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OLD NARRATIVES It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white. They were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks, and the best schools. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent upon their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness. … The newspapers specialized on news that flattered [them] and almost utterly ignored the Negro except in crime and ridicule. Examining many parts of our country today, this quote from W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 might feel like a live reporting from our current political landscape. But the truth is–notwithstanding the immediately noticeable similarities in divisive strategy across race and class–we are just ten years shy of a full century since Du Bois wrote these words. And still, his warning of the weaponizing of media and public institutions to uphold white supremacy and distort reality feels eerily prescient in what many are experiencing as the violently oscillating forces of America’s Third Reconstruction. His analysis remains chillingly relevant in a time when media has grown into the primary weapon for reinforcing racial hierarchies, manipulate public opinion, and suppress movements for justice. Over the past few weeks, philanthropy and philanthropic media have been both staggering and rebounding, making sense of how and where to best intervene as the new administration pursues policies intended to harm the nonprofits and communities we serve. As we experience shock and confusion alongside the rest of the nation, new challenges continue to unfold. In under 90 days, the President has ordered a comprehensive freeze on federal funding—a decision…