Ep. 62: Heather Richardson on the Republican Party vs. the Poor and People of Color

Historian Heather Cox Richardson is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show.

Dr. Richardson is the author of numerous books including To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party and Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre.

She is also a contributing writer for the online magazine Salon.com. Her essays on American politics, culture, and the past/present of the GOP offer an amazing amount of wonderfully researched and grounded insight into the dangers and threats posed by "movement conservatism" to the Common Good. Dr. Richardson is also a sharp and precise writer who has the rare ability to bring a deep understanding of American history, life, and politics to bear on contemporary topics of public concern in these United States.

In this episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Heather and Chauncey talk about the history of the Republican Party, as well as how its war on the poor, people of color, and the "Other" who it has identified as the "enemy" is not new, but rather has been decades in the making. Chauncey and Dr. Richardson also dialogue about Donald Trump, how America in the Age of Obama is eerily like that of the United States before the Civil War, and share some thoughts on their fears about the future of the republic. 

Dr. Richardson is a great guest and wonderful teacher who does some great sharing about the perils facing American politics as a function of the past living through to the present.

This installment of The Chauncey DeVega Show also includes Chauncey DeVega doing some truth-telling about white privilege and the TV show 60 Minutes' "white victimology blues" about heroin and pill addicts in "the heartland", while wondering why white folks get love, and black and brown folks get prison for being addicted to drugs. Chauncey also shares his disdain for Ben Carson's new "rap" song political campaign ad while demanding some empathy and sympathy for his addiction to high fructose corn syrup products. 

This episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show can be downloaded from Libsyn and also listened to here. 

The Chauncey DeVega Show is available on Itunes and at Stitcher as well.