A conversation with
DR. WILLIAM ARMALINE
Founding Director of the Human Rights Program, San José State Univ.
Hosted by Paul George, Director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
Tuesday, February 15, 7:00 p.m.
Zoom Webinar
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85065223550
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The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has been capturing headlines almost daily. The specially-appointed committee has interviewed over 400 witnesses to the 1/6 insurrection and the events leading up to it and has amassed thousands of documents. The Committee appears to be zeroing in on former high-ranking officials of the Trump White House, wealthy funders of the so-called Stop the Steal Rally, and an assortment of white nationalist and right-wing militia organizers. The Committee plans to begin televised public hearings sometime in the near future.
Meanwhile, the former president and his supporters are increasingly taking a position that the riot at the Capitol was merely a peaceful — and justified — protest. At a recent campaign rally, the former president even dangled the possibility of Presidential pardons for the rioters who have been convicted (should he be re-elected in 2024). Echoing the former president’s attitudes about 1/6 has become a litmus test for Republican candidates for public office. All of which has left only 20% of Republicans believing the 2020 elections were legitimate.
What can we learn from the Committee’s work to date about the causes and driving forces behind the Capitol riot? Can the Select Committee’s investigation, especially when it begins public hearings, have any impact on the electorate? Can the Committee’s findings overcome the deep distrust of our elections that has been planted by the former president? Does the truth matter?
Please join us for a wide-ranging conversation … and come prepared with your own questions and comments. All voices are welcome.
William Armaline is the founder of the Human Rights Minor Program, Director of the Human Rights Institute, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences [SISS] at San José State University. His formal training and professional experience spans sociology, education, and human rights. Dr. Armaline’s interests, applied work, and scholarly publications address social problems as they relate to political economy, environmental sustainability, human rights, racism and anti-racist action, critical pedagogy and transformative education, inequality and youth, mass incarceration, and drug policy reform. Please follow him and all things Human Rights at SJSU on the HRI website (www.sjsu.edu/hri) and on Twitter (@SJSUHumanRights).
Paul George has been a grassroots organizer for over 50 years. He was the Director of Peninsula Peace and Justice Center for 30 years before retiring in 2019. (As a result of the COVID pandemic, Paul recently returned as PPJC’s Interim Director.) In addition to his years there, Paul has served as a community organizer for a major labor union and a leading international solidarity organization. He continues to host PPJC’s award-winning monthly TV program Other Voices (currently online), which is entering its 24th year of production.
