3. Cabinet Convo
Seazon 1 Episode 3
Z sits down with her "resident expert on all things law" and they discuss the mid-term election (and politics in general) from the perspective of young, Black millennials. This episode is definitely inspired by Hamilton the musical.
Trigger warning: this episode and transcript contains mentions of sexual assault and rape.
Connect with Cha’Nel
Instagram: @blkbulletjournaling
Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello, everyone. This is Z here on Catch some Z's podcast. Thank you for tuning in.
[00:00:07] You are greatly and wholly appreciated. This episode is well one: it features my first ever guest who will be introduced shortly. And two: it is a super casual discussion on our interpretation of politics and the current political system. And I'm not too sure what your, you know, family dynamic is at home, but with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching - or maybe, you know, it happened already. And you're listening to this not during Thanksgiving, but this was filmed before Thanksgiving. And, you know, some people go home and they have political conversations with their families. Some people don't. I don't really it's pretty casual. It's not that it would be difficult, but it's really, you know, at least in my case, it's really just me and my mom. And we'll just talk about current events and stuff. But sometimes it's it's it's cool to talk to, you know, your people, people who kind of share similar experiences that you share and people who also share experiences that are different from you. And originally, this conversation was just like a kitchen table, like, "oh, we're just talking about things that we've learned in class" and the conversations that we've had with other people. And I said, "why not put this on the podcast?" So it's on the podcast. Again, we mention in the conversation that this is, you know, don't don't take our information at face value.
[00:01:37] This is just two people chatting. But, you know, we're talking about the things that we see, the things how we understand some things. But, you know, if you're looking for any references as far as political ideologies go or the political parties, America's system in general, you probably don't want to take any quotes from here because, um, yeah, it's not a it's probably not reliable, but. We're still going to do it anyway because we talked about the things that we want to talk about. So I hope you enjoy the conversation. This episode is a little bit longer than other ones, which is great. That just means there's a lot of content. But I hope you enjoy. And you should have the Twitter and Instagram. If you don't, it is @catchsomezzzs_. There are three Zs. So one, two, three z. The letter s and an underscore at the end. And that's Instagram and Twitter. So let me know how you feel. Maybe you agree 100 percent. Maybe you totally disagree and you want to come into the DM's and fight me about it. Whatever. That's fine. That's your prerogative. Hopefully not, though, because that's pretty unproductive.
[00:02:44] But anyway, I hope you enjoy. And like I said, let me know what you thought. Alrighty.
[00:02:58] So in the spirit of the past election cycle and then in the spirit of being a young black student in college, I've been having a lot of thoughts on the overall political process, how we view it as, I guess, millennials versus how people like the civil rights activists, women's suffragettes viewed it. And I've just been having a lot of thoughts, so I brought in my expert personally on all things law, order, civil obedience, civil disobedience, et cetera. My dear friend, Cha'Nel.
[00:03:28] Yes, that's you.
[00:03:31] Cha’Nel: So for clarity reasons, I'm not an expert.
[00:03:33] Z: Well, first tell people about yourself. And then you can talk about your resume.
[00:03:40] C: Well, thank you. As she said, the name is Cha'Nel Tyler Ellis. You can call me Tyler for sure. I graduate with my dear friend Zanaiya or a.k.a.. Catch Some Z's in May. We met at SOAR so we've been friends since.
[00:03:59] Z: We're not going to mention our school just because, like...
[00:04:02] C: Right.
[00:04:02] Z: ...Whatever. But just know if you know. You know, if you don't, you don't.
[00:04:07] C: I got my not my master's got my bachelors in criminal justice with a concentration investigative services and my paralegal certificate. And now I'm going for my master's in national security. Possibly MBA no but seriously just national security. Just got approved to work at my full time job. I'll be starting in January. Oh, I won't state the company, but I will be a background investigator. And I'm super excited. Thank you for having me.
[00:04:41] Z: No thank you for coming. Thank you for being here.
[00:04:44] If you listen, you'll see why I said that she's my my resident expert on all things Law Order, politics, etc.. So Cha'Nel and I were having a conversation not too long ago about kind of the polarization of the current democratic - the polarization of the political parties all together and how certain groups seriously identify with the Democrats. Some group seriously identify with Republicans and how there's not really any space for deviation between the two and, while, that's all well and good, most of us know that, you know, this process is not very sustainable.
[00:05:24] Disclosure, sorry about the background noise that you hear. But this is just what it is. So if you hear the ambulance, you hear a dog. If you hear a neighbor yelling. Just know that, you know, we're in a community.
[00:05:38] C: Right.
[00:05:41] Z: So, yes, Cha'Nel. Please, just. We were talking about.... What were we talking about?
C: Politics.
[00:05:50] Z: Yes, but specifically... we brought up a really good point. I said, oh, we got to film this.[00:05:57] C: Oh, put me on the spot. I know. We were talking about, obviously, the midterms.
[00:06:02] Z: Mm hmm.
[00:06:03] C: Stacey Abrams, I know we were talking about
[00:06:05] Z: Stacey Abrams. Yes.
[00:06:06] C: As well as Andrew Gilum?
[00:06:08] Z: Mm hmm. Gillum? I'm sorry, sir.
[00:06:12] C: Andrew G. In Florida and, uh. Beto.
[00:06:20] Z: Oh, yeah, Beto O'Rourke. Oh, and Kavanaugh.
[00:06:22] C: Kavanaugh. Yes, we were talking about. Was that the start? How did we start?
[00:06:26] Z: I think so. I forget how we began, but I think, oh, you know, with Candace Owens.
[00:06:31] C: Yes. OK, well, I, well, we were definitely obviously talking about midterm elections and.. Not confused, but more so discouraged. That Beto was unfortunately not elected down in Texas. Where Sandy Cheeks lives...
[00:06:52] Z: The ocean's no place for squirrel. Alright, sorry.
[00:06:57] C: We're back. And but it's obviously understandable. I mentioned to her that it was...Pretty a pretty unique position that he was put in, seeing as though it was, you know, Texas is kind of more conservative or I should say more red, since it really comes down to red and blue in the United States. We kind of forget about the third part, but that's fine. But most people thought that Ted Cruz would kind of sweep it away. But he gave him a run for his money.
[00:07:33] Z: Absolutely. What did it come down to anyway? It was, wasn't it? Less than like a million votes at the end of counting wasn't it like 500000 or something?
[00:07:39] C: It was. I believe so. I don't really know the number, but I do know points-wise...
[00:07:43] Z: whatever it was, it was close.
[00:07:43] C: It was it was probably between one and two points, maybe if not three, which is extremely close. Made the Reds or Republicans or conservatives, whatever you want to call yourselves. We love you here at Catch Some Z's. But it definitely was closer than what everyone thought. As well as Florida and Georgia with Florida having to go legally into a recount. And Georgia is kind of still up in the air because my good sis Stacey Abrams did not concede. And I'm super happy. She needs to shake things up. But also, since this is catching some Z's. This is a podcast by a black woman.
[00:08:28] Black women get it done.
[00:08:29] Z: Hello!
[00:08:29] Women in general, yes, but black women specifically when we have our mind set to something and we we know we have to accomplish something. We get it done. So I definitely am a supporter for representation matters. She looks like me, talks like me. And it's really good to see somebody like that and not in entertainment, you know. But yes, I brought up Ca- oooh I about to say Dana Owens again. It's something about Queen Latifah.
[00:08:56] Z: Another strong black woman.
[00:08:57] C: Yes. Obviously. It's a theme here. But I brought up Candace Owens because if you don't know, Candace Owens, Candace Owens is a black woman. I don't know where she's from. I apologize. But she is. You may have seen her name, especially when Kanye was going through it. I'm not sure if he's still going through it. I did see a recent video of him looking like he was being attacked, but it was just him dancing. But she is... I kind of I might sound ignorant, but I think she does consider herself conservative. She doesn't necessarily like Democrats. And she's definitely more conservative than I think I can say that I am and definitely than Z is. But what I will say is. I kind of like her. She makes a good a great point - I've always said this and thought this for years, that Black people do not have to be Democrats. I think that's how the conversation started.
[00:10:01] And I think a lot of the misconception is, especially growing up in the black community and being black, obviously raised by black, you know, woman and father and whatever the case is we for so many years, Democrats...[ambulance]
[00:10:15] Yes, they may they may or may not have a secret agenda that we don't know about publicly, but at least for the past few decades, Democrats have put minority issues at the top of the list, they are outspoken about minority issues. They try to at least shed light on minority issues, even though they might not be able to help because, you know, like, it's kind of weird, you know, being a - So take Stacey Abrams for example or even Obama or Auntie Maxine choose choose whoever.
[00:10:50] Z: Cory Booker.
[00:10:51] C: Right. Even better, being black and being put in a position of, I would say, power. How does it look, you being black and then only helping out the black community? That's that's or minority communities. That's kind of it's kind of weird, kind of shady. And we just know most of the whites that are elected or the whites that do the electing wouldn't have it. So I think them speaking out against. No, not against, but speaking out about problems that we face in the black community is a start. I don't really know action wise what else they can do without it seeming like they're only helping out, you know, us and each other. So I kind of get the position that they are put in. But I also understand what Miss Owens is is talking about. You don't have to be black and you don't have to vote Democrat. You don't have to vote blue. I 100 percent agree with that because we all have our own experiences or or different different experiences and backgrounds that we come from. And you may not want to vote blue. You may want to vote. Maybe you want to write yourself in. Who knows? I know a lot of people do that. Harambe. It's fine. It's over. But, yeah, I think that was where the conversation kind of started with. And I did I'm not sure if I mentioned Kavanaugh- I probably mentioned Kavanaugh.
[00:12:18] Z: I think you did.
[00:12:19] C: I also mentioned Kavanaugh because obviously that was a huge thing because of the..was it sexual assault or rape?
[00:12:29] Z: Little bit of both, I believe.
[00:12:31] C: Ok. The allegations against him and the Democrats holding up his swearing in to the Supreme Court. I get where a lot of women are coming from, especially white women are coming from, because, you know, that's probably the bulk of where the feminists come from in this country. Well, not in Texas. I said it. But, you know, the concern about putting another conservative judge on the Supreme Court Justice - United States Supreme Court justice is scary because of Roe v. Wade, the abortion case, and other women's and minority laws or cases being presented to the Supreme Court and probably going, if not five : four ... For the conservatives, moreso a six : three breakdown is what we're looking at now because we don't have that many. I don't want to say Democrats. We don't have that many left, liberal, liberal, free - Free thinkers there. They're now trying to take that word back. But many liberal judges on the Supreme Court now. But in the midst of everybody arguing in the hearings, I did a little digging. I looked at I didn't obviously read all of his cases because that's a lot. But I definitely did look at a few summaries of his cases. And even though he may consider himself more right or conservative than most other judges, especially people that probably support him. He case wise, he's he's really not. Obviously, he may support, you know, people probably define people that are right wing or conservatives and Republicans that support having firearms.
[00:14:31] So the Second Amendment and, you know, the war on drugs, war on terrorism, supporting military and all that good stuff. But honestly, if you look at some of his cases that he's presided on, it really doesn't come down to that. It really comes down to him being what I like to call a constitutional judge, he really takes what our founding fathers' framework of the Constitution and literally applies to the case. I don't based on what I've read, it didn't really come down to race or gender or socio-economic status. It really just came down to him trying to apply the Constitution and the laws to whatever case that he was working on. But obviously adjusting it for the time frame that we in that we're in, because back in the day, I don't think they were dealing with technology the way we are dealing with technology now or I don't think they were dealing with social norms back then. You know, the social norms that we're dealing with now. So I think that's long winded. But how we.
[00:15:39] Z: You said what you said.
[00:15:41] C: We decided to discuss this. She says I'm an expert. That was... I mean, I don't even think that was. That was just the top surface of how I feel and the information that I that I gathered. It's not really much.
[00:15:55] Z: Well, I said you're my expert. Period. And I think it's also important. Like we also had this conversation within the context specifically of the two political parties that run our nation's system and not from an overall scope, because from an overall scope, there's a lot of stuff that's wrong that we can recognize within both. And we're not you know, the conversation wasn't to, I guess, make excuses for either of the parties because, you know, she had mentioned earlier that a lot of the times we associate the conservatives or the right, you know, with Second Amendments, whatever the case is, and we associate the left with the environment and social issues and stuff like that. But overall, you know, neither one of the parties are really doing much of anything in regards to those things. Like, you know, I feel like especially minorities, we we tie ourselves to Democrats because, you know, as we mentioned, that they had, I guess, minority interests. They shared them more explicitly when, you know, they're campaigning and stuff like that. And then when you look at who's done what. Over the last few decades, Democrats have done the things that have benefited or seem to benefit minorities. But just because that's happened doesn't mean that they're not trash. And we also recognize that we're just taking this from the scope of, you know, how the rest of the nation looks at it, or at least the majority of the rest of the nation looks at it. And that's, you know, red versus blue, right versus left, whatever the case is. And just trying to break that down. We're going to keep going. We're going to take a short break.
[00:17:29] So go get some water if you need to. Or bring me into the bathroom when you go pee. I don't mind...thanks
[00:17:43] Z: All right, we took a short break, came back.
[00:17:50] We're continuing our conversation about the U.S. current political system and political parties from the perspective of two young millennials in college, black woman, black women, millennials.
[00:18:04] That was a little Alexander Hamilton for you from the hit Broadway musical, Hamilton: An American Musical written by Lin Manuel Miranda. Get your tickets now. You can't.
[00:18:16] C: Cause they're over $600.
[00:18:20] Z: And I'm here with my dear friend and resident expert on politics and all things law, Cha'Nel.
[00:18:27] C: I should make that my intro.
[00:18:28] Z: Yeah, right.
[00:18:29] C: In all things.
[00:18:31] Z: My current Masters Student and National Security Future Director of the FBI.
[00:18:43] Z: So, yes, before a little hiatus. We were talking about just our perceptions of, you know, right versus left and things like that. And I kind of. All right. So, you know, raise your hand if you were on Tumblr from 2013 to 2018. And they were trying to birth a baby socialist's because. No, they were. And it was great for, you know, those of us who were in high school and, you know, really couldn't care less about politics, but also knew we had an obligation to care to some degree. And, you know, before the 2016 election, just learning about different things that were happening like Tumblr, Tumblr taught me that Obama was sending, you know, immigrants deporting them. Jesus couldn't think the words I learned about Obama's deportation from Tumblr. I was like, man. And I definitely like I can admit that I was living in a bubble. I knew, obviously, that, you know, politics was corrupt. But again, all of my my everything I based everything on was just because I watch Scandal and House of Cards. So that's not really, you know, legit. And I you know, I was definitely excited when America voted a black man president. I thought that was really cool, you know, given the history and, you know, I was very hip to the Civil Rights movement and things leading to that. The things that happened after that. So I knew that, you know, having a black man in the Oval Office was definitely important. But I forgot or ignored or just was ignorant to the fact that., yeah, politics is dirty, and just because I like this man and I like his charisma doesn't mean that. You know what America does as far as, you know, foreign policy, what they do domestically, there's going to be a bunch of things that I 100 percent disagree with, regardless of who holds that office. And I started to come into that moreso in college, but I brought up Tumblr because, again, like, you know, there's definitely a lot of, you know, like liberal teenagers, a lot of liberal adults letting you know, like, hey, this is what's going on in the world. You know, this is what's happening in the environment. This is what's happening in this country this is what's happening in that country. Here's what's happening in our country. And these are the steps that we need to take to fix it. And it's like, OK.
[00:20:48] And then I got very angry at Republicans specifically because all of the things that I seem to care about from my perspective, they were, you know, trying to either take it away or they were trying to halt progress or whatever the case may be. So I got angry and I was like, you know, Republicans boo boo boo. And it wasn't until I worked in my county over the summer and one of my co-workers was not like an aggressive Trump supporter. I don't even know that he supported Trump. And this was, you know, after the election, just a real cool guy. We would have talks all the time. And he was very calm. And I just kind of started to notice I would definitely 100 percent eavesdrop on his conversations with other co-workers. And they were…
[00:21:32] C: As you should.
[00:21:32] Z …Right. And they were mostly women in their like, you know, 40s and 50s. And they would go to him and emulate. Did you see what your president did? He did. X, Y and Z ...I think they would bring up valid, you know, valid B.S. that, you know, Trump was getting into. And then the guy, you know, he'd be like. But he also did, you know, blah, blah, blah, whatever the case is and. For me, that kind of put a lot of things into perspective for me, because I only saw the characterization of Trump supporters as the people who wanted to hang the blacks and nothing else, like there was no in between for me. No, no, no. That's what it was. It was it was the rednecks who would you know. Slaughter a black person just because they saw them and I was like, well, that's not what I want. And when I would eavesdrop on my coworker's conversations, you know, his whole thing, he was just really concerned with family. He had family, you know, who grew up dad and brothers or whoever the case. They worked, you know, and I don't know the coal mines or things like that. And for those people, I realized that they weren't looking at Trump and or Republicans the way I was looking. I was looking at it from the scope of, you know, racial justice, social equality, women's rights, the environment or whatever the case. I was looking at it from that perspective. And. In that context, there's definitely 100 percent a lot of hate. A lot of disgust. A lot of danger for a lot of different people. And some people are just privileged enough where they don't have to look at those things. They don't have to consider those things. And so they really are looking at, OK. What about, you know, American jobs? What about, you know, I want to protect my family. I have a small business. I want to make sure that succeeds whatever the case is. And I'm not you know, I'm not giving these people a pass like you as a functioning adult human being, especially someone who's voting. You kind of need to be aware of the social things also because everything has an effect.
[00:23:27] Z: But I was just, you know, less inclined or less eager to get angry and very hateful at the people who were supporting, I guess, the opposite side, because ultimately, at the end of the day, I'm not going to fault them for caring what they care about. And I also, you know, can't make them care about things that just aren't important to them because, - again, two very different things- this is not to equate them. But from my end, I could care less about people who work in coal mines because no one in my family ever did that. So that's not a major thing for me, but for people who, you know, whose lives depended on the mines being there or, you know, steel workers or people who worked in the auto industry back when, you know, Detroit and all of those guys were booming.
[00:24:08] These things matter to them, which I understand. Obviously, the livelihood of Black people kind of matters more to me because I'm a black person and also, you know, like humanity. But it helped me understand. It helped me... it was definitely a lesson in empathy for me and practicing empathy again, not to excuse. You know, I'm not going to let you go around running racial slurs and, you know, letting your actions or words impact the legitimate livelihoods of people's existence. But I am going to, at the very least, try to understand where you're coming from. And so that was a goal of mine. And then I had another moment of clarity during my state's gubernatorial election because I was just ready to, you know, vote blue. I was like just for kicks, let me see what you know, what the Republican platform is. And this was during the primaries. So, you know, there were like five or six Republican candidates. And I went to their websites and I was reading and I was expecting, you know, like hate and bigotry, blah, blah, blah. And what I got was like a lot of issues that I actually cared about. And so I was shook for myself. And now this is about like halfway through my college career. And I was like, am I sitting here like, actually reading - one, reading the Republican platform? And then two, like, agreeing with 60 percent of it. And then I had to look into myself and be like, okay. So either you're a piece of trash or people are human beings. And we've kind of created this exaggerated divide because humans like to compartmentalize. So I went with the latter. But I also took the time to, you know, look at these things. And so just for example, some of their platforms were talking about, you know, the inequity in school funding due to property taxes.
[00:25:55] And so you have urban neighborhoods who have a high population of students, but because the property taxes are low, then the schools are subsequently low in the neighborhoods they were talking about were like urban neighborhoods were predominately like, you know, African-American or Latino students. And, you know, they were like, we need to, you know, help make the public schools better for these kids so everyone can get a fair and equal education. I was like, hey, man, I agree with that. And the only major - at least the ones that I was able to see between the Republican candidates and the Democratic candidates were the Democratic the Democratic candidates were just more inclined to you know, they were like "oh, let's legalize marijuana but, you know, within reason" or, you know, either one payer - single payer health care or universal, whatever the case was. And that was the difference between the Republican and the Democratic candidates. But like those things are within reason. Like I can understand why the two would side - they would feel the way they feel. But it wasn't, you know, anything ridiculously crazy.
[00:26:54] And I was in a lot of shock, like a very long time because I was like, you know, not that I've been missing out on anything, but like, how long did I have like an unearned not on earned, but a relatively irrational dislike for Republicans, like as a…I guess this is a social construct. So I had to stop and think about that and to bring up Scandal again, because we gotta. For those - well, I'm I'm spoiling because this series is over now. So if you haven't seen it, I don't know what to tell you. But basically, Mellie ran for president and she was a Republican and Susan ran for president as well. And Susan ran a Republican platform. And during their debates, I literally agreed with a ninety nine percent of their platforms. And I remember watching one of those episodes and I was like, how come Republicans can't be like this in real life? And then I went and like some of them are. And I was like, So what exactly am I being fed right now? Because this is a lot of bull. And it was just really frustrating because it was a fictional show and these were two women and one woman was like, let's raise the minimum wage and let's, you know, make sure that women have proper reproductive rights and let's make sure that our veterans are taken care of and let's make sure that our school systems are equal. So that way students who live in poverty can still get a proper public education, just things that I care about.
[00:28:23] And I was like, I would never see a Republican do this. And it's just I think I just don't actually see them do it. And I think, you know, again, that's that's an American thing. That's a human thing. We know where we would from.
[00:28:34] C: First world problems,
[00:28:35] Z: First world problems! You know, like we said, the media is very sensationalized and it has been for quite some time. And we only you know, we only highlight the things that are exciting. So while, again, I'm not - this is not to say let's give all the Republicans a chance, because there are some that I feel like I don't want to say there's a majority. I don't know everyone and I'm not, you know, fully informed. But I do know that the only thing I ever see about the Republicans is the bigotry side, the side that doesn't seem to care about, you know, women's health. The side that only upholds Christianity when it's convenient for them. The side that, you know, doesn't really care about poor people. While, I know that's not the whole my issue is that even when those ugly things are, what's highlighted there's not a lot of effort to negate that on their end. And if anyone should be doing it, it's them. At the same time, I've started to grow, you know, just unenthused overall with the Democratic Party because. There's a lot of figures in the party that, you know, I admire for you know leadership capabilities and the way that they've been able to, you know, make a name for themselves, make a career for themselves. But that doesn't mean that, you know, they're not being controlled monetarily by different industries that I may or may not agree with. And as we mentioned before, there are a lot of you know, a lot of Democrats who seem to have minority interests at the forefront, which is great. And a lot of them really do and a lot of them really take the time out to address those things and implement things.
[00:30:05] But there's also a lot of them who just literally use the minority platform to get minority votes and then do nothing about it. So the way I said that, the Republicans, you know, don't really, um, negate the negativity that comes their way. I feel like the Democrats when it comes time to get things done up until like recently, when I say recently, I mean, like this last election, they they're all talk and no action. And that's great. If you want to talk about equity, that's great if you want to talk about things that I care about. But if you're not actually doing anything to implement those things or if you feel like you're getting bullied by the Republicans, don't just sit there and take it right. Do something about it. So that's where I'm at. Any thoughts?
[00:30:48] C: I think you're a great, great. But I think your last point is. I don't want to say tricky, but again, in this social climate that we're in now. I want to stay away from using the word crybabies because, you know, I'm definitely more left than I am right. But still agree with some points that the right does bring up, obviously, like I'm not ignorant points. You know, educational points. But crybabies, I don't want to bring that up. You know, liberal crybabies, whatever. But a lot of the times in this social climate, there are on both sides crybabies. The right has coined the term liberal crybabies,
[00:31:30] Z: Snowflakes!
[00:31:31] C: Snowflakes. I don't really know what the left has coined the right. Instead of calling them right.
[00:31:39] Z: Alt-right. Nazis. Well not all of them, just the alt-right.
[00:31:40] C: Alt-right. Fascists. But see, those are literal definitions of what some of them stand for.
[00:31:48] Z: Yeah. They will argue that, though.
[00:31:50] C: Yeah. That's it's always. It's always sketchy. Everyone always tries to. I don't want to say I identify that they always try to justify what the definitions are. And it's very confusing in my program at this point. It's also a huge turning point for me. It's not - National security is nowhere near criminal justice. I thought, oh, like, I have the background. I know a lot. This shouldn't be hard. Oh, absolutely it is. And I'll tell you why, folks. It has nothing to do with the criminal justice system. It has everything to do with - I don't want to use it in the definition, but national security, meaning like terrorism, knowing your history of wars, knowing just knowing an abundance of information that I just haven't had to know for class and slash be tested and/or write papers on so it's definitely something new for me. But what I have learned is my professors are all over the place and hopefully maybe, you know, when this does publish, I will definitely send links to my class because they know our Tuesday night class - my Tuesday night class. My professor is a Connecticut federal prosecutor, which is fun. He clearly knows the law, but he's you know -that class...it's discussion based.
[00:33:18] And he he says that he's, you know, wants to play devil's advocate. Which you can tell that he he does sometimes, but also not just me. But I think, again, 95 percent of the class gets that he's probably. A very I don't want to say very white - oof - very right wing Republican. He might just be Republican, conservative or whatever the case is. But you can definitely tell that he I don't want to say supports Trump because you can support who you want. I support Trump from literally like an extent of him doing things like he's literally he came into the office and he shook things up that the nation has hasn't seen.
[00:34:00] Z: I will give him that...but that's all.
[00:34:01] C: Yes. Hasn't seen in years. As far as some of the policies and things that he's he's said. I, you know, one hundred percent do not support. I do think if he had came in and, you know, shook things up the way he did, but like properly with protocol and stuff, you know, not tweeting things out before it's been approved. Then we could talk about that. But other than that, I do think him shaking it up makes us nervous, but also makes the United States progressive, in a sense, especially internationally. But as far as domestically, there have been a few reports stating that probably in the next five to 10 years we will have another civil war based off of the rhetoric that's been happening and coming from the right. I think I need to get back to my point, but real quick. I think what he has done, he's literally just woken up the racism that's been hiding in most of the right conservative or.....
[00:35:02] Z: [makes a joke].
[00:35:03] C: Yes. That's been happening. But I'm even. I forgot what I was...
[00:35:09] Z: I called the Democrats crybabies.
[00:35:12] C: Yes, I think yes. So my class. A lot of the times we get caught up in these terms. And I remember learning about like when you learn about - in my degree program for my bachelors, learning about the war on drugs and. You know, the Clintons are always involved in something, let's just start there. I've I don't want to say my third eye has woken it's woken specifically for them. They're always wrapped up in something. But with the war on drugs, you know, headed by Bill Clinton himself coming up with a three strike rule. And they came up with what I call these trigger words. Like Willie Horton or black or scary. And kind of especially during, you know, back in the day, those were all associated with being black. So that became a thing as well as the three strike rule becoming a not just a black thing, but specifically for the state of California, that became a huge Hispanic or Latinx thing, locking up those specific individuals after - well, I'm sorry, if you don't know the three strike rule. Well, I think I'm talking to…
[00:36:27] Z: You can look it up. Do your Googles.
[00:36:30] C: But that was completely...
[00:36:31] [Enter Cece:] Hi!
[00:36:34] Z: This is our roommate Cece.
[00:36:39] C: But the three strike rule becoming something that was detrimental to the minority communities in California. But just those trigger words focusing on minorities specifically in the United States became - became detrimental to the community. So I think with words like liberal crybaby. Alt-right for the - the right wing persons out there that are listening.
[00:37:07] Z: Those are finger guns, by the way.
[00:37:14] C: There are a few - few other words I can't think of. But as an example, my Tuesday night professor brought up the fact that Maxine Waters or we'll call her Auntie Maxine here on this podcast 'cause we respect her, said, you know, was disappointed. And thought it was absurd that she would, ask her supporters as well as, you know, conservative supporters to get in Republicans face to demand change. And he thought that was an attack on, you know, the Republicans and, you know, why would she ever do this? Blah, blah, blah. And I get where he was coming from. But I also understand where Auntie Maxine was coming from. I mean, I'm in for lack of a better term. I think it was a Black thing. You know, when she said that, as you know, we say that all the time, this might be out there in the white community Hispanic communities and Asian communities as well. But it's specifically in the black community because I'm black and I've grown up in that community for 22 years. It's kind of like a - like a saying that, like get up in their face but like obviously not violently and not ignorantly. It's more so...
[00:38:23] Z: Closed mouths don't get fed.
[00:38:25] C: Right. It's like a get out there and demand what what you want because you as a person - And well, she's from California - as a citizen of California, as a resident of California. You have the right to tell your representative what you want. That's literally what she was saying. But of course, everybody looking too deep into what everybody is saying, especially based on how my professor was responding to it. You know, "why would you ever say that? That's, you know, starting violence." Also, I was responding to a lot of Twitter people on under my sister's tweet that, you know, she became famous for a little bit. And one person commented back to me, you know, you're if you're supporting her you supporting violence. And I had to remind this specific individual that Trump doesn't condemn white supremacy or nationalists, and I bring up nationalists because Trump a few weeks ago referred to himself as a nationalist. And of course, my Tuesday night, professor as well said that there's nothing wrong with being a nationalist. The funny thing is, though, my Wednesday night professor says the complete opposite. Again, same program, different perspectives. And my Wednesday night professor brought up a good point that it all depends on who's saying it. As a white male who seems to not care about what white supremacists or white extremist groups are doing in this country, to coin yourself as a nationalist in that position, is pretty nerve wracking because if you're a person like him, aka Trump, you're literally one step from becoming a white supremacist. And I'm not saying that he is, but I will quote our hopefully soon to be governor, Andrew Gillum?
[00:40:19] Z: G.
[00:40:20] C: Andrew G. It's not that we are calling you a white supremacist or white nationalist, it's simply that your supporters think you are. So the fact that your supporters who voted you and, well, not by popular vote, the Electoral College did that, but anyway, by your supporters voting you in thinking that you do run on a platform of being a white nationalist or being a white supremacist. That's kind of scary, especially being a black woman in this country or just being black. Especially being a black male in this country. I wish we had some black men-
[00:40:57] Z: -or anyone with common decency.
[00:40:59] C: Right. And so on. (I bowed.) But I think you do bring up a good point. And I think it's definitely dangerous to use these terms. I definitely do. You know, learning, learning more and more. Literally every day. Every day. Every time I go to class about these terms that we have coined and use overly way too much like I think we use, not us, because I know that the people I associate myself with...
[00:41:26] Z: "We live in a society."
[00:41:29] C: Prove me wrong. Not my friends because we're educated, but people that like to just use the term racist. I think that's getting overplayed because no one seems to know what the definition of racist is. By the way, black people cannot be racist. Stereotypical. Maybe. Possibly, yes.
[00:41:51] Z: Prejudiced 100 %.
[00:41:52] C: Yes. And such terms. But never racist because there's no system that allows us to dominantly prove that we are better than any other race. There's that. Thank you. But you have any any more questions, comments?
[00:42:13] Z: No, I don't. We're going to - this is only the beginning. You will be hearing from Cha'Nel again and probably on similar topics, like I said, resident expert of politics and all things law. And the future director of the FBI. So…
[00:42:33] C: All right, she's also gonna be - I've been building our cabinet.
[00:42:37] Z: It's not about me, right now.
[00:42:38] C: It is actually, Madam President. She will be the future of the country. She will be president.
[00:42:43] Z: Ma'am, please.
[00:42:44] Cece: (I believe the children are our future)
[00:42:44] Z: It's my podcast.
[00:42:47] C: We don't own the copyrights.
[00:42:50] Z: It was a cover.
[00:42:53] Z: So I'm going to take another break. We're going to thank Cha'Nel, for coming in on this episode and being the first ever guest on Catch Some Z's podcast. This is history in the making. And we will be or maybe just me. Who knows? Someone is going to be right back, though.
[00:43:16] Z: So that was a really fun conversation with my dear friend Cha'Nel. Again, big shout out to her for coming on to the show and filming and just having a good old-fashioned time and conversation with me. If you guys like that and want to hear a little bit more, let me know in the DM's again. Or maybe just in general mentions, maybe it's a comment. Maybe you don't slide into the DM's. Maybe I keep the DM's closed. But if you want to hear more content like that or just anything else, let me know what you want to hear. And I'll try to find my resident experts on those topics. And hopefully they can offer some insights to you and to me and to all of us about whatever it is that we decide to talk about. But until next time, hope you guys have a great day. A great evening. Whatever time zone you're in. I hope the weather isn't getting you down too bad because I promise you, it's got me all the way down right now. But. Minor setback for a major comeback, am I right, ladies? Right. OK, I'll talk to you guys later.