needs your help to save lives. We’ll tell you how on this
We’ll tell you how on this
special edition of Houston
Newsmakers. From KPRC. 2, this
is Houston newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
Khambrel Marshall.
It has happened again in
America. Innocent victim shot
and killed because of the color
of their skin. Sometimes it’s
been because of ethnicity or
religion. But and Buffalo last Saturday, according to the
Saturday, according to the
teenager who wrote about it
beforehand and is now in jail.
It was because they were black
we start our conversation this
morning with Doctor James
Dixon, the second, the pastor of the Community of Faith,
of the Community of Faith,
Church and president of the
Houston area. NAACP dinner
Marks a senior associate
director of the Anti Defamation
league southwest Justin Robinson. The 3rd is president
Robinson. The 3rd is president
and CEO of the Houston Area
Urban League. Plus the Dixon.
You wrote an op-ed this week
describing the murders this
week as Perverted Patriotism.
What did you mean by that? Well, thank you for having us
Well, thank you for having us
come Brown. This is a serious
matter of fact. There’s.
>> Extremist are carrying out
what they believed to be patriotic actions when they
patriotic actions when they
embrace this conspiracy called
a replacement, dairy
replacement, the Great
replacement theory. It’s about eliminating blacks and others
eliminating blacks and others
with a fear seeking to dominate
the country money to buy the
politic. and so with patriotic,
first up and even religious fervor that carrying out these
fervor that carrying out these
extremist acts of violence,
thinking that this satisfying
their version of God, their
version of
American freedom, I’m going to ban or I under the auspices
to ban or I under the auspices
of a vibe at the flag and the
Bible is birth. Prevent the
allergy and perverted
Patriotism. And I know ADL Jean, Dana of keeps track of
Jean, Dana of keeps track of
transit violence like the kind
we saw in Buffalo this past
week. What are some of the
facts about this is our
country.
>> Seems to be getting more and more of this kind of violence
more of this kind of violence
related to race, religious
ethnic violence. Well, the
trends are that violence fueled
by hate is getting worse and worse and more and more.
worse and more and more.
So the hate crimes statistics
that came out were up. We do an
audit of anti Semitic,
Anti-Jewish incidents every year. This time this year or
year. This time this year or
in 2021, is at its highest
level since we’ve been keeping
records. And so that also
proves that one type of hate fields, other types of hate.
fields, other types of hate.
So nobody is really This hate
and the these people are doing
as pastor as Bishop Dixon says
in the name of patriotism is actually the opposite of that
actually the opposite of that
because this country was not
founded on hating each other.
It was providing equity and
opportunity for everybody.
I know Jetson, the Urban
league’s on the front lines of >> trying to look at some of
>> trying to look at some of
the problems and solve some of
the problems as well. I know
that the Urban League and the
ADL and the NAACP all forming
a group to try to kind of come
up with why these problems are
come up with some sides, sort
of solutions. What kind of
problems do you see that can be
solved by people coming together with organizations
together with organizations
such as yours? Well, I think
we’ll have mutual problems.
You know, one of the main
problems getting people to the
polls to vote.
>> To ensure that, you know, those who reflect or interest
those who reflect or interest
and your beliefs of being
elected elections are getting
closer and closer. Voter
suppression is continuing to
occur. New laws are being put in place every day throughout
in place every day throughout
the country. That’s helping to
narrow these races down and to
ensure that, you know, those
who a few by perhaps, well, the
ones that are getting to the polls, we have to make sure the
polls, we have to make sure the
message is one that makes sense
for the vast majority in
the middle. The middle is what
runs the country if they will
get involved in the gauge.
But only one out of every 5
voters is going to the polls
right now. You know, that’s not
going to get it when the other
4. But typically people
probably a little
bit more moderate and this
whole they want to step back
to Saturday. What did you think
when you first heard about
that? I know my feelings were
I haven’t the anything on
Facebook. I had to come sit
with you about it or I was so
angry about it because I can’t
separate.
>> Myself, I’m a journalist to
try to be objective. I can’t
separate myself as a black man
in America who might have been
shopping, who might have been
killed because I’m a black man.
>> Welcome to my. My first
reaction are as a black man. I am that I wake up black every
I am that I wake up black every
day and I appreciate the fact
that the ship hate crimes are
escalating, work for 2 and for
others as well. Blacks lead
the list, right? And that’s
what I want you to. let’s just
say this black on the most
hated people group in America.
Think about that statement.
I wake up black every day those
people woke up black in one
shop and the only thing they
did wrong in the mind of that
extreme is and people like him,
they woke up black and when
shopping while black, you can
change that reality. That’s we
can be good. Left the cable
play sports. One of the caley
businesses going out. We can’t
do enough education. We came to
nothing religion with spill
characterized as an unwanted group to be expelled and
group to be expelled and
exterminate by some people.
And you talked about politics
being a big part of it. And
then I know that you keep track
of these kind of things as
well. So if we know that those
issues are in place and we know
that those issues arising, do
we know what do we have any
kind of sense about what some
of the solutions might be to
curbing that other than trying
to be more informative to the public. And hopefully they’ll
public. And hopefully they’ll
listen. But right now we know
people in various silos, they
listen to only who they want to
listen to. Yeah.
>> That is one of the problems
we need to stop the spread of dis-information. That’s a huge
dis-information. That’s a huge
problem that we need to
address. as Judson was saying,
people are being elected who not only feel is hate but
not only feel is hate but
spread this hate. We have to
learn to be critical thinkers.
We have to learn to judge and
understand what the truth is.
And certainly we have to take action and ADL is taking all
action and ADL is taking all
kinds of action. We’re trying
to get people to promote the
pro, passing of the domestic
Terrorism Prevention Act passed in the House. Now we need to
in the House. Now we need to
tell our senators to pass it
we’re trying to get people to
speak out against hate whenever
and wherever it occurs, we can’t do it alone. Someone who
can’t do it alone. Someone who
was at the vigil that Bishop
Dixon had yesterday talked
about how it’s incumbent upon
each of us, but it’s our
collective efforts that are going to really make a
going to really make a
difference. So how do you fight
the battle of trying to change
the landscape when you know
that politics are involved in a
big way and those people being
elected. You talked about that. >> We’re not do nonprofit
>> We’re not do nonprofit
organizations and sometimes you
kind of.
You know that that line about
being a nonprofit be really
getting involved in the politics of it all. How do you
politics of it all. How do you
tiptoe around? Well, just say
the heck with it push on
through. But I think much like
after the George Floyd
incident, people look at who was doing the work. They tried
was doing the work. They tried
to support those agencies that
work. I’m sure this Dixon
should be knows. Organization
Urban League. We also a bit of
a rise in terms of people
helping us to do the work that needs to be done.
needs to be done.
We’ve got to have discussions.
You know, we’ve got working
with the NAACP and the Urban
League are young people to
come. The other having
discussions are getting to know
each other to understand each
other’s history in back rooms. >> And building relationships
>> And building relationships
now. So the 10, 20 years down
the road, we want to have these
types of problems. We’ve got to
make sure that all coming to
talk to each other. 3rd, we’ve got to get our politics to get.
got to get our politics to get.
We’ve got to make sure that the
people that were electing other
people that are going to
represent the best for this
country and for every
individual and every
individual. And that’s all the
way we get there. We’re going to talk. We have more on
to talk. We have more on
newsmakers actually want you to
continue to watch this
conversation. We have more to
come. But before I do that,
>> you wrote and I heard this
before and I had a conversation with the Congress and now
with the Congress and now
congressman who didn’t believe
this is true but use its
silence, its complicity.
Yes, complicity its consent to all that happened. Your
to all that happened. Your
thoughts, individual before
we go? Well, every leader must
speak the right force
religiously. We’ve got leaders
will speak. We’ve got
politicians who won’t speak.
Think of a voice that you have not heard condemning this and
not heard condemning this and
condemning the rhetoric that
fuels it. That’s complicity.
That skill set. That’s
confirming the action. Even with your silence.
with your silence.
>> Everything that Bishop Dixon
said, you cannot be silent
whenever there is something
that happens, it could be the
smallest little hateful act. But when something as egregious
But when something as egregious
and horrible and biggest, this
happens, it needs to be
condemned across the board and
that’s not happening. We really
need to get to that point where
we can allow or tolerate this
kind of hate to fester and grow
and 2 blow up in this sort of
way.
>> Well, you know, fear is a is
a crippling weapon weapon.
We’ve got to ensure that people
are willing to stand up to it
to face it, to confront it,
to address it and the come
forth with the truth.
We have to be willing to face
the truth. And sometimes people
do that and we’re going
continue our conversation. But all of this on newsmakers
But all of this on newsmakers
extra, that’s on the newsmakers