In the aftermath of the racist shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, that left three dead, the Monday editions of CNN Tonight and MSNBC’s The 11th Hour both claimed to know who was, at least partially, at fault: Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On CNN, host Laura Coates recalled Sunday’s demonstrations marking the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington and its aftermath by introducing a clip of President Biden proclaiming, “We can't let hate prevail. And it's on the rise. It's not diminished... And we have to speak out that there's a whole group of extreme people trying to erase history.”
Nobody’s erasing history, but Coates rolled right along by introducing Prof. Michael Eric Dyson and asking him, “I've been thinking about you a lot when it comes to moments like this and I ask you to take a step back with me for a moment. How do you see the confluence of all of these events?”
Dyson began by recalling the events of 1963 and how they occurred not that long after the murder of Emmett Till. Seeing a connection between Till’s murders and the Jacksonville shooter, Dyson also tried to tie in DeSantis:
And I'll end by saying this, the governor of Florida said that this guy was a scumbag. He talked about the fact that this was unacceptable. No, governor, you are fueling and feeding the deepest animus against blackness, the anti-blackness that threads itself through our culture, and sometimes, that flares up and flashes in acts of hate and destruction that we saw the other day. He and the rest of us must check ourselves to make sure we are not contributing to a worsening situation.
How is DeSantis “fueling and feeding” hatred towards black people? Dyson never said, presumably he meant the same false depiction of Florida’s history standards that was shown in the Biden clip.
Meanwhile, at literally the same time on MSNBC, host Stephanie Ruhle asked National Voter Protection Action Funder founder Don Calloway, “Well, the fact that racism and hate crimes aren’t being actively denounced by some of our political leaders. Because of that, should we expect more awful crimes like this?”
Calloway answer affirmatively, “Well, sadly, America's original sin is human chattel slavery, directed at African-Americans, we have yet to address that institutionally as a full country legislatively, or by executive order. So unfortunately, we probably can expect more of this, particularly when you combine it with our zeal for guns.”
After falsely stating that America is the only country that tells itself that racism is not a real thing, Calloway also blamed “our absolute bloodlust for guns.”
Not deterred by the fact the shooter likely shouldn't have had access to guns under Florida law, Calloway addressed DeSantis, “you could've done is restricted access to weapons of war, and other guns which disproportionately kill members of the black community, but ultimately take out everybody.”
Calloway also falsely claimed that it is mainly minority groups that are targeted in mass shootings:
But if you look at them, if you think about all of them, who are the people being killed? It is the marginalized and defenseless communities of this country. It’s black people at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo. It's black people at Edward Waters and then then the grocery store in Jacksonville.
It's the Jewish community and synagogue in Pittsburgh, in a suburb of Pittsburgh. It’s the LGBTQIA+ community at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. So we see that this rhetoric, Americans from the founding of the republic have always followed and acted upon the rhetoric of our political leaders.
With that bit of selection bias, Calloway got back to blaming DeSantis while throwing in Donald Trump for added effect, “But we see that this rhetoric is singling out minority and already marginalized communities and with our blood lust for guns, along the continued rhetoric, and not only the amplified rhetoric in the DeSantis-Trump era, yeah, sadly we can expect more of this.”
Like Dyson on CNN, Calloway never could provide any actual proof for his allegations.
CNN Tonight was sponsored by Chevrolet and The 11th Hour was sponsored by Golden Corral.
Here are transcripts for the August 28 shows:
CNN Tonight
8/28/2023
11:37 PM ET
LAURA COATES: Now, while meeting with civil rights leaders and family members of Dr. King at the White House, President Biden warned against the rise of extremism.
JOE BIDEN: We can't let hate prevail. And it's on the rise. It's not diminished... And we have to speak out that there's a whole group of extreme people trying to erase history.
COATES: I want to bring in distinguished professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University's Divinity School, Michael Eric Dyson. I'm so glad you're here. I've been thinking about you a lot when it comes to moments like this and I ask you to take a step back with me for a moment. How do you see the confluence of all of these events?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, it's great always to be on with you. It's an extraordinary moment. I had the great honor to speak at the 60th anniversary march on Saturday. It was remarkable. Think about it.
Dr. King stood at the sunlit summit of expectation in August 28th of 1963 as a 34-year-old man and echoed across the century and into our own a demand for justice rooted deeply in the American dream. At that point, he was an Emersonian America, constantly reinventing himself and the nation he brought along with him to see justice through the lens of those who had been bitterly denied.
And to think about the fact that that march was held on, I think, the eighth anniversary, the original march, of the murder of Emmett Till, a young teenage boy in Chicago, Illinois, visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi, and who was murdered for the crime supposedly of even glancing at a white woman and whistling at her, though, that has been denied.
The point is that when you think about the march, you think about Emmett Till, you think about Jacksonville, Florida where a man with lethal intent went to murder Black people, starting first at Edward Waters College, he was rebuffed, and then went to a Dollar Store seeking black flesh to not emancipate but to eviscerate, to destroy.
We are still living with white supremacy in our own culture. And until we're able to face it squarely, we will not be able to get rid of the shadow of this horrible sensation. And I'll end by saying this, the governor of Florida said that this guy was a scumbag.
He talked about the fact that this was unacceptable. No, governor, you are fueling and feeding the deepest animus against blackness, the anti-blackness that threads itself through our culture, and sometimes, that flares up and flashes in acts of hate and destruction that we saw the other day. He and the rest of us must check ourselves to make sure we are not contributing to a worsening situation.
***
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
8/28/2023
11:37 PM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Well, the fact that racism and hate crimes aren’t being actively denounced by some of our political leaders. Because of that, should we expect more awful crimes like this?
DON CALLOWAY: Well, sadly, America's original sin is human chattel slavery, directed at African-Americans, we have yet to address that institutionally as a full country legislatively, or by executive order. So unfortunately, we probably can expect more of this, particularly when you combine it with our zeal for guns.
You know, racism and patriarchy and white supremacy and white nationalism are not ills, or cancers that are unique to America. What is unique is the mythologies that we tell about how those things are not true as well as our absolute bloodlust for guns and so if you want to talk about protecting black people, if you are Ron DeSantis [inaudible] million dollars, that means nothing because what you could've done is restricted access to weapons of war, and other guns which disproportionately kill members of the black community, but ultimately take out everybody.
You know, I have been dealing with this network, I've been privileged to be on MSNBC for almost seven years now, Stephanie, and I can tell you how many times Alex and I on Sundays have been interrupted by mass shootings, how many times I personally have been preempted by a mass shooting.
But if you look at them, if you think about all of them, who are the people being killed? It is the marginalized and defenseless communities of this country. It’s black people at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo. It's black people at Edward Waters and then then the grocery store in Jacksonville.
It's the Jewish community and synagogue in Pittsburgh, in a suburb of Pittsburgh. It’s the LGBTQIA+ community at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. So we see that this rhetoric, Americans from the founding of the republic have always followed and acted upon the rhetoric of our political leaders.
But we see that this rhetoric is singling out minority and already marginalized communities and with our blood lust for guns, along the continued rhetoric, and not only the amplified rhetoric in the DeSantis-Trump era, yeah, sadly we can expect more of this.
