cornell west is here. when it's a complex program, latest essay in "the atlantic," the fourth surge is upon us. this time it's different. i'll ask her why. good evening. i'm mehdi hasan. the steel industry was once so important to birmingham, alabama, that the suburb now at the heart of the amazon union fight is named after henry bessem rechlt. the city of bessemer, alabama, thrived until steel jobs until, well, it didn't. until the plant closed and all those jobs moved out or were shipped overseas mostly to china. today the biggest employer in town is a small mom and pop retailer called amazon. what is essentially a warehouse to, quote, fulfill orders for the internet giant. and where any day now, history could be made if the bessemer location votes in favor of negotiating to form a union, which would be the first american branch of amazon to possibly unionize. maybe many americans don't realize, but amazon workers in continental europe have long been laborized. strong labor unions haven't pushed their gl

cornell west, professor of philosophy at harvard university. dr.k you so much for coming on this show. what was it like for you, as a black man, not as a public intellectual, a harvard professor, but as a black man to watch the trial of derek chauvin, to hear those witness testimonies and see that video again? >> you know, brother, i was thinking of the words of the wise and courageous elder brother of george, philonis, when he said this is america on trial. and putting america on trial is to see whether america can be fair to black people. when the first move of the defense is to put george floyd jr. on trial. and when you put george floyd jr. on trial, you're putting black people on trial. so that george floyd jr. is me and i am him. so i imagine myself with that policeman on my neck and whether i have to prove my humanity in order to even get a fair trial. yet they got to go through history, trying to justify, rationalize by any way they can somehow to reach the conclusion that george floyd should not get justice. so this is as deep an issue as

cornell west joining us they're from cornell westjoining us they're from cambridge, massachusetts. istrict of minnesota. you are there in minneapolis, it is a small town, i'm sure you are not very far away from the courtroom. what are you thinking right now as you watch and wait for this verdict? given the speed with which this jury has come _ given the speed with which this jury has come to a unanimous verdict i think— has come to a unanimous verdict i think i_ has come to a unanimous verdict i think i can — has come to a unanimous verdict i think i can only mean monthly which is that— think i can only mean monthly which is that the _ think i can only mean monthly which is that the jury has decided to convict — is that the jury has decided to convict derek chauvin of one or more charges _ convict derek chauvin of one or more charges the — convict derek chauvin of one or more charges. the only question in my mind _ charges. the only question in my mind is— charges. the only question in my mind is how— charges. the only question in my mind is how they decided to convict him of— mind

cornel west. he is unbelievable. i'll say this about.lieved because it was the right verdict, but i was also very sad because george floyd is dead. very angry because daunte wright and while the verdict was being read, a young girl of color, 13 years old was killed in another police-involved episode in columbus. and you can remain hopeful, but there is a long way between the words spoken by the president, which i thought was good. what he said systemic racism is a stain on the soul of the nation, and actually making this real, making the change real that's going take a lot of time, a lot of effort, the commitment of every police officer, every citizen in the country. unless that is done, i think dr. west's words are very prophetic in this notion. we have lot of work to do in this country because system racism has infected us all. it's been a real problem. and the big question, do black lives matter. today it did. but i think there is good evidence that that's not necessarily true throughout the country. unless we make that real and our d

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i want to bring in now cornell west. you know cornell west, he's a professor of philosophy at harvard university. professor, how are you doing? >> my brother, my prayers are with the wright family. my prayers are with the floyd family, but we've got to remember what mamie till told us when she gave that funeral over her precious son, which is i don't have a minute to hate. i will pursue justice for the rest of my life. so the question is what does a genuine love for black people, a genuine care for black people look like in this situation. and there's a number of different responses to that, but all of us have to come to terms, and we're not just talking about black folks, just as a human being who has a deep care and concern about a people who have been dealing with police, who have been out of control since the slave patrol. so we're talking about hundreds of years. there's thousands of black people who have been shot down by the police, male and female, children and grandchildren, we go right across breonna and others

have you and cornel west been talking about this issue for some time. >> this all started, we had dr. a conversation that people who may not see eye-to-eye politically see a ton of value to this tradition. and there's an attack right now against this tradition, schools canceling classics like the odyssey. what was really amazing to me was the way students at howard university when word broke that the classics department was going to be eliminated, they really rallied on twitter and other social platforms to make sure this wouldn't happen. >> and there's a line here. students must be challenged. can they confront the fact that human existence is not easily divided into good and evil, but filled with complexity, nuance and ambiguity. talk about that and how that question doesn't just hang over howard university, but hangs over all american universities. >> you know, there's a crisis right now joe, i believe in mainstream american education. the last couple of years i was a teacher in the public school, i was ask students on the first day of class, why are we here, what's the point. and

academic freedom to work go to the academic freedom website and you'll see how 200 of us including cornell west across the ideological spectrum from conservatives like me to progressives like cornell are banding together to fight back against cancer culture against the prejudice that people are experiencing in academia when they apply for jobs and are denied those opportunities because of their beliefs well i should say scruton came on this show reggae before his death and it was quite quite a debate tell you but. i have a deeper level why this kind of culture is the reason in the 1st place can you understand that as the crimes of soviet communism came to light the so-called left would retreat into identity politics and see this kind of weaponization of the academy and position in the academy as their only route to whatever society they want rather than class war which was previously the main engine of progress. well it's a long and complicated story and i'm not at all sure that i understand it well certainly classical marxism proved to be a failure a lot of people bought a lot of academics bou

cornell west at harvard university. thank you, professor. i appreciate you. >> you heard the chief.omments of what the relationship should between the police and the community. everyone should be able to go home at the end of the day here. >> absolutely. >> philonise put it so well. it was so good to see both of those brothers. it is really about black hum humanity. you heard the chief say, sanctity of life. it is important not to get too caught up with the evidence, it is the perception of the evidence that's going to make a difference you see. when philonise says black humanity is on trial. we know you can't prove your humanity to somebody. it is not a logical dedecldeduction. it is a moral perception and a spiritual communion. we had it with rodney king and breonna. it is going to be the perception of the everyday. it is important that it is not a matter of legality here. we are talking about morality and spirituality. this is going to be the real challenge. this is why this is a historical moment like it was with emit. when you put humanity on trial, black humanity in america, b

cornel west, we also can't lose sight of the fact that i think the left is perpetrating this fraud because who in their policies are failing. we see it in chicago, baltimore, new york, l.a., oakland and the urban areas go on and on. >> you're absolutely right and it's a pleasure to be with you, laura. i want everyone to understand i was born in february of 1961 in atlanta, georgia, in a blacks only hospital. my father was a corporal in the united states army when the army was segregated yet he challenged me at the age of 15 to be the first officer in the family. i grew up and became a lieutenant colonel in the united states army, commanded a battalion in combat. i rep resented the highest per capita incomes zip code in the united states of america the time, palm beach island. rush limbaugh was one of my constituents. i share the stage with you on countless times and now i'm the chairman of the largest state republican party in the united states of america, the republican party of texas. mine is not a story being a victim but that's exactly what the democrat party wants to perpetuate out th

. >>> joining me now, professor cornell west. good evening. >> how are you doing, my dear brother? >> i'm doing okay. as well as can be expected under the circumstances. >> this trial, it is gut wrenching. sara summed it up. the man begging for his life, pleading to be seen as a man like the rest of us. from the video, george floyd dying over and over and over again. what does this say about us as a country? how we all see race? >> it takes us to the most fundamental question that has always sat at the center of not just america but the four 00 years that you and my ancestors have been here. which is do we have the will to stay in contact with the rich humanity of black people? to stay in qucontact with black people, the tenderness of black people, the soulfulness of black people. when you talk about brother george, perry floyd jr., you're talking about a human being. about a precious son of george perry sr. and precious larsenia jones floyd. what it means to open yourself to get beyond the stereo types and acknowledge that for the first, nearly 100 years, america failed only quest

cornell west is here. when

. >>> joining me now, professor cornel west. professor, good evening. >> how are you doing, my dear brother? >> i'm doing okay. as well as can be expected under the circumstances. >> yeah. i know what you mean. >> it's gut-wrenching. sara summed it up there. the man begging for his life, pleading to be seen as a man like all the rest of us. then the video of george floyd dying over and over and over again. what is this trial saying about us as a country, especially when it comes to how we all see race? >> it takes us to the most fundamental question that has always sat at the center of not just america but the 400 years that you and my ancestors have been here, which is do we have the will to stay in contact with the rich humanity of black people? to stay in contact with the beauty of black people, the intelligence of black people, the tenderness of black people, the soulfulness of black people? when you talk about brother george, perry floyd jr., injure t -- you're talking about a precious son of george perry senior. you're tal

we asked cornel west, a professor of public philosophy at harvard university, what needs to be done.question becomes how do we work on the inside of a system. the system is a failure. we know that. all investigations and so forth, they can spend months and months on that. it is failing black people. so the question becomes what is the response? do we come up with our own forms of protecting each other? do we generate mechanisms of accountability for police and others who are killing black people? we cannot just have conversations over and over again about this must stop, this must stop. no. we need more than that. >> sources say the u.s. is expected to announce sanctions targeting russian individuals and entities as early as today in response to the solar winds cyber hack and u.s. election interference. up to a dozen russian diplomats are set to be expelled as well. this comes just days after president biden proposed a summit with vladimir putin during a phone call with his russian counterpart. the kremlin said it would study the proposal but said it was too early to talk about speci

cornell west is here. when there's a complex problem, people turn to her. her

and professor cornel west tonight was arguing this is really important, but the long haul of getting to where you want in terms of culture change and legislative change doesn't take the law, it takes another l word, which is love. you need people to want to be on board for that and to make this something more there is a long way to go. >> let me just read this, if you allow me. >> please. >> does this sound anything like what we learned, finally learned in the courtroom? may 25th, 2020. minneapolis, on monday evening, shortly after 8:00 p.m., officers from the minneapolis police department responded to the 3700 block of chicago avenue south on a report of forgery in progress. officers were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence. two officers arrive and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s in the car. he was ordered to step from his car. after he got out, and he physically resisted officers, officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering melodies stress. okay. did tha

last night you had harvard professor cornel west on, and he was -- well, it got to you. he said something that really, really got to you. we want to play that moment. >> i'm not going to stand there for no 9 minutes and 29 seconds and watch somebody murder my father. no, no. uh-uh. no, no, no. martin luther king jr. talked about passivism. but i'm not going to watch that kind of murder. i love my brother charles mcmillian. that's why he was crying. he felt helpless. we're not going to do that. some of us black folk, some of us black men, we're not going to stand there. we're going to have to intervene in some way. they ain't going to kill us like that and we remain spectators. silence is not an option. i don't stand with the silence. that's the last two sentences of the letter to drew, the letter to your nephew. we've got to self-respect. we've got to self-defense and we intervene when you start killing us like that. >> i'm sorry. >> why did that one get you? >> because it's true. >> what part of it? >> all of it is true. you think about the history and the relationship

is this harold bloom or cornell west?ou wrote what you wrote and why you feel it is so important to keep classics, especially in traditionally black universities. >> you know, brother joe and my dear brother, my mother passed. my mother was a classic. she believed in the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and the holy. the condition of truth allows suffering to speak. beauty has to do with elegance. howard university, of course, is one of the great institutions that has been involved in that quest. after talking to the great larry morris, head of the board and talking to brother frederick, i can see how we are involved in this common quest but we are trying to ensure the students are able to be find their voices. i'm so glad to have president frederick here on the show. >> president frederick, tell us about the decision which obviously drew criticism and how you are restructuring the study of the classics at your university. >> thanks for having me. i would like to say, professor west, i send my condolences for your loss.