August 16, 2017

Bush Presidents: Americans Must Reject Racism After Charlottesville

The statement, however, failed to mention Donald Trump.

Javier Rojas/ZUMA

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President George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush released a statement on Wednesday urging Americans to combat racism and hate groups in response to the white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. The brief remarks from the 41st and 43rd presidents came short of denouncing President Donald Trump by name, as the White House continues to attract intense criticism over Trump’s repeated insistence that multiple sides were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville. 

“America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms,” the statement read. “As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded  of the fundamental truths recorded by that city’s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights.”

“We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country.”

On Tuesday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who lost to Trump in the Republican presidential primary, went slightly farther than his father and brother with a statement directly calling on the president to heal the country after Charlottesville, rather than equivocate over who was to blame for the violence.

Since Trump’s initial muted response to Saturday’s protest, several Republican members of Congress have attempted to distance themselves from the president. His explosive press conference Tuesday made it clear that he intends to stay his course and ignore the criticism.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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