Southern

• COLDWATER, Mich., July 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. (OTC Pink: SOMC) announced second quarter 2023 net income of $2,696,000, or $0.59 per share, compared to net income of $3,361,000, or $0.74 per share, for the second quarter of 2022.
• Deposits totaled $1,180.2 million at June 30, 2023, an increase of $89.2 million or 8.2%, as compared to year end 2022.
• John H. Castle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. stated, “Continued loan growth, particularly in the Jackson market, necessitated additional provision expense this quarter.
• Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company and the parent company of Southern Michigan Bank & Trust.

• A few months after the battle, President Abraham Lincoln visited the town for the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery.
• I have researched Americans’ support for political violence in my work as a political scientist at Northeastern and Harvard Universities.
• Residents of what are known as the Border States, the slave states that did not secede from the Union, are also more likely than residents of Union states to say it can be justifiable to violently protest against the government.
• Residents of states belonging to the Confederacy are also significantly more likely than Americans living in Union or Border States to say it is justifiable to engage in violent protest against the government right now.

‘Greater support for political violence’

• I then analyzed the responses by state residence, grouping survey respondents by their state’s allegiance in the Civil War: Union, Confederacy or Border State.
• This technique allows researchers to determine the effect of a variable – in this case state residency – on an outcome – support for political violence – after accounting for differences attributable to other factors.
• This analysis reveals that even after accounting for partisanship, race, gender, education, age, income, ideology and attitudes toward Black people, residents of Confederate states still express significantly greater support for political violence than do residents of Union or Border states.
• Before you start fortifying your homes against a second Civil War, keep in mind that support for political violence – even among residents of the old Confederacy – remains low.

History matters

• These distortions affect how modern Americans think about history.
• The current political debate over how history can be taught in public schools highlights the importance of such decisions.

Lincoln: ‘These dead shall not have died in vain’

• On this grim anniversary, perhaps Americans can spend time contemplating Lincoln’s famous words to “take increased devotion to that cause” for which these honored dead “gave the last full measure of devotion.” The Civil War was essentially the largest instance of homegrown violence against the government in U.S. history.
• Now, at a time of increasing political violence in the nation, I believe it is more important than ever to reflect on the Battle of Gettysburg – and the terrible toll wrought by the violence there.

• In a surprising ruling on June 8, 2023, the conservative leaning U.S. Supreme Court threw out Republican-drawn congressional districts in Alabama that a lower court had ruled discriminated against Black voters and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• At issue in the case that was before the court, Allen v. Milligan, was whether the power of Black voters in Alabama was diluted by dividing them into districts where white voters dominate.
• Black residents make up about 27% of the state’s population, and voting rights advocates argued that they deserved not one but two political districts.

What does the decision mean for Black voters in Alabama?

• The decision means that Black voters in Alabama, and across the country, will retain the last remaining voter rights protections.
• Specifically, Alabama lawmakers will need to redraw their legislative districts to include two districts that reflect the Black population.
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to prohibit racist practices by Southern states that were used to prevent Black people from voting.

Why was this decision considered a surprise?

• In his opinion for the majority, Roberts traced the importance of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
• He explained how racially motivated voter suppression after the Civil War led to the initial passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
• “States shouldn’t let race be the primary factor in deciding how to draw boundaries but it should be a consideration,” Roberts wrote.
• “The line we have drawn is between consciousness and predominance.” Roberts went further by citing the repugnant racial history of Alabama.

Is the Voting Rights Act still under attack?

• While a breath of fresh air for voting rights activists, this ruling does not mean that white conservatives will cease their attack.
• GOP-controlled congressional maps diluting or eliminating Black districts have been drawn in multiple states, including Louisiana, Georgia, Ohio and Texas.

What are the remaining obstacles to full Black voting power?

• Across the country, there has been a concerted effort to restrict voting and control the election machinery and even the outcome of these votes.
• Dozens of Republican-controlled states have passed a series of laws that will curtail voting of Blacks and many other Americans.

How do these laws typically affect Black people?

• As many as 42 restrictive voting-rights laws in 21 states have been passed since 2021.
• Among these, 33 contain at least one restrictive provision that will impact elections in 20 states.

• Anti-LGBTQ+ hate from religious conservatives and far-right extremists in the United States, and now in Australia, is a worrying trend.
• Out gay politician Alex Greenwich has brought a defamation suit against Latham over an offensive homophobic tweet.
• Yet the issues remain a concern in any jurisdiction where US news media has audiences and digital platforms operate.

Commercialising hate and emboldening extremists

• Notions of “sexual purity”, linked to nationhood by religious groups and far-right extremists, are circulated via the “manosphere”: an overlapping group of websites, online forums and blogs that promote masculinity and misogyny.
• The Center for Countering Digital Hate estimates that anti-LGBTQ+ extremists are picking up followers at quadruple the rate since Elon Musk acquired Twitter.
• The monetising of hate through YouTube includes the sale of mundane items such as sweatshirts and mugs adorned with homophobic slurs.
• TikTok is the only platform to have improved on the timely removal of hate speech.

Political permissiveness and the ‘Trump effect’

• It can also undermine confidence in democratic elections and propagate climate denialism, feeding the misinformation and disinformation ecosystem.
• This has occurred within a broader context of misinformation driven by domestic politicians and permissiveness by digital platforms towards hateful conduct.
• Read more:
  Clickbait extremism, mass shootings, and the assault on democracy – time for a rethink of social media?

Visibility as a double-edged sword

• In Australia, an estimated 11% of the population have a diverse sexual orientation or gender identity.
• In the US, 7.1% of the adult population identify as one of these non-heterosexual identities, double the percentage from 2012.
• This visibility has become a double-edged sword.
• Communities have gained recognition through identity politics, but their visibility makes them a potential target for violence.

Addressing the hate feedback loop

• What needs to be done to address the hate feedback loop?
• Digital platforms also need to address online hate in a timely manner and their responses need to be coordinated across platforms.
• The origins of the anti-LGBTQ+ hate feedback loop are complex.
• Not addressing them will leave a growing number of people susceptible to violence, which diminishes us all.