Skip to main content

tv   Newsmakers  CSPAN  December 28, 2014 6:00pm-7:01pm EST

6:00 pm
people have come to say ok, you are someone we can do business with. the senate majority pac they stopped answering my questions ager midway through the campaign season. >> tonight at a :00 eastern pacific on q&a. >> here on c-span, newsmakers as next with steve bullock of montana. then the influence that religion has on social issues. at 8:00, a conversation with glenn kessler. >> this week on newsmakers, we are joined from bozeman, montana by governor steve bullock.
6:01 pm
he was elected chairman of the governor's association earlier this month. in the studio, we have james hohmann of "politico" and niraj chokshi of "the washington post." james is the first question. >> thank you for joining us. you are taking on this job after a pretty bad year for democrats. a lot of republicans who people did not think could get reelected in places like maine did. democrats lost governorships in illinois and states where they should not have, even in a bad year. as you take on this job, looking ahead, what lessons did you take away from 2014 that democrats can really apply in 2015 and 2016? >> you bet. thanks for having me, james. first, i would pushback on that a little bit. we have three great new governors in pennsylvania, rhode island, hawaii.
6:02 pm
keeping colorado and connecticut, even with the u.s. senators lost, in the face of millions of dollars in negative ads people spent against them -- we certainly did not get everything they wanted in 2014 but i think we got some real stars in their. when i look to 2015 and 2016 the way i won, the way i governed, was by focusing on the future, fiscal discipline, education, and improving the economy, trying to find common sense solutions. we will look across the aisle to make sure we get things done. i think as democratic governors, if that is our focus in 2015 and 2016, and going forward, we will have, combined with some great candidates, some real successes. >> governor, thanks for joining us. i was also curious, what sort of economic message to you think your candidates will need to
6:03 pm
send in 2015 and 2016? what do they need to convince voters they stand for? >> i look at what we have done in montana. i mean, 12,000 jobs created this year, a record-breaking pace more or less.
6:04 pm
6:05 pm
6:06 pm
6:07 pm
6:08 pm
6:09 pm
6:10 pm
6:11 pm
6:12 pm
6:13 pm
6:14 pm
6:15 pm
6:16 pm
6:17 pm
6:18 pm
we just got done with the 2014 midterms. a billion dollars were spent in the congressional races by outside groups. on the republican side, 75% of
6:19 pm
that was undisclosed dollars. i do think we need to do significantly more for transparency. but as suggested, by the same token, i don't think it makes sense as we are doing that to make sure that every voter's voice matters, that you cannot even have that discussion if you do not have a seat at the table. it certainly would not make sense for, because of, i guess my distaste for the amount of dollars in the overall process though we just say, we are going to fold our cards up on module this money come in. >> does that mean you will try to be more transparent, going and to be more transparent going forward? can we expect to find out more about who those donors are? >> i think that weeks into this, trying to get a sense of what the overall budget is -- yes. i think at the end of the day, if we are going to be spending money in elections, we ought to know where that money is coming from. >> you mentioned you are weeks into this job. of coming off the 2014 election, looking forward, do you think there is a debate now about the future of the democratic party the ideological direction and the tactics for 2016? >> by and large, i am the governor of montana. i will leave that to some of the larger pundits to work on that. i know that as governors, if we are paying attention, it is less what is happening in washington, d.c., or not happening, and how we can create more effective government, and how we can demonstrate everything we are for, not just what we hear. and more on the other side
6:20 pm
everything they are against. then, i think we win. i think democratic governors and across the country are doing some great things. going into this next cycle, we will expect the same. >> i want to ask about medicaid. obviously, this is a big issue affecting a lot of states. now, republicans control the senate. he tried unsuccessfully to expand medicaid last session. could not get it on the state ballot. what lessons have you learned? do you feel like you will be successful this year and trying to expand medicaid? how concerned are you that republicans control congress the supreme court is deciding the subsidies case in june, that the law is going to end up getting eviscerated, and the expansion of medicaid is moot? >> when i bring it home, we have you 70,000 working montanans who do not have health care. 9500 of them are veterans or families. we have struggling rural hospitals. we did not pass medicaid last legislative session. this legislative session, there are majorities in both houses, disliked last session, that supported taking federal dollars, but it was more or less procedural tricks that kept them from having an up or down vote. last two years, the landscape has substantially changed. i can look at wyoming. further south, tennessee and alabama. we're doing that as governors because at the end of the day they do not support, for the health of their citizens, the cost shifting that occurs, and keeping critical access to hospitals together, as well as the jobs that we created. it is a no-brainer. that is what so many states
6:21 pm
across the country are looking at. when we go into this next congressional -- the next congressional session, i do not expect a lot of things to change from that perspective. what we have been hearing for quite a while from republicans in washington, d.c. is what they are against, not what they are for. at the state-level across the country, a lot of folks have seen you can make meaningful reforms, then the cost curves, by looking at the overall health of folks, and not make them come to the emergency rooms for their care, which is the most expensive in the country. >> do you feel good about your chances of expanding medicaid this coming session? you mentioned things have kind of changed. obviously, you are right about wyoming. does that change the dynamic in montana to get this done? >> i hope so. we walked into this session from advocacy groups to health care providers, to chambers of and providers, to chambers of commerce, all united in saying we need to get this done. if i look at last legislative session, every newspaper across the state opined on it, said we need to do it. almost all the business group said, we need to do this. veterans groups. seemed like the only solid opposition was those in legislative majorities. we end up with a 90 day session that starts right after the new year. and i know there is going to be a lot of steps to get there before we adjourn. but i also know that even in this last two years, in addition to what has happened in other to to what has happened in other
6:22 pm
states around the country, a lot of folks locally are saying, the continued vitality of my small town depends on a hospital that unfortunately has too much uncompensated charity care. and folks across -- and that is democrats and republicans saying, we need to find a solution to get something done. we have even proposed -- you had a pure expansion in the arkansas private market action. we have now proposed something that no other state is doing where we are trying to take elements of the private sector to form opportunities, and the ability to bend the cost curve watch out for fraud. i think our legislators, the majority, will come in and take a close look and try to find a solution. i think right now i have 51 legislators in the house that no we need to do this. over 26 legislators in the senate that no we need to do this. so it is just more or less rallying the forces and assuring we can get an up and down vote on it. >> we talked a little bit about states taking action while congress is not. can you talk about -- there are some issues states still rely on congress for. what do you need congress to do in 2015? >> [laughter] you know, i would like congress to do -- actually start moving forward in any number of different areas, from the perspective of, when you look at the patchwork efforts that have been happening on funding, when we end up with government shutdowns, where states are impacted, it just does not work. one would be a meaningful highway bill that is going to last more than just, kind of, on this patchwork basis. in i am a state of 147,000 square miles.
6:23 pm
i am trying to make meaningful infrastructure decisions. that needs to be stabilized on the federal level. >> the keystone xl pipeline, i know you support the project. what are your expectations from this white house, especially in light of the president's comments last week before he left town, saying the benefits can be exaggerated in the debate that happens in this country? >> i guess a couple of things. one of which is, the keystone runs through my state. will we would have an on ramp of 100,000 barrels a day that could actually flow from the area in north dakota and montana on to keystone. right now, as an example, we will have 500,000 barrels a day being shipped out by rail. i think done right, assuring the safety of the pipeline, assuring private property would be protected, this does need to go forward, and it makes sense for our country. it is not the only border crossing between canada and the u.s. i would say a couple other things. by and large, i think there has been some frustration overall. in some ways, keystone has become a proxy battle for a thinking we should be doing more on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. and in montana, we see our climate changing. even some of those other republican governors say, i don't know about this. i say, markets are, so we do need to take affirmative steps. i think affirmative steps can be taken. at the end of the day, a decision needs to be made.
6:24 pm
one if i ran, i expect out of each of my agencies, a certain degree of predictability and certainty in the permitting process. if this had gone on this long here at the state level, i would be pretty upset. so we need to get into a decision. i think that is important for an overall industry and how this is going forward. as we look at our overall energy security. >> back on montana politics, this past election, obviously, john walsh lost. he ended up dropping out of the senate race. handed a reelection win. you appointed john walsh to that interim position. he was your lieutenant governor. if you had that choice back, would you make it differently? we you surprised by how things played out the last few months? >> i was certainly surprised and disappointed with how things ended up turning out. i think that -- john walsh was my lieutenant governor. he had come out of the life of military service. and led the largest battalion of montana soldiers into war since world war ii. certainly did not know everything, and it is also, i think, emblematic about sort of what our system has become. as opposed to really trying to find who the people are and what they are for, it is always now looking for that achilles' heel. and i do not think that serves us overall well. >> will he have a place in your administration? could he have a role in veterans affairs or something else in
6:25 pm
and this remainder of the -- >> i am not sure what senator walsh's future plans are for sure. and consider him a good montanan, a good american, a good friend. not sure what all he is looking at doing next. >> governor, we have just under five minutes left. >> i am curious to hear -- does it concern you at all? are you concerned out in western montana that the [indiscernible]? >> it is interesting in that i have a $2 billion a year general fund budget. of that, $100 million is oil and tax revenues. while there is certainly important employment in my state, i do not go into the next legislative session saying that things are going to live or die based on what oil prices are. i also think it for a couple other reasons as well. as prices go down, so does gas. i know for me and so many families, that is more money we are going to spend on main street. i have heard everything from well, this dip in oil prices could be six months to two years. in my state, we have an 18 month tax holiday. in the first 18 months of production of oil, state and local governments are not even taxing them anyway. well certainly it is something to do keep an eye on, i do not think it is something for me as governor to say that the sky is falling. i have also insisted, and i did it last legislative session -- i insisted we walked out of the legislative session with a $300 million rainy day fund. that is to protect us against fires, floods, government shutdowns, or unexpected changes in the economy.
6:26 pm
i will insist on that same level this time. and from that perspective, even if things do change, or there are surprises with what happens with oil prices, we will certainly be protected with our rainy day fund. >> one more thing. i know in an interview with one of my colleagues, you said that one thing you think you will need to work on, going forward with the democratic governors, is trying to govern effectively in states that have a reddish tinge. what does that entail? more and more democratic governors are in such states. what does that look like? >> i think if i walked into my first legislative session with almost 2/3 republican majorities in both houses and said, were good ideas, if we want to get beyond politics and look toward the future of our state, i am more than happy to find an amicable solution. we made record investments in public education, froze college tuition, cut taxes for businesses, for 2/3 of the companies that paid it. we are probably the only state that fixed our pension system without rating taxes or doing it on the backs of workers, and left $300 million in the bank. j.p. morgan said we are the most fiscally prudent state in the country. that is going forward for other states too, saying, folks do not like the system of washington, d.c. and at the end of the day, if you are willing to sit down and have discussions, and say, how do we bring our state together? how do we focus on those commonalities? that is much more important to individuals in main street montana, all over. they are less concerned about sort of the hyperbole that
6:27 pm
happens in washington. they are less concerned with the gridlock. they are friendly less concerned whether you are democrat or republican. i want a good job, good school safe community. it will be that much better for the kids and grandkids. that is the sort of thing they're working on here, and that is what i will work on with other candidates who want to run for governor. >> we will have to end it here. thank you for being our newsmaker this week. >> thanks so much for having me, and happy holidays. >> and now we turn to our roundtable, as we are joined with james hohmann of "politico" and niraj chokshi of "the washington post." what constitutes a successful dga chairmanship for him in 2016? >> he is going to be chairman for this one year when there are of three governors races, but as he was saying, the job is more you than those races. there is a real risk he goes technically 0-3, but he is going to be playing a real recruiting role. for someone like him, this is from a personal perspective, this is giving him a platform to will highlight the montana story that he is telling, to do more national travel, to build his national donor network. just the fact that a lot of presidential candidates in the past, from mitt romney on and on, chris christie, have been chairman of the governors' associations. i think he needs to win one of those three states. kentucky is really interesting. >> is that the best chance for
6:28 pm
him? >> kentucky is the only one they hold. steve bashir is one of the most popular governors in america. a democrat, outspoken supporter of obama care and connect, the kentucky exchange. jack conway is clearly a friend of governor bullock. himself a former attorney general. and general. having nice words to the attorney generals who might run. >> ran for senate as well. >> lost to rand paul. has experience. he could win. the agricultural commissioner is the republican candidate. he will not have a primary. the candidate who lost to mitch mcconnell is being given a look at the primary. if there is a democratic primary, i think republicans will pick up that seat. something he has to do, to be cautious, it is, the dga could become active in the democratic primary, trying to promote you primary, trying to promote conway over alison grimes if she got in. i do not think she will because she lost so badly to mitch mcconnell, and in some ways wired over the state to him. it will be a big test of governor bullock's abilities as chairman. you >> underlying this, we have to remember his ability to raise money is going to be critical. it is only becoming more and more important, post citizens. this is nothing new, but it is crucial. a going into 2016, they might need a lot in really tough battles. >> coming into 2014, what did you hear from him in terms of
6:29 pm
you what has been made of this debate about the ideological and debate about the ideological that validity direction of the democratic party? >> it is state-by-state, and he is right. you there is this national -- hillary clinton could represent the centrist approach. elizabeth warren is another approach. but i think he is right. at the end of the day, and especially for governors, it is about what they are doing in their own particular state and the policies they are implementing. in >> there is a real democratic debate and a real divide. even if hillary clinton is the overwhelming favorite and wins the nomination, she will have to pay lip service to the elizabeth warren wing of the party. most dga donors are corporate, moderate. what montana, even though it is a red state, barack obama lost. there is this populist streak,
6:30 pm
will which is why they have had democratic governors, why jon tester was able to earn reelection. he is waiting to see where the inhe is waiting to see where the party goes, and not necessarily pick a path. >> do you think he is trying to draw a line between governors and washington, washington in general, which would mean democrats as well? is that unusual for a governors association chairman? >> i do not think it is that unusual. in he was careful when barack obama came up to distance himself from obama. and it is true, obama is going to be very popular in 2015. it may be different in some of the states where there are going to be competitive elections. it will be in states where hillary clinton could win. i thought he was being a little bit more careful in trying to delineate himself from the national party than a chris will christie would. be >> it also sends a reliable message. congress's approval rating is at
6:31 pm
historic lows. it is a way to show you are not the party that a fifth of america supports. [laughter] >> we will end it there. james hohmann and niraj chokshi joining us for "newsmakers" this week. >>: washington journal, a look ahead to the 2016 presidential race. the political consultants liz chatterton and philip stutz. a discussion on the rising cost of education. the senior writer goal for the chronicle for higher education. we will take your phone calls and answer your phone calls and answer comments on facebook and twitter. washington journal is live every day on 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.
6:32 pm
>> q&a is tenures old. to mark a decade of conversation, we are featuring interviews. tomorrow, dan reed, director of the documentary terror in mumbai on the terror attacks in mumbai, india in 2000 and. 175 people were killed and 300 wounded. his movie tells the story using security camera video. he uses interviews with the survivors. that is at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> up next, a discussion on religion politics, and social issues in american history. we look at the influence of christianity and politics and how religion influences the immigration debate, held at southern methodist university in dallas. this is about one hour and 25 minutes.
6:33 pm
>> good morning. it is a great pleasure to be here from st. louis. i am laurie maffly-kipp. my job is to briefly introduce our panelists for this session. i'm keeping the introductions brief. i've cut out the nobel prizes and other things they have done to make sure we get to their talks quickly. here we go. edward j bloom is a professor of history at san diego state university. he is the co-author of the color of christ, the son of god, and the saga of race in america
6:34 pm
2012. and the author of w e b to boys american profit 2007. he has been awarded the award in the humanities by the council of graduate schools for the best first book by historian published between 2002 and 2009. the peter seaburg award for the best book in civil war studies in 2006, and the dissertation prize. his writings have been featured on cnn.com, the atlantic newsweek, and the new york times. his presentation this morning is entitled "in the bowels of a free and christian country." our next presenter will be rebekah guest, associate professor of history and new york university. she received her phd and 2006 from harvard university. a historian of early north america, she specializes in the history of race and slavery. she has interest in the history of the atlantic world, and comparative colonialism's in north america and the caribbean. she teaches in the graduate and undergraduate level on aspects
6:35 pm
of american history. her first book, the baptism of early virginia, how christianity graded race was published in 2012. she is a crazy cat lady and despite living in new york city remains a rabid red sox fan. her talk today is called barack hussein obama, the first muslim president. our third presenter is eileen walsh. she is an associate director of latina church studies. her first book latina pentecostal identity and evangelical self and society won the hispanic theological initiatives book award in 2005. she is authored more than a dozen articles and chapters on the subject of latino and latina pentecostalism and has served as a media expert for outlets such as the new york times, the wall street journal. she serves as an expert on
6:36 pm
latina history for the pbs series religion in america. sanchez walsh's current projects include a project on the cost of pentecostalism in america. she will be talking about immigrant sanctuary and divine borders today. finally kevin schultz from the university of illinois at chicago. he is an associate professor of history, catholic studies, and religious studies and a chair of the department of history. a native from los angeles and teaches 20th century american history with special interest in religion, as no racialethnoracial history, and american intellectual and cultural life. his first monograph, how postwar
6:37 pm
catholics and jews held america to its protestant promise, charted the decline of the idea that the united states was a christian nation, and the subsequent rise of the notion the country was premised on judeo christianity. professor schultz's current work examines the fascinating intertwined lives of william buckley junior and norman mailer as a way to better understand the pivotal decade of the 1960's. he has had essays in several flagship journals including the journal of american histories, american quarterly, the american academy of religion, and labor histories as well as other distinguished output -- distinguish outlets. his talk is entitled the blessing of american pluralism.
6:38 pm
>> good day. is the united states a christian country? was it one in the past? will it be in the future? if we look high and low, near and far, we can serve americans asking, answering, and debating these questions. they are disputed online. plastered on billboards. mentioned during news programs. and addressed by leading politicians. the questions and answers rattle with disagreement and tension. barack obama, for instance answers them one way before he was president and differently after. in 2008 he told a group in washington dc, we are no longer just a christian nation. we are also a jewish nation, a muslim nation, a buddhist nation, a hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.
6:39 pm
three years later, speaking as president obama, and to a different audience in turkey obama explained we do not consider ourselves a christian nation or a jewish nation, or a muslim nation. his embrace of pluralism had been reconfigured into neither nor repudiation of particulars. most political and christian conservatives share their disapproval of obama. it is not hate speech, cried radio and television host glenn back, to defend the united states as a christian nation. in the 2000 book faith and politics, senator john danforth maintained that some people have
6:40 pm
asked if america is a christian country. the answer must be, no. to call this a christian country is to say that non-christians are a lesser order, not full-fledged citizens of one nation. these recent debates and disagreements are not new. the problem of what it means to be, or not to be, a christian nation has been a touchstone of conversations about religion and politics for two centuries. i wanted take us back to the age of revolution and turn our attention to a cast of forgotten founders. a group of men who harnessed the language of christian nationalism in poignant and meaningful ways. this small and overlooked code cohort of bostonians a offer a new way of us to consider what is at stake when we address, when we speak, the vexed political problem of the nation's religion.
6:41 pm
the year was 1777. sandisk corporation the month was january. a particular petition on behalf of a great number of blacks was presented to the newly formed massachusetts a state legislature. it was signed by 8 men and the petition declared we are , detained in a state of slavery in the bowels of a free and christian country. the bondsman borrowed freely from the language of the declaration of independence was itself only six months old. they have in common with all other men and natural and unalienable right to the freedom which the great parent of the hath bestowed on all men equally.
6:42 pm
they have been unjustly dragged to this land. they have been brought here to be sold like beast of burden. this all happened among a people professing the mild religion of jesus. what these men experienced, they called worse than nonexistence. we could engage religion and politics in their petition from a variety of angles. their description of the religion of jesus as mild could lead us to consider the potent lies of methodism and its musical inventions of songs like "gentle jesus meek and mild". our what it means have a mild faith in a time of war. the petitioner's invocation of natural rights leads us to wonder about the theological tensions between deism and christianity that animated so much of the revolutionary time. i would like to zero in on two
6:43 pm
words, bowels and beasts. they discussed this not as abstract ideas or beliefs, that its concepts of flesh and bone. these were human activities that took place with, within, and through bodies. the rhetorical emphasis on bodies encompassed the private and public, the allegorical and literal, the biblical and civil. so let's begin in the bowels. at hallmark destination of medieval and enlightenment discourse. dante structured his poem in for no as a journey that began in the mouth, flowed into the stomach, and culminated in excremental expulsion. martin luther describes the pope
6:44 pm
>> p diddly as repeatedly as a farting rear end. around the same time john locke was putting together his second treatise on government he was pending at chapter on the importance of going to stool regularly for some thoughts concerning education. when slaves situated themselves rhetorically in the bowels of the country they presented the nation as a body. there were christian backdrops for this kind of corporal mapping. paul told believers it is by one spirit we were all baptized in one body. whether we are jews or gentiles, founder free. the body of hands and feet, of eyes, of years, it is not one member that many. while bodies are main of many parts, the pieces are equally valued and valuable within the one body of faith family.
6:45 pm
parties were crucial civil metaphors as well. in the age of monarchy, european kings were thought to have two bodies. the physical body could decay, but the body politic, that they symbolized, was understood to be timeless, immutable, and composite. the visual front is peace. leviathan presented the top half of the sovereign facing the viewer. but the top half of the sovereign was actually hundreds of small individualized bodies. while viewers looked upon the face and chest of the crown sovereign they witnessed only the backsides of the smaller depicted bodies. which we saw from the rear. members of society based into the sovereign, they constituted the body politic, they were absorbed into the sovereign, and
6:46 pm
put into motion by the sovereign. it is a case of bodies within a body. now the apostle paul did not mention the bowels in his list of body parts hobbs did. when discussing the things that we can do commonwealth he lashed out at the number of corporations. as it were there were many lesser commonwealths in the bowels of a greater. they're like worms in the entrails of a natural man. bowels were terrible place to be, but they were also a danger to the rest of the body. in colonial massachusetts, and elsewhere, slaves were often feared for poisoning their masters in ways that upset their bowels. crippling and killing women and men slowly, through what was put into their mouths that then came
6:47 pm
out at other locations. what took place within and through the bowels could upset the entire body. while the reference to bowels took us within bodies. the mention of being sold like beasts of burden makes us think about what is done with bodies. dehumanization and animal is asian were animal's animalization were crucial aspects of making a slave culture. linguistic and physical activities often rendered that enslaved as a can or equal with domesticated animals. generation after generation of african americans damped their treatments to that of animals, claiming the ultimate goal of enslavement was to transform humans into beasts. now beasts of burden were particular entities in english
6:48 pm
husbandry. they differentiated those individuals who traveled with one beast of burden or more. this was a way to construct a hierarchy of poverty, who should get help. beasts of burden were recognized as doing one or two things at a time. they could carry things on their back and they could haul cargo. the massachusetts petitioners were the only one using the language of the beast of burden to speak about human relationships. scottish minister and historian robertson when he wrote about the discovery of america he denounced native american men for treating their wives as no better than a beast of burden. while all the men loiter the women are condemned to incessant toil. the king james bible was complete to references of beasts and burden. the book of genesis described how god formed every east of the
6:49 pm
field. in the book of isaiah too heavy a burden was placed on cattle when they were asked to carry idols. in the book of daniel there are four terrifying beasts. and in the book of revelation the beast was a leading figure. the beast was well known to colonial and revolutionary ministers. for earlier massachusetts church leader cotton mather and the humanity of slaves, and not their beastly nestsbeastiliness was in them -- beastlyness was an embattled point. christianizing slaves will render them afraid of speaking or doing anything that may justly displease you. he's writing to masters.
6:50 pm
masters will have more work done for them, and better done, then those inhumane masters who have used their negroes worst than their horses. the question of whether negroes have rational souls mather exploded, let that brutish insinuation never be whispered again. they are men and not beasts. beastlyness, inhumanity, brutish ness are characteristics of slaveholders behaving badly, not essences of the enslaved themselves. for the petitioners, animalization was general and particular. they are not just beasts, but beasts of burden that kerry metaphorical and literal weight. bid carries heavily on the contents of some whites like cotton mather.
6:51 pm
it is a weight petitioners hoped they could leverage with the legislature. i'm close to out of time. i want to suggest that taking the insights of these petitioners into our present that it may provide new bridges for us to cross the political and religious divides that fracture the contemnor united states. what if we began where the petitioners did, and bodies connected to other bodies, and then moved to our ideas about whether the nation is or is not christian or religious? from this vantage point, starting with bodies, i would like to suggest that glenn beck, senator john danforth, and barack obama stand together. they respect bodies. in faith and politics, senator danforth expressed profound frustration with the use of teri schiavo, the florida woman who remained hospitalized in a vegetative state for 15 years to
6:52 pm
make political hay. his concern was for the sanctity of her body and the well-being of the bodies around her, family members, friends, doctors. danforth was not interested in this case with the body politic that was the republican party. glenn beck cherishes the founding fathers like george washington in part as he sees george washington as a defender of jewish americans and their right to their religious freedom, and that defending their religion is also about defending their bodies to practice that religion. finally, it's clear that bodies loom large in barack obama's political and personal imagination. his father's absent body, the bodies of dead children, of abortion protesters, the bodies of religious communities, they
6:53 pm
animate the audacity of hope and other key obama writings and speeches. obama, danforth and beck disagree profoundly on the abstract notion of whether the nation is religious or christian or what that even means. but where they agree, we where we could begin and what we may take from the petitions of the 1770's, it's not just that everybody has a body to invoke martin luther king jr., but that everybody is part of an connected to other bodies. when we think of body second and abstracted ideologies first, we run the risk of putting intangibles before tangibles nonexistence before existence. that was a problem these massachusetts petitioners, their families and their friends --
6:54 pm
they knew all too well. it may be a struggle to see bodies before ballots, to see bodies before budgets, to see bodies before beliefs. what these forgotten founders of the 1770's -- they called their struggle a glorious struggle. it was one that valued and needed every body. thank you for the time. thank you for your time listening to this body and my connections to lots of bodies here and elsewhere. thank you. [applause] >> good morning. until very recently i lived in houston, texas.
6:55 pm
this is my first trip back in over a year. it's good to be back home. there are approximately 3 million muslims in the united states, a somewhat controversial and unofficial estimate, since the u.s. census does not count the population by religious affiliation. american muslims, like every other religious group in the country, are a diverse group. they follow a variety of traditions. they are sunni, shia, or they follow homegrown american islams such as a nation of islam. american muslims are racially and ethnically diverse. they are african-american, asian, southeast asia and, arab and west african descent and an increasing number of the sums identify as latino or white. until september 11, 2001 american muslims lived in relative obscurity.
6:56 pm
largely escaping notice from historians and policy makers. the advent of the war on terror catapulted american muslims into the public eye. the election of barack obama in 2008 further spurred interest and notoriety of american muslims. obama's middle name, hussein his kenyan father, and his childhood spent in indonesia fueled speculation that obama himself was a secret muslim. despite the enormous diversity of islamic beliefs and practices in this country, both 9/11 and obama's election have proved to be focal points for often vicious critiques of islam. islam and christianity arrived on the north american continent at the same time. christopher columbus' crew included conversos. that is moslems and juice who had been coerced into converting
6:57 pm
to christianity. early in the 16th century, and slave muslims accompanied on conquistadors. as captors might not of thought of him as muslim unlikely forced him to convert to christianity after his capture, when he would have acquired his new name. between 1527 and 1536, he and three other spanish survivors walked from present-day texas to the pacific coast of mexico. estebanico was no stranger to cultural fluidity. his remarkable linguistic abilities help to pilot the expedition across north america. in 1539, he accompanied another entrada into the american southwest using his knowledge of native cultures, languages, and
6:58 pm
diplomatic customers to guide conquistadors. he was killed near sonora in 1540. that he identify as muslin? it's an impossible question to answer. spanish officials were suspicious of muslim converts to christianity. technically the new world was off-limits to conversos. yet estebanico's presence in the americas suggested this was a rule honored in the breach. the spanish continue to use enslaved african muslims as key parts of their colonization schemes. the settlement at saint augustine contained many enslaved muslims in the late 16th century. in other words, there were enslaved muslims in north america long before permanent english settlement began at jamestown in 1607. most muslims who came to the americas before 1850 arrived as estebanico did, as enslaved people mostly from west and
6:59 pm
west central africa, but occasionally from north africa. most historians have not attempted to come up with a demographic analysis. of the 12.5 million enslaved people brought to the americas from west africa, at least several hundred thousand likely muslin. many enslaved people arriving in north america would have been familiar with islam even if they did not identify as muslims themselves. michael gomez has noted that around 50% of enslaved people coming to mainland north america came from those areas of west africa where islam was either state-sponsored or associated with a culturally significant minority. reflecting the cosmopolitan religious lives of west africans who combined christianity, islam, and traditional west african practice in novel ways. the general problem is that enslaved muslims were an even more invisible minority within the invisible institution of slave religion.
7:00 pm
as edward curtis has noted when whites observed african-american muslim rituals they often did not understand what was taking place right in front of their eyes. nevertheless, sylvian dou has pressedth historians to realize that muslims were everywhere and islam was a diaspora religion. scholars know a great deal about a few specific individuals. in 1788, soldiers from another ethnic group captured arathaman ibrahaman. he lived as an enslaved man in new orleans for decades marrying a slave named isabella for writing a letter in arabic in 1886 asking for his freedom

81 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on