Let's Fix Thanksgiving

The story of the 1621 Thanksgiving feast with Pilgrims and Indians is part of the curriculum of every American pre-school and the early school grades. Young American children are led to believe that good Christian white people made friends with the natives. And the Indians accepted the legitimacy of white people occupying the land so that America could become a country for white people. But it doesn't need to be this way. There are other stories that can be used with children to give meaning to Thanksgiving. And a more complete historical discussion will help all of us understand the complex early relationship between Europeans and Native Americans.

Review of Cult of the Constitution by Mary Anne Franks

The Cult of the Constitution is a very provocative discussion of the U.S. Constitution. Franks observes: “We are facing a continuing crisis of constitutional inequality. For more than two hundred years, the lion’s share of legislative, judicial, political, and social resources has been devoted to protecting the constitutional rights of white men above all others…It is hardly surprising, then, that the picture of who holds power today does not look that different from 1787.”  Her critique of the Constitution is convincing.

Critical Race Theory and Publicly Funded Education

Angry Parents

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has created emotional outbursts at school board meetings. President Trump’s executive order banning CRT in government agencies and FOX News rantings all feel like impolite and annoying uninformed racism. But what is at stake is the future of public education and the creation of a multicultural nation without racism. Supporting and promoting CRT is important, not just to ensure a quality American education, but for the future of America.

Immigration Legislation of 1987

This year ABC-CLIO published Michael C. LeMay's book, Immigration Reform: A Reference Handbook. The book is 368 pages of data, opinions, history, lists of resources and more. It is a comprehensive reference of all the issues and the people who have worked on immigration reform. Available from the publisher, Abebooks.com or Amazon.

The book contains an essay that my dad, Berkley Bedell, and I wrote about the Congressional process that resulted in the Immigration Reform Law of 1987. Now at 98 years old, Dad has some ideas about the process that would make it possible for immigration law to be fixed.

Is Trump a Racist?

Chapter

Page Number

230

President Trump

Is President Trump a racist? The question presents an opportunity to reflect on racism and how we, as a nation, can overcome racism. A good place to begin is by defining who is a racist. Immediately the contested nature of racism appears. On one point there is very little disagreement. A person who participates in an association based on the belief that white people are superior to people of color is a racist. So, members of the KKK are a clear case of racists.

But what about President Trump who doesn’t appear to be a joiner and claims, “I don’t have a racist bone in my body.” Can he still be a racist? Answering this question requires considering what racism and race are.

Endorsements

Ken Bedell's Realizing the Civil Rights Dream: Diagnosing and Treating American Racism is a roadmap to understanding racism and its affect and influence on civil rights efforts and policy makers during the 1960s and beyond.

Features of the Book

Realizing the Civil Rights Dream explains how America can realize the civil rights dream in the 21st century – if U.S. citizens take actions as individuals as well as work together for full participation of all. Asks―and answers―the troubling question: Why have the civil rights hopes of the 1960s not yet been realized? Demonstrates the relationship between what happens in everyday life and racism's persistence. Presents a framework for understanding how social forces preserve racism