Publisher, Fran Zankowski Editor, Matt Cortina Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Senior Editor, Angela K. Evans Arts and Culture Editor, Caitlin Rockett Special Editions Editor, Michael J. Casey Adventure Editor, Emma Athena Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Paul Danish, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Sami Wainscott Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman Graphic Designer, Daisy Bauer CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer Cover, Artwork by Patrick Cullie June 4, 2020 Volume XXVII, Number 42 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2020 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.
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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
Rage, despair, hopelessness... and the election by Dave Anderson
We are sick and tired of being sick and tired. — Mississippi civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hammer
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n the 1960s, black people demanded to be treated like human beings with all the rights of citizens. They did this by engaging in non-violent social disruption. It was a somewhat passive-aggressive way of challenging America to live up to its democratic ideals. They knew that whites would violently retaliate and they had to endure that. In particular, white law enforcement officers would frequently beat the shit out of them. In another country, such barbarity would be met with violent insurrection. Since blacks are a minority in this country, such an understandable I
reaction would be self-defeating. The civil rights movement was trying to appeal to the consciences of their fellow Americans who were in the white majority. But it is difficult to remain non-violent in the face of wrenching oppression. There were victories and defeats and things got messy. Riots broke out in response to police violence. Someone dragged out an old poem by Langston Hughes that said: Negroes — Sweet and docile, Meek, humble and kind Beware the day They change their mind. Columnist Shaun King notes that, “Being black in America, from 1619 until today, has always required a painful level of pretending for the JUNE 4, 2020
sake of survival.” In the late 1960s, the media talked about “black rage.” There was Malcolm X, the black power movement and the Black Panthers. When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, there were riots everywhere. It is quite certain that those riots helped make Richard Nixon president with his “law and order” message. But things would calm down. Over the years, an increasing number of blacks were elected to office around the country. The Democratic Party became more multicultural and multiracial. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was quite successful as a presidential candidate in the 1984 and 1988 prisee THE ANDERSON FILES Page 6
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