5 Things On My Mind (Patreon)

In between preparing for my Fall series on The Seventies, an upcoming merchandise sale, and combing through over 100 applications from people who want to be my video editor or research assistant, I had some things on my mind. 

1. Homophobic Baby Moms Should Be Concerned

Trump's Department of Labor, feeling emboldened and encouraged by its Christian dominionist constituency, has proposed a truly heinous policy. This policy would give federal contractors (an estimated 42K American businesses) the ability to fire or not hire people who don't share their same religious "values". While immediate thoughts go to the LGBT community, who currently in 29 states do NOT have laws explicitly protecting their employment, this proposed policy would also impact pregnant unmarried women or single moms. While talking about this to a friend who is a single mom, she laughed bitterly and said, "homophobic baby moms should be concerned." While I get her joke, because a lot of us can identify judgemental and hypocritical cis women in our lives, this obviously means single mothers or unmarried women of all stripes could be impacted, along with the LGBT community. It also means that marginalized groups overall could be harmed by this policy. But first, why did Trump's administration make this move? Because it's appealing to his evangelical base, who are fanatical in their desire to make America a theocracy. I speak about the phenomenon more in a few posts, listed below. 

The current discrimination policy that protects sex, religion, national origin, and disability began in 1965, the original protection being race. In 2014, Obama expanded protections to sexual orientation and gender identity. So this policy works on another level: erasing Obama's legacy, which has been of key importance to Trump. The original religious exemptions have only been applied to non profit organizations during past administrations, but Trump's executive order would include for profit companies with a religious affiliation (like St. Jude's Hospital or Christian-affiliated schools). Remember when Hobby Lobby won the ability to not provide health insurance that included birth control, based on religious grounds? This Supreme Court decision was the first that allowed the religious exemption to apply to a for-profit company. 

This policy will make it harder for marginalized workers to prove illegal discrimination or complain about working conditions because employers can fire them and claim some random religious belief contributed to the decision. The rule makes religious beliefs more vague, protecting "all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice as understood by the employer." As a worker at a company with federal contracts, you could be fired for political beliefs, marriage status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or if you're in an interracial relationship. This makes me wonder, would they fire you for seemingly-benign things you share on social media or do on the weekend? What would the limit be? Everyone should be concerned about this. 

You can read (and comment on) the proposal here.

Trump's Plan to Let Employers Discriminate Against LGBTQ Workers, Explained 

Related Intelexual Media Content:

Miniseries: Evangelicals in America

Miniseries: Evangelicals in America (Pt 2) 

Five Things About... Christian Identity

The Sticky Relationship Between Evangelism, Racism, and American Schools

2. Mindhunter + The Atlanta Child Murders

So last week after reading the book Mindhunter, I shamelessly binged the 2nd season of the netflix series based on the bestseller in less than 36 hours. It was flawlessly written and acted, but I was left, like Im sure everybody is, thinking back to the real Atlanta Murders of 1979-1981. First of all, the name "Atlanta Child Murders" is a misnomer, as not all of the connected victims were children. But more importantly, if anything is obvious from the show, the book, and my late night dive into the events while sipping copious amounts of English Breakfast Tea, it is that Wayne B. Williams did not kill all 29 victims of the murders attributed to him. He DEFINITELY killed a few of the victims though, let's not get that twisted. The stringently tested fibers and dog hairs attest to this, plus his various connections to the boys and crimes noted by FBI investigator John E. Douglas. The only reason they caught Williams and found the body of 27-year-old Nathaniel Carter is because they practically caught him on a bridge in the middle of the night. 

But with that being said, the way the city shut down investigations into all of the murders (particularly glazing over the likely unconnected female victims) because they pinned the murders of two adults to Williams, is sickening. A 1986 piece by Spin magazine claimed the whole thing was a cover up, and that a KKK member was an early suspect. But atleast one person has come forward about nearly being abducted by Wayne Williams. Also, the asphyxiation murders of children did stop once Wayne was off the streets. If anything is consistent in serial killer "culture", its that the monsters don't stop killing unless they die, get caught, turn themselves in because they're tired of the paranoia, or end up in prison. Now this could mean that the killings weren't ritualistic in nature and the true killer(s) ended up switching to another method, or that they moved somewhere else. Or even that they themselves went to prison on unrelated charges. Whatever the truth is, in March of this year, Mayor Keisha Bottoms announced that she was reopening the investigation so that parents of the victims, many of whom don't believe Williams was the true killer (or that their kids never got justice), can get the closure they deserve. Mindhunter hinted at a pedophile sex ring, and that sounds more possible to me than the KKK. Many of the abducted children were associated with shady characters who exploited them, and child pornography or snuff films or something else sinister was probably afoot. Perhaps Williams was a scapegoat for higher ups in whatever pedophile ring he was involved in, or maybe this evidence will show he actually did kill most of the victims. Im most interested to know about 7-year-old Latonya Williams, who was abducted from her home, unlike the rest of the victims. 

I like how the show depicted black people refusing to believe that a black man was capable of murdering black children, or of being a serial killer. The Klan was still very active in the 70s, and so it makes a lot of sense for black people in Atlanta to think that the monster was KKK bred. But at what point is faith in blackness as a sign of morality misguided? It made me think of Samuel Little, a black serial killer who is believed to have slain over 90 victims, many of them black. He selected drug addicts, homeless women, and sex workers. He even drew sketches of his victims for the FBI to verify his crimes, as he doesn't remember names and key details due to his old age and memory. 

3. What's Up In Hong Kong?

If the world was not watching China right now, would the estimated 1.7 million protesters at Sunday's pro-democratic rally be dead or in re-education camps? Back in 1989, student led protesters in over 400 Chinese cities, largely in Tiananmen Square, Beijing,  assembled for over a month in support of democracy. To end it, China declared martial law and murdered thousands. One of the most pertinent long term effects of Tiananmen Square was censorship. 12% of all newspapers, 8% of publishing companies, and 13% of social science periodicals in China were shut down. The incident was left out of Chinese textbooks and many young Chinese don't even know about the event, meaning many are apolitical and 100% nonchalant about China's hypocritical communism. 

As for Hong Kong, until 1997, the territory was under British control, but it had it's own identity and laws, and was relatively liberal. Now it's a Chinese territory, and was expected to retain its individualism, but residents feel like Beijing (China's capital) is trying to force assimilation. The protests all began when Hong Kong considered a bill that would in theory allow mainland China to extradite Hong Kong residents, after a man murdered his pregnant girlfriend in Taiwan and fled to HK, where there is no extradition policy. The bill would allow extradition on both sides, making Hong Kong residents fearful that they'd be subjected to China's strict laws and lack of civil liberties. The bill was declared "dead" on July 9th, but the legislature, which is controlled by pro-Beijing officials, could reconsider it later this year. This is why protesters have occupied the airport and other central locations. Protesters are being called terrorists and rioters by Chinese press, which to a population that barely knows about Tiananmen Square, is easily accepted. Beijing officials have accused Westerners of espionage and influence in the ongoing unrest, which isn't far fetched. Trump has praised Chinese president Xi Jinping for how he's dealing with the protests, and it's been reported that Trump has agreed to play down US support for protesters to facilitate an end to the trade war. 

Have you visualized or conceptualized how populous China is lately? I nearly dropped my phone when I saw the numbers. Evangelical Americans probably WISH they could outpopulate the Chinese, but that'll never happen.

Related Intelexual Media Read: Lexi's Notes: China's Rules 

4. Stacey Abrams and Voting

Everytime I pass a "Kemp For Governor" bumper sticker or lawn sign in Atlanta, I shake with rage. Brian Kemp was the secretary of state when he oversaw the gubernatorial election he himself was running in. Districts with black democrats saw rampant voter suppression via uncounted mailing referendums and faulty voting machines, allowing him to narrowly defeat Stacey Abrams, who had amassed tons of support. Now, instead of joining an already crowded democratic ticket, Ms. Abrams has organized Fair Fight 2020, which will help increase voter turnout in 20 battleground states. She doesn't know who the democratic candidate will be, but said confidently that they will win Georgia. Joe Biden leads the polls, despite his sketchy past positions and his anti-black commentary. While I find what Stacey is doing to be admirable and important, the cynic in me says that Trump will win again. However, increased voter turnout and awareness could lead to a shakeup in local politics and in congress. A total of 33 senate seats and 435 house seats are up for grabs in 2020. 

5. Somebody Say Recession?

We don't know exactly when, but a recession seems to be near. While the Trump administration doesn't have the best track record of telling truth, officials are assuring us that there is no recession looming on the horizon. While there is dissent on both sides, I wondered about what a recession would mean for me as an adult. The first recession I experienced was back in 2007-2009, and I was just a humble grade school student shucking hotdogs at my grandfather's restaurant afterschool for $150/week. All of my money went to food and fugly clothing from Citi Trends. Things would be a lot different now because of my age and employment status, but also because experts say an impending recession probably wouldn't be as bad as 2007-2009's "great recession". 

We're in a recession when the economy has contracted for two straight quarters. There have been 11 recessions since World War II, and they lasted on average for 11.1 months. Unemployment tends to rise for 15-16 months, on average by 2.4%. Experts say industry, inflation, and oil price caused recessions aren't the biggest concerns, but financial and fiscal induced markets are. Financial recessions are caused by bubbles and risky markets (like housing) and fiscal recessions are caused by government's lack of funds. 

The thing that has significantly diminished the risk of fiscally induced recession is Trump's budget, which has notably proposed to cut hella services and public safety nets. So for people who already have money, jobs, and opportunities, this is good news. For the working poor who rely on government help (and desperately need employers to treat them fairly despite an administration steadily deregulating businesses), this is not good news. Have you ever noticed how panicking about recessions is classist in nature? Where is all of this heightened concern for people who face poverty and diminished resources every day?