expecting it. If you're just out looking for somebody
(32:17):
because you're upset about, you know, something else that affects you,
you just find somebody who's unexpected, walk up to them,
grab them at me, you understand. So you know, the
conclusions that were drawn so quickly, as Q pointed out
when we initially discussed this, coupled with the facts that
we do know, don't really support the conclusion that they're
(32:38):
trying to get all of us to draw. And obviously
we're going to have to wait until we get more details.
And then as far as the other person, you know,
hanging from a tree in Mississippi, it wouldn't surprise me
one bit if there was a white person who was
very supportive, maybe put some social media posts up, you
(33:01):
know what, are very upset about, you know, the state
of the country and kind of seeing this divide deepen,
you know, and them grabbing that person and hanging that
person from a treat It wouldn't surprise me one bit,
especially given the details and the optics of this the
story from the college campus. So we'll see what happens,
(33:24):
because you know, we get to offer commentary, right, we
have to obviously adhere to journalistic standards, but we get
to offer commentary. And the commentary here is not adding
up for me, at least not yet. So again, we'll
wait to see what else comes out about this, but
this is what it feels like at present.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
Hey, what's up.
Speaker 7 (33:44):
This is rams' Ja and I am q Ward and
we're inviting you to subscribe to Civic Cipher are the
social justice podcast right here in the app.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
We pride ourselves on creating a show that fusters allyship,
empathy and understanding, all the while conducting journalistically credible research,
featuring influential notewhere the guests, and empowering historically marginalized communities.
Speaker 7 (34:03):
The African proverb reads, if you want to go far,
go together. So we are asking you to search for
and subscribe to civic cipher.
Speaker 5 (34:10):
That's cibic cip h e er.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Right here in the app Bin News anchors Morgan Wood
and Brewood are here with us discussing this week's major stories.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
All right, next up.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett appeared on MSNBC earlier this week
and made some interesting comparisons on the Trump administration's current
use of law enforcement and federal troops. Y, let's go
back to you give us some more details on this story,
and then Morgan and Q we're gonna get your thoughts
after one.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
Thing about Jasmin Crockett. You are never going to have
a dull moment when you're speaking about our She's very
serious about her opinions. Okay, So, during an interview with
MSNBC's Ali Velshi, Representative Jasmine Crockett, the Democrat tax, the
Democrat from Texas, she drew a controversial historical parallel bet
between US immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE and Southern
(35:04):
slave patrols from the Antebellum era. So I had to
look up the Antebellum era because right off, I didn't
remember what that was. So that refers to the time
in America, to the period from the War of eighteen
twelve until the start of the Civil War in eighteen
sixty one. So Crockett basically criticized the federal government's plan
(35:24):
to deploy militarized police forces and democratic led cities, describing
them as unacceptable and reminiscent of this historical system that
was in place during that time used to control and
oppress black people. She noted that the public safety should
be based on data and intelligence, not fear driven policies,
and she warned that ignoring black history leads to repeating
(35:47):
past injustices, Crockett stated specifically, quote when I see ICE,
I see slave patrols, and she argued that the origins
of American policing are deeply tied to systems of racial control.
She also condemned a recent Supreme Court decision that expanded
ICE's authority to profile individuals based on race or language,
calling it a dangerous president that threatens civil liberties. So
(36:11):
Representative Crockett concluded that erasing black history from education and
public discourse, it kind of undermines the nation's ability to
learn from its mistakes and protect all Americans from government overreach.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement after that aired,
and they called Crockett's comparison quote disgusting and dehumanizing to
(36:33):
ICE agents, and DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin warned that such
rhetoric could give a radical activists a permission slip to
act violently. I think they're doing that anyway. But you know,
Jasmine Crockett, again, she calls it like she sees it.
So when she gets on these interviews and starts talking
(36:53):
about how she interprets what's happening, it rubs a lot
of people the wrong way because she just makes it plain.
And you know, we've seen with ICE from even recruiting
online using Dean Kine. I don't know if you saw
that advertisement where he was trying to get people, Hey,
if you have these qualifications, you should come on down
to ICE and you can earn this this. They're really
recruiting Americans to be with ICE to help capture people.
(37:18):
And so I kind of understand the comparison she was
trying to make, but a lot of people feel that
it might be just I don't know too much, like
could taken it back that far to slavery. I'm not
sure that a lot of people agree with that, But
then you have a lot of people who do agree
(37:39):
with exactly what she is saying, and they think that
ICE is completely out of control right now, Morgan.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
Yeah, So what I took away from this is that
representative Crockett. She argued then that in debates about immigration
and public safety, you know, people often cherry pick or
they have selective memory when it comes to incidents regarding
crime by undocumented migrants. Now this, but there's also less
attention paid to the same types of harms created by
(38:09):
those on the right, like white supremacists. Now, she claimed
that for every example of crime by an immigrant, there
are two to five examples of crimes rooted in white
supremacist ideology. One thing that stuck out to me is
the Supreme Court ruling giving ICE agents broad discretion even
(38:31):
based on language or accent. Sparked real concerns about bias
and due process, which brings me to what's happening here
in Maryland. I mean, we saw what happened with the
Maryland man kil Mar Abrego Garcia who was mistakenly deported
to El Salvador and not given due process, which he
is now going through after the fact. And also here
(38:52):
in Maryland. There was a Gaithersburg man who is actually happy.
He just returned home after spending seventy seven days in
ice attention.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
And his name is Reza Zavar. He was released over the.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Weekend after he was initially taken into ice custody while
just walking his dog on June twenty eighth. Now, he's
a fifty two year old man who legally came to
the US from Iran forty years ago and got his
green card, but a misdemeanor pop possession marijuana possession charge
in the late nineties led to the state of deportation
proceedings when Zavar tried to re enter the country from
(39:27):
an overseas trip back in two thousand and four. Now,
a judge in seven ruled that he could remain in
the country if he stayed out of trouble, which he
has done. And a key point in a very much
a key point in why he was also allowed to
be released.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
But how many of you know Americans, and.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
I say Americans loosely because we're all from somewhere, right,
you are all one to three four generations away from
being from somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
How many of these people.
Speaker 4 (39:57):
Who are in America who migrants who are looking to
become Americans or dealing with these types of situations where yeah,
I can see how it's a little reminiscent to the
Antebellum self. And to your point, Bree, maybe she might
have taken it too far, because when you talk slavery
in this country, especially in this political climate, ooh, people
get so uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
It's just, oh my gosh, that's just too much.
Speaker 6 (40:19):
Yeah, And to me, nothing compares to the atrocity of slavery,
absolutely nothing.
Speaker 5 (40:24):
I can't imagine what our ancestors went through.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
Absolutely But when you start to think about some of
the nuances that are associated with it, like a having
these masked ice agents and pulling up on people and
it seemingly it looks like a kidnapping, and we don't
know if you need to identify yourself or you know,
what's the reason why this person is being taken. I
can understand drawing a you know, to an extent a comparison,
(40:51):
but to your point, it maybe maybe yeah, yeah, like
you said, this ain't that, but this doesn't mean that
this isn't bad. So of course, there are safety concerns
around immigration and which are often weapon weaponized to justify, uh,
those harsh measures, while data on the white supremacists violence,
(41:12):
you know, gets less attention and less accountability for you know,
what's happening on that side. So I don't know that
we have h I keep coming back to the same
point is that we are just not as far ahead
as we think we are as a country, as a society,
as as people.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
And it's just it's unfortunate to see that.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
It seems like we're not coming together either, you know,
it seems like we're becoming that much more divisive in
what it is that we're essentially trying to do.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
When it comes to.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
I don't we're we're we're not where we need to be.
Speaker 6 (41:49):
That's all I can really put in order when it
comes to what is appropriate in law and order, and
that's what it boils down to.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
And that in itself free Like you said, law order
is very selective, you know, and who does it apply to?
That's right, that's selective as well. So we don't we
haven't confronted our history, I think fully, and so this
is where we are.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
To we're talking about immigration. Can can I turn you
up right quick?
Speaker 3 (42:22):
By all?
Speaker 7 (42:22):
Mean?
Speaker 3 (42:22):
For you I got something for you. Dig this.
Speaker 9 (42:26):
Stapen today about farmers. Our farmers are being hurt badly
by you know, they have very good workers, they've worked
for them for twenty years. They they're not citizens, but
they've turned out to be, you know, great, and we're
gonna have to do something about that. We can't take
farmers and take all their people and send them back
because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have,
(42:47):
maybe not. And you know what's going to happen, and
what is happening They get rid of some of the
people because you know, you go into a farm and
you look and people don't they've been there for twenty
twenty five years and they've worked great, and the owner
of the farm loves them and everything else. And then
you're supposed to throw them out, and you know what happens.
They end up hiring the people, the criminals that have
come in, the murderers from prisons and everything else.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
So we're we're.
Speaker 9 (43:10):
Gonna have an order on that pretty soon. I think
we can't do that to our farmers and leisure too, hotels.
We're gonna have to use a lot of common sense.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
So then so that's a that's what I got that
started it. You know what, Morgan, thank you my bad
all right, Q. I wanted to just turn you up
so you at least had that you work with it,
so your thoughts.
Speaker 7 (43:42):
You know, I think the instant reaction to hearing something
compared to the gross atrocities of slavery is the kind
of knee jerk say, we've gone a bit too far.
But I've I've kind of screamed from the top of
every mountain that I can since I saw that Donald
(44:04):
Trump had not been disqualified as a candidate to be
the president again, that there was a great chance that
he would win, and that when he did, he would
try with all of his power to take us back
to such a time. Because it is objective truth that
modern policing is born objectively from slave patrols, the first
(44:29):
organized police departments in this United States, where those developed
and established to return the human property to slave owners.
We later learned that the thirteenth Amendment of the United
States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, but with significant
(44:50):
exception of punishment for a crime. This exception clause made
it where organized prisons and for profit prisons became a
way to do that very thing, bring back slavery, or
never get rid of it in the first place. So
(45:11):
it seems like a stretch when you first hear it
on its face, but there is some objective truth tied
to that. The words of our president with regards to
our agricultural workers and those that work in hospitality, you know,
the people where he owns in terms of profit, wants
to make it so that those people can keep their
(45:32):
jobs and remain in this country, because we don't want
to harm those industries as long as they understand that
the owners of those places are responsible for those workers,
putting them in a position where yeah, you can stay here,
but you belong to the people that you work for,
or you will be deported. So talking about ice and
(45:53):
immigration turns me up without a SoundBite from the president,
because I've had to leave from doing this very show
in the middle of doing this very show to get
my young children out of a school being prepared to
be raided by ice. And I have had family members
and friends of family members pulled over for things like
the windows being too tended, too dark on their cars,
(46:16):
and then those people not seeing or hearing from their
family for more than a week, and by the time
they did, they were hospitalized in another country. So these
are not things that I'm seeing on television. These are
things that are a part of my actual life. And
we are not so far removed from the idea that
you can be picked up off the street by people
who don't have to identify themselves, and by the time
(46:38):
your family hears from you again, if they hear from
you again, you are in another country, being detained, being abused,
and in some cases put to work without pay, no
due process, no lawyer present, and no diplomatic way to
get you back to the people who care about you. So, yeah,
maybe it sounds extreme on its face when she says it,
(47:00):
but I, because of the experience that I'm living right now,
cannot pretend that she said something ridiculous because it seems
pretty on brand. And I don't know if we've noticed,
but we're sliding backward down this hill to times of
yesteryear's really fast, and people that look like us, we
don't really have the privilege to hear something like this
(47:21):
looks and feels like slave patrols and brush it off
like it's could be dismissed out of hand. We're getting really,
really aggressively into some things where I think, looking and
thinking and speaking the way that we do. Hmmm, that
being illegal don't seem so far fetched, now does it.
(47:41):
Our final story shines a clear light on the culture
war against all things black in this country. What a segue,
and most notably, against the preservation of black history. Morgan, Please,
let's get the latest on this story from you, Brian
ramsas you guys bring us home, all.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Right, y'all?
Speaker 4 (48:05):
So, the Trump administration has mandated the removal of slavery
related exhibits from several national parks, including the iconic photograph
known as the Scourged Back.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Now.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
This eighteen sixty three image depicts the scarred back of Peter,
an escaped enslaved man, and has been a powerful symbol
in abolitionist movement. In the abolitionist movement, now, the directive
stems from an executive order aimed at eliminating content deemed
to reflect a quote corrosive ideology, targeting narratives on racism, slavery,
(48:43):
and indigenous persecution.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Now.
Speaker 4 (48:46):
This move represents a significant step in the ongoing court
culture war over the portrayal of black history in America,
which you know, it seems to be this, this thing
seems to be have seems to have ramped up within
I don't know how what month are we in in
this year, nine months, in the last nine months for
(49:07):
a show basically under this administration. So by removing such
poignant imagery, the administration risk sanitizing the brutal realities of
slavery and erasing critical aspects of our shared past. Now,
the Scourge Back photograph in particular, has been instrumental in
educating the public about the inhumanity of slavery and the
(49:29):
resilience of those who endured it. Clearly, the visual as
you see this man sitting still with his you know,
his posture upright to an extent, with his back just
in slashed in the back. You know, it's its removal
from national parks not only diminishes its historical significance or
(49:50):
diminishes the history that we have all known to learn, right,
but it also undermines efforts to confront and learn from
America's history of racial injustice. So again, as I said before,
you know, or as has been the theme of the
today's show, we seemingly are sliding backwards. We're repeating ourselves
(50:11):
and not only that, we're not learning from things that
we've already gone through. So as we witness this attempt
to what I will say, whitewash history, it's imperative to
remember that. Acknowledging the full scope of our past, you know,
it's essential for us to move forward and heal and progress,
and I mean collectively. You know, we've got to come
(50:31):
to like I said before, we're divisive around these issues,
and we've got to come to a common ground and
how we tell our history.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
You know, history is a fact. It is what it is.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Slavery happened, So efforts to erase uncomfortable truths about slavery
and racism actually do a disservice to our future generations
who deserve an honest and comprehensive understanding of their heritage
and where we came from as a country.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
So I think that you know, this particular removal further.
Speaker 4 (51:04):
Just supports that effort to remove, essentially and rewrite to
an extent, what it is that we know as American
history and American Black history at.
Speaker 3 (51:16):
That Brie, what up though? Talk to me?
Speaker 5 (51:20):
What up though? Yes?
Speaker 6 (51:21):
So I will piggyback off of what Morgan was talking
about that was that mandate was an executive order given
in March of this year titled Restoring Truth and Sanity
to American History. So basically that was directing the Interior
Department to eliminate content that they the Trump administration deemed
to reflect a quote corrosive ideology or that disparages historic Americans.
Speaker 5 (51:46):
So I don't know how they came up.
Speaker 6 (51:48):
With that, but that that order also affects Smithsonian Museums,
and Vice President JD. Vance is tasked with overseeing the
removal of what the administration calls divisive race centered ideology. Well,
what other center are you supposed to take when talking
about slavery? I don't recall seeing any white slaves anyway.
(52:09):
President Trump criticized the Smithmonian on True Social and claimed
it focused too much on the horrors of slavery and
not enough on American success and progress. So to me,
that is just saying that we want to focus on
how far we've come since then, but let's not revisit
what we had to come from. You want to see
what came from the ashes, but first you need to
(52:31):
know why the ashes were there. So the directive extends
beyond slavery. To include sexism, also LGBTQ plus rights, and
the persecution of Indigenous people, which I believe you mentioned
as well, Morgan. I'm now the National Park Service spokesperson
Rachel Pollitz. She defended the move, saying that materials that
highlight negative aspects of US history without broader context can
(52:53):
quote distort understanding, and historian Jonathan Zimmermann of the University
of Pennsylvania condemned the effort, called GET a massive federal
overreach and a contradiction to the administration's stated support for
local control of education. The Coalition to Protect America's National
Parks Emily Weisner Thompson, she is the executive director there,
(53:13):
and called the move a dangerous and unprecedented move. And
history is not meant to comfort, she said, It's meant
to teach. And she added, whether it's the legacy of
indigenous displacement, slavery, civil rights struggles, or environmental exploitation, these
stories deserve to be told accurately and respectfully, and their
removal is, in fact, what dispairage is our collective history.
(53:36):
So it goes back to what Morgan, you said, what
we're not learning well and if we allow these things
to happen that will just take us further back. You're
supposed to always be gaining knowledge, and we do need
to reflect, you know, as often as we can on
what we came from to see because all of it
affects what happens right now. It still affects what happens
(53:58):
right now. And you could say from any to like
redlining in the United States, it's still an issue. You know,
we're not dealing with quote unquote slavery as it was before,
but the effects of slavery have had lasting impacts on
black people in America period. So yeah, I think that
(54:19):
it would be a disservice. I don't agree with that
at all.
Speaker 1 (54:23):
And let the church say, mad, you know what I
just learned about this guy. His name is George Santiana.
He's a Spanish born American philosopher and he wrote a
(54:43):
book in nineteen oh five called The Life of Reason.
And there's a quote from this book I think you
might like you. Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it. All right, well, I'd like to
(55:05):
thank you both very much always for your time and
your insight. Once again, Today's guest our N News anchors
Morgan Wood and Bree would thank.
Speaker 2 (55:14):
You, ramses It's always a good time.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
This has been a production of the bi In. Today's
show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd
like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (55:28):
While you're there, be.
Speaker 1 (55:29):
Sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes.
I am your host, ramses Ja on all social media.
Speaker 7 (55:36):
I am q Ward on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (55:39):
And we'll be hosting another episode of Civic Cipher this
weekend on a station near you. For stations, showtimes, and
podcast info, check Civiccipher dot com and join us Monday
as we share our news with our voice from our
perspective right here on the QR code
It's been another busy news week and we like to
review the major stories of the week here on the
bi In. Today, we are joined by bi In News
anchors Morgan Would and Bree Would to discuss this week's
major stories. This is the QR code. He is q
Ward and he is Rams's jaw. All right, Bri and Morgan,
welcome back to the show. I think it's been a
(00:23):
little over a month since we last spoke, so Morgan, yeah,
tell me. We'll start with you. Morgan, tell me what's
the latest.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Ooh, there's too much to get into.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I know it.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
It's so much. Where do I begin? But overall things
are just you know, they're good. And your girl is
still low key in the DMV trying to stay out
the way.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I heard that, Bri talk to me.
Speaker 5 (00:47):
Hi.
Speaker 6 (00:48):
Well, I've been extremely busy myself. I am doing some
work with the Obama Foundation right now. Matter of fact,
when we get done here, I've got some interviews to
prepare for. So yeah, just preparing for the grant opening
of that on the South Side of Chicago, hopefully top
of next year. So yeah, been exciting and very busy.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I love it. Okay, Well, I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
All right, Well, let's give the people what they came
for first. Up, As more details surrounding the death of
Charlie Kirk surface, a group of Texas teachers who has
opposed his political views, along many other critics of Kirk,
are learning the hard way that the right to exercise
free speech often comes with repercussions. Bree, let's get Toda's
show started with you tell us more about this story
(01:30):
and then marketing Q.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
We'll get your thoughts after.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (01:34):
Well, Governor Greg Abbott he announced that over one hundred
Texas teachers will have their teaching certificates suspended due to
some inappropriate social media posts following the assassination of political
activist Charlie Kirk. Now, the Texas Education Agency is investigating
these educators who allegedly called, called for, or incited violence
(01:57):
in response to kirse death. So that is the whole point.
They're saying that the comments went above and beyond. So
Governor Abbott stated that these teachers will be ineligible to
teach in Texas schools, and the Texas Education Agency Commissioner
Mike Marath confirmed that the agency has received around one
hundred and eighty complaints about Texas teachers thus far. He
(02:18):
also noted that the distinction between poor taste comments and
those that incite violence, with the latter being unacceptable and
grounds for disciplinary action according to their guidelines. So they're
really basing everything off of what the code of conduct
is for them, and basically these teachers violated that in
(02:41):
his opinions. So similar investigations are also underway in some
other states. It's not just Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio,
and Mississippi are also being targeted. School employees say that
they are facing scrutiny there for their social media activity
related to Kirk's assassination. In all five of those states,
(03:01):
by the way, are at will employment states, and so
that means employers can terminate you at any time for
any reason or no reason at all, as long as
it's not illegal. So the exceptions to that include something
like public policy violations that would be like whistleblower protections
for example, or written contracts, and also retaliation for protected
(03:21):
activities and so as far as reactions go. Rina Honey,
she is the president of Alliance Dallas Teachers Union.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Alliance AFT.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
She says that she is deeply concerned over the attacks
educators are facing from the Texas Education Agency and Governor Abbott,
and also the Texas American Federation of Teachers. The president
his name is Zef Coppo. He called the investigations a
weaponization of state authority and warned that this is part
of a broader trend where lawmakers are hunting down and
(03:55):
firing educators for personal opinions shared online. Now, comparing the
situation to authoritarian regimes, he said, they'll take as much
as the rest of us are willing to give them.
And we also have a teacher from Houston. Her name
is Sarah Rollwitz. She said she was fired from the
Bilingual Education Institute for an Instagram post criticizing the public
(04:16):
response to Kirk's deph and she described the experience as
devastating and she happens to now be consulting lawyers like
I'm sure many other of these teachers are. So. Finally,
Vanessa matsis MacCready. She is an employment law expert. She said,
just to be clear, free speech protections are limited in
private workplaces under at will employment laws, which is why
(04:37):
I went ahead and looked up if those states were
at will, and they all are So that's what it is.
You can say what you want to say, but if
you care about your job, you need to make sure
that they can't see who you are, because they don't
really have to give you too much of an explanation
if they want you gone bargain.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Ain't that the truth? Okay?
Speaker 4 (04:58):
So it's my understanding that the tech the state of
Texas is arguing that educators have a higher standard of
responsibility and that their words one line carry wait far
beyond personal opinion.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Now here's what I'm taking away from it.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
There is, of course tension, as we're learning even with
recent the recent news from yesterday with the removal of
Jimmy Kimmel's show from ABC, that yes, we all have
a right to free speech, but free speech apparently is
not free from consequence, and especially not when you are
a public servant like a teacher, in charge of shaping
the minds of young people. But that also raises and
(05:34):
these situations raise confusion and questions around things like, well,
where exactly do we draw the line between offensive opinion
and incitement? Is their punishment consistent and fair or could
it be applied on a case by case basis? Regarding politics?
Or who's in office, and should we or should a
teacher say If a teacher says what's on their mind personally,
(05:59):
you know, in their personal time, can that be enough
to strip them away from their career? So this is
of course regarding what's happening with these teachers, Regarding what's
happening with Jim and Kimmel. I'm sure this is a
big moment in our history regarding this free speech conversation,
because it's not necessarily about what people say, but it
is about how the people in power respond to it
(06:20):
and what kind of precedent that sets for everyone else.
So we really just need to redefine as a nation
what free speech is. Free speech is overall or free
speech when you at work, not at work, your free
speech outside of work? Does it impact your work? These
are things that I think the American people need answers
(06:40):
to these questions so that we all don't get in trouble.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Before you jump INQ, I want to respond to that. So, yeah,
in Texas over one hundred teachers fired or investigation or
social media posts, and you know, free speech does come
(07:10):
into question at this point. And I want to approach
this kind of the way that Republicans, right wingers would
approach it. So their concern has always been that education
is somehow indoctrination. I've heard it said best that the
(07:36):
truth often has a liberal bias. So based on that
interpretation of facts, the more facts that people learn, the
more they will see that there is a liberal philosophy
to indeed the universe.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And I believe that to be true.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
You know, education, traveling experiences, those sorts of things expands
frame of reference. Okay, However, historically speaking, Republicans, certainly in
modern history, have looked to educated, educated peoples and education
as though it's somehow liberal indoctrination, and their push has
(08:17):
always been let's keep your personal opinions out of the classroom. Now,
if this was an attack by Republicans in Texas on
what teachers were teaching in the classroom, sure, sure, it's
consistent with your you know, your brand philosophy. You know
(08:40):
education is in doctrination, Sure you don't, you don't appreciate education, sure,
et cetera. But this took place outside of the classroom.
And then the spin here is that they're saying that
these teachers were inciting violence, and based on what I've seen,
(09:03):
none of these teachers were inciting violence.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
They just.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Did not appreciate what it is that this man stood for.
And the reaction of half of the country is surprising
because half of the country got what they needed from him.
And this is the part where you know, one half
(09:28):
of the country pushes back like, hey, politics, just because
my politics reflect this reality doesn't mean I'm racist, okay,
And the rest of us say, well, the fact that
you can ignore the racism to find your policy, to
find your politics feels like textbook racism. Like racism isn't
(09:48):
necessarily saying the inward or going out of your way.
Racism is the invisible part too. The people that are
complicit that just go along, They just swim in the stream,
that don't push back against what moral is just right,
and you don't have to push with your whole life
and put your body on the line, but you know,
to swim along with it. I think Muhammad Ali said
(10:11):
it best. If there's ten thousand rattlesnakes coming at me,
you know what I mean, And I knew that a
thousand of them were good, I'm gonna shut the door
on all of them. It doesn't matter how many good rattlesnakes.
There's nine thousand other rattlesnakes that are coming after me,
and the overwhelming push on that side is either based
(10:34):
in racism, based in erasing or shifting the optics around
that racism, or it's you know, simply a matter of
you know, them being complicit while other people do the
racism for them, and they pick a thing that they like, Oh,
I'm just a fiscal conservative, and then they just swim
in that stream, ignoring that it changes fundamentally the material
(10:59):
reaction for the rest of us on the ground in
the United States of America, and there's a stunning silence.
They're surprisingly okay with that, and these teachers pointing that
out is not inciting violence. I wonder what the state
of the country will be when we're all speaking Mandarin,
(11:19):
because indeed, this is the fall of the Roman Empire.
And they couldn't be bothered. They're so happy right now.
So and they're not now that I mention it, they're
not even happy. They're still mapped. And I wish somebody
was happy besides billionaires and exceptionally wealthy people. But they're
(11:41):
cheering while Rome burns. So Q your thoughts.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
You know, The most interesting thing that I've noticed is
the people who are being pulled off of air fired
from their jobs are being accused of either making fun
of the death of Charlie Kirk or in this case,
inciting violence, Except when you go back and read what
they're saying, they're either pointing out the hypocrisy in the
(12:08):
coverage of Charlie Kirk's death, right him being memorialized, this
solemn solidarity of reverence that the entire country is supposed
to pay to the man that has these types of views,
or they're pointing out that in the wake of his demise,
the right tried to weaponize their politics and point blame
(12:32):
at the left, and then once they found out that
this was not a leftist, transgendered person but the son
of right Republican MAGA supporters, they fell silent on that
and still try to incite, you know, violence against black
(12:52):
people and trans people and you know, the.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Far radical left.
Speaker 7 (12:57):
So it's the lack of accountability by the right, the
hypocrisy of the right that's being called into question. People
aren't dancing on Kirk's grave, people aren't making fun of
the way that this man's life, And did I think
all of us collectively, Rams and I were together. It
was a sad thing to see, and I vehemently disagree
with everything I've ever heard the man say. But when
(13:18):
people are calling out that, hey, there's a very clear
double standard here. When other people have been killed by
gun violence, especially those who opposed it, they were not canonized,
they were not made into heroes. They were not shown
this solemn solidarity by the federal government lowering the flags
and holding a vigil at the Capitol. It was quite
(13:41):
the contrary, And the man himself talked about lack of empathy.
His lack of empathy, talked about how he felt gun
violence and gun deaths were an acceptable price to pay
for his right.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
To bear arms.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
So when people just call these things out, they're accused
of inciting violence, they're accused of making fun of his death,
when all they're doing is pointing out truths and contradictions.
So it's a very interesting thing to witness the gymnastics
that the right will do to kind of uphold, you know,
their view of what facts are moving away.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask either one of
you have any thoughts about the NFL and how they
were calling for the NFL to have a moment of
silence before their games as they were starting, and there
were what was it four or five Morgan NFL teams
that decided not to, and online all I could see
was very staunch supporters of I won't even say, I
(14:40):
don't know whether they were Republican or Democrat, but obviously
offended and they would comment and say, well, how dare you?
Speaker 5 (14:46):
That's un American.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
And these are the things I'm reading on like Instagram
x and you know, threads, and I just want us
to know what you guys thought about the NFL teams
who decided not to have a moment of silence for
Charlie Kirk, because some people found that disrespectful. But like
you said, he's not like a head of state. He
was not you know, he was a public figure, but
he wasn't a political figure. And it really is like
(15:09):
they're trying to, I don't know, make it seem like
he deserves some type of sainthood for his opinion.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
But when Kaepernick was kneeling, I mean, same type of
energy with that, and frankly, I'm actually let me be
careful with my words, because you know, free speech and
all of that but I will just say that my
city and your city, bree who we will yes, even
right now a little bit. You know, we'll meet on Monday, well,
and we'll be friends again after that. But you know,
(15:38):
my city and your city chose not to have a
moment of silence or some sort of.
Speaker 6 (15:44):
We do.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
And I'm referencing Baltimore and Detroit by the way, those
spell teams chose not to reference this. And frankly, I
think that sports should stay away from politics.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
That's just how I'm gonna put that.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
If I'm us, you know, the president, or like you said,
someone of high ranking president vice president shown that was.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
Voted in somewhere that has, you know, a position that
affects everybody. Charlie Kirk didn't have that position, but he
did in his own right. He definitely has a follower
for sure. Do we need to be lowering the flags?
Do we need to be having a moment of silence.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
At a really a game that has nothing to do
with you, right?
Speaker 6 (16:24):
And I appreciate the fact that they ended up letting
the teams decide because I feel that that should always
be the case.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
And Dan Campbell was like, nah.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Well, trust and believe, Yeah, I mean, the city of
Baltimore is probably like, no, now.
Speaker 6 (16:38):
We're just going to play football, And it was not
a political statement. It was just that we're gonna avoid that.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think that's fair that the
you guys called for politics and these things to be
removed from the sport when Kaepernick was kneeling.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
So where's that energy now, That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 7 (16:55):
Yeah, the same people calling for politics to be removed
from sports were the ones calling for a moment of
silence for Charlie Kirk. So again, Layton, hypocrisy is always
very very loud, and giving players a choice in this
matter should be a thing. Except most of these owners
realize that the very very high percentages of the people
(17:16):
that make up their teams would not be for something
like this, so they just do it without consulting them
in the first place, that the NFL electing to take
in racism off of a lot of the helmets some
of them got rid of in racism in their end zones.
To then decide that Charlie Kirk you should be, as
(17:36):
you guys said, canonized in a way, like he was
some great person for all humanity. You know, I think
his body was brought back to Arizona on Air Force two.
That's not normal, you.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Guys, escorted by the Vice president, by the way.
Speaker 7 (17:51):
That's not a normal thing. But again, the rules do
not apply for them in the same way that they
do everybody else. So you know, here we are in
this dystopian reality where free speech and everything else is
defined in real time by the people in power.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
And when they say free.
Speaker 7 (18:09):
Speech, they mean as long as you agree with, think like,
love like, and pray like me, you can do and
say whatever you want. Anything that's opposite of that will
be policed, governed, canceled, fired, etc. So here we are
moving on. The state of Mississippi made headlines this week
(18:29):
when two separate but similar and very disturbing crimes were reported. Morgan,
let's start with you this time. Tell us more about
these two Mississippi cases, and then breathe and ramsys, we'll
come back to you next.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
So there are two related, deeply troubling cases from Mississippi
this week. That might I also add, we're not mentioned
by the administration in any way, at least to my
my coverage and what I've found. So tomar Travian Trey
read twenty one years old, a black student was found
hanging from a tree near a pickleball courts on the
(19:03):
campus of Delta State University in Mississippi. Now, authorities are
saying there's no foul play or signs of foul play,
no lacerations, contusions, broken bones, or other physical injuries that
would constitute with an assault. Now there is an autopsy
being carried out and videos exist and are in the
hands of investigators, but so far authorities have described the
(19:23):
incident as an isolated incident. Now Trey's family has retained
civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump, and they are demanding transparency
and of course the surveillance footage, full autopsy results, clarity
on how and why the body was found the way
it was now Elsewhere in Vicksburg, Mississippi. On the same day,
(19:44):
another man identified as Cory Zukadis was found hanging in
a wooded area near the AmeriStar Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Now early reports say he was an unhoused individual and
the case is being investigated. As the latest authorities say
that foul play is not immediately suspected in his death either.
(20:04):
But both deaths happened in very local, basically local areas
where you know there's foot traffic, but they were reported
within hours of each other. Trey Reid's case has some
racial concerns explicitly in the foreground, given the status as
a black student in Mississippi considering the history of lynchings
(20:25):
in that state, while the other case, Corey Zukadas is
not being framed at least publicly overall with those same
racial overtones, and Zuccatis has been identified as not necessarily
identified as a non black individual or or white. Now,
the existence of these rumors and conflicting information where the
(20:46):
body was found, what the injuries were, what the initial
law enforcement messaging was, was particularly acute. And trey Reid's case,
now let's take a look again at the history in Mississippi.
They're no stranger to lynchings, and so because of this,
the commune unity does have a right to deserve answers
because it could be one of us right and of course,
transparency is key regarding these types of situations because conflicting
(21:09):
reports are coming out as to what could have fueled
these types of incidents to happen, thus and therefore creating
mistrust amongst the community, which is not needed, so families
deserve clear evidence, autopsy results and that video or review. Furthermore,
the thing that's kind of getting me is how authorities
are so quick to say, oh, no, foul play was suggested,
(21:32):
or they suggest suicide, but can cut off deeper questions
regarding threats, harassment, or contacts. So again, both of these
cases rather interesting, very very sad. They have both sparked
national attention, but they haven't received the same spotlight. Race
and social status, of course play a factor in these cases,
(21:54):
and regardless of the outcomes, they still steer fear and
grief and trauma in the area of where you know,
these people, these communities, These communities have to deal with
these types of situations while not actually having answers around it.
So again it just begins to raise more questions and
(22:15):
more confusion. We don't have a conclusive result to this
as to you know, well, what do we do now
as a community, as a people, do we divide ourselves?
Do we look at this as, oh, it's just another
quote unquote suicide as authorities essentially you're saying or alluding to,
or do we actually break out of you know, what
(22:35):
we're being told and start to investigate these things ourselves.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I mean, where does that leave us.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
It's a very very sad and tough situation regarding and
thinking that you know, you, you're a lot further ahead
than than then this.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You know, lynchings in Mississippi. You would think that we're
not in this.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
It's not the fifties and the sixties, it's not the forties,
you know. But here we are dealing with these types
of situations in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
It's very unfortunate.
Speaker 7 (23:03):
Yeah, unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans would like it
to be the twenties and the fifties again. And what
you said that really stood out to me was how
fast they concluded that there was no foul play. To
have already reached that conclusion at such a blistering speed
definitely caught my attention.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Brie.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
You know what.
Speaker 6 (23:23):
Bothers me is, I'll piggyback off of what Morgan said,
because you just beautifully summed all of that up.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
So I'll just say this, the fact that.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
A black man, if he were suicidal, which she was hanging,
that's not something that you really see across the country
that is really concentrated towards the South, like you said, Morgan,
because of the history of it. So immediately that bothers
me because if I can't put myself in the mind
of a person who is suicidal. But let's just say
(23:56):
he was. Out of all the things he could have done,
he wanted to hang up himself. Then on a college
campus where there should be eyes everywhere, like you said,
no camera footage, nothing, but he had enough strength to
get up a tree and hang himself and nobody saw anything.
And so this is why his parents are not rocking
with that no foul play that the authorities are saying
(24:21):
right now, And I really don't blame them. I'm glad
they lawyered up. Attorney Ben Crump, you can't get better
than that. They want an independent investigation, which they absolutely
should have, because it's hard to believe that nobody saw
anything when you choose to allegedly unalive yourself in that way.
So that's what immediately stood out to me. And then
(24:42):
also with this other case, zukaidis mister Zuchaides, a white,
thirty six year old man originally from Brandon, Mississippi, is
how they described him. Homeless and a history of drug
use is how they described him on the news as well,
and again him hanging the didn't say it had anything
racial that we know of, but again in the South,
(25:04):
we're talking about someone choosing to hang themselves from a
tree to take themselves out. That just bothers me so much.
So both of these are continuing to be under investigation.
But I'll tell you I do feel like I don't
know that these cases are related. Police say they're not related,
but as far as Dumarentrevian goes, I think there's something
(25:25):
else there. And I'm just really interested to see what
further investigation, especially the independent investigation that his family is
calling for, will reveal in the coming weeks. This will
be an story that we update a few times more.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
I'm sure.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Rams is Jah.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Steward.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
So when we had a chance to talk about this
when it first broke, obviously we had less information than
we had now, but just to reiterate, and I think
that Morgan, you made this point. Okay, this is Mississippi,
(26:09):
So anybody hanging from a tree in Mississippi is going
to have context. Anybody in this country hanging from a
tree is going to have context, especially if they're black. Right,
hanging from a doorway hanging from something else. Sure, maybe
you know what I mean, Maybe the person who suicide
w having some mental health problem.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Sure, hanging from a tree is a very very.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Specific type of Uh yeah, I'll call it an execution
from a very specific chapter in this country's history. And
given after the assassination that many folks were calling for
a civil war, and many folks were expecting.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
That this would be.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Some black activist or some I don't know why I
think Q and I we had this conversation yesterday talking
about how seventy percent of political violence comes from the right,
and I think it's like eleven percent of political deaths
come from the right, whereas two percent of political deaths
come from the left, and then eighty five percent of
(27:21):
the deaths come from nine to eleven in the Oklahoma
City bombings, right, but a far greater impact in terms
of political violence comes from the right. However, these people
reeling from the assassination were assuming that this was some
(27:42):
sort of leftist plot despite the data. You know, Trump
said smart people don't like him. He loves the poorly educated.
So despite the data, people were assuming this was an
attack from the left organized or this had something to
a black folk in Utah somehow or whatever, and they
(28:03):
were calling for violence. So when we look at a
black man hanging from a tree on a college campus,
that feels on brand for what the right was calling for.
And you know, based on the part of the country
and given the history and the context.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Of that specific type of execution.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
You know, it's very natural to conclude, Okay, this is
something that is a response from right, you know, rural
southern poorly educated individuals, you know, trying to get their
lick back because of the assassination. But that could simply
(28:46):
just sit in the space of conspiracy theory. Lord knows
that we have a good number of them because we
don't always get the truth.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
We rarely get the truth.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
In my estimation, we get the truth when the police
mess up and it gets discovered that they were being corrupt,
and then we uncover a pattern of years of history
of corruption.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
That's when we get the truth.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
But you know, these people hide the truth from us constantly,
and many families, and we all know this, but many
families never get the answers for what happened to their
loved ones, or what happened to their votes, or what
happened to their communities or whatever.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Yeah, which is unfortunate, super unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
But it could it could you know, follow me, it
could be conspiracy theory. But I think when I think,
we get to the point where it's not adding up
like in a shared reality is And again I think
you made this point. Okay, this is a college campus
(29:48):
at seven in the morning. Now, I went to college
a lot, and I know that's seven in the morning.
Is you know the campus has people moving around. First off,
they're security on college campuses, they're supposed to be. That's
(30:09):
what I thought, exactly right. But then there's grounds keepers,
there's teachers that need to get there early because they
have to do office hours, they have to get their
lessons plan lesson plans done, they have to do prep work,
all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
And indeed there are students, yes, because I.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
Had early morning classes every semester and I tried not to.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
I couldn't get out.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Of it, thank you.
Speaker 6 (30:28):
Oh you will find me shuffling down the campus at seven,
eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
All right, all right, so you're helping me out here. Okay,
So imagine a black body hanging from a tree and
from six am to seven am, when there's people shuffling
back and forth. Nobody sees this, right, and no one
(30:53):
sees as you mentioned him climbing a tree, you know,
that sort of thing, and I'm sure whatever goes along
with this, you know, it feels like an inside job,
you know what I mean, based on uh.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Once you get more and more of the.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Details, it feels like, okay, this is this feels like
some foul play.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
It's not like That's why I said.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
It bothers me, right, because we don't have the details,
so I can't say for sure.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
Maybe he's it, but it bothers me.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
That fit in the equation most naturally feel like the
ones we're discussing now, And so it's you start to
get beyond the conspiracy and you start to say, wait
a minute, hold on, is this a cover up?
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Is this hard of that? You know?
Speaker 1 (31:34):
And of course there's no you know, uh, scratches to
the body, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
I don't want to, you know, overlook that.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And if indeed that's true, you know, absolutely sure, you know, but.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
I get scratched.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
But okay, Sagan, who climbs a tree and don't get
scratched a little bit by the bark. Okay, excuse me, sorry, continue,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So you know, and then on top of that, even
if you know the version of this that we might
be concerned is true, is true. You don't necessarily need
to scratch up a body in order to string a
person from a tree. Some people are over to power them,
especially if you got six or eight people. It's easy
to grab someone put their hands behind, especially if they're
not expecting it. If you're just out looking for somebody
(32:17):
because you're upset about, you know, something else that affects you,
you just find somebody who's unexpected, walk up to them,
grab them at me, you understand. So you know, the
conclusions that were drawn so quickly, as Q pointed out
when we initially discussed this, coupled with the facts that
we do know, don't really support the conclusion that they're
(32:38):
trying to get all of us to draw. And obviously
we're going to have to wait until we get more details.
And then as far as the other person, you know,
hanging from a tree in Mississippi, it wouldn't surprise me
one bit if there was a white person who was
very supportive, maybe put some social media posts up, you
(33:01):
know what, are very upset about, you know, the state
of the country and kind of seeing this divide deepen,
you know, and them grabbing that person and hanging that
person from a treat It wouldn't surprise me one bit,
especially given the details and the optics of this the
story from the college campus. So we'll see what happens,
(33:24):
because you know, we get to offer commentary, right, we
have to obviously adhere to journalistic standards, but we get
to offer commentary. And the commentary here is not adding
up for me, at least not yet. So again, we'll
wait to see what else comes out about this, but
this is what it feels like at present.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
Hey, what's up.
Speaker 7 (33:44):
This is rams' Ja and I am q Ward and
we're inviting you to subscribe to Civic Cipher are the
social justice podcast right here in the app.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
We pride ourselves on creating a show that fusters allyship,
empathy and understanding, all the while conducting journalistically credible research,
featuring influential notewhere the guests, and empowering historically marginalized communities.
Speaker 7 (34:03):
The African proverb reads, if you want to go far,
go together. So we are asking you to search for
and subscribe to civic cipher.
Speaker 5 (34:10):
That's cibic cip h e er.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Right here in the app Bin News anchors Morgan Wood
and Brewood are here with us discussing this week's major stories.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
All right, next up.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett appeared on MSNBC earlier this week
and made some interesting comparisons on the Trump administration's current
use of law enforcement and federal troops. Y, let's go
back to you give us some more details on this story,
and then Morgan and Q we're gonna get your thoughts
after one.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
Thing about Jasmin Crockett. You are never going to have
a dull moment when you're speaking about our She's very
serious about her opinions. Okay, So, during an interview with
MSNBC's Ali Velshi, Representative Jasmine Crockett, the Democrat tax, the
Democrat from Texas, she drew a controversial historical parallel bet
between US immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE and Southern
(35:04):
slave patrols from the Antebellum era. So I had to
look up the Antebellum era because right off, I didn't
remember what that was. So that refers to the time
in America, to the period from the War of eighteen
twelve until the start of the Civil War in eighteen
sixty one. So Crockett basically criticized the federal government's plan
(35:24):
to deploy militarized police forces and democratic led cities, describing
them as unacceptable and reminiscent of this historical system that
was in place during that time used to control and
oppress black people. She noted that the public safety should
be based on data and intelligence, not fear driven policies,
and she warned that ignoring black history leads to repeating
(35:47):
past injustices, Crockett stated specifically, quote when I see ICE,
I see slave patrols, and she argued that the origins
of American policing are deeply tied to systems of racial control.
She also condemned a recent Supreme Court decision that expanded
ICE's authority to profile individuals based on race or language,
calling it a dangerous president that threatens civil liberties. So
(36:11):
Representative Crockett concluded that erasing black history from education and
public discourse, it kind of undermines the nation's ability to
learn from its mistakes and protect all Americans from government overreach.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement after that aired,
and they called Crockett's comparison quote disgusting and dehumanizing to
(36:33):
ICE agents, and DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin warned that such
rhetoric could give a radical activists a permission slip to
act violently. I think they're doing that anyway. But you know,
Jasmine Crockett, again, she calls it like she sees it.
So when she gets on these interviews and starts talking
(36:53):
about how she interprets what's happening, it rubs a lot
of people the wrong way because she just makes it plain.
And you know, we've seen with ICE from even recruiting
online using Dean Kine. I don't know if you saw
that advertisement where he was trying to get people, Hey,
if you have these qualifications, you should come on down
to ICE and you can earn this this. They're really
recruiting Americans to be with ICE to help capture people.
(37:18):
And so I kind of understand the comparison she was
trying to make, but a lot of people feel that
it might be just I don't know too much, like
could taken it back that far to slavery. I'm not
sure that a lot of people agree with that, But
then you have a lot of people who do agree
(37:39):
with exactly what she is saying, and they think that
ICE is completely out of control right now, Morgan.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
Yeah, So what I took away from this is that
representative Crockett. She argued then that in debates about immigration
and public safety, you know, people often cherry pick or
they have selective memory when it comes to incidents regarding
crime by undocumented migrants. Now this, but there's also less
attention paid to the same types of harms created by
(38:09):
those on the right, like white supremacists. Now, she claimed
that for every example of crime by an immigrant, there
are two to five examples of crimes rooted in white
supremacist ideology. One thing that stuck out to me is
the Supreme Court ruling giving ICE agents broad discretion even
(38:31):
based on language or accent. Sparked real concerns about bias
and due process, which brings me to what's happening here
in Maryland. I mean, we saw what happened with the
Maryland man kil Mar Abrego Garcia who was mistakenly deported
to El Salvador and not given due process, which he
is now going through after the fact. And also here
(38:52):
in Maryland. There was a Gaithersburg man who is actually happy.
He just returned home after spending seventy seven days in
ice attention.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
And his name is Reza Zavar. He was released over the.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Weekend after he was initially taken into ice custody while
just walking his dog on June twenty eighth. Now, he's
a fifty two year old man who legally came to
the US from Iran forty years ago and got his
green card, but a misdemeanor pop possession marijuana possession charge
in the late nineties led to the state of deportation
proceedings when Zavar tried to re enter the country from
(39:27):
an overseas trip back in two thousand and four. Now,
a judge in seven ruled that he could remain in
the country if he stayed out of trouble, which he
has done. And a key point in a very much
a key point in why he was also allowed to
be released.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
But how many of you know Americans, and.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
I say Americans loosely because we're all from somewhere, right,
you are all one to three four generations away from
being from somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
How many of these people.
Speaker 4 (39:57):
Who are in America who migrants who are looking to
become Americans or dealing with these types of situations where yeah,
I can see how it's a little reminiscent to the
Antebellum self. And to your point, Bree, maybe she might
have taken it too far, because when you talk slavery
in this country, especially in this political climate, ooh, people
get so uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
It's just, oh my gosh, that's just too much.
Speaker 6 (40:19):
Yeah, And to me, nothing compares to the atrocity of slavery,
absolutely nothing.
Speaker 5 (40:24):
I can't imagine what our ancestors went through.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
Absolutely But when you start to think about some of
the nuances that are associated with it, like a having
these masked ice agents and pulling up on people and
it seemingly it looks like a kidnapping, and we don't
know if you need to identify yourself or you know,
what's the reason why this person is being taken. I
can understand drawing a you know, to an extent a comparison,
(40:51):
but to your point, it maybe maybe yeah, yeah, like
you said, this ain't that, but this doesn't mean that
this isn't bad. So of course, there are safety concerns
around immigration and which are often weapon weaponized to justify, uh,
those harsh measures, while data on the white supremacists violence,
(41:12):
you know, gets less attention and less accountability for you know,
what's happening on that side. So I don't know that
we have h I keep coming back to the same
point is that we are just not as far ahead
as we think we are as a country, as a society,
as as people.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
And it's just it's unfortunate to see that.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
It seems like we're not coming together either, you know,
it seems like we're becoming that much more divisive in
what it is that we're essentially trying to do.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
When it comes to.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
I don't we're we're we're not where we need to be.
Speaker 6 (41:49):
That's all I can really put in order when it
comes to what is appropriate in law and order, and
that's what it boils down to.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
And that in itself free Like you said, law order
is very selective, you know, and who does it apply to?
That's right, that's selective as well. So we don't we
haven't confronted our history, I think fully, and so this
is where we are.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
To we're talking about immigration. Can can I turn you
up right quick?
Speaker 3 (42:22):
By all?
Speaker 7 (42:22):
Mean?
Speaker 3 (42:22):
For you I got something for you. Dig this.
Speaker 9 (42:26):
Stapen today about farmers. Our farmers are being hurt badly
by you know, they have very good workers, they've worked
for them for twenty years. They they're not citizens, but
they've turned out to be, you know, great, and we're
gonna have to do something about that. We can't take
farmers and take all their people and send them back
because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have,
(42:47):
maybe not. And you know what's going to happen, and
what is happening They get rid of some of the
people because you know, you go into a farm and
you look and people don't they've been there for twenty
twenty five years and they've worked great, and the owner
of the farm loves them and everything else. And then
you're supposed to throw them out, and you know what happens.
They end up hiring the people, the criminals that have
come in, the murderers from prisons and everything else.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
So we're we're.
Speaker 9 (43:10):
Gonna have an order on that pretty soon. I think
we can't do that to our farmers and leisure too, hotels.
We're gonna have to use a lot of common sense.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
So then so that's a that's what I got that
started it. You know what, Morgan, thank you my bad
all right, Q. I wanted to just turn you up
so you at least had that you work with it,
so your thoughts.
Speaker 7 (43:42):
You know, I think the instant reaction to hearing something
compared to the gross atrocities of slavery is the kind
of knee jerk say, we've gone a bit too far.
But I've I've kind of screamed from the top of
every mountain that I can since I saw that Donald
(44:04):
Trump had not been disqualified as a candidate to be
the president again, that there was a great chance that
he would win, and that when he did, he would
try with all of his power to take us back
to such a time. Because it is objective truth that
modern policing is born objectively from slave patrols, the first
(44:29):
organized police departments in this United States, where those developed
and established to return the human property to slave owners.
We later learned that the thirteenth Amendment of the United
States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, but with significant
(44:50):
exception of punishment for a crime. This exception clause made
it where organized prisons and for profit prisons became a
way to do that very thing, bring back slavery, or
never get rid of it in the first place. So
(45:11):
it seems like a stretch when you first hear it
on its face, but there is some objective truth tied
to that. The words of our president with regards to
our agricultural workers and those that work in hospitality, you know,
the people where he owns in terms of profit, wants
to make it so that those people can keep their
(45:32):
jobs and remain in this country, because we don't want
to harm those industries as long as they understand that
the owners of those places are responsible for those workers,
putting them in a position where yeah, you can stay here,
but you belong to the people that you work for,
or you will be deported. So talking about ice and
(45:53):
immigration turns me up without a SoundBite from the president,
because I've had to leave from doing this very show
in the middle of doing this very show to get
my young children out of a school being prepared to
be raided by ice. And I have had family members
and friends of family members pulled over for things like
the windows being too tended, too dark on their cars,
(46:16):
and then those people not seeing or hearing from their
family for more than a week, and by the time
they did, they were hospitalized in another country. So these
are not things that I'm seeing on television. These are
things that are a part of my actual life. And
we are not so far removed from the idea that
you can be picked up off the street by people
who don't have to identify themselves, and by the time
(46:38):
your family hears from you again, if they hear from
you again, you are in another country, being detained, being abused,
and in some cases put to work without pay, no
due process, no lawyer present, and no diplomatic way to
get you back to the people who care about you. So, yeah,
maybe it sounds extreme on its face when she says it,
(47:00):
but I, because of the experience that I'm living right now,
cannot pretend that she said something ridiculous because it seems
pretty on brand. And I don't know if we've noticed,
but we're sliding backward down this hill to times of
yesteryear's really fast, and people that look like us, we
don't really have the privilege to hear something like this
(47:21):
looks and feels like slave patrols and brush it off
like it's could be dismissed out of hand. We're getting really,
really aggressively into some things where I think, looking and
thinking and speaking the way that we do. Hmmm, that
being illegal don't seem so far fetched, now does it.
(47:41):
Our final story shines a clear light on the culture
war against all things black in this country. What a segue,
and most notably, against the preservation of black history. Morgan, Please,
let's get the latest on this story from you, Brian
ramsas you guys bring us home, all.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Right, y'all?
Speaker 4 (48:05):
So, the Trump administration has mandated the removal of slavery
related exhibits from several national parks, including the iconic photograph
known as the Scourged Back.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Now.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
This eighteen sixty three image depicts the scarred back of Peter,
an escaped enslaved man, and has been a powerful symbol
in abolitionist movement. In the abolitionist movement, now, the directive
stems from an executive order aimed at eliminating content deemed
to reflect a quote corrosive ideology, targeting narratives on racism, slavery,
(48:43):
and indigenous persecution.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Now.
Speaker 4 (48:46):
This move represents a significant step in the ongoing court
culture war over the portrayal of black history in America,
which you know, it seems to be this, this thing
seems to be have seems to have ramped up within
I don't know how what month are we in in
this year, nine months, in the last nine months for
(49:07):
a show basically under this administration. So by removing such
poignant imagery, the administration risk sanitizing the brutal realities of
slavery and erasing critical aspects of our shared past. Now,
the Scourge Back photograph in particular, has been instrumental in
educating the public about the inhumanity of slavery and the
(49:29):
resilience of those who endured it. Clearly, the visual as
you see this man sitting still with his you know,
his posture upright to an extent, with his back just
in slashed in the back. You know, it's its removal
from national parks not only diminishes its historical significance or
(49:50):
diminishes the history that we have all known to learn, right,
but it also undermines efforts to confront and learn from
America's history of racial injustice. So again, as I said before,
you know, or as has been the theme of the
today's show, we seemingly are sliding backwards. We're repeating ourselves
(50:11):
and not only that, we're not learning from things that
we've already gone through. So as we witness this attempt
to what I will say, whitewash history, it's imperative to
remember that. Acknowledging the full scope of our past, you know,
it's essential for us to move forward and heal and progress,
and I mean collectively. You know, we've got to come
(50:31):
to like I said before, we're divisive around these issues,
and we've got to come to a common ground and
how we tell our history.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
You know, history is a fact. It is what it is.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Slavery happened, So efforts to erase uncomfortable truths about slavery
and racism actually do a disservice to our future generations
who deserve an honest and comprehensive understanding of their heritage
and where we came from as a country.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
So I think that you know, this particular removal further.
Speaker 4 (51:04):
Just supports that effort to remove, essentially and rewrite to
an extent, what it is that we know as American
history and American Black history at.
Speaker 3 (51:16):
That Brie, what up though? Talk to me?
Speaker 5 (51:20):
What up though? Yes?
Speaker 6 (51:21):
So I will piggyback off of what Morgan was talking
about that was that mandate was an executive order given
in March of this year titled Restoring Truth and Sanity
to American History. So basically that was directing the Interior
Department to eliminate content that they the Trump administration deemed
to reflect a quote corrosive ideology or that disparages historic Americans.
Speaker 5 (51:46):
So I don't know how they came up.
Speaker 6 (51:48):
With that, but that that order also affects Smithsonian Museums,
and Vice President JD. Vance is tasked with overseeing the
removal of what the administration calls divisive race centered ideology. Well,
what other center are you supposed to take when talking
about slavery? I don't recall seeing any white slaves anyway.
(52:09):
President Trump criticized the Smithmonian on True Social and claimed
it focused too much on the horrors of slavery and
not enough on American success and progress. So to me,
that is just saying that we want to focus on
how far we've come since then, but let's not revisit
what we had to come from. You want to see
what came from the ashes, but first you need to
(52:31):
know why the ashes were there. So the directive extends
beyond slavery. To include sexism, also LGBTQ plus rights, and
the persecution of Indigenous people, which I believe you mentioned
as well, Morgan. I'm now the National Park Service spokesperson
Rachel Pollitz. She defended the move, saying that materials that
highlight negative aspects of US history without broader context can
(52:53):
quote distort understanding, and historian Jonathan Zimmermann of the University
of Pennsylvania condemned the effort, called GET a massive federal
overreach and a contradiction to the administration's stated support for
local control of education. The Coalition to Protect America's National
Parks Emily Weisner Thompson, she is the executive director there,
(53:13):
and called the move a dangerous and unprecedented move. And
history is not meant to comfort, she said, It's meant
to teach. And she added, whether it's the legacy of
indigenous displacement, slavery, civil rights struggles, or environmental exploitation, these
stories deserve to be told accurately and respectfully, and their
removal is, in fact, what dispairage is our collective history.
(53:36):
So it goes back to what Morgan, you said, what
we're not learning well and if we allow these things
to happen that will just take us further back. You're
supposed to always be gaining knowledge, and we do need
to reflect, you know, as often as we can on
what we came from to see because all of it
affects what happens right now. It still affects what happens
(53:58):
right now. And you could say from any to like
redlining in the United States, it's still an issue. You know,
we're not dealing with quote unquote slavery as it was before,
but the effects of slavery have had lasting impacts on
black people in America period. So yeah, I think that
(54:19):
it would be a disservice. I don't agree with that
at all.
Speaker 1 (54:23):
And let the church say, mad, you know what I
just learned about this guy. His name is George Santiana.
He's a Spanish born American philosopher and he wrote a
(54:43):
book in nineteen oh five called The Life of Reason.
And there's a quote from this book I think you
might like you. Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it. All right, well, I'd like to
(55:05):
thank you both very much always for your time and
your insight. Once again, Today's guest our N News anchors
Morgan Wood and Bree would thank.
Speaker 2 (55:14):
You, ramses It's always a good time.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
This has been a production of the bi In. Today's
show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd
like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (55:28):
While you're there, be.
Speaker 1 (55:29):
Sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes.
I am your host, ramses Ja on all social media.
Speaker 7 (55:36):
I am q Ward on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (55:39):
And we'll be hosting another episode of Civic Cipher this
weekend on a station near you. For stations, showtimes, and
podcast info, check Civiccipher dot com and join us Monday
as we share our news with our voice from our
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