A Black Executive Perspective now presents Need to Know with the award winning hyphenated Dr. Nsenga Burton. Dr. Burton. What do we need to know?

Hello and welcome to Need to Know with Dr. Nsenga Burton. I am happy to be here today to give you some facts that you may need to know. Unless you've been living under a rock, you have been following the political drama that has played out as it relates to the U. S. presidential race. One of the important stories that came out over the weekend, uh, is our former President, Donald Trump's Selection for Vice President. And that is JD Vance. He's an author. He's a Senator from Ohio. Uh, and he's married to a very dynamic woman, uh, an immigrant in fact. So, um, I find it interesting that we have so much anti immigrant, uh, legislation being proposed from the GOP when many of their leaders are actually married to immigrants, uh, including our former President, Donald Trump. But, um, I just want to tell you a little bit about her because she is quite dynamic. Um, she is. Uh, the daughter of Indian immigrants. Um, she was, uh, she attended Yale for law school. She went to undergrad at Cambridge, so she's very well educated. Um, she previously served as a law clerk for chief justice, John Roberts Jr. of the U. S. Supreme court, uh, judge Brett Kavanaugh, then of the U. S. court of appeals for the district of Columbia circuit. As you know, he is also a Supreme court justice and an, uh, And judge Amul Thapar, um, then of the U. S. district court for the Eastern district of Kentucky. Um, that is what she has been doing with her career. And then she became a partner in a very important law firm as well, which she resigned from. Once the announcement was made, she grew up in San Diego, California, uh, and again is the daughter of Indian immigrants. So what's interesting about this pick, JD Vance, I think more people know more about him based on his book, Hillbilly Elegy. And I will say this, you should read Hillbilly Elegy. I've read it. Um, it's an important book because it gives you insight into where he comes from and what, uh, His life experiences and how they have informed his ideology, which, of course, informs his policies. Um, he'll really elegy is good in terms of. looking at the type of culture that emerges from disenfranchised whites. These are whites who are mostly impoverished, have been impoverished and have not been able to capitalize on white privilege that exists in this country. Um, and so class is widely discussed in here, but what's really interesting and why people should read the book, um, if you haven't already, it's Is because it really, um, speaks to the behaviors, the belief system and the practices of those who grew up in these regions, um, like JD Vance who grew up in, uh, between, uh, Dayton and Cincinnati, um, which is a very impoverished place and also, uh, home of the Ku Klux Klan in Ohio as well. Um, so you get a lot of insight into what drives people, um, particularly white. Uh, men, um, who are angry and, uh, disillusioned and feel that they have not, um, been given, uh, their rightful place in American history, in American present and in the American future. Um, and so, you know, some people might say, well, not sure why if in fact you, um, you know, have been in this country. But if, you know historically, uh, the issue of class. Is very important here and, um, whites have often been able poor whites have often scapegoated, uh, people of color, black people, uh, native indigenous populations, um, and now immigrant populations, uh, for the lack of, um, for their inability to capitalize on what has really been a place that had very little competition for them. Um, in the, in the workplace based on, uh, discriminatory laws that privileged other groups, um, particularly white men over all others. So it's a really important read to get into the psyche of if you care, some people don't, but if you care and you want to know what is driving, um, you know, these supporters of Trump, these supporters of, uh, kind of white supremacist ideology, these supporters of, um, You know, what I would call a neo form of segregation, um, the supporters of policies that erode civil rights protections and that even erase, uh, people of color, immigrant communities from history books and the many contributions that they've made, uh, to our country, um, over the past, um, I would say over hundreds of years, if you're talking about black folks, for sure. Um, so I think it's interesting to think about how. This type of networking works, right? You've seen a lot of people from Yale School of Law represented on the Supreme Court. When we think about diversity, a lot of people think immediately gender diversity, racial diversity, sexual identity, things of that nature, but they very rarely think geographically. They very rarely think about education. Um, is the Supreme Court really diverse? If most of the people on the Supreme Court hold degrees, law degrees from the same schools, that's a question you should ask yourself. Um, is it diverse? If you are getting people from a particular law school that has, uh, that seems to have, um, it seems to be producing people who are in support of, uh, disenfranchising. Populations of people historically and otherwise, um, you know, it's interesting to look at the graduates of particular schools, uh, and to see what they do. So, you know, to see that, um, J. D. Vance's wife, Usha and I think I'm pronouncing it right. I think it's, Usha um. You know, is brilliant, uh, extremely well educated, uh, is the child of immigrants, uh, is from California and is partnered with someone like J. D. Vance. Um, I think you have to ask those questions as well. Right? What does it mean? Um, in that way? One of the things I also wanted to pose for you is also think about why Usha would be a more desirable. Indian, um, or person of Indian descent, uh, then our current Vice President, Kamala Harris, um, and Kamala kept her name. She did not change it. Uh, which is interesting when you think about Nikki Haley and you think about other people who are of Asian or East Indian descent, um, but, uh, you know, something that is, Not talked about enough is the fact that anti black racism is worldwide. It's not something that just happens here. You know, I've met people who didn't know that slavery happened all over the world. They think it just happened in the United States. I've met people who think that Jim Crow just happened in the United States. Um, you know, if you know anything about apartheid, which is actually based on Jim Crow, if you know anything about, um, Uh, the Holocaust. I mean, like, you know, it's happened all over the world for long periods of time and to lots of different groups of people. Um, and so when you think about anti black racism, um, which is pervasive, uh, in many cultures around the globe, especially, uh, in India, uh, it is not unusual to me that you would meet some people. Um, and of course, it's not all people. It's not all people, but some people who are from that, those parts of the world, uh, who hold those beliefs and those ideas. I don't know that to be the case, um, with Usha. Um, I hope it isn't the case with Usha um, but when you think about the pursuit of power, In the United States, and what it looks like, um, when you see so much power residing and white men still in 2024, even though people panic about, oh, they're not going to school in the same numbers. They're not getting the CEO jobs in the same numbers, although they still hold, like, 90 percent of them. They're not getting, you know, it's like, oh, so it's supposed to 100 percent in 2024. Right. Um, You know, oh, whoa, is the, uh, and what about these poor white men, which are important, right? We need to think about poor white people. They are the majority of the impoverished in this country, which nobody wants to talk about. Um, they use most of the serVices that are going to be cut off. Um, if the GOP or when the GOP is back in the white house, uh, they actually make use of those serVices, uh, including disability. Uh, and it definitely, um, when we talk about, uh, food stamps and things of that nature, the majority of people who get those, uh, kinds of serVices are white Americans. Um, and so when you make your most vulnerable and visible, you know, that's when you get books like the Hillbilly Elegy. From J. D. Vance, who tries to elevate the struggle of these folks and their thoughts and their culture so that we can better understand this population of America. But it's also interesting that while doing so. You will also be pursuing power by partnering with someone who is part of literally the upper echelon, the 1%. Um, and has been for generations, um, in order to do so. Right? So what does it mean? Um, when we think about whiteness and these are questions you should ask yourself, what does it look like? Um, why are people so ready and willing to scapegoat particular populations, whether it's black Americans in this country, whether it's immigrants in this country, uh, while partnering, like, building lives with, having children with, creating multiple generations with those very same people. Um, so these are the questions that you want to ask, um, and you also want to ask those folks who are the children of immigrants. What is it about this pursuit of power? Um, or this proximity to whiteness that allows you potentially, um, because I don't think that anybody's a dupe. I think this people make decisions. Um, but that allows you to. Partner with someone or to partner with people and be in those kinds of communities that are anti you, who you are, where you came from your lived experiences the experiences of many people who have made significant contributions to this country and continue to do so including our You know, uh, Vance's, uh, wife. Yeah, she's, she's pretty dynamic and interesting. Um, so I just wanted to give you that for a need to know, um, what you need to know. Anti black racism is pervasive. It's all over the world is not just happening here in the United States. Be what you need to know is. You know, one of the drivers for why people want to, um, get rid of Joe Biden is because there is a real possibility that if he is elected, that Kamala Harris will become president. Um, and she is an immigrant. She's a children of immigrants. Um, she is Jamaican, black. Uh, she is Indian, right? East Indian, um, Asian. So, um, that's a real possibility that you need to think about, right? What is this big push to get Biden out and to replace him and her, which we talked about a little bit in last week's episode, if you want to revisit that. Um, something else you need to know is that, um, JD Vance, um, and the GOP, they talk a very specific game about immigration, but then they marry these dynamic immigrant women, um, you know, like his current wife, Usha. Um, which I hope I'm pronouncing her name correctly, if I'm not, I'm sorry. Um, so I want you to know that too, as they push this anti, uh, immigration, anti affirmative action, anti all these anti DEI, you know, uh, SHRM just got rid of equity in, in, um, their policies. Um, but while they're pushing these initiatives, they're also partnered with people who benefit from these initiatives. Um, so these are things that you need to know. So when we are talking about. These issues. We're not only talking about black people. We're not only talking about black Americans. Um, and so you need to know that too. So thank you for tuning in to need to know with Dr. Nsenga Burton. I will see you next week on the Black Executive Perspective Podcast and tune in to all of our podcasts, not just me, Tony Franklin's amazing and all the other folks. Um, but learn something, um, think about things critically. and stay engaged. I'll see you next week.

A black executive perspective.