On Saturday's The Cross Connection, race-obsessed MSNBC host Tiffany Cross served up the kind of vitriol against white Americans that regular viewers of the show have come to expect as she allowed a frequent guest to deliver a rant against America -- and white Americans, in particular -- to mark the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
After lauding liberal Native American activist Gyasi Ross as a "show favorite," she then switched to what appeared to be a pre-recorded "essay" from him with his thoughts about the holiday. MSNBC then doesn't have to take the responsibility of questioning his inflammatory arguments.
Ross began by claiming that it is a "pathology of white America" to see their ancestors as improving North America after they arrived, he then added: "But I'm still trying to find out what indigenous people received of value. Instead of bringing stuffing and biscuits, those settlers brought genocide and violence."
Ross is also in favor of tearing down Mount Rushmore.
He invoked police-involved violence as he added:
That genocide and violence is still on the menu as state-sponsored violence against Native and black Americans is commonplace. And violent private white supremacy is celebrated and subsidized. From Stonechild Chiefstick to Mike Brown to Renee Davis to Breonna Taylor to Eric Garner, indigenous and black people are still being murdered by those paid to protect us.
Even though FBI and Washington Post statistics demonstrate that Native and African Americans are shot and killed by police officers at a rate that is proportionate to crime patterns -- including many more white people, who are rarely noticed by the media -- on screen were seen a number of victims of police shootings from those racial groups.
And even though whites commit homicides across racial lines at a relatively low per capita rate compared to other groups, he then portrayed whites as killers of minorities. It's a little odd to say the accused killers of Ahmaud Arbery aren't facing reprisal at present:
From Ahmaud Arbery to Trayvon Martin, white Americans are still killing Native and black Americans with no fear of reprisal. They brought chattel slavery to Africans and Native people that still happens through the prison-industrial complex that imprisons the descendants of enslaved Africans and Natives at far disparate numbers. That is the reality of Thanksgiving.
His complaint about the "prison-industrial complex" ignores the fact that prison incarceration rates generally line up with crime rates. In fact, Native Americans make up about 2.9 percent of U.S. residents but only 2.5 percent of those incarcerated. Additionally, even in a relatively high year (like 2017), no more than about two percent of those shot and killed by police officers are Native Americans.
The liberal activist then pushed for reparations as he concluded:
Many of us are still waiting for white Americans to bring some value -- still waiting for white Americans to match the mythology of Thanksgiving. Freedom, justice, equality, reparations for two and a half billion acres of stolen Native land -- reparations for 246 years of stolen labor -- reparations for stealing Native children. Stop the killing -- it's still happening. Stop the theft -- it's still happening. Return the land -- match the mythology. Then, and only then, we can all be equally thankful. Peace.
This incendiary, racially tinged rhetoric was sponsored in part by Subway, Walgreens, and Sling TV. Their contact information is linked. Let them know how you feel about MSNBC airing such racially divisive content and smearing Thanksgiving as all about racial oppression and murder.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's The Cross Connection
November 20, 2021
10:48 a.m. Eastern
TIFFANY CROSS (before commercial break): And don't go anywhere at home because the myth of the first Thanksgiving is just that, my friend. It is a myth. I turn the mic over to show favorite and my friend, Gyasi Ross, to explain. That's coming up next.
(...)
10;52 a.m.
CROSS: With Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to turn the mic over to Cross Connection favorite and my friend Gyasi Ross for this week's "Essay," and his take on the real story of Thanksgiving and some history you probably never read in your schoolbooks.
GYASI ROSS, NATIVE AMERICAN ACTIVIST: ...The mythology of Thanksgiving closely mirrors the mythology of America. That mythology is the image that white Americans love to see for themselves. White settlers come to a strange land in good faith bringing something of great value that enriches the people who are already here. The Natives also bring something of immense value -- equal exchange. That closely mimics the pathology of white America. It is how America wants to see itself.
The truth, of course, of Thanksgiving is much different. The truth is, the Pilgrims did not bring turkey, sweet potato pie, or cranberries to Thanksgiving. They could not. They were broke. They were broken -- their hands were out -- they were begging -- they brought nothing of value. But they got fed -- they got schooled. Thanksgiving -- it makes sense. There is much for white Americans to be thankful for.
But I'm still trying to find out what indigenous people received of value. Instead of bringing stuffing and biscuits, those settlers brought genocide and violence. That genocide and violence is still on the menu as state-sponsored violence against Native and black Americans is commonplace. And violent private white supremacy is celebrated and subsidized. From Stonechild Chiefstick to Mike Brown to Renee Davis to Breonna Taylor to Eric Garner, indigenous and black people are still being murdered by those paid to protect us.
From Ahmaud Arbery to Trayvon Martin, white Americans are still killing Native and black Americans with no fear of reprisal. They brought chattel slavery to Africans and Native people that still happens through the prison industrial complex that imprisons the descendants of enslaved Africans and Natives at far disparate numbers. That is the reality of Thanksgiving.
Many of us are still waiting for white Americans to bring some value -- still waiting for white Americans to match the mythology of Thanksgiving. Freedom, justice, equality, reparations for two and a half billion acres of stolen Native land -- reparations for 246 years of stolen labor -- reparations for stealing Native children. Stop the killing -- it's still happening. Stop the theft -- it's still happening. Return the land -- match the mythology. Then, and only then, we can all be equally thankful. Peace.
CROSS: My thanks to Gyasi Ross.
