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