Transcript: Jim Simpson of Accuracy In Media Interviews Mychal Massie

Accuracy in Media: It is extremely difficult to speak frankly about race issues today. We are painfully aware of the history of slavery, segregation, and oppression of blacks. Yet, it is difficult to ignore the violence and racism evident in, for example, the recent riots in Ferguson, MO, following the exoneration of officer Darren Wilson for shooting Michael Brown. How do we bridge this divide?

Massie: I object to your entire supposition. Words like “Black community” and being called a “minority” are insults to me. I am an American. How can I be a minority if there are 300 million of me? That is segregative speech. It identifies black people as “different.” People don’t think about these things until you mention them.

And not all blacks were oppressed. For example, in that period when Rosa Parks was famously thrown off the bus, I was riding in the front of the bus with a white nanny. Americans, specifically white Americans, have a mindset that blacks were treated unfairly, but it is a myth that all blacks had to surmount racism. Blame all this on lack of industry to seek the truth.

[adsanity id=8405 align=alignleft /]AIM: That is a narrative we don’t hear very often. Can you elaborate?

Massie: Sure. We have to remember that slavery ended 150 years ago. 150 years! We need to get over it. Furthermore, our perceptions of that period do not reflect the reality. People have this picture of oppressive slave owners lording over hundreds of slaves with whips and chains, while living large from the sweat off their backs. The truth is rather different. The majority of slave owners had only 1 to 5 slaves and earned a modest living, roughly $2,000 to $3,000 per year—which translates to between $56,000 and $86,000 in today’s dollars. In many cases, slave and master worked and ate together.

Furthermore, many slave owners were black. For example, in 1860 New Orleans, over 3,000 blacks–28 percent of the total black population–owned slaves. The wealthiest plantation ever—black or white—was a black-owned plantation in New Orleans, with an estate valued at $7.5 million in today’s dollars. For perspective, the average southern white man’s wealth was equivalent to about $112,000 in today’s dollars.

There were a great number of blacks who came out of slavery before it ended and established wealthy careers. One of these, William Ellison, engaged in slave breeding at a time when white slave owners opposed it. By 1860, Ellison was one of the wealthiest men and the largest black slave owner in South Carolina. He owned 900 acres of land, more than 95 percent of South Carolinians owned. His residence was the home of former South Carolina Governor, Stephen Miller. And Ellison was an ardent supporter of the Confederacy. You don’t hear that too often!

AIM: Doing a little research I found that prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, the southern Indian tribes, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, owned collectively over 8,000 slaves—comprising 14 percent of the tribal population. The Cherokee took many of their slaves with them on the Trail of Tears.

Massie: I have covered the topic of slavery here and abroad but have not focused on that aspect. But it is another demonstration of the ignorance that blames America for slavery when it has been practiced by most societies since Adam and Eve, and still goes on today.

Blacks were slaves; we can’t deny that. But if blacks were intellectually honest, they would have to admit that coming to America even as slaves was the best thing that happened to them. This is not me talking. Booker T. Washington said this. So did Muhammad Ali. Following his fight with George Foreman in Zaire, Ali was asked how he liked Africa. He answered, “Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat.”

AIM: What is your take on Ferguson? Did the protesters have a valid point?

Massie: Ferguson is an undeniable exhibition of the depravity of a people. No one burns down their own homes and stores. Civilized people do not behave this way. Michael Brown was terrorizing his own neighborhood. It was only a matter of time before police or another gangster shot him.

AIM: Blacks are disproportionately represented in arrest and incarceration statistics. Why is this so? Do these statistics reflect institutional racism? Is there an epidemic of police violence against blacks?

Massie: This is a myth. About 200 persons of color are killed by police every year, mostly involving criminals who fight back. Most are not the fault of law enforcement officers. Meanwhile, there are 8,000 black on black murders every year. Why don’t we hear about that?

There is another one too. I have a video “Just How Much Do Black Lives Matter?” in which I argue that black lives do not in fact matter—to black women. From 1882 to 1968, 3,446 blacks were lynched. But from 1973 until the present time, a period of 42 years, 17.3 million black babies were aborted. Why don’t we hear about that? Did white policemen do that? That 17.3 million is equivalent to 45 percent of the black population today. So do black lives really matter?

AIM: Cloward and Piven stated in their infamous 1966 Nation Magazine article, “The Weight of the Poor,” that, “If organizers can deliver millions of dollars in cash benefits to the ghetto masses, it seems reasonable to expect that the masses will deliver their loyalties to their benefactors.” Their ideas were the inspiration for Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society welfare expansion. It was never their intention to make blacks happy with welfare. The purpose of this strategy was to enslave blacks and keep them perpetually dissatisfied with their lot in order to make them militant.

Massie: At the signing of the Civil Rights Act, 87 percent of black homes had married, two parent households and 40 percent of blacks were business owners. What happened? The Civil Rights Act became bastardized. I would argue that it should have never been signed, but instead we should have just honored the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Nixon introduced affirmative action. Blacks became pets of government, and today blacks remain pets of government.

Blacks have been conditioned to believe they are “owed something” rather than having to “earn” something. They are conditioned to see nothing wrong with a mentality that not only suggests, but also applauds their ability to gain access based on lowered expectations rather than meritocracy.

AIM: We know that Barack Obama was mentored by Frank Marshall Davis, a credentialed member of the CPUSA. We also know that many of Obama’s advisors are children or otherwise related to Davis’s Chicago communist associates. Obama was also schooled in Indonesia and had a Muslim step-father. What does all this say about Obama himself? What are his guiding principles?

Massie: In 1980, Obama was telling people “we need a revolution.” He believed it was the only way that communism could take over and banish the ruling class in America. Obama has not changed his beliefs. History has been obfuscated and white-washed. Those of us who know the truth must refuse to be silenced. It is up to us to shoulder the load. We must speak out and encourage others to do so. Our only ally is new media.

AIM: Cloward and Piven saw blacks as foot soldiers for the revolution. As Piven later said, “[B]efore people can mobilize for collective action, they have to develop a proud and angry identity and a set of claims that go with that identity.” The Communist Party co-opted the civil rights movement back in the 1930s specifically to instigate this division.

Massie: It happened way before that. Communism took root amongst the black illuminati in the early 1900s. Lenin saw the potential to exploit American blacks early on as a revolutionary class. W.E.B. Dubois took it from there. Communists prey upon dysfunction and anger; and where none exists, it is created and fomented. None have been led further astray and/or suffered more because of this than blacks. Though not an official Communist Party member till late in life, Dubois espoused Communism his entire life. He attended the National Negro Conference in New York which led to the creation of the NAACP. Du Bois insisted upon the use of “Colored” rather than “Black” because “Colored” could be used to include dark-skinned persons everywhere–which was of significant importance if socialism was to reach the greatest number of those intended.

AIM: That is interesting. The term “Hispanic” was defined in the 1970s by the U.S. government to specifically include Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central or South Americans, none of whom identify themselves as “Hispanic”–but they recognize that the category gives them more power as a bloc.

Massie: I believe it. Bayard Rustin was another black communist who helped co-opt blacks, saying that “blacks were ripe for Communists.” The genius of the Communist Party was to adapt itself specific to every environment and region where there were concentrations of blacks. In the South they used civil rights, and I believe they used Dr. Martin Luther King himself. I am not saying Dr. King was a Communist–he was not. But Communists like Bayard Rustin stealthily undermined and corrupted Dr. King’s movement after his assassination. Rustin helped create the Southern Christian Leadership Conference—a communist front. Out of that group came Joseph Lowery and others who mouth complaints designed to stir the caldron of anger, victimology and rabid hatred for anyone who dares attempt to share the message of truth and life. (Ed. Note: Lowery made news in 2012 when campaigning for Obama. He said he believed “all white people would go to Hell.”)
AIM: Racial tensions have been fanned to the breaking point. Thomas Sowell has even suggested we are in the beginning of a race war. Do you agree? Where do you think our nation is headed and what can us, should we do, if anything, about it? Many of the Ferguson rioters were communists, anarchists and other radicals. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are professional agitators. Do you believe they are attempting to promote a race war?

Massie: Yes, the Communists are provoking. They want a race war. All the same, I am not prepared to say that a race war is inevitable. But it is true that many blacks are engaged in egregious behavior—for example, burning white people. The knockout game has been going on for a long time too. We’re looking down the barrel of very unpleasant outcomes if these types of things continue. White people have been very patient. I don’t know how much longer people will remain that way.

AIM: Alveda King was also interviewed for this article. She paints a pretty stark picture of racial violence when she was young. Her house and church was bombed and one of her elementary school classmates was killed. Her father and uncle (MLK) were killed. How do you respond to that?

Massie: Alveda is a dear friend, and she lived through a horrific thing. That said, it was no more of a tragedy than what black people are doing today to whites. We cannot decry one without condemning the other. It’s myopic, dishonest and hypocritical.

AIM: So what can we do?

Massie: Whites are confronted with two problems: First, they don’t have the guts to say the truth; Second, they benefit by portraying blacks as victims. Meanwhile, blacks make excuses that breaking the law is okay and no one calls them on it. But it goes deeper than that. The entire narrative about race in this country has been horribly misrepresented. We must expose the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. We must expose the lies for what they are and be honest; it is the only way we will ever come to terms with the race problems plaguing America today. In my regular columns at http://newdailyrant.wpengine.com, on my YouTube channel, The Daily Rant, and in my books, I do my level best to fight the lies and expose the truth. I will shortly be publishing a new book, Black People Are Victims, that discusses the real reasons for this.

AIM: Thank you for your time Mychal.[adsanity id=11817 align=alignleft /]