TLDR;
Lurie Daniel Favors discusses the concept of "manifest destiny" and its modern implications, particularly focusing on Marco Rubio's recent statements that seem to advocate for a return to Western colonial dominance. She connects historical injustices like slavery and colonization to contemporary issues such as environmental racism, the disappearance of detainees from ICE facilities, and the economic exploitation of countries in the Global South. The discussion also covers the importance of understanding history to resist current forms of oppression and the need for people to prepare for potential future injustices.
- Manifest destiny is a racist concept used to justify white dominance and exploitation.
- Modern issues like environmental racism and ICE detention centers are connected to historical injustices.
- Marco Rubio's statements suggest a desire to revive Western colonial power.
- Resistance and awareness of history are crucial to combating oppression.
Intro and Show Anniversary [0:00]
Lurie Daniel Favors welcomes listeners to her show on SiriusXM's Urban View and YouTube, celebrating her 5-year anniversary with Urban View. She mentions a full version of the "Larie Breaks It Down" song, created by her husband, is available on her YouTube channel. She expresses excitement about her online community, Sanca Connections, which opened this weekend, inviting listeners to join through her website.
Manifest Destiny Explained [4:07]
Lurie Daniel Favors defines manifest destiny as a Western idea that white people have the right to expand and dominate any territory they desire, based on a belief in their divinely ordained fate. This concept is rooted in white supremacy, which was created to justify the theft of land from indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, and the colonization of other nations. She describes manifest destiny as a "temper tantrum" of nations, likening Western countries to spoiled children who take whatever they want without correction.
Environmental Racism in Louisiana [7:35]
Lurie Daniel Favors discusses a victory in Louisiana, where black residents won a key ruling in an environmental racism case. Lawyers argued that zoning practices concentrating pollution in black districts violate the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. The legal theory suggests that after slavery, all vestiges and indications of enslavement should also be abolished, ensuring equitable investment and access to resources for formerly enslaved communities. The case involves communities in St. James Parish, Louisiana, living in "Cancer Alley," a stretch of land with high levels of toxic industrial pollution. The case aims to force a jury to decide whether the disproportionate placement of polluting facilities in black communities is a vestige of slavery.
US Military Actions in the Caribbean [14:07]
Lurie Daniel Favors reports that the U.S. military killed three more people in the Caribbean Sea, bringing the total to 133 assassinations at sea. She contrasts this with the standard procedure for handling drug cartel ships, where the ship is boarded, the people and evidence are seized, and the individuals are prosecuted. She argues that killing people in the middle of the ocean indicates a lie and an attempt at manifest destiny.
Ecological Disaster in Washington D.C. [15:45]
Lurie Daniel Favors discusses an ecological disaster in the PTOIC River in Washington D.C., where a massive sewage spill has occurred. A broken pipe released hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage and wastewater into the river, threatening the Chesapeake Bay. She attributes the disaster partly to Americans flushing "flushable" wipes down the toilet, overwhelming the infrastructure. She connects this to a manifest destiny approach to governance, where ecological disasters and the abandonment of colonized people are part of the same pattern.
Missing Detainees from ICE Detention Center [21:21]
Lurie Daniel Favors reports that 1,200 people are missing from the Alligator Alcatraz ICE detention center, with their records wiped from the online ICE database. She references a Miami Herald article exploring possibilities such as deportation to the wrong country or transfer to other detention centers. She criticizes the lack of concern for these missing people, comparing it to the historical indifference of slave traders who did not care about the identities or origins of the people they trafficked.
Marco Rubio and Revitalizing Manifest Destiny [26:32]
Lurie Daniel Favors discusses Marco Rubio's recent statements that suggest a revitalization of manifest destiny. She quotes Benjamin Norton, who describes Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference as explicitly pro-colonialist. Rubio praised Western colonialists for expanding, settling new continents, and building vast empires, while lamenting the decolonization of the Global South as a communist plot. Favors interprets this as a desire to return to a world dominated by whiteness and a rejection of anti-colonial movements.
Analysis of Rubio's Speech and Modern Implications [33:27]
Lurie Daniel Favors analyzes Marco Rubio's speech, highlighting his lament that the great Western empires entered a terminal decline accelerated by "godless communist revolutions and anti-colonial uprisings." She connects this to the establishment of offices of remigration, which aim to close borders to non-whites, remove non-whites legally in the country, and eliminate anyone not aligned with white nationalism. She plays a clip from Dr. Raina Tayara, who analyzes Rubio's defense of Western dominance and his dismissal of guilt and shame as barriers.
Call to Action and Resistance [38:31]
Lurie Daniel Favors emphasizes that the only things upholding integration in American society are a white populace willing to keep their racism at home and a governing apparatus willing to enforce anti-racism rules, neither of which currently exist. She warns that white culture is undergoing a resuscitation and that domination is coming. She highlights Cuba being starved for oil due to U.S. sanctions and urges Global South communities to divorce themselves from dependency on Americans. She concludes by stressing the need to study history and prepare for resistance, as white dominance and whiteness culture are destructive forces.
