by M. Scott

Racism: Defined by Mirriam-Webster:

1: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

2a: a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles
b: a political or social system founded on racism

3: racial prejudice or discrimination

The History and Dictionary Meaning of Racism

Racism appears to be a word of recent origin, with no citations currently known that would suggest the word was in use prior to the early 20th century. But the fact that the word is fairly new does not prove that the concept of racism did not exist in the distant past. Things may have words to describe them before they exist (spaceship, for instance, has been in use since the 19th century, well before the rocket-fired vessels were invented), and things may exist for a considerable time before they are given names (t-shirt does not appear in print until the 20th century, although the article of clothing existed prior to 1900).

Race/Ethnicity/Humility (ESPN):

“……….In a nutshell, what’s happened to Newton and his contract is unprecedented in recent NFL history. And there’s no explanation for such a small contract for a once transcendent talent other than a league of mostly white executives viewing Newton as not worth the headache, a reputation Newton has not earned.

Regardless, since his breakout season at Auburn in 2010, Newton has been viewed as a problem in need of humility. He is too arrogant, his celebrations are too … celebratory, he pouts when he loses. Never mind that those same characteristics could describe any white quarterback, particularly the one Newton is replacing in New England.
But in the history of American sports, most notably football, Black athletes are expected to be absent of charisma or anger or hubris. Black wide receivers of the previous decade were “divas.” Every season there’s a new boisterous cornerback who elicits media attention and scrutiny: Richard Sherman to Norman to Jalen Ramsey. For Black quarterbacks, if they aren’t viewed as docile or bashful in the vein of Russell Wilson or Patrick Mahomes, they’re problematic. Michael Vick rubbed white America the wrong way long before Bad Newz Kennels.

Sociologists found a link between race/ethnicity and humility, which included the personality traits of “conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional awareness, the absence of narcissism, low self-esteem.” African Americans (and Arab Americans) showed more characteristics that lined up with humility than white Americans. In short, there’s an expectation for Black people to be humble, but not for white Americans.

NFL’s Redskins renamed as Washington Football Team for 2020 season

The NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will go by the Washington Football Team for at least the 2020 season, giving the organization time to choose a new, full-time name. The team has been known as the Redskins since 1933. Gone are the head logo and the name Native American advocates have called a dictionary-defined racial slur.

Is Black Lives Matter a Marxist movement?

From Tom Kertscher (PolitiFact)

Backlash against Black Lives Matter includes branding it as Marxist. The attack has been made in recent weeks by Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer; Ben Carson, Trump’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development; conservative talk show host Mark Levin; and PragerU, which has more than 4 million Facebook followers.

Marxism was developed by 19th century German philosopher Karl Marx and is the basis for the theory of communism and socialism. “Marxism envisioned the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by the proletariat (working class people) and eventually a classless communist society,” Encyclopedia Britannica and Oxford Reference say.
These days, Marxism usually means analyzing social change through an economic lens, with the assumption that the rich and the poor should become more equal.

In a recently surfaced 2015 interview, one of the three Black Lives Matter co-founders declared that she and another co-founder “are trained Marxists.”

But the movement has grown and broadened dramatically. Many Americans, few of whom would identify as Marxists, support Black Lives Matter, drawn to its message of anti-racism.

“Regardless of whatever the professed politics of people may be who are prominent in the movement, they don’t represent its breadth,” said Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Princeton University African American Studies professor and author of “From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.”

“There are definitely socialists within the movement, as there have been in every single social movement in 20th century American history and today. But that does not make those socialist movements, it makes them mass movements,” she said.

NY Times (Roger Cohen)

“….no people has found the American lurch toward authoritarianism under President Trump more alarming than the Germans. For postwar Germany, the United States was savior, protector and liberal democratic model. Now, Germans, in shock, speak of the American catastrophe.

Michael Steinberg, a professor of history at Brown University and the former president of the American Academy in Berlin, wrote to me this week:

“…..the events in Portland have particularly alarmed me as a kind of strategic experiment for fascism. The playbook from the German fall of democracy in 1933 seems well in place including rogue military factions, the destabilization of cities, etc. The basic comparison involves racism as a political strategy; a racist imaginary of a pure homeland, with cities demonized as places of decadence.

Black Voices in History

Call out Quote: ”Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.”
The Honorable John Robert Lewis
(February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020)

John Robert Lewis was an American politician and civil-rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020.

Lewis was one of the “Big Six” leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington. He fulfilled many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States. In 1965, Lewis led the Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In an incident which became known as Bloody Sunday, armed Alabama police attacked unarmed civil rights demonstrators, including Lewis, Hosea Williams, and Amelia Boynton.

Juan Mancera, George Alger, Michelle Hoover and May Christine Ballestero have helped pass one million.

Our Ventura TV recently surpassed a million online views, all in addition to multiple millions of television views on Ventura cable channel 6 TV.

Our Ventura TV is an award-winning weekly talk-show television series broadcast on Ventura cable channel 6 TV and also published on OurVentura.com as well as on social media networks. The programs are primarily about individuals, nonprofits, community advocates, leaders, artists and organizations who contribute in some way to the Ventura County community.

Since the series began in 2008, the theme for the TV series has been “People doing good things in Ventura County” and the surrounding area. The majority of programs are talk shows featuring guests who are interviewed about their community activities. Additionally, there are music and other creative productions.

The series is produced by George Alger and directed by Michelle Hoover. Several of the most active hosts include Sandra Siepak, MB Hanrahan and Monique Nowlin, as well as George Alger. Some of the key crew include Mary Christine Ballestero and Juan Mancera.

As a result of the pandemic the series expanded to integrate video conferencing so that guests can get their message out from their own home or office.

Producer George Alger said: “We’ve been honored to broadcast many individuals and organizations over the years and we wish to include your message, as well.”

If you’d like to be a guest on Our Ventura TV, just visit OurVentura.com and click “Contact” to get scheduled. There’s no cost for non-commercial messages.

Note: Breeze publisher Sheldon Brown and Staci Brown have been featured on the show.

A replica of the Tomol, might grace the front of our City Hall.

Text and photo ©Robert Chianese [email protected]

Native Chumash representatives, the City of San Buenaventura, and the Ventura Mission Church have reached agreement to move the large statue of Father Junipero Serra that fronts the Ventura City Hall to the nearby Mission grounds. This may end the fight over where to site the statue of this iconic figure, a saint to some, to others an enslaver and cruel master to Native Californians up and down the state.

People’s heightened awareness of America’s real history enables its shameful legacy of enslavement, dominance of indigenous peoples, and oppression of minorities to take center stage. That grows out of the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality this spring, and makes Serra’s central public place in Ventura’s community untenable for many. He should exit his pedestal, a santo obscando. The chain link cage around him protects him from being defaced or torn down before he can be moved, with bouquets and votive offerings signaling support of others.

Who or what to put in his place?

I propose that we Venturans commemorate the original founders of Buenaventura– the Chumash who established a village here called Shishalop. (Earlier residents, the Oak Grove Peoples, are obscured in the veils of pre-history.)

Specifically, a bronze replica of their fantastic ocean-going canoe, the Tomol, might grace the front of our City Hall. As a city monument, the Tomol would honor the Chumash’s look to the ocean and mastery of seagoing life and wise selection of a magnificent site to settle in, as we have done today. Placed on top the Padre pedestal, it would look out to the sea with ancient longing, but also with the heroic energy and ingenuity that these native peoples put to the complex engineering task of building these ocean-going watercraft that enabled strong, kneeling paddlers to cross to the Channel Islands.

A tomol at the Ventura Albinger Archaeological Museum, made by modern Chumash, clearly shows the deep-V curvilinear shape for speed and breaking through waves and planing on top of the water with a high bow and stern. The planking, binding and decorative details show the attention to their engineering artistry. A replica could proudly front our Ventura City Hall.

We already have a sculptural replica of the tomol. It graces the side of the downtown parking structure, vertically aligned with the building, its paddles forming an abstract pattern when the shadows are right. However, it’s more artistry than history and somewhat hidden from view.

A separate tomol sculpture in front of City Hall would bring to civic consciousness Native history and artistry, the painful ravages of racism, and the city’s modern commitment to the accurate portrayal of the past through an object worthy of public excitement and even veneration.

by M. Scott

This is our first Social Justice column. As the consensus continues to grow regarding the stark reality of systemic racism in American life, the Ventura Breeze recognizes the important role played by the press in helping to increase awareness and foster conversation around this very important issue. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has garnered the support of activists from every walk of life. Nationwide, these activists have organized protests and demanded the removal of statues and monuments honoring public figures connected to slavery or crimes against indigenous people. They are highlighting discriminatory hiring practices, calling for the defunding and/or restructuring of police departments and much more. These deeply emotive, controversial issues are forcing many of us to engage in serious reflection and some difficult conversations as we acknowledge a larger systemic issue and shared responsibility to commit to change.

We look forward to your contributions and input about this difficult subject.

Black Lives Matter Movement

BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. The Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.

The Black Lives Matter website goes on to say that, “By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.”

To learn more, visit www.BlackLivesMatter.com

Social Movement News & Happenings:

Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, often called “the granddaddy of all Confederate monuments,” is once again at the center of an ongoing debate over a symbol that some see as a shrine of southern American heritage, and others see as a depiction of white supremacy etched into stone. Calls for racial equality have swelled in Georgia following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks.

The carvings of three Confederate leaders Gen. Robert E. Lee, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis sits 400 feet above the ground, which is larger than a football field. The memorial overlooks an outdoor recreational park and casts a shadow over Stone Mountain, Georgia, a predominantly black city.

Mississippi has made it official: The state’s flag, which bears the familiar cross of the Confederate battle flag, will officially be changed. The state’s Republican governor, Tate Reeves signed the decision into law, solidifying yet another response to ongoing racial reckonings around the country.

Governor Reeves said: “There are people on either side of the flag debate who may never understand the other. We as a family must show empathy. We must understand that all who want change are not attempting to erase history. And all who want the status quo are not meanspirited or hateful.”

Stop Hate for Profit: www.StopHateForProfit.org

‘Stop Hate for Profit is a diverse and growing coalition that wants Facebook to take common-sense steps to address the rampant racism, disinformation and hate on its platform. It includes some of the most prominent civil rights groups and nonprofit organizations in the country including ADL, Color of Change, Common Sense, Free Press, LULAC, Mozilla, NAACP, National Hispanic Media Center, and Sleeping Giants.

More than 1,000 advertisers have joined in a month-long boycott of Facebook. The “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign has signed on big-name advertisers including Unilever (ticker: UL), Starbucks (SBUX), and Coca-Cola (KO).

College Athletics

College athletes in Mississippi and across the country have harnessed their collective power to call for the removal of Confederate monuments, symbols and honorifics and demand their institutions and communities account for racial inequities.

Stars from the University of Mississippi football team in this North Mississippi town have used their platform to push for the removal of Confederate statues on and off campus and marched alongside their coaches, fellow students and residents for social change. Meanwhile, a star running back at Mississippi State University, Kylin Hill, publicly threatened to quit his team if the Confederate battle emblem wasn’t removed from the state flag that had flown in Mississippi since 1894.

The University of Oregon and Oregon State University Departments of Athletics have mutually agreed to no longer refer to Oregon-Oregon State rivalry games as the “Civil War.” This decision is effective immediately and includes all athletic competitions in the 2020-21 academic year and in the years ahead.

The schools made the decision following mutual discussions as well as conversations with university officials and input from current and former student-athletes from both schools.

Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship awards by announcing this year’s winners in 10 categories. In addition to the 10 category winners, the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards has also recognized Lynne Tahmisian, President of La Arcada Investment Corporation as the 2020 Rock Star: Life Achievement Award recipient.

The 10 category winners and Tahmisian will be celebrated at a virtual event on Tuesday, July 21 from 4 – 5:30 pm.

WEV is thrilled to celebrate these outstanding entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis when women owned businesses have been hit especially hard by shelter in place COVID-19 related restrictions.

by Maria Loveday

I recently received my B.A. degree in art history/art studio from CSUCI. My final capstone project was a research paper analyzing the history, controversy, and vandalism of Junipero Serra and his commemorative statues in California with a focus on the bronze Serra statue in front of Ventura City Hall.

Some interesting research findings include :

Seventy-five years after Serra’s death, 19th c. writers and historians constructed Serra’s civic persona with the goal of masking his Catholic identity which made him more acceptable to non-Catholics as the founder of California.

Both the bronze and wood Serra statues are in violation of the 1st Amendment, just as the Serra Cross was in a 2003 case brought against the city which involved issues of separation of church and state which forced the city to sell the property and cross to a local preservation group.

Recontextualization of controversial monuments and memorials through the commission of counter monuments and interpretive plaques reflecting previously oppressed narratives serve educational purposes.

Serra had a medieval mindset derived from the founding of the Franciscan Order in Assisi, Italy in 1209. Corporal punishment for sins was one of the values upheld by Saint Francis of Assisi and Serra took this to heart as he was known by his fellow friars for being particularly drawn to self flagellation to atone for sins of the flesh. Certainly, scantily clad indigenous Californians would have represented sin to such a pious man as Serra. When natives refused to convert to Catholicism they were flogged if not by Serra, then as a result of his orders. These tactics were hardly respectful of indigenous traditional cultures which had not known corporal punishment.

Contemporary California historians provide ample evidence that the mission system which Serra founded in 1769 laid the foundations for the enslavement and genocide of California’s indigenous peoples regardless of whether Serra intended this outcome or not. The decimation of indigenous cultures in California extends from the 1500’s with the first European explorers to Serra’s mission system to Mexican rule to the Gold Rush and California’s statehood to 2020 Serra statue conflicts. These statues embody oppressive ideologies which have caused generational trauma and continue to cause suffering for indigenous peoples.

It is unfortunate that Ventura has yet to remove their prominent Serra statue, a marker defining its citizenry as supporters of indigenous enslavement and genocide. This is an unpopular position to uphold when historically oppressed peoples are calling for justice through peaceful protests worldwide. The most talked about solution is to remove the statue to San Buenaventura Mission where it would not be recontextualized. If this happens an interpretive plaque needs to replace the statue to explain what happened for the benefit of future generations. An alternate solution might be to replace the statue with one that more accurately reflects Ventura citizens in 2020 and add a plaque about what used to be there. If the Serra statue remained in place the City could fund Chumash artists to sculpt counter monuments and author interpretive plaques for educational purposes balancing the current Eurocentric narrative.

The removal and/or recontextualization of oppressive statues does not lead to the erasure of history, but seeks to reveal histories that have been repressed. Restitution for harms done to indigenous peoples during California’s colonization is long overdue. While it is admirable that citizens, the City Council and the Mayor of Ventura are reevaluating the Serra statue for removal, it remains to be seen whether or not this city and its people are ready to face its’ past and move forward or deny its’ past and remain stuck in illusions which uphold repressive colonialist ideologies.

Serra statue not historic landmark

The Ventura Historic Preservation Committee has decided that the bronze statue of Father Junipero Serra standing in front of City Hall is not a historic landmark. Based upon the fact that it is a replacement of the original statue.

Ventura Community Development Director Peter Gilli stated “It’s important to note for the public that a statue of a historic figure at a prominent location does not automatically make the statue a historic landmark. Also, just the fact that an object is important to the community would not automatically make an object historic.”

The committee voted 4-1 against the statue’s historic status with Vice Chairwoman Ann Huston casting the no vote

CC decisions on statue is scheduled for 6pm

The Ventura City Council on Tuesday night delayed their decision on whether to permanently remove two statues of Father Junipero Serra. One is located in city hall and the other across the street. The delay was due to a technical oversight.

The next meeting on the statue is scheduled for 6pm on Wednesday, July 15. The meeting will be virtual. Go to cityofventura.ca.gov for information on how to watch and participate in the discussion.