Joy Reid on Rittenhouse: America 'Built on the Idea That White Men Had a Particular Kind of Freedom' 'That Only They Have'

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” host Joy Reid reacted to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict by stating that America “was built on the idea that white men had a particular kind of freedom and a particular kind of citizenship that only they have, that gives, from the slave catchers on, the right to inflict violence in the name of protecting property. That’s like the foundational creation of the United States.” And so, a conviction of Rittenhouse would have been a shock.

Reid said, “I was not at all surprised. We’ve talked about this. I mean, this is what we expected to happen. Because I think we have to keep in mind when we’re watching the criminal justice system at work, that it was designed to do exactly what it did today. Gun laws helped to enhance the design to allow this verdict to happen today. This country was built on the idea that white men had a particular kind of freedom and a particular kind of citizenship that only they have, that gives, from the slave catchers on, the right to inflict violence in the name of protecting property. That’s like the foundational creation of the United States. So, it would have been shocking.”

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