Political Scientist Ashley Jardina Explains How "White Identity Politics" Are a Dire Threat to American Democracy

Today's Republican Party is the largest, most powerful and most dangerous white racist organization in the United States -- if not the world. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is its leader. These are plain if not understated facts. No embellishment is needed. The examples are many. Over the last few days Donald Trump has repeatedly dug into his bucket of racist political scatology, saying on Twitter and elsewhere that four nonwhite members of Congress ("Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen," as he mockingly put it) should leave America and go back to their own "crime infested" and "totally broken" countries.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib were all born in the United States. Rep. Ilhan Omar is a naturalized citizen who was born in Somalia. This is not the first time that Donald Trump has said such vile things, which are almost word-for-word white supremacist or white nationalist talking points about how being a "real American" means one must first and foremost be "white" — and that nonwhites should be removed from the United States if they do not submit to white rule and authority.

Trump's racism is part of a much larger pattern of white supremacist behavior by his administration: Interning nonwhite migrants and immigrants in concentration camps, seeking to ban Muslims from entering the United States, suggesting that black athletes who oppose police brutality are traitors, changing the country's immigration laws with the aim of maintaining a white majority, and disenfranchising nonwhite people through gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter intimidation and other tactics, legal and otherwise.

Republican elected officials almost unanimously support Trump's racist agenda. To wit: only four Republicans voted "yes" in support of Tuesday's House resolution condemning Donald Trump's gross and obvious racism.

Senior Republican leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Sen. Mitt Romney have either stated support for Trump's racist comments or avoided answering questions about them.

Trump's White House spokespeople and the right-wing media have of course enthusiastically supported Donald Trump's most recent example of public white supremacy. Public opinion polls show that support for Donald Trump has grown among Republican voters because of his racist attacks.

Donald Trump and the Republican Party's racist agenda is in service to white identity politics and a foundational assumption that white people should always and forever be the most privileged and dominant group in the United States. But what are the specific contours of white identity politics, and why has it been so politically effective and personally seductive for Trump, the Republican Party and their voters? Is white identity politics an existential threat to America's multiracial democracy? What does it mean to be "white" in post-civil rights America? Are white men and white women invested in white identity in the same way?

In an effort to answer these questions I recently spoke with Ashley Jardina, a professor of political science at Duke University and author of the new book "White Identity Politics."

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Human Rights Attorney Hope Frye Explains the Evils She Witnessed Inside of Trump's Concentration Camps

Hope Frye is a human rights attorney who has been defending the human dignity and civil rights of migrants, refugees and other groups of vulnerable people for 40 years. Hope became involved  when she chaired the Board of Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law and now leads teams of lawyers and doctors into ORR, ICE and CBP detention facilities to monitor compliance with the landmark 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement governing the treatment of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children.

The Flores decision has governed the care of these children until Trump's vile regime circumvented that agreement.

Most recently she has lead teams to McAllen, Texas, Homestead, Florida, and several facilities in the Rio Grande Valley. She is the attorney who discovered the premature newborn and recovering young mother at an overcrowded processing facility in McAllen, Texas last month.

Hope Frye explains how Donald Trump's regime is violating American and international law in its treatment of migrants and refugees and why the culture of the Border Patrol and ICE encourages cruelty towards non-white immigrants, refugees, and migrants. Frye also shares her experiences documenting the horrible conditions inside of Trump's concentration camps and what it was like to discover a young mother and her premature baby who were suffering at the hands of Trump's Border Patrol enforcers.

During this week's podcast Chauncey explains why Donald Trump's authoritarian right-wing July 4th "celebration" was a carnival of white supremacy where Trump's MAGAite faithful eagerly waited for his special love juice and other sacred fluids. Chauncey also "connects the dots" between Trump's vile July 4th event and how the Republican Party is a dangerous revanchist destructive organization on a global scale.

And at the end of this week's show Chauncey reflects on America's moral reckoning and the poem "The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson.

Eve Ensler on Righteous Anger, Forgiveness and Her New Book "The Apology"

Eve Ensler is an author, Tony Award-winner, playwright and activist. Her award-winning play The Vagina Monologues ran for more than 10 years and has been performed in more than 140 countries. Ensler's new book The Apology is a meditation on the decades of sexual abuse and other violence she endured from her father and on how she finally purged his power over her life through creative confrontation and forgiveness. 

Ensler reflects on the rise of Donald Trump and America's moral crisis, privilege and responsibility, healthy masculinity, why only certain groups in America are forced to forgive the transgressions against them, and how women who dare to publicly speak out against rapists and abusers are often made to suffer more trauma. 

Ensler also explains the power of righteous anger, her own choice to forgive her abusive father, and what she gained and sacrificed through the process of writing The Apology.

During this week's podcast Chauncey explains how the culture of violence among Trump's Border Patrol and ICE enforcers is much greater and bigger than a few "bad apples" and the ways that Michael Pence's "inspection tour" of his boss's concentration camps is an example of human evil across history. 

Chauncey also cautions people that the act of brave resistance by a freedom fighter in Tacoma, Washington who engaged in direct action against one of the Trump's regime's concentration camps on Saturday will be used to make the regime's Border Patrol and other foot soldier hooligans into "the real victims". 

And on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show our intrepid host shares some movie reviews and also a wonderful animal friend story.

A Conversation with Author Ben Fountain About How American Democracy is Broken and Donald Trump and His Supporters are Burning It All Down

Ben Fountain is the author of the novel Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award and a finalist for the National Book Award. Fountain traveled across the country during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in an effort to document that political and social disaster as it took place in real time. The result is his most recent book Beautiful Country Burn Again. 

Fountain explains the deep and burning rage in America from a lack of hope and limited dreams which in turn helped to spawn Trumpism, why Trump's deplorables love him so, and how America's democracy went so wrong. Fountain also highlights how the Democratic Party shares no small amount of responsibility for Trump's reactionary movement because they succumbed to neoliberalism and abandoned American workers to the gangster capitalists.

On this week's show Chauncey DeVega says what must be said about (now private citizen) Robert Mueller: he is a coward and not a hero. Chauncey also warns the public that Trump and his personal bodyguard and human shield William Barr are and will be collecting receipts against their enemies such as journalists and reporters who dare to tell the truth about this regime.

On this week's show Chauncey DeVega says what must be said about (now private citizen) Robert Mueller: he is a coward and not a hero. Chauncey also warns the public that Trump and his personal bodyguard and human shield William Barr are and will be collecting receipts against their enemies such as journalists and reporters who dare to tell the truth about this regime.

A Conversation with Dr. Jonathan Metzl About How Donald Trump's Supporters are Dying of Whiteness

Jonathan Metzl is the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, and the director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Metzl is the author of several books, including Prozac on the Couch and The Protest Psychosis. His new book is Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America's Heartland.

Metzl explains how Trump's voters in Red State America are literally dying of whiteness and their devotion to the Republican Party and its harmful policies, why guns and god are such an important part of personal identity and meaning for white "working class" Trump voters, and how racism and a need to punish nonwhites and other "outsiders" motivates "working class" white conservatives in their political decision-making.

Dr. Metzl also shares stories about white Trump voters who are on their death beds but are proud that they never took "Obamacare" because they wanted to make sure that "welfare queens" and "Mexicans" did not have access to "their" health care. Dr. Metzl also recounts tragic stories about white Trump and Republican "ammosexuals" who love their guns more than their children, relatives, and friends.

On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega offers some extended thoughts about the Mueller Russia report and how, even in its redacted form, the 450 page document paints a damning portrait of a traitorous president and his cabal who colluded with Russia to seal an election and then obstructed justice to cover it up. Chauncey also shares an important concept which explains how Trump, Barr and their right-wing media were able to control the public discourse surrounding the Mueller report by introducing the concept of "criminal conspiracy" being the same thing as "collusion".

And Chauncey warns, again, that Donald Trump's fascist regime is out of control, the rule of law is imperiled and now there are de facto right-wing militias and death squads in waiting on patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border.

A Conversation with Historian Louis Hyman About How Black Americans Used the Sears Catalog to Fight Back Against Jim and Jane Crow Racism

Professor Louis Hyman is a historian of work and business at the ILR School of Cornell University, where he also directs the Institute for Workplace Studies in New York City. He has published two books on the history of personal debt (Debtor Nation and Borrow) and a history of how American work became so insecure (Temp).

Several months ago Louis wrote a series of Twitter posts which were read by millions of people about the "hidden history" of how African-Americans used the Sears catalog as a way of fighting back against Jim and Jane Crow white racism and white supremacy.

Professor Hyman explains how the consumer's republic was and remains a key battleground for civil rights and the color line, the many ways that black Americans used the Sears catalog as a way of participating in day-to-day resistance against segregation and other types of discrimination across the United States, and how Sears and America's suburban mall culture were sites where whiteness was both reproduced and defended. Louis also debunks the very popular (and empowering) myth that Sears was co-founded by a black man.

On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega reflects on Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" and  a recent experience with everyday racism. And in keeping with the theme of this week's show Chauncey also shares a wonderful story about the nationwide network of Sears retirees who gather on a regular basis to socialize, reconnect, and who are keeping the wonderful legacy of that American cultural and retail institution alive.

This week's podcast with Louis Hyman can be listened to or downloaded here.

A Conversation with Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. on the Color Line, Survival, the Black Freedom Struggle and the Age of Trump

Eddie Glaude Jr. is the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University. His publications include Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul and In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America. In 2006, he worked with Cornel West to develop a public online course called the “Covenant Curriculum: A Study of Black Democratic Action.”

Professor Glaude has also written for The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and Time, and he has appeared on the Tavis Smiley Show, Hannity & Colmes, MSNBC, CNN, and C-SPAN.

Professor Glaude explains the lessons of the Black Freedom Struggle for surviving in a time of disaster that is Donald Trump's presidency, how not to surrender to despair in this moment, developing a more sophisticated way to discuss race and social inequality, and how Black Pragmatism and black folks' "Blues Sensibility" are tools for living and maintaining our moral virtue.

On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega explains why Donald Trump's State of the Union address was (another) vile, violent, and dangerous threat to democracy and the American people.

Chauncey is also disgusted by how the American people continue to aid and abet Donald Trump and the Republican Party's evil treatment of brown and black children from Latin and South America who have been "disappeared" into concentration camps.

At the end of this week's show Chauncey shares a story about a Black History Month Pioneer who invented the video game cartridge.

This week's podcast with Eddie Glaude Jr. can be listened to or downloaded here.

 

A Conversation with David Leonard about the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick, and the Politics of the Black Athlete

David Leonard is Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman.

He is the author of numerous books and articles on race, politics, popular culture and sports including After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness.

David explains how sports are inherently political, why Colin Kaepernick is viewed as such a threat by the NFL and White America, Black Lives Matter and resistance by "taking a knee" at sporting events, the black athlete as a social and political figure, the insincere and problematic neoliberal politics of Nike's 30th anniversary "courage" ad campaign, as well as Tim Tebow, white privilege and hypocrisy.

On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega challenges the myth of billionaires and capitalism as uplifting the world's poor and being saviors for humanity and shares how Donald Trump is now the White House sex tour guide who lies (even always, again and often) about Barack Obama.

At the end of this week's show, Chauncey shares two happy stories. The first is about a working class man who just won Powerball. The second is a wonderful story about a 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods and saved by a friendly bear.

This week's podcast with David Leonard can be listened to or downloaded here.

A Conversation with Tim Wise about White Privilege and the Trump Teen MAGA Mob from Covington High School

Tim Wise is one of the United States' leading anti-racism activists, authors, and scholars. He is the author of numerous books including his most recent Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America.

Wise explains how the Covington High School Trump mob's racist mocking and harassment of Native American elder Nathan Phillips in Washington, D.C. is an example of white privilege in action, how white racial innocence is presumed to always be operative in America, the ways that white folks--especially white conservatives--are rarely held responsible for their racist behavior, and the many ways that teachers and parents and other adults have failed to properly educate the white Trump teen MAGA mob.

Tim Wise also shares what he would tell the Covington High School teenage Trumpsters if he was invited to give a talk or training at their school.

On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega shares some recent  examples of horrible and abominable behavior including Donald Trump and Mike Pence trying to claim Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy as their own, how the Trump regime wants to kill the "useless eaters" by cutting food stamps--again, and how 26 billionaires have more money than 3.8 billion people on the whole planet.

And at the end of this week's show Chauncey DeVega shares a story about the intelligence of our animal friends the crows and geese. 

This week's podcast with Tim Wise can be listened to or downloaded here.

A Conversation with David Blight About Frederick Douglass "The Prophet of Freedom" and How His Wisdom Can Help America Survive Donald Trump

David Blight is the Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University. He is also the Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. Professor Blight is the author of many books including his newest Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.

Professor Blight is also a contributing writer for such publications as The New York Times, Washington Post Book World, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Boston Globe.

****To support The Chauncey DeVega Show during this fundraising month you can make a donation via Paypal at chaunceydevega.com or at Patreon.**** 

Professor Blight explains how the wisdom and example of Frederick Douglass's life can help save American democracy in the Age of Trump, separating the myth and legend of Frederick Douglass from the real man, and how studying the Black Freedom Struggle and the color line can help us to better understand how the United States of today came to be.

On this week's podcast Chauncey reflects on the many interesting happenings in one recent day and what they tell us about our shared humanity and the horrible death--and the Trump regime's mocking and evil response to it--of a seven-year-old child from Guatemala who recently was stolen away from her family and this world while in the custody of the United States Border Patrol.

This week's podcast with David Blight can be listened to or downloaded here.

A Conversation with Seth Abramson About How Donald Trump May Be the Greatest Traitor in American History

Seth Abramson is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America.

Abramson's work and commentary has also been featured by The Washington Post, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, The Boston Globe, Politico, The Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, USA Today, NPR, Politico, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, Newsweek and many other news outlets.

To support The Chauncey DeVega Show during this fundraising month you can make a donation via Paypal at chaunceydevega.com or at Patreon. 

Abramson explains how special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting one of the most sophisticated and thorough investigations in American history into Trump's collusion with Russia and the ways that Donald Trump and his cabal have repeatedly shown that they are guilty.

Abramson also provides an insider's perspective on what it must be like to be Donald Trump's attorney as well as how Robert Mueller's team is responding to the mountains of evidence--and foolish, obvious, apparently criminal behavior--that is the Trump-Russia scandal.

Abramson makes a prediction: Robert Mueller's investigation will be successful and Donald Trump's only salvation will come from staying in the White House as long as possible to avoid being put in prison.

On this week's podcast Chauncey explains why the Trump-Russia scandal is about more than "just" collusion and treason but a fight for the soul of the country and any effort to defend the social safety net and those of us who are not members of the 1 percent from the global plutocrats and their culture of cruelty. To that end, Chauncey shares a story about the heroic women who stood up to Donald Trump by telling The New York Times about what it is like to be undocumented workers at his New Jersey golf club and where they also take care of his home there.

And of course, Chauncey shares a wonderful story about a great and brave doggie friend who guarded their human being's home and waited for them to return after the recent California inferno.

This week's podcast with Seth Abramson can be listened to or downloaded here.

How Season Three of the Hit Podcast "Serial" Explores Race, Inequality, Class and White Privilege in America's Criminal Justice System

There are three guests on this week's special December fundraising month episode of the podcast.

Julie Snyder is the co-creator and producer of the hit podcast series Serial. Emmanuel Dzotsi is the co-host and reporter for Serial's most recent season which focused on crime and punishment in America as revealed through what happens at the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland.

To support The Chauncey DeVega Show during this fundraising month you can make a donation via Paypal at chaunceydevega.com or at Patreon.

Julie and Emmanuel reflect on what they learned about justice and inequality in season 3 of Serial, the challenges of balancing truth-telling and narrative, and how race and class--especially white privilege--complicates the ways that different audiences respond to the "shocking" unfairness that Serial "exposed" about the country's criminal justice system.

Criminal justice reporter George Joseph is the third guest on this week's show.

George's work has appeared at The Appeal, ProPublica, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and The Verge. His most recent story IBM Used NYPD Surveillance Footage To Develop Technology That Lets Police Search by Skin Color warns the public about how major cities such as New York are deploying facial recognition and other "artificial intelligence" programs which "learn" about the "races" of different groups in order to "teach" cameras and other surveillance technology to search and follow their human targets on command. This is Orwellian-level racial profiling enabled by "big data" and algorithms.

George also shares his reporting on police brutality and how plain clothes and other undercover cops are running amok in America and what this reveals about a larger police culture of racism and discrimination and violence.

On this week's podcast Chauncey explains how Michael Flynn's deal with Special Counsel Mueller is just one more sign that the Trump mafia crime family is encircled. The question now becomes how will Trump and his cabal lash out against the rule of law to stay in power by expanding their authoritarian regime.

And Chauncey reviews the story about how a black private school-academy in Louisiana was able to use black pathology porn and other stereotypes to hustle Ivy League and other almost all-white elite colleges and universities.

Of course, Chauncey "connects the dots" by calling out how the real issue is the ways that elite universities function as gatekeepers of privilege and social capital which will do anything to punish those individuals who dare to expose the real con job that is elite higher education and a corrupt ruling class in America.

This week's podcast with Julie Snyder, Emmanuel Dzotsi, and George Joseph can be listened to or downloaded here.

A Conversation with Ian Haney Lopez About How the Republican Party Uses Racial Demagoguery and Dog Whistle Politics to Destroy the Middle Class and Hurt All Americans

Ian Haney Lopez is The Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at the University of California, Berkeley and author many articles and numerous books including White by Law and his most recent Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class. Lopez is also a Senior Fellow at Demos in addition to being the Director of The Haas Institute's Racial Politics project.

Professor Lopez and Chauncey discuss how racial demagoguery dominates the Republican Party, the many ways that racism hurts white folks, and ways that the very rich and other plutocrats use racism as a tool to divide and distract so that they can steal from the American people. Professor Lopez also shares a new way of thinking about the relationship between race and class in America--one which he thinks can help create a better and more healthy democracy...and yes, help the Democrats defeat the Republican Party and Donald Trump.

The second guest on this week's episode is James Stern. He is the producer of the new film Old Man and the Gun which stars Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford. Stern is also the producer and director of the new documentary American Chaos where he traveled throughout Trumplandia talking to the Great Leader's political cult members. Stern shares his thoughts on why Trump's supporters are so devoted to him, the strategic errors that the Democrats keep making, and how apathy and disgust with American democracy is the long-term threat posed by Trumpism.

During this week's podcast Chauncey urges caution about the so-called "blue wave" that many Democrats are expecting in tomorrow's midterm elections. Chauncey is also very concerned that through trickery and other means that the Republicans may actually end up winning many more contests during the midterms than most observers expect and how that will leave the Democrats even more disheartened and discombobulated. And to find some perspective Chauncey shares the wisdom of Brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his much overlooked speech he delivered at the "Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom" on May 17, 1957.

This week's podcast with Ian Haney Lopez can be listened to or downloaded here.

My Conversation With Chris Hedges About America's Diseased Society and How Donald Trump is Just a Symptom of a Much Bigger Problem

Chris Hedges is the author of the new book America: The Farewell Tour.

He is also the author of numerous award winning and bestselling works including Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle, Death of a Liberal Class, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, and Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.

Chris Hedges and Chauncey discuss how America is a deeply sick and pathological society, why Donald Trump is the symptom and not the cause of this disease, and the role of celebrity culture and consumerism in the downfall of American democracy.

Chris Hedges and Chauncey also reflect on the need for a more advanced and sophisticated understanding of how race and class relate to one another and the perils of empty symbolic politics such as the so-called "Women's March". Chris Hedges also explains why peoples resistance movements such as Standing Rock and the Ferguson Uprising are the real way forward if American democracy and a humane and free society are to finally be created and salvaged in the country.

During this week's podcast Chauncey asks, "What year is it?" when New Age Jim Crow Enforcers are keeping black folks from voting in Georgia, Jewish-Americans and others are being made into second class citizens by Christian fascists with the support of the Trump regime, and the fascist bigot Donald Trump tells transgender people that their personhood is "illegal" and their identities do not exist under American law.

On this week's show Chauncey also celebrates Jeremiah Harvey, a 9-year-old black child, who refused to forgive a white racist woman who claimed he groped her.

This week's podcast with Chris Hedges can be listened to or downloaded here.

A Conversation with Tim Wise About Donald Trump's "White Genocide" Obsession and the Dangers of "White Identity Politics"

Anti-racism activist, author, and scholar Tim Wise is the guest on this week's edition of The Chauncey DeVega Show. Tim Wise is the author of numerous books including his most recent Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America.

On this week's show, Tim and Chauncey discuss Donald Trump's obsessions with "white genocide" in South Africa, the true meaning of "White Identity Politics" and its relationship to Whiteness, if racists and other bigots should be shamed in public via social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and white racial paranoia about the so-called "browning of America".  

During this week's podcast Chauncey reviews, how again, another white supremacist--this time one who is associated with some of the country and world's most prominent neo Nazis--has been discovered writing public policy in Trump's White House.

Chauncey also shares a story about the real power of love--in this case a 99-year-old man who walks 6 miles everyday to see his wife in the hospital. And during this week's Labor Day episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show our intrepid host is also very excited to go see Maceo Parker perform at the Chicago Jazz Festival.  

This episode with Tim Wise can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here.

A Conversation with Sociologist Joe Feagin About White Liberal Racism and the Browning of America

Joe Feagin is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. This is part two of our conversation which began on last week's very special 200th show.

He is a distinguished professor of sociology at Texas A&M University and one of the leading scholars of race and social inequality in the world. Professor Feagin has written dozens of books including The White Racial Frame:Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing, Racist America, and How Blacks Built America. 

Professor Feagin and Chauncey discuss "liberal racism", the so-called "browning of America", how the language developed by social scientists and others to describe racism and white supremacy is inadequate, and white racial logic and social change. Professor Feagin also shares his hopes and fears about America's future and the long view of the country's history.

In this week's special part 2 of the 200th episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Mama DeVega makes her triumphant return. She is angry at the local Chinese restaurant, is combating Trump fiends at the gym, and explains that she wouldn't be nice to white bigots with the hope of changing their minds about racism like Daryl Davis does. Mama DeVega also shares a story about seeing the great late Aretha Franklin in concert.

And at the end of this week's show Chauncey explains the real reason that Trump is stripping his enemies of their security clearances, calls out ICE thugs who waylay pregnant women and their partners, and has a good time discussing how a white man in Florida was caught on video complaining that the police were "treating him like a black man".

In honor of the 200th episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Chauncey also shares one of his favorite things as an "Easter egg" at the end of this week's podcast.

This episode with Joe Feagin and Mama DeVega can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here.

A Conversation with Sociologist Joe Feagin About the Enduring Power of Racism in Trump's America; Kevin Willmott, Writer of "BlacKkKlansman", Reflects on the Absurdity of White Supremacy

There are two guests on part one of this very special two-part 200th episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show.

Kevin Willmott is a professor of film at The University of Kansas. He is also one of the writers on Spike Lee's great new film BlacKkKlansman. Kevin and Chauncey discuss the surreal truth of how Ron Stallworth, a black man, teamed up with a fellow police officer, who is Jewish, to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Kevin also reflects on how BlacKkKlansman is a direct counter to the racism and bigotry of Trump's America, W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of "double consciousness", blaxploitation films and the desperation of hate mongers. Chauncey and Kevin also share what happened when they watched BlacKkKlansman in a theater with white Donald Trump supporters.

Joe Feagin is the second guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is a distinguished professor of sociology at Texas A&M University and one of the leading scholars of race and social inequality in the world. Professor Feagin has written dozens of books including The White Racial Frame:Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing, Racist America, and How Blacks Built America

During this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Professor Feagin and Chauncey discuss the myth of white "working class anxiety" and Trump's election, liberal racism, and all of the myths and half-truths being circulated about race and class in the parts of the country which voted for Donald Trump. Professor Feagin also offers some warnings about the hope that "millennials" and other young white people will be and are less racist and bigoted than their parents and grandparents.

In this week's very special 200th episode, Chauncey DeVega ponders if a black man named Daryl Davis who befriends white supremacists and brings them to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. is a hero or perhaps just a well-intentioned but gullible man.

And at the end of this week's show, Chauncey gives some advice to a black woman who is dating a white man who refuses to acknowledge her anxieties and fears about racism and violence in Trump's America.

This episode with Joe Feagin and Kevin Willmott can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here.

A Conversation with Historian Daina Ramey Berry About the Financial Value of Black People's Bodies During American Slavery

Daina Ramey Berry is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. She is an associate professor of history and African and African diaspora studies, and the George W. Littlefield Fellow in American History, at the University of Texas at Austin.

Professor Berry is the author of the new book The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation.

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On this week's podcast Professor Berry and Chauncey discuss how the monetary value of black enslaved people in America was determined from the cradle to the grave, the selling of black people's bodies (both alive and dead) to medical schools, the barbaric practice known as "womb insurance", the saga of Nat Turner's skull, the many ways that black human property fought back and resisted their dehumanization by white society, and how chattel slavery ultimately built American empire. Professor Berry also shares what it was like to work as a historical consultant on the recent "Roots" TV series.

In this week's episode, Chauncey announces the launch of the official Patreon page for The Chauncey DeVega Show. 

Chauncey also ponders the musical stylings of the "raw dog" lothario Donald Trump and the new details about his affair with a Playboy bunny. Chauncey also explains how Cambridge Analytica helped to manipulate Trump's ignorant, gullible racist human deplorables by data mining and focus groups--and yes, by singling out the viewers of Duck Dynasty and The Walking Dead.

At the end of this week's podcast Chauncey shares a story about the African-American and white descendants of a white slave master who gathered together at his plantation to reflect on their "shared" "family" history.

This episode with Daina Ramey Berry can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here.

The Chauncey DeVega Show is available on Itunes, Spotify and at Stitcher.

A Conversation with Dedrick Asante-Muhammad About How the Racial Wealth Gap is a Threat to American Prosperity and Democracy

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is Senior Fellow, Racial Wealth Divide at Prosperity Now and one of the principle authors of the much-discussed report, The Road to Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class.

Dedrick has also held senior leadership positions with the NAACP and the National Action Network.

On this week's podcast Dedrick and Chauncey share their personal reflections on race, family, and upward mobility, how class identity is incorrectly depicted in American popular culture as well as the perils and allure of TV programs such as Blackish and The Cosby Show. Dedrick also explains how the racial wealth gap is a threat to American prosperity (and democracy) for all people on both sides of the color line.

In this week's episode, Chauncey advises caution for all the Democrats who are celebrating a win in the Pennsylvania special election and warns the public to not buy into the silly narrative that Donald Trump is somehow weakened by all of the supposed "chaos" in the White House.

During this week's podcast Chauncey also reads a story about the working poor and a wonderful woman who worked for Disney World and could not afford a proper place to live--she was found dead in the car which served as her home.

At the end of this week's podcast Chauncey shares some fun and bizarre stories about a gang of little people who robbed homes in Boston and how a man tried to seduce a gorilla named "Big George" at a zoo. And of course, Chauncey laments the end of Toys R Us.

This episode with Dedrick Asante-Muhammad can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here.

The Chauncey DeVega Show is available on Itunes, Spotify and at Stitcher.

A Conversation With Timothy Snyder About America's Sick Democracy and If Donald Trump Will Cancel the 2108 Midterm Elections

There are two guests on this week's special fundraising month episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show.

Jared Yates Sexton is the author of The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore: A Story of American Rage. He is also a professor in the Writing and Linguistics Department at Georgia Southern University. Jared is a fellow traveler and friend of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He and Chauncey sit down at the virtual bar and salon and catch up on recent developments about the Mueller investigation, Trump's vileness, the horrible things lurking in the shadows, Trump and the Republican Party's treason, and of course professional wrestling.

Timothy Snyder makes a return appearance on The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is one of the world's foremost experts on fascism, authoritarianism, and the rise of Donald Trump. He is a Professor of History at Yale University and the author of the New York Times bestselling book On Tyranny. This is Professor Snyder's third appearance on The Chauncey DeVega Show. On this week's podcast he reflects on the state of American democracy after one year under Trump, cautions us all to be mindful of how the rule of law is being eroded, and warns about how Trump and his allies may try to stop the 2018 Congressional elections.

In this week's episode, Chauncey connects the dots between Trump's sociopathic behavior and the Parkland, Florida massacre. Chauncey also highlights the dangers of the Culture of Cruelty and how Trump's sociopathy is revealed in the broader war on so-called "illegal immigrants" in America. And at the end of this week's special fundraising month installment of the podcast, Chauncey shares a wonderful story about one of our doggie friends who decided to run for public office.

This episode with Jared Yates Sexton and Timothy Snyder can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here.

The Chauncey DeVega Show is available on Itunes, Spotify and at Stitcher.