America of the 1930s saw thousands of people become Nazi
Nazi supporters held huge rallies and summer camps for kids throughout the United States in the 1930s.
- During the 1930s, thousands of Americans sympathized with the Nazis, holding huge rallies.
- The rallies were organized by the American German Bund, which wanted to spread Nazi ideology.
- Nazi supporters also organized summer camps for kids to teach them their values.
A Bund parade in New York, October 30, 1939.
Credit: Library of Congress
Credit: Herald Tribune
Postcards from Camp Siegfried
Credit: Unknown
Like it or not, you can't ignore how people look or sound
A new study from Ohio State University details implicit bias.
- New research from Ohio State claims we cannot separate how someone looks and sounds.
- Volunteers were asked to look at photos and listen to audio, and were told to ignore their face or voice.
- "They were unable to entirely eliminate the irrelevant information," said associate professor Kathryn Campbell-Kibler.
8 powerful speakers that might make you think differently about racism | Big Think
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="310eb2418d44ed9aed7fb66364904aaa"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ox04P7Gy2eY?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In some cases, volunteers were told to evaluate how "good-looking" the people in the photos were; in others, they were asked to judge their accents. One cohort was not given guidance; they looked at a photo and listened to a voice. Others were told to ignore the face while listening, and vice-versa. Some were even told that the voice was not from the same person they were looking at. </p><p>It didn't matter. In most cases, volunteers expressed critical judgment of either their face or voice. As Campbell-Kibler <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722083758.htm" target="_blank">says</a>, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Even though we told them to ignore the voice, they couldn't do it completely. Some of the information from the voice seeped into their evaluation of the face."</p><p>Detaching face from voice is a difficult endeavor. The first time I heard Welsh actor Matthew Rhys' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu77rb0mww4" target="_blank">true accent</a> was while watching "The Wine Show," which he filmed shortly after wrapping up work on "The Americans." It took me a few minutes to rationalize what I was seeing. Now I can't get his actual speaking voice out of my head while watching the drunken private investigator transform into the lawyer we knew Perry Mason would become.</p>Jonathan Gartrelle (L), participating in a protest against police brutality, confronts a demonstrator taking part in a counter demonstration advertised as a Law and Order Rally that was also supporting President Donald Trump on June 14, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
<p>Rhys is paid to speak English with an American accent. The stakes are low for me as a viewer. Out in the real world, where racism is as prevalent as ever, the situation is different. Implicit bias affects everyone, which means racism and xenophobia are conditions we have to work at correcting in ourselves. It won't come natural. Campbell-Kibler continues,</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We found that people could exercise some control over what information to favor, the voice or the face, depending on what we told them to do. But in most cases, they were unable to entirely eliminate the irrelevant information."</p><p>She notes that even though most participants were white, they were careful to not racially stereotype. Volunteers told to ignore faces while listening to accents performed best for this reason, though some admitted they had to make a conscious effort to do so. </p><p>Volunteers took no issue with judging the photos good-looking, believing looks to be subjective. Campbell-Kibler wants to follow up this research using videos instead of photographs to observe the impact of watching others on the screen. </p><p>The takeaway: we are influenced by all of the information available to us at all times. Our biases will make themselves apparent. Course-correcting is not natural, but thankfully, it is possible. </p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>The trouble with judging historical figures by today’s moral standards
Monuments are under attack in America. How far should we go in re-examining our history?
- Historical American monuments and sculptures are under attack by activists.
- The monuments are accused of celebrating racist history.
- Toppling monuments is a process that often happens in countries but there's a danger of bias.
Mob pulling down the statue of George III at Bowling Green, New York City, 9 July 1776.
Painting by William Walcutt. 1854.
People in Rome tear down the statues of Mussolini. July 25, 1943.
Photo by Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images.
Statue of Lenin in Berlin, Germany On November 13, 1991.
Photo by Patrick PIEL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Statue of Lenin taken down in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. October 2012.
Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
The history of using the Insurrection Act against Americans
Numerous U.S. Presidents invoked the Insurrection Act to to quell race and labor riots.
- U.S. Presidents have invoked the Insurrection Act on numerous occasions.
- The controversial law gives the President some power to bring in troops to police the American people.
- The Act has been used mainly to restore order following race and labor riots.
Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Colorado National Guard troops during the Ludlow strike. 1914.
Credit: Survey Associates, Inc.
National Guardsmen in South Los Angeles, 30 April 1992.
Photo credit: HAL GARB/AFP via Getty Images
How pandemics are used to promote racism and xenophobia
The current focus on the Chinese and Jews is nothing new.
- Pandemics have historically brought out racist and xenophobic tendencies.
- COVID-19 has sparked conspiracy theories against Chinese and Jewish populations around the world.
- Racist tropes spread online have real-world consequences that are harming communities.
An Israeli rabbi walks next to the body former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel Eliahu Bakshi-Doron, who died from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection the previous last night, during his funeral at the har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem on April 13, 2020.
Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images
<p>Maher's larger point is relevant and unfortunately absent in many discussions regarding this pandemic. It's possible to both recognize that this virus appears to have originated in an exotic animal market—a danger that we've been warned about since <a href="https://cmr.asm.org/content/20/4/660?fbclid=IwAR2veUWlXE0ydoFEzl0PoHPPwcQQkNk1zTncJt4GleZ_whDZi9_xcCCHJyk" target="_blank">at least 2007</a> specific to Chinese markets (by researchers in Hong Kong, no less)—<em>and</em> not be racist and xenophobic. We can work toward banning food stalls that threaten public health <a href="https://www.eater.com/2020/3/24/21184301/restaurant-industry-data-impact-covid-19-coronavirus" target="_blank">without abandoning Chinese restaurants in America</a>. Yet it doesn't appear that we're able to hold two ideas in our heads anymore. </p><p>While I don't have extensive experience debating on a stage, I recall an essential part of the training: you have to argue whatever point you're assigned. This sometimes means arguing <em>for</em> a perspective you're personally <em>against</em>. The best debaters learn this skill. The rest spend their time trolling on social media. </p><p>Debate prep arms you with critical thinking skills necessary for navigating a confusing and at times contradictory world. It forces you to stop reacting emotionally after reading the lede of an article without bothering to click through. We have reached, as Patrikarakos writes regarding the invented <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/anatomy-of-a-fake-news-scandal-125877/" target="_blank">DC pizzeria pedophile ring</a>, "the perfect embrace of the sinister and the absurd."</p><p>Thus, next to posts about 5G killing birds (<a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/no-5g-radio-waves-do-not-kill-birds" target="_blank">false</a>) and causing coronavirus (<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/10/coronavirus-5g-covid-19-conspiracy-theory-misinformation/" target="_blank">false</a>) and Bill Gates being sued by India (<a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-india-sued/" target="_blank">false</a>) and vaccines causing autism (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908388/" target="_blank">false</a>), the ultimate conspiracy must be between the Chinese government and Zionists tanking the global economy in order to…to…</p><p>Writing about smallpox in 19th-century Britain, Ashenburg writes that the unintended transmission of disease (in this case through the eyes of Charles Dickens's 1853 novel, "Bleak House"), "is a forceful reminder that the neglect of its weakest members makes society as a whole vulnerable." Along the way, we finally recognized that soap and water is necessary for public health. Now if only we can find the magic formula that ends our toxic love affair for racist and xenophobic conspiracy theories, during times of pandemics and otherwise.</p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. His next book is</em> "Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</p>