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                                    A8 FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2025 INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER(317) 924-5143P.O. Box 18499, Indianapolis, IN 46218-0499newsroom@indyrecorder.comIndianapolis Recorder Newspaper encourages short, concise letters to the editor and opinion articles from the public. Letters and opinion articles will be used at the editor%u2019s discretion and are subject to editing. We will not guarantee publication of material received. We cannot guarantee dates of publication. Letters containing libelous or untrue statements will not be published. All letters and opinion articles must include a verifiable full name, address and telephone number. This information will not be published at the request of the writer. Letters and articles should be typed but will be accepted if handwriting is legible.BUSINESSBusiness Office Manager..............Lystina JimenezBusiness Office/Legals..................CrystalDalton ADVERTISING/MARKETINGSenior Strategic Media Consultant......Rita J. Wise Sales Representative...................Michael FalkerPRODUCTIONProduction Manager..........................................................................................Jeana M. Lewis OuattaraGeorge P. StewartFounder-EditorPublisher1895-1924Marcus C. Stewart Sr.Editor-Publisher1925-1988Eunice TrotterEditor-in-ChiefPublisher1988-1990William G. MaysOwner/ Publisher1990-presentPresident/Chief Executive Officer................................................................................................Robert ShegogEDITORIALEditor-in-Chief.................................Camike Jones Copy Editor..................................Mandi PattersonTechnology Editor......................Rupal Thanawala Arts & Culture Reporter.................Chloe McGowanMulti-Media & Sports Reporter.........Noral ParhamHealth & Environmental Reporter.............................................................................Hanna RauworthEDITORIALBy MAXINE BRYANTThroughout history, the Black voice has never been silent. It has been a voice that spoke truth to power, a voice that cried out against injustice, a voice that demanded to be heard even when it made some people uncomfortable. Our voice has survived slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, the war on drugs, mass incarceration and systemic erasure %u2014 and still, it rises.From Olaudah Equiano, who chronicled the brutality of slavery in the 18th century, to Marcus Garvey, who galvanized movements for Pan-Africanism and Black nationalism in the 19th century, our ancestors used their words as weapons and shields. In the 20th century, the Black voice rang out from pulpits, picket lines, and protest songs. Marvin Gaye asked us, %u201cWhat%u2019s Going On?%u201d while Gil Scott-Heron reminded us that %u201cThe Revolution Will Not Be Televised.%u201d Each generation found its own way to make noise, to speak truth and to demand change.As the U.S. prepares to celebrate another July 4th, we must ask: what does this day mean for Black America in 2025?For me, the voice that continues to challenge us with that question is Frederick Douglass. On July 5, 1852, Douglass stood boldface before an all-white crowd and asked, %u201cWhat, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?%u201d Ten years later, on July 4, in the middle of the Civil War, he spoke again. This time he addressed a mixed audience in New York and shared truth %u2014 that the Civil War was about slavery %u2014 not just states%u2019 rights as it was often portrayed. In 1875, Douglass was invited to speak on July 5 to a mostly Black audience in Washington, D.C. This was during the Reconstruction period, and Black people were trying to rebuild their lives from among the ashes of slavery.Here is a disturbing truth: many of the issues Douglass confronted 150 years ago still haunt us today. The forces that sought to erase us from this country are still working overtime %u2014 in policy, in media, in classrooms and in law. Just like Douglass warned in 1875, there are still efforts to divide us, distract us and diminish us. Internal disunity, driven by centuries of systemic programming, keeps us from uniting against our shared oppressors.I am compelled to use my voice to lift three powerful observations Douglass made in his 1875 speech that still demand our attention in 2025: self-hatred, the beggar mentality and the need for a strong Black press.First, Douglass lamented how slavery had taught Black people to admire whiteness and despise themselves. That legacy of self-hatred did not die with emancipation %u2014 it mutated. It lives on today in the form of colorism, violence in our own communities, and a media landscape that often uplifts our trauma but not our brilliance. Yes, systemic racism is real. But until we unlearn the lie that we are inferior, we will struggle to love ourselves, and if we cannot love ourselves, we will continue to harm each other. Self-love isn%u2019t soft %u2014 it%u2019s radical. It%u2019s revolutionary.Second, Douglass warned us against waiting for white benevolence. He was clear: liberation cannot be handed to us; it must be built by us. Too often, we%u2019ve operated with a %u201crenter%u201d mindset %u2014 waiting for change and repair to come from someone else%u2019s hand, someone else%u2019s table. But we are not renters of this land, of our future or of our liberation. We must be builders. We must invest in ourselves, our communities, our businesses and our youth. We must stop begging for permission to matter.Third, Douglass emphasized the need for a strong, independent Black press %u2014 a voice to speak for us and to us. That was lacking in his day. Today, we are blessed with outlets like the Indianapolis Recorder, which continue the work of telling our stories, lifting our truth and holding power accountable. But it is up to us to support and protect these institutions. They are not luxuries %u2014 they are lifelines.I am using my voice to propose a call to action this July 4, 2025. Our voice matters now, even more than in times past.The call to action is twofold. First, we speak truth. Each of our voices has a role. Use your voice to affirm unity, to expose injustice, and to uplift our community. Be intentional about identifying ways to use your voice. Second, we act. We identify, address and change self-defeating behavior. Let July 4, 2025, be more than just a holiday. Let it be a rallying cry. Because when we speak, we shift the culture. When we unify, we reshape the future. And when we love ourselves, there is nothing we cannot overcome.Our voice mattered throughout history. It still matters.And it always will.Maxine Bryant, Ph.D., is the founder of GriotSpeaks, an author and an African American culture keeper. She replaces mythology with truth about Africa and the African Diaspora experience. Learn more about her work at www.drmaxinebryant.com. She can be reached by email at mlb@drmaxinebryant.com.By LARRY SMITHI%u2019m enjoying a documentary about the Cold War, which, not surprisingly, includes a segment regarding the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy is infamously known as the primary prosecutor of the %u201cRed Scare%u201d of the 1940s and 50s, in which millions of Americans were concerned that communists were plotting to take over our nation. (Interestingly, the documentary does not reveal that McCarthy won his first senatorial campaign with help from a communist-controlled labor union.) For roughly a decade, McCarthy terrorized his political enemies (real and perceived) with withering accusations that they were communists. This included labor unions, journalists, politicians, organizations that had aligned with communists, and members of the entertainment industry. McCarthy initiated multiple investigations that he said would expose undercover communists. Unfortunately, he often made accusations that he knew not to be true. He even manufactured evidence. McCarthy finally began to lose credibility as he increasingly accused wellrespected governmental institutions of being influenced by communists, including the Eisenhower Administration, the CIA, and the U.S. Army. McCarthy died ignominiously in 1957 at age 48. Notably, he never completed a single investigation that he launched.The key lesson of what is appropriately referred to as %u201cMcCarthyism%u201d is that a legitimate cause (e.g., fighting communism) can be derailed by an unscrupulous populist who is more interested in sowing doubt and division than in solving a problem. We see that phenomenon today regarding President Donald Trump%u2019s response to the legitimate challenge of illegal immigration to the U.S.Trump is correct that illegal immigration became egregious during President Joe Biden%u2019s tenure. Having been relentlessly pushed by Trump, Biden drastically curtailed immigration near the end of his term. By then, however, the damage had been done. Trump won the presidential election in 2024 largely due to his promises to stop illegal immigration. In principle, there is nothing wrong with Trump%u2019s stance (though he also publicly advocates severely limiting legal immigration as well). The problem is the language that Trump has used beginning with his first presidential campaign. He has frequently singled out Mexicans, repeatedly referring to them as criminals, murderers, rapists, and other execrable terms. Trump has also repeatedly lied about the extent of crime and gang affiliation among immigrants, advancing well-worn racial tropes. And he has gone further. Echoing a repulsive phrase from Adolf Hitler%u2019s book %u201cMein Kampf %u201d (My Struggle), Trump has said that undocumented immigrants %u2013 who overwhelmingly are Hispanic %u2013 are %u201cpoisoning the blood%u201d of Americans. (Hitler said the same thing about Jewish people regarding Germany and the %u201cAryan%u201d race.) When a reporter asked Trump why he would use such language, he claimed not to know from where that phrase had originated. However, he later used the same phrase in responding to another reporter. Whereas in the not-too-distant past, a politician who was %u201ccaught%u201d using such language would have been ostracized, Trump feels no need to temper his words. That%u2019s because his millions of supporters largely agree with him. Or, even when they disagree, blatant racism is not the automatically disqualifying issue that it should be. Driven by a variety of factors (especially social media), fringe language, ideas, and policies have now come to the mainstream. Then there are the methods that Trump has employed since taking office this year. There have been dozens of videos of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over-aggressively rounding up undocumented immigrants %u2014 as well as legal citizens of Hispanic origin. Further, Trump has stated his goal of having virtually unlimited power to deport anyone in this nation, including American citizens. Most importantly, he has repeatedly stated his desire to undo birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. Last week, the Supreme Court %u2014 while not explicitly addressing that issue %u2014 limited lower courts%u2019 ability to issue injunctions against Trump%u2019s executive orders. He immediately took to the airwaves to state his view that the decision gave him authority essentially to ignore the 14th Amendment, which he claimed only applied to former slaves.The key difference between the McCarthy Era and today is that the concern about communism was actually legitimate %u2014 McCarthy%u2019s lies and demonizing notwithstanding. For example, confidence in the American political and economic systems faltered greatly in the aftermath of the stock market crash and the Great Depression. Further, communists infiltrated not only the highest levels of government (e.g., at the State Department); they also infiltrated the top-secret Manhattan Project. By contrast, there has been no invasion at America%u2019s southern border %u2014 as Trump claims. The term %u201cinvasion%u201d connotes a military or paramilitary plot to overtake the government of a sovereign nation. There was no such action at our southern border. His claim was a cynical (and successful) attempt to stoke anger and cause panic. History has many ironic twists. One of them is the fact that McCarthy had a then-young attorney named Roy Cohn join his team of anti-communist crusaders. As one of the prosecutors in the case against communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Cohn was a perfect fit for McCarthy. Years later, Trump%u2019s father thought that the younger Trump needed to understand the rough and tumble of politics. He recruited Cohn to be Trump%u2019s mentor.In Mark Twain%u2019s words, %u201cHistory doesn%u2019t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.%u201d Hopefully, the denouement of Trump%u2019s epic poem will rhyme with McCarthy%u2019s. Larry Smith is a community leader. Contact him at%u00a0larry@leaf-llc.com.McCarthy reduxOur voice still matters: A Black reflection on July 4
                                
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