Why Black folks should not try to get out of jury duty:
Drew McCaskill: You may be the only person on that jury, who actually has any sort of empathy for the humanity of either the person that is being accused or the witnesses who are in the room. That is huge!
Drew McCaskill: You may be the only person on that jury, who actually has any sort of empathy for the humanity of either the person that is being accused or the witnesses who are in the room. That is huge!
The value of being your authentic self at the office:
Drew: There is value to that for me in my spirit. I tried to play the game. Assimilation is exhausting. It leaves absolutely no energy, no time for creativity and innovation.
Drew: There is value to that for me in my spirit. I tried to play the game. Assimilation is exhausting. It leaves absolutely no energy, no time for creativity and innovation.
No matter how many Tory Burch handbags that ladies come to the office with, nor how straight that you get your hair, in the winter or in the summer, there's no way that you are actually going to be, what the majority is inside your work place. So give that assimilation up. The things that make you different, there's value in that. Your differences are your assets. That's what shows up in the work.
One of Karen's favorite audiobooks:
"In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
"In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Kenneth C. Davis: Learned from his daughter, the important distinction between calling someone a slave, and saying they were enslaved. They were acted upon. They were the result of someone doing something to them. It wasn't how you identity them.
One of the things that this wonderful 1619 project does, is talk about the fact that for 400 years, slave and black meant the same thing in this country. It has really impacted every aspect of American life, society, culture, politics, finance, etc. Everything we do and are, as Americans, has been impacted by this but we always treated it in schools, as a sideshow to the American pageant (ex. the Pilgrims, Christopher Columbus, etc.)
Why? Because the winners write history.
Why? Because the winners write history.
Importance of the 1619 project putting things into real context:
Drew: All of these atrocities that were afflicted upon other human beings, people recognized that this was brutality, a massacre, and an atrocity, but they said, 'Yeah, but the money.' So when you think about the conversations that we're hearing now, where people are talking about voting for specific people. 'Yeah, but I get the tax break. I think he's a despicable human being. He says despicable things. He does despicable things. These policies are despicable. These things are evil. No, that's not a Christian No, I don't think that he's a practicing Christian. But he's good for business and my taxes. That is not a far walk from, 'Yeah, I know that it's not Christian. Yeah, I know that it's brutal. Yeah, I know that it's inhuman, and all of these things, but the money.'
Drew: All of these atrocities that were afflicted upon other human beings, people recognized that this was brutality, a massacre, and an atrocity, but they said, 'Yeah, but the money.' So when you think about the conversations that we're hearing now, where people are talking about voting for specific people. 'Yeah, but I get the tax break. I think he's a despicable human being. He says despicable things. He does despicable things. These policies are despicable. These things are evil. No, that's not a Christian No, I don't think that he's a practicing Christian. But he's good for business and my taxes. That is not a far walk from, 'Yeah, I know that it's not Christian. Yeah, I know that it's brutal. Yeah, I know that it's inhuman, and all of these things, but the money.'
KCD: Slavery has been about power. Obviously, the power over one person over another but in American History, it was represented, as Drew was just saying, enormous wealth and because of the Constitution, as it was written, enormous political power. That "three-fifths of a person" idea made Virginia, the most powerful state in the union when it was created. Even though Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, had more free white citizens. So, Virginia has the most seats in Congress and four of our first 5 Presidents are Virginians, or slave holders.
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