Human Rights – to the LEFT

The Intersectionality of Frederick Douglass

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019Dale Seufert-NavarroLeave a comment

This month we not only celebrate Black History Month, but the birth month of one of our nations most respected activists, Frederick Douglass.

Douglass was born as a slave on the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland. While the exact date of his birth is unknown, many choose to honor him on the 13th or 14th of February. He escaped his slave status and became an activist for the abolition of slavery. Perhaps the greatest wisdom and strength of Douglass was his understanding of the intersectionality of race, class, and gender. In a time when slavery was the law of the land and women suffrage was a mere dream, this is very extraordinary.

Frederick Douglass not only worked towards the abolition of slavery and the racial equality of freed slaves after the Civil War, but he advocated for the right of women to be equal members of society as well. The Northern Abolitionist movement was full of women so this no doubt influenced his view on the matter. He was once quoted,

“When the true history of the antislavery cause shall be written, women will occupy a large space in its pages, for the cause of the slave has been peculiarly woman’s cause.” [Life and Times of Frederick Douglass,1881]

In a time when most men would have felt emasculated in being associated with the womens rights movement — this is also true of today — he took pride in this title.

“…caused me to be denominated a woman’s-rights man. I am glad to say that I have never been ashamed to be thus designated.”

In fact, Douglass joined Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in forming the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. The group called for universal suffrage at the Women’s Rights Convention of Seneca Falls in 1848, where he was a guest speaker.

Douglass also understood the importance of poverty and class solidarity. In 1866, Douglass traveled to the White House to speak with President Andrew Johnson about black equality and suffrage. At the time, Johnson did not want anything to do with the issue. In his mind, this would embolden neo-Confederate restoration. Douglass offered a different vision, one that combined disenfranchised blacks and poor whites in the south.

“Let the negro once understand that he has an organic right to vote, and he will raise up a party in the Southern States among the poor, who will rally with him. There is this conflict that you speak of between the wealthy slaveholder and the poor man.”

Here Douglass understood that while racial animus was real, it was partly due to the division sown by wealthy elites to divide all of the poor, black and white. This is very much the case still today.

Douglass understood that the institution of slavery was not only due to racial supremacy but also because of financial incentives. He was also able to see the lot of women in society was just as entangled in this capitalist patriarchal system.

This ability to see the intersectionality of all of these issues is just as important today as it was in the late 1800s. In some way it is even more important. We like to think that we have evolved past some of these things, but that is simply not the case. Better, but not perfect. The prevailing case of sexism thrives not just on social media but in everyday life. These sexist and racist attitudes can not be blamed on social media alone. In fact, these new platforms are simply mirrors of our deep seated perverseness. Social media has its own problems, for sure, but to argue that they are a cause is yet another case of the strawman. We should use them as a way to highlight what through history as been veiled and not so apparent.

It is sad that so much time has passed since the time of Douglass, and yet we still seem to be reckoning with so many of the sins of that time. In a time when solutions to societies ills seem so hard to decipher, we should lift up voices like Frederick Douglass. A man that understood that it is not just one or the other, but a combination of things. We should strive for all forms of justice — racial, economic, sexual, and gender based. We should also understand and accept that these things permeate all of us whether we think so or not. Instead of fighting this we should accept and embrace it. Go through to get through to the other side. We have to face these injustices in all of their forms, whether personal or societal. This is the only way that we can begin to understand and evolve as a society.

Dale Seufert-Navarro

Supreme Court fails to Protect Transgendered Service Members

January 24, 2019Dale Seufert-NavarroLeave a comment

In a victory for the Trump administration and discrimination, on Tuesday the Supreme Court refused to hear a case disputing the ban on transgendered men and women serving in the military. In a 5-4 decision – with the four liberal justices voting to hear the case and continuing to block the ban and the 5 conservative justices opposing – the case will continue to be heard in the lower courts. The Pentagon praised the decision and has long claimed that the policy is not a complete ban on transgendered service members, saying that the policy only applies to people actively seeking transition.

All hope is not lost, there is still a chance that the issue will be solved in the lower courts in a favorable way. Until then, the policy continues to take effect. On this issue, the Supreme Court has relinquished its duty to the American people and the constitution of the United States. There is no reason that the court should not have taken up this case, except for cowardice and malice – or both. Four lower district courts have rejected and blocked the administration’s policy and one recent appeals court has reversed and upheld the case. The court has jurisdiction and power to weigh in when there are conflicting lower court rulings. It is the job of the high court to set a clear precedent of the law. There is also the matter of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th amendment, which allows all citizens equal protection under the law. This is another consequence of the Democratic party not being as vigilant about the Judiciary as the Republican party. Decades ago the Republican party set out upon a successful effort to remake the courts in a more conservative image. The federal judiciary and the Supreme Court have been on a rightward lurch ever since.

Once again, the Supreme Court proves to be a tool of oppression, with historical precedent rampant. Time and time again marginalized groups are thrown under the bus, used as political pawns for political games. Donald Trump is using the trans community as another scapegoat and political distraction. As his administration continues to drown in scandal and incompetence, he throws scraps to his rabid base, this being another example. The irony that trans men and women would freely join the military with the goal of protecting our country, while their own government will not protect them is bewildering, but not surprising. The irony is also not lost in the fact that a spineless man escaped military duty, by claiming bone spurs in his feet, is objecting to anyone wanting to serve in the military. For all of Trumps false claims that the military is in a decline, it is idiotic why he would limit the amount of people eligible to join.

The decision by the Supreme Court to not affirm the equal protection of trans people in this country comes at a time when violence against the trans community is on the rise. When the government does not show a willingness to stand behind the oppressed it, emboldens prejudice. Over the past couple of years, a number of states have tried to pass so-called Transgender Bathroom laws, including my home state of Virginia and my adopted state of North Carolina. These types of policies are not rooted in logic or public safety, instead they are rooted in a malicious effort to sow discord and division. Just recently, a trans woman was harassed and sexually abused in a Raleigh, North Carolina bathroom. Two women have been charged with second-degree kidnapping and sexual battery. Often, the less visible members of society are the least protected. The trans community is but one example. The gay community must stand with our trans brothers and sisters and fight injustice in all of its forms. Remember, that it was a trans woman of color, Marsha Johnson, that helped to initiate the Stonewall Riots in response to police harassment. The trans community has always been on the front lines of the gay rights movement, and we should be just as vocal for them as well.

Dale Seufert-Navarro

Yemeni Blood on American Hands

December 21, 2018April 11, 2019Dale Seufert-NavarroLeave a comment

yemeni girl

Yemeni Girl – The New York Times

Since 2015 the country of Yemen has been embroiled in a chaotic civil war between the internationally accepted government and the Houthi rebels. This conflict has become somewhat of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudis have been relentless in their attacks on the poorest country in the Arab world, with most of the damage being inflicted by their massive bombing campaign. Now three years later, many international observers are calling the conflict in Yemen the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. An estimated 10,000 civilians have been killed, 1 million people are infected with cholera, a sever famine is causing millions to starve to death, and over 3 million people have been displaced. With very few people on the ground, these numbers are very rough estimates since it has been difficult to access the sheer size of the situation.

Until recently, the conflict in Yemen – and the United States involvement – has been largely ignored by the Western media. MSNBC, so-called ‘home of the resistance’ to the Trump administration, has failed to substantially cover the war. The death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has thrust Saudi Arabia, and by extension Yemen, into the public’s consciousness. Now lawmakers on both sides of the isle are beginning to question Americas relationship to Saudi Arabia and our involvement in Yemen. The tragic irony is after thousands of deaths in Yemen, it took the death of one man to spark enough outrage to make the general public take note. It is now evident that Khashoggi’s death was ordered by the Saudi government and by the crowned Prince, Mohammad bin Salman more specifically. The prince was once heralded as a reformer when he took power, but this is now proving to be untrue.

The Pentagon has admitted that there are 7 Navy battleships in the region, just off the coast of Yemen. The U.S. government had long claimed that these ships are not aiding in the naval blockade of the country, but with that many in the area that can’t possibly be true. Since the country depends on imports to survive, the U.S. military and government is directly aiding in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. In 2016 it was reported that a U.S. ship off the coast of Yemen was fired upon. No ships were hit in the alleged attack. The media has reported that the ‘Iran backed’ rebels, the Houthi, fired the missiles. By reporting it in this way, it gives the impression that Iran is directly responsible for the attack. There is also no context given in the reporting of the incident as to why the rebels would fire a missile at a ship in the region. There is no mention of the fact that Yemen has relentlessly been bombed since 2015. By not stating this obvious fact, it makes it seem like any U.S. response is a retaliation and therefore justified. On the so-called ‘progressive’ MSNBC, Rachel Maddow gave what is essentially a process critic on the incident instead of discussing the war more broadly. She said that then candidate Trump said that if Iranian sailors even looked at our sailors wrong, he would blow them out of the water. She then questions what President Trump is to do to retaliate for the attack. Maddow conflates the supposed attack directly with Iran when the country has not fired any missiles at our ships and no evidence exists to show that they directly aided the rebels in the act. This is narrowly defined media coverage and outright war machine propaganda. Instead of debating the validity of our imperial wars or how we interact with the rest of the world, the critique is that he will not implement said imperial wars effectively. It is indeed worrisome that a petulant imbecile is at the helm of our military, but we should be asking ourselves if we should even be involved in these situations around the world. This is about Geo-political influence and is modern day colonialism and imperialism. Have we learned nothing from the middle east in the past 30 plus years.

The country of Yemen has been devastated by the Saudi regime with the help of the U.S. and British governments. The U.S. has been a longtime seller of weapons to Saudi Arabia, with the Obama administration seeing the largest sale of weapons to the country in history. From 2008-2015 Obama saw close to $94 billion in arms to the regime. The U.S. has also provided in-air refueling of Saudi jets, logistical aid, and intelligence support. As the war in Yemen escalated and the situation became more of a humanitarian crisis with more and more innocent life lost, the sale of weapons and support continued. There has been virtually no push-back from the U.S. or Britain. A school bus carrying children was bombed killing at least 40 children. In October of 2016 Saudi Arabia bombed a funeral within Yemen killing close to 140 civilians and injuring almost 500. The Saudi government said that the bombing was based on incorrect information and was a mistake, but the use of a ‘double-tap’ attack suggests otherwise. This form of attack is when the first bombing is followed by a second strike soon after with the intent of killing wounded survivors and aid workers. The bomb used was identified as a U.S. made bomb by the company Raytheon. These specific types of bombs were provided to Saudi Arabia with the understanding that they would make their targeting more accurate. Mark Hiznay, the associate arms director at Human Rights Watch, have called these bombs “dumb bombs with graduate degrees”.

bomb

U.S. made bomb used by Saudi Arabia in Bombing of Yemen – CNN.com

The Trump administration has signaled that they would no longer refuel Saudi jets but has refused to stop arms sales to the country or put any kind of pressure on the regime. In fact, President Trump has doubled down on his support for the country. Donald Trump’s first foreign trip as president was to Saudi Arabia, the first for a U.S. president. Even after the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump refused to hold the crown prince or Saudi Arabia accountable. Could this be because Trump and his family have many financial interests in the country?

The conflict in Yemen is a war that the U.S. government is clearly helping the Saudi’s wage. This war has never been debated nor authorized by the U.S. Congress. One glimmer of hope in a sea of darkness filled by the deaths of thousands of innocent lives occurred recently. The Senate passed a resolution, 56-41, to end all military assistance to Saudi Arabia in relation to the war in Yemen. The bill was co-sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Mike Lee (R-UT), and had bipartisan support. After failing to pass months earlier, the death of Jamal Khashoggi helped push it over the threshold this time around. Sadly, the measure was blocked in the House of Representatives. The House Rules committee, on behest of Speaker Ryan, slipped in a provision of the rules to the Farm Bill that prevented the House from voting on a Yemen resolution for the rest of this term. The narrow procedural vote was 206-203, with 18 Republicans voting against and, despicably, 5 Democrats voting for the bill. Ryan knew that many Republicans in the House would join Democrats in voting to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen. This disgusting act of cowardice and malicious continuation of immoral bloodshed will not be forgotten, especially those five Democrats. Collin Peterson (D) of Minnesota callously stated he didn’t know a “damn thing” about the war in Yemen.

A tide is turning in this country and in the public’s consciousness. People are finally starting to wake up to what their country is doing. The media is starting to report on the tragic conflict thousands of miles away. It is interesting to note that the United States started helping the Saudi’s in their bombardment of Yemen under the Obama administration, yet is only beginning to reflect on the situation now that Trump is in office. When the media does comment on the conflict, it is narrowed in an imperialist way that does not significantly question the U.S. involvement around the world. Instead, we should move past this worldview and ask what the validity of these actions are and how safe or unsafe they make us and the rest of the world. I write this piece with a heavy heart and with tears in my eyes. We are told to approach policy with logic and not with emotion, but often we need emotion to cut through the veil of mistruth and propaganda. At the moment our government is using our taxes to fund the deaths of innocent children. This imperialism makes us less safe and fuels extremist ideology. It does not serve to protect the American people as these actions are so often sold. Instead they serve American weapons manufacturers, defense contractors, and Geo-political influence in the region over natural resources like oil and capitalist consumer markets. Without foreign assistance the Saudi regime would not be able to wage this unjust and immoral war. It is past time the American people demand our leaders stop allowing this unnecessary bloodshed to continue.

Dale Seufert-Navarro