"If white people thought we were violent, they'd stop treating us so poorly." Michael Harriot breaks down several white myths that are portrayed as fact throughout society. Things like white people's overwhelming support of pro-life policies and their patriotism.
"It all started from stuntin'." Many of the items we use each day were created by Black people but were stolen and patented by White Americans. Michael Harriot clarifies why that practice was so common and explains that it still happens today, it's just been rebranded.
"There are two Americas, a white one and an even whiter one." Michael Harriot takes us back to the years before the civil war and details some of the most racist laws you've likely never heard of. Music provided by Transition Music
"There was no cookout holiday until Black people freed themselves on June 19th, 1865." Not only are we celebrating Juneteenth, but it's also theGrio Daily's One Year Anniversary! With this full rotation around the sun, Michael Harriot gives a quick Juneteenth history lesson and explains how the news in Galveston, Texas led to the cookout traditions Black people are famous for. Audio excerpt provided by The White House - June 17, 2021 Music provided by Transition Music
"Pop music is what white poeple have cherry picked from Black culture and a lot of times it's detrimental to Black culture." Music journalist and theGrio writer Matthew Allen and Michael Harriot discuss the formula that is used to create pop music and highlight the Black people who pioneered the sound. Music Credits: Song: “Black Steel in The Hour of Chaos” Artist: Public Enemy Label: Def Jam Recordings Producer: The Bomb Squad Song: “What’s Going On?” Artist: Marvin Gaye Label(s): Universal Mus...
"All American music is Black music." The focus on Black Music Month continues as music journalist and theGrio writer Matthew Allen joins Michael Harriot to analyze society's relationship with pop music and Black artists' influence on the genre. Music Credits: Song: “Hit Me Baby One More Time” Artist: Britney Spears Label: Jive Records Producer(s): Max Martin, Rami Song: “West End Blues” Artist: Louis Armstrong Label(s): Sony Music Entertainment, Okeh Records, Brunswick Records Producer: Joe “Kin...
"They don't want to say they're anti-Black history or pro-white, they want to say they're for something that's classical." Concerned parents are flooding school board meetings demanding that their children receive a "classic education" but what are they actually saying? Michael Harriot is here to call out their racist requests. Music Provided By Transition Music
"Not all of us come from kings or queens." As we celebrate Black Music Month, Michael Harriot explains some of the original Grio(t)s in Black history, including Sister Rosetta Thorpe, the inventor of Rock n Roll. Original air date: 6/24/22
"When was that time that you could just be racist?" Michael Harriot dismantles the excuse that racist ideology is a product of time. He explains why being racist has nothing to do with the time period in which you were born but instead is simply rooted in white supremacy that lives in the past, present, and future. Music Provided By Transition Music
"What does reparations have to do with white people?" People love to use the post hoc fallacy against Black people and Michael Harriot explains why the assumption that one event preceded another event, so they must be related makes it easy to believe in racist policies. Music Provided By Transition Music
"Colonizing is not just asking or suggesting people change things, it's changing things to benefit yourself." Michael Harriot helps you understand just how deep America's colonizing roots really go.
"We know that disparities exist and we don't fix them, which is a system of racism." The only way to correct systemic racism is to put a system in place that addresses it. Michael Harriot takes on the naysayers who claim systemic racism isn't real by providing several examples throughout the American education system, criminal justice system, and more that prove that it is.
"The Supreme Court just said, y'all doing it wrong but they didn't fix it." It's been 69 years since The Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka deciding that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The decision is considered a cornerstone of the civil rights movement but was it really justice? Michael Harriot shares history about the landmark decision you've likely never heard and explains that while it was significant it didn't go far enough.
"They are fighting against telling the truth. They are fighting to teach kids lies." In the conclusion of this three-part series, Michael Harriot calls out the lawmakers and racist Americans who are pushing the false CRT narrative that is not rooted in historical fact.
"They say critical race theory means America is a racist country. It doens't mean that." As Michael Harriot's series explaining the two CRTs continues, he introduces you to the man we have to thank for the recent CRT movement that is based on lies. He'll explain Christopher Rufo's agenda to rebrand critical race theory and how he's managed to convince dozens of states to follow his lead.
"What most people are upset about is not Critical Race Theory, it's CRT." Did you know that CRT and critical race theory are not the same thing? Michael Harriot, who studied critical race theory, is here to drown out the noise and stick to the facts. In this three-part series, he'll explain the difference between the two theories and why one is something that was manufactured by white people.
"If some people get to exercise a right freely and in any way that they want, and other people can't, then it's not a right. It's a way to discriminate." The laws and "rights" of Americans are not created or enforced equally. Michael Harriot uses examples to prove why many freedoms white Americans have only apply to them.
"Everybody is a person of color, white is a color." Michael Harriot explains why he doesn't like the term "people of color." It's a phrase we hear often these days, likely meant to be politically correct but in reality, it's centered around whiteness.
"It's not just white people; it's conservatives; they are the Dr. Frankenstein in this analogy." Society can't agree on much but we can all agree that monsters aren't real, they're fiction that's created. Michael Harriot tackles some of the biggest arguments used by conservatives pointing out that they're just monsters, fictitious theories made up to scare us.
"The cryptocurrency of whiteness is declining in value." Much like cryptocurrency, Michael Harriot explains that whiteness has been mined out of nothing yet is extremely valuable.
"Black excellence has as much to do with the supremacy of whiteness as it has to do with the excellence of Blackness." Michael Harriot talks about the few Black billionaires in America to dismantle the argument that if one Black person is successful then oppression no longer exists.
"We want to see if we can verify or justify some of those racist concepts." What would happen if America flipped it's racists and systemic policies around and it was white people who were affected? Michael Harriot takes a look at what that might look like.
"It's not just about fairness, it's about making your product as good as it can be." Michael Harriot debunks the myth that any attempt at equity is an attempt to achieve equality of outcome. This concept simply isn't possible because minorities are subject to economic, social, political and educational deficits that white people do not experience.
"Every institution in this country that matters is controlled by white people." White people disproportionately make up the federal government, hold positions of power in the judicial system and run the country's most influential companies, yet there's a feeling at the moment they're being pushed out of power. Michael Harriot is here to calm their fears, they're still in charge.
"Seeing the other side makes everyone's argument stronger but you can't present a straw man argument just to sound smart." Let's talk about contrarians. Michael Harriot dives into the straw man arguments that are often used against Black and brown people and why they are problematic.
"A lot of the things we think of as conservative aren't really conservative; they're just white." The term conservative has come to mean certain things yet the policies they support don't often back their ideologies. For instance, it makes no sense to say you support small government but then back pro-life policies that are ultimately the federal government telling a woman what to do. Michael Harriot shares several other examples of the hypocritical thinking and explains that conservative really...
"The history of racism is what they don't want you to know." The push to keep accurate Black history from being taught is nothing new and Michael Harriot highlights several times throughout history that anti-CRT has been the norm.
"White ain't a culture, it's just the leftovers from everybody else." When identifying your race, ethnicity and nationality, things can get confusing. Michael Harriot admits even he has questions. As he answers a viewer who asked "what race are you?" he dives into the fact that all these categories are really just made up by white people.
"We know that nothing applies to all people." When society refers to a neighborhood that houses predominantly white residents, it's referred to as "the middle class" or a "rich neighborhood" but when an area that houses mostly Black families is described, it's called "a Black neighborhood." Why is that? Michael Harriot is here to explain and introduce you to default socialization.
"The next time you ask me why Black people or me in particular are so obsessed with race, the answer is, I'll stop when y'all stop." theGrio Daily continues a series of episodes that answer listener's frequently asked questions. Michael Harriot starts with addressing the amount of attention and focus that's put on racial labels in American society.
