Culled from Democracynow:

Reagan and Race: "He Maintained A System Of Rich And Poor, A System Of Black 
And White" 
Reagan and the Homeless Epidemic in America 
Reagan, Class and Organized Labor: "One Of The Most Damaging Presidents In 
American History" 
Allied with Apartheid: Reagan Supported Racist South African Gvt 

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We take a look at Reagan's policies on race and civil rights with the Rev. 
Graylan Hagler, discussing the former president's assault on affirmative actions 
and social welfare programs and the rise of the crack epidemic in African 
American communities. [Includes transcript] 

Throughout the week on Democracy Now!, we have reported extensively on the 
Record of Ronald Reagan during his 8 years in office. From Iran-Contra, to the 
bloody US-fuelled conflicts in Central America, to his administration's arming 
of both Iran and Iraq, to his invasion of Grenada and the nuclear arms race. 
Our series is called "Remembering the Dead." Later in the program, we will take 
a close look at Reagan's policy toward apartheid South Africa. 
But first, we are going to shift gears and take a close look at Reagan's 
policies at home, here in the US. Among Reagan's achievements that you won't hear 
about from most of the pundits is that Reagan was the first president to turn 
the US into a debtor nation, nearly tripling the nation's debt in his 8 years 
in office. He was also the first president since the Great Depression to see 
unemployment hit more than 10%. Reagan cracked down on organized labor and 
America's homeless population grew to over 2 million people. On the issue of race, 
the most cited moment of the Reagan presidency during the past week was that 
he signed legislation for a national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King 
Jr.. But this is hardly representative of Reagan's policies on race and civil 
rights. 
Ronald Reagan launched his campaign for the presidency in Philadelphia, 
Mississippi. That is the place now infamous from the civil rights movement. It was 
where three civil rights workers were murdered in one of the most well-known 
cases of racist violence from the 60s. During his first run for office, Reagan 
proudly waved his Dixiecrat credentials, saying: "I believe in states' rights 
and I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the 
community level and at the private level." 
After taking office in 1981, Reagan began a sustained attack on the 
government's civil rights apparatus, opened an assault on affirmative action and social 
welfare programs, embraced the White racist leaders of then-apartheid South 
Africa and waged war on the tiny, Black Caribbean nation of Grenada. During his 
presidency, Reagan fired members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights who 
criticized his civil rights policies, including his strong opposition to 
affirmative action programs. One of the commissioners recalls that the judge who 
overturned the dismissal did so because "you can't fire a watchdog for biting." 
Reagan also attempted to limit and gut the Voting Rights Act and he slashed 
important programs like the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act that 
provided assistance to many African Americans. 
Rev. Graylan Hagler, president of Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic 
Justice.


RUSH TRANSCRIPT 
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AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk today about President Reagan's record during the 
1980s? 
REV. GRAYLAN HAGLER: Oh yes, I mean, one of the things that's very very 
interesting and alarming to me is that the country and the commercial media 
particularly seems to be remembering a Ronald Reagan that did not exist for those of 
us who are Black and other people of color and women because they speak about 
him, as if he was a saint, when the reality is that everything he represented 
was the old historical white racist ideology of this nation . I mean the fact 
that the campaign wasn't even started in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The 
reality that this was a attack s upon Affirmative Action and the dismantling really 
of social programs the closing of hospitals and programs that put people out 
on the streets that we still live with the homeless population that was started 
then. I mean all of those types of issues are very alarming and obviously we 
are seeing a very mythologized image of Reagan currently. 
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk specifically about the Reagan years as they relate 
to Affirmative Action? 
REV. GRAYLAN HAGLER: Well, I mean obviously yes may I think that, one is that 
we continue to see a really orchestrated attack . The framing of Affirmative 
Action as somehow reverse discrimination, as they kept using that or, and the 
reality is, that was not the reality and it continues to stalk as an attack 
upon Black people upon other people of color, upon women a resistance of that 
even when we talk about the signing of the legislation for the Martin Luther 
King holiday, that was not done with open arms by Reagan and his administration; 
in fact he referred to it as signing it because of all this hoopla that was 
created and that was by grassroots communities and Black leadership that pushed 
it, so there was not an open arm policy towards anything that really 
represented the bulk of us. 
AMY GOODMAN: Rev. Hagler as we continue our series "Remembering the Dead", 
can you talk about the 1980's in terms of drugs in this country? 
REV. GRAYLAN HAGLER: Oh yeah, one of the things is the communities really got 
hit with the drug epidemic, really the crack epidemic. There were stories 
circulating for years, that this was one way the Contras were funded and Central 
America was basically, through the funneling of drugs, to the black 
communities but one thing is really sure, the crack epidemic grew and expanded and 
virtually devastated a generation and subsequent generation and greatly 
impoverished the communities even more so that is also whether how we look at it that is 
the manifestation of the Reagan Administration and it is a story of two 
societies and a story of two worlds. One world, obviously the commercial media is 
talking about, is a white world that the white world is in charge but the other 
side of the story, one that is not being talked about is the devastatation 
that has been heaped upon people of color, poor people, women and their children 
in the society. 
... 
AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Hagler, as you listen to this conversation, you're also 
based in Washington, where the state funeral is taking place today, of Ronald 
Reagan. Can you share your final thoughts? 
REV. GRAYLAN HAGLER: Well, I mean, one of the things is that -- I mean, I 
just was listening to all of the comments and the comments are extremely 
important for us to just simply remember that what we are seeing and hearing is not 
real, but we're still paying the costs of this administration. We're still 
having to deal with what was started, sort of a very anti-labor movement. A 
backlash to the movements that moved people in a sense from the back of the bus to 
hopes to have a place in the society. We're still suffering from the backlash of 
that economic restructuring that took place under the administration that is 
simply made the wealthier even that much more wealthy. To a obscene level, and 
made the working class and the poor poorer and dispossessed us of a place to 
live, a dignity and respect. You know, just continual attacks that are carried 
out right now through this day. What we're also really witnessing is in a 
sense right now and what happened when Reagan was elected was that the old guard 
who felt that they had lost power in this country by having to open up their 
arms and include a very diverse constituency, and at least give that very 
diverse constituency hope and a sense of possibility. When Reagan was elected, it 
was a real establishment of that old guard being back in charge. And the 
message was clear. Not only domestically, but around the world, that it's time to 
get back to the back of the bus. There is a new driver in charge, and that 
driver is the old historical driver that basically maintained a system of rich and 
poor. A system of black and white

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are 
evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
 - Albert Einstein 
"
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change 
the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead 

"When the government fears the people, you have liberty. When the people fear 
the government, you have tyranny." 
- Thomas Jefferson

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" 
- Edmund Burke

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