MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian welcomed colleague Trymaine Lee to discuss his new series Into America: The Power of the Black Vote. For the premiere episode, Lee traveled to Texas South University to team up with students and activists to accuse the GOP of racism for passing laws prohibiting Critical Race Theory in schools.
The activism of both Vossoughian’s show and Lee’s podcast was clear when the former asked, “I know you moderated a town hall that focused on these kind of anti-CRT laws and what black voters can actually do about it. How they fight back, right? What stood out to you? What did you learn?”
Lee responded by introducing a series of video clips and declaring that “Texas has become ground zero over the story we tell about America, the mythology, and everything in-between. It was a great opportunity to hear from them. Let's take a listen.”
The first clip showed 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones alleging, “What matters is we have all been taught the history of a country that does not exist.”
After referencing January 6, Jones continued, falsely claiming, “it doesn’t explain why we have legislatures all over the country that are trying to make it more difficult to vote, why we have one political party that’s now saying ‘well, if democracy is not majority white, we may not believe in democracy anymore.’”
The second video consisted of an unidentified man who claimed, “I personally believe that the attack on CRT is more of a situation where some people don't want their grandparents to be seen, they don't want their aunts and uncles to be seen in those pictures of lynchings and things of that nature because they’re going to recognize those faces.”
Just because the man personally believes it, doesn’t make it so but, back live, Lee declared, “This fight has become about more than just what's in a textbook. It's about the fabric of this society and what's woven throughout.”
Vossoughian followed up by also shredding the media’s own talking point that CRT is just an academic theory that is exclusively in universities and law schools, “Trymaine, what are you hearing matters most heading into the midterm elections? Is it this? Is it these laws, kind of, that are in place or, you know, these boards that are speaking out against CRT in their schools and taking books off the shelves, or is it something else?”
Lee replied by asserting that it is multiple issue stacked on top of each other because not only are Republicans racist, they are also sexist, “You know, what I found here at Texas Southern is there's, kind of, an overlap, right? Those same lawmakers who are pushing these anti-CRT bills are also the ones pushing policy that attacks a woman's reproductive rights. The same ones that are gerrymandering voting districts, right?”
He then repeated Hannah-Jones’s falsehood about voting, “But, again for black folks in particular, these young black people, it's not lost that the franchise in so many ways is kind of fragile at this moment and they see an attack on that. So all those things together.”
Finally, Lee repeated the claim that CRT is just another way of saying accurate history, “through the lens of CRT and the truth about America's history and being seen, is actually addressing what that—addressing that truth and reckoning with that history and doing it in a very intentional and explicit way.”
If Lee’s town hall was anything to go buy, it’s not reckoning with history, that he’s interested in, but simple partisan hackery.
This segment was sponsored by Dr. Scholl’s.
Here is a transcript for the September 15 show:
MSNBC Yasmin Vossoughian Reports
9/15/2022
12:51 PM ET
YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN: Alright, welcome back. So, as the country gears up for the midterm elections in November, few places are facing higher stakes than the state of Texas. Over the last year, Texas has become a battleground over a controversial law signed by Governor Greg Abbott regarding Critical Race Theory. The law has pulled books off of shelves, put limits on what can be taught in classrooms and placed teachers at risk for even mentioning subjects related to race or racism.
My colleague Trymaine Lee is launching a new series called The Power of the Black Vote, it’s taking him to HBCU’s across the country to speak with young black voters and the issues that matter most to them. His first stop was at Texas Southern University in Houston and that is where he joins me now from.
Trymaine, It's always-- it's great to talk to you. I know you moderated a town hall that focused on these kind of anti-CRT laws and what black voters can actually do about it. How they fight back, right? What stood out to you? What did you learn?
TRYMAINE LEE: I’ll tell you what Yasmin, it's always great to be on the campus of an HBCU given their long history and tradition and to be here at TSU, to have that town hall and engage with black students and educators and thinking thinkers and change makers about this very issue, because in so many ways, Texas has become ground zero over the story we tell about America, the mythology, and everything in-between. It was a great opportunity to hear from them. Let's take a listen.
NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES: What matters is we have all been taught the history of a country that does not exist. So the history of a country we’ve been taught doesn't explain January 6th, it doesn’t explain why we have legislatures all over the country that are trying to make it more difficult to vote, why we have one political party that’s now saying “well, if democracy is not majority white, we may not believe in democracy anymore.”
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I personally believe that the attack on CRT is more of a situation where some people don't want their grandparents to be seen, they don't want their aunts and uncles to be seen in those pictures of lynchings and things of that nature because they’re going to recognize those faces.
LEE: This fight has become about more than just what's in a textbook.
VOSSOUGHIAN: Yeah.
LEE: It's about the fabric of this society and what's woven throughout.
VOSSOUGHIAN: So, I wonder as you're kind of beginning this tour, Trymaine, what are you hearing matters most heading into the midterm elections? Is it this? Is it these laws, kind of, that are in place or, you know, these boards that are speaking out against CRT in their schools and taking books off the shelves, or is it something else?
LEE: You know, what I found here at Texas Southern is there's, kind of, an overlap, right? Those same lawmakers who are pushing these anti-CRT bills are also the ones pushing policy that attacks a woman's reproductive rights.
VOSSOUGHIAN: Right.
LEE: The same ones that are gerrymandering voting districts, right? And so It's always, you know, parts of a bigger machine here. So it is all of those things combined, but they see one as a proxy for all those others. But, again for black folks in particular, these young black people, it's not lost that the franchise in so many ways is kind of fragile at this moment and they see an attack on that. So all those things together.
VOSSOUGHIAN: So what are they saying? What are these young black voters saying about what they need to do to stop it, to fight back?
LEE: Well, the first thing, through the lens of CRT and the truth about America's history and being seen, is actually addressing what that—addressing that truth and reckoning with that history and doing it in a very intentional and explicit way.
