Racism Ain't Over

More On EEOC Cuts

2006-06-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

From the LA Times:Job-Discrimination Claims Pile Up With Budget Cuts A backlog of cases at the federal EEOC, which has lost 20% of its staff since 2001, is expected to grow. And fresh reductions of funding are proposed.The backlog rose 12% from 2004 to 2005, reaching 33,562 last year.The EEOC has lost 20% of its staff since 2001, when a hiring freeze was instituted, and it now faces budget

Employment Discrimination Is Over

2006-06-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ya think? Everytime I say something bad about Republicans, somebody feels the need to point out to me that Democrats suck too. Well, they do, but I have not seen a Dem Prez yet that would do this:NAACP Opposes Proposed EEOC Cuts in President Bush’s 2007 BudgetThe President's budget for 2007 includes a cut in funding of the EEOC budget from$333 million to $323 million. The bulk of the cut, about

Economic Blowback

2006-06-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

There is definitely racism involved in the immigration issue, which is not to say that everyone who opposes immigration, legal or illegal, does so from racist motives.Washington 'Responsible' for Misery in Latin America This is why over 5 million of these immigrants continue to live in danger and anguish. Their last remaining hope is that the skill of their leaders will manage to convince more

Meritocracy My Obstreporous Donkey

2006-06-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Excerpt: Downscaling the Dreams of Youth Soaring tuition costs combined with cuts to financial aid have forced students into massive debt and priced many smart kids out of four-year colleges altogether. Every year, 410,000 college-qualified students -- just like Renee -- from households with incomes less than $50,000 enroll in community college instead of going to a four-year college. Another

Institutional Racism

2006-06-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Minorities pay more for mortgagesCHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- African-Americans and Latinos enter into high-priced, subprime mortgages more often than white borrowers with identical credit qualifications, according to a study by the Center for Responsible Lending.The report, released Wednesday, examined 50,000 subprime loans using data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and supplemented

Right v. Left on Racism

2006-05-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

The right constantly accuses the left of racism. Projection? Maybe. Of course, some tendency toward racism is built into this society. But which political direction do those with stronger biases tend to lean?Study Ties Political Leanings to Hidden BiasesFor their study, Nosek, Banaji and social psychologist Erik Thompson culled self-acknowledged views about blacks from nearly 130,000 whites,

Black Crime: Mythology or Reality?

2006-05-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Because people seem to need constant reminding:THE REALITY OF RACIALLY DISPARATE YOUTH CRIME?While some have denounced the comments by former Education Secretary and Drug Czar William Bennett, they unfortunately believe his comments are based in fact. Those who believe that African American or Latino youth are more “criminal” than any other ethnic groups are simply wrong. The real facts tell

How Bizarre Is This?

2006-05-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Has the corporate media completely caved to ultra-right wing racists?CNN Cites White Supremacist Group As Source

An Erase Racism Party

2006-05-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

I guess.The 1st Erase Racism Carnival is Here!! Here being the Ally Work blog.It begins with this quote from Change Seeker's post:This has not changed to date. We no longer drink at separate water fountains, it’s true. But African-Americans, as a rule and across the board, because they don’t have the power to do anything about it, are still paid less than White folks, own less than White folks,

Exogamy As A Measure of Social Acceptance

2006-05-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Exogamy: The custom of marrying outside the tribe, family, clan, or other social unit.If we were take exogamy as a measure of social acceptance, the available numbers hardly support the idea that racism is even close to over.THE BLENDING OF THE UNITED STATESAmong third-generation Hispanic and Asian Americans, exogamy -- marriage outside one's ethnic group or tribe -- is at least 50 percent, he

Strange Days Indeed

2006-05-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Reid calls language proposal racistSenate Minority Leader Harry Reid called a proposal to make English the official language "racist" on the Senate floor yesterday. "This amendment is racist. I think it's directed basically to people who speak Spanish," the Democrat said during the already tense debate over immigration reform. Uh, does that mean language determines race?Of course, this is just

Fox News: A White Supremacist Home?

2006-05-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

Bob Cesca, posting on HuffPo, notices a pattern:Fox News Presents! The War On Darkies

Pseudo-scientific Racism Finally Strikes. . .

2006-05-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

the comments section. See the last post if you care. I call it pseudo-science because real scientists don't avoid peer review like the plague, they embrace it. Exhibit A in such avoidance is The Bell Curve. Once real scientists started analyzing the book, it fell apart. See The Bell Curveball, III (scan down).In the absence of settled science either justifying racism or absolutely

If Ya Just Gotta . . .

2006-05-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

. . . argue about the scientific validity of race-related IQ differences, the Moderate Voice links to this "great, serious" race versus racialism debate. Part I is here.I waded it through it, and all it basically did for me is confirm my impression that the scientific community is about a million miles away from a consensus that there is a hereditable connection between race and intelligence. So

Trent Lott: Once and Future Senate Leader

2006-05-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

A timely reminder from the Boston Globe about the illustrious former Senate Majority Leader who's star may once again be on the rise:The nervy Lott demands a media with nerve. For the extremely short of memory, Lott spent most of his life destroying his credibility on racial and ethnic matters with everyone except racists. Lott supported segregation at the University of Mississippi in the 1960s.

White's a Minority, Oh My!

2006-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

From the May 11 edition of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson:First, a story yesterday that half of the kids in this country under five years old are minorities. By far, the greatest number are Hispanic. You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic.Seems like I'm always reading, seeing, or hearing somebody warning that white's will one day be a

Condi, Colin, Condi, Colin, But . . .

2006-05-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

Bush Administration Increases Number of PoliticalAppointies, Minority and Female Appointees Plunge"No one expected a Republican administration to have as many African American political appointees as the Clinton administration, but a cascade of blacks by almost 70%, despite the increase of political appointed jobs, amounts to the politics of exclusion."Another hallowed myth punctured.

Racism: So Over In The 21st Century

2006-04-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Omaha Schools Split Along Race LinesLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - In a move decried by some as state-sponsored segregation, the Legislature voted Thursday to divide the Omaha school system into three districts - one mostly black, one predominantly white and one largely Hispanic.I guess mere de facto segregation just wasn't good enough for 'em.

Takin' It To The Streets

2006-04-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

Immigration Advocates Rally Around U.S. By the hundreds of thousands, and they've got most of Congress scared witless. I'm not commenting one way or the other about the immigration issues. I'm just pointing out that 100,000's of thousands of protesters in the streets actually gets the government's attention. It may be the last vestige of democracy left to us, so we ought to use it.For instance

Last I'm Gonna Say About Black.White

2006-03-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Reappropriate is blogging in depth about the FX minstrel show Black.White, which is far more than I could stomach doing. Initially, I had some hope for this show. Then I remembered it was on FX. Then I saw the show and wondered if they had deliberately picked the most obtuse white people on the planet to be in it. Now I'm convinced that, like all "unreality" shows, they picked the participitants

Let's Make Common Cause With 'Those People'

2006-03-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

Decency to 'Those People'By Eugene RobinsonI had hoped that the response to hurricane Katrina would lead to a broad protest movement by black people. No such luck -- yet. But the draconian anti-immigrant bill passed by the House has led to massive protests by Latinos. I talk to lots of black folks who have major problems with illegal immigration and, for that matter, with Latinos in general.

Unequal Medical Care Continues

2006-03-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Via Truthdig:Breast Cancer More Deadly to Blacks Than WhitesCheck out both the Forbes link and the related link, "Unequal Medical Care," from PBS News Hour.

How Race Trancends Class

2006-03-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

Growing Up on a TightropeFor black boys, survival means dealing with widespread perils. Even those in affluent areas must confront the harsh realities of race.On the streets, blacks are twice as likely as Latinos, and four times as likely as whites to be victims of violent crimes. National studies show that black teens commit 50% more violent crimes than whites.They are also four times as likely

The Myth of L.A.'s Race War

2006-02-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

By Maria Luisa TuckerEverybody loves neat, easy answers, therefore the LA Jail riots are race riots. But things ain't always what they seem.

Same Bias, Different Reason?

2006-02-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Report Details Bias at Voting PollsThe 125-page report was to be released at a Wahington, D.C. news conference on Tuesday. Among its findings:Polling places and voting hours in minority neighborhoods are routinely changed shortly before elections.Election officials were found to have illegally purged voter lists and refused to translate election materials for citizens who are not fluent in

Could The Game Be Anymore Obvious?

2006-02-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

Mary Matalin: Lady MacCheney calls Civil rights leaders racists I mean, you know, I think these civil rights leaders are nothing more than racists. And they're keeping constituency, they're keeping their neighborhoods and their African-American brothers enslaved, if you will, by continuing to let them think that they're --or forced to think that they're victims, that the whole system is against

Because "Our" History Is A National Mythology

2006-02-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Our history, your historyI HATE Black History Month. I don't hate black history, just the month: the marketing tool it has become, the reductive and self-congratulatory tone of the "Honoring African Americans" public-service ads it sets off, the rush toward penance it inspires, as America overcompensates for the rest of the year in which we actively diminish or ignore the concept of black history

Divide And Conquer, Part 4,322

2006-01-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

From HuffPo:Why So Many Blacks Fear Illegal Immigrants, Pt.1 (44 comments ) Why So Many Blacks Fear Illegal Immigrants, Pt.1By Earl Ofari HutchinsonNear the close of a recent spirited community forum in South Los Angeles on black and Latino relations, a young black man in the audience stood up and proudly, even defiantly, shouted that he was a member of the Minuteman Project.GOP conservatives

Brown v. Board = Bullsugar!

2006-01-25T11:54:00.000-08:00

Hyper-segregation remains the order of the day in both neighborhoods and schools, and separate still means unequal. What part of racism ain't over don't people understand?Race, education and the wrong answersIS THERE ANY discussion in America more explosive and less honest than the one about race and education? Last year's 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education

Why Are Republicans And Racism Linked?

2006-01-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Via Buzzflash: Senator [George] Allen called the Civil War a “four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights,” proclaimed April “Confederate History and Heritage Month.” “As governor, [Allen] suffered through an antagonistic relationship with the state NAACP in Richmond. Tempers reached a boiling point in 1997, when Allen proclaimed April as Confederate History and

The Law, In Its Majesty

2006-01-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

Before Katrina: Modern Day Debtors' Prison In Gulfport, MSThe Amended Complaint from the lawsuit, which attorney Sarah Geraghty has sent me, describes a special force of police officers charged with patrolling the streets of Gulfport to arrest citizens who have failed to pay fines assessed by the Gulfport Municipal Court. These officers conduct periodic sweeps, during which they search the

Gulf Blogging On The Undercovered Survivors

2006-01-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

Ben Greenberg of Hungry Blues has been dispatched to the Gulf Coast to report on the victims of Katrina, mostly in Mississippi, but also in New Orleans, for Dollars & Sense magazine.Here is the first blog entry, with excerpt:Gulf Coast Trip - January 22-29, 2006While New Orleans caught one edge of Hurricane Katrina, the storm hit the Gulf Coast of Mississippi head on, causing unfathomable

The Apple Don't Fall Far From The Tree

2006-01-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

And McCain's mighty cozy with the apple.McCain campaigns for George Wallace Jr.The Birmingham News reported that in remarks at the reception, McCain praised Wallace as "a good and decent American" who wants to reform Alabama education and broaden the Republican Party's base.George Wallace Jr. gives major speech to hate groupThe younger Wallace, whose resume boasts of an NAACP Freedom Award,

Racism And Human Nature

2006-01-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

I spent Christmas with my black inlaws. I'm guessing I've got upwards of 50 black inlaws and I've been accepted into their family as though I were blood. I love them dearly, partly because of the way they've taken me in, but mostly because they're just wonderful human beings. I was talking about racism a little bit with one of my wife's first cousins, and he asked me if I didn't think that

Tolerance.org

2006-01-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA..Every hoursomeone commits a hate crime.Every dayat least eight blacks, three whites, three gays, three Jews and one Latino become hate crime victims.Every weeka cross is burned.Hate in America is a dreadful, daily constant. The dragging death of a black man in Jasper, Texas; the crucifixion of a gay man in Laramie, Wyo.; and post-9.11 hate crimes against hundreds of Arab

Unchecked Wiretaps and Demonization of King

2006-01-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. As we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day against the backdrop of a war openly assailed by members of both parties of Congress, and a scandal involving wiretaps of U.S. citizens suspected of being in league with enemies of the state, it behooves us to recognize how cyclical is the nature of American politics and policy, for Dr. King was facing those very same

Effective vs. Intentional Dsicrimination

2006-01-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

Still Seeking a Fair Vote After a brilliant political campaign orchestrated by the president and the preacher, Congress passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The law swept away the most brazen tactics used to keep minorities from the polls. Millions of black citizens surged onto voter registration rolls throughout the South. The ballot power of those new voters -- combined with the 1964 Civil

Lip Service

2006-01-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

Invoking King By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet. Posted January 16, 2006.For years, the GOP has capitalized on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s name to reimagine itself as a party of diversity and inclusion.Only thing is the GOP invokes King's name while opposing the very issues King fought for and that minorities and the poor of all ethnicities want.

Why We Have To Talk About Race

2006-01-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

Finding Words to Talk About RaceBy Maria Luisa Tucker, AlterNet. Posted January 16, 2006.

Rachel Gets It, Do You?

2006-01-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

Teaching About Racism: My MLK Day Essay, at Rachel's Tavern, has some good analysis of the importance of structural and institutional racism. Those are the areas where racism really does its dirtiest work, not on the level of personal animosity.

Matched Pairs: The Damning Gold Standard

2006-01-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

I'm sure I've posted on the results of matched pair studies on racial discrimination in the work place before, and I'm sure I will again. One thing I just love is reading the comments sections on blogs that post about this. On blogs with many commenters, invariably, a large number of those commenters immediately question the methodology of the studies. The part I love is, it is obvious that most

"Color Blind" Society Enables Racism

2006-01-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

French Discrimination Suit Calls Égalité Into QuestionTemp Agency Accused of Rating Workers by Race for ClientsThe French republic was founded on the ideal of equality of all citizens. But the allegations against Adecco suggest that discrimination is embedded and tolerated at the highest levels of business and government here."The official position of France is that we're all equal," said

Just Read It

2006-01-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

In A World without Race: Does black nationalism have to go too?, Hysterical Blackness links to a review of Paul Gilroy's "Postcolonial Melancholia."My short answer to the post title is, "No," but I don't think I can meaningfully excerpt anything. I recommend clicking the (more) link at the bottom of the post and reading the whole review.

Segregation Enforces Inequality

2006-01-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

The Continuing Reality of Racial Segregationby Douglas S. MasseyAccording to census data from the year 2000, 48 percent of all African Americans in U.S. metropolitan areas experience conditions of residential isolation so extreme that they satisfy the criteria for "hypersegregation." Within hypersegregated cities, the typical black resident lives in a neighborhood that is virtually all black.

Alito, Conservatives, and Civil Rights

2006-01-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Alito's ugly associationHis membership in a racist, reactionary group at Princeton reveals the unsavory face of conservatism.To which I can only add, duh.

Why It's Crazy For Minorities To Vote Republican

2006-01-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

The Leadership Conference on Civil RightsThe 108th Congress: Civil Rights at StakeAbout LCCRLCCR is the nation’s oldest, largest, andmost diverse civil and human rightscoalition. Founded in 1950, LCCR iscurrently made up of more than 185organizations representing persons ofcolor, women, children, labor unions,individuals with disabilities, olderAmericans, major religious groups, gaysand lesbians,

"Justice" In Black And Blue

2006-01-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

Some cops with some power in Greensboro, North Carolina, apparently didn't take kindly to black cops.Former police Chief David Wray misled city leaders when he covered up the actions of a “secret police” unit that targeted black officers for unfair internal investigation, Greensboro officials said.Part of the cover-up included the hiding of a “black book” that contained photos of at least 19

The Content Of Our Character

2006-01-12T06:44:00.000-08:00

Those who oppose a just society love to claim that Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a color-blind society, and that, therefore, King would have opposed affirmative action. It's an outright lie, of course, which tells you a little about the content of their character.Misreading the DreamThe Truth About Martin Luther King, Jr. and Affirmative Action King was even more clear on

Bush Doesn't Care About Civli Rights

2006-01-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

The Alito nomination department, from Civil Rights.org:Press Release - NAACP Chairman Bond Says Alito Confirmation Would Jeopardize Civil Rights for All Americans Alito criticized for opposing legal remedies for racial discrimination [Julian] Bond, speaking at a press conference held in Philadelphia by the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary, said: "Wherever and

Republicans And Civil Rights TODAY

2006-01-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

I stumbled on this by way of The Color Blind Society, (an excellent post, in my not so humble opinion) and it seemed particularly pertinent to me since I just took a Republican to the woodshed in a comment thread over at Black Academic's blog. I try not to be overly partisan on this blog, and I realize that both parties' suck when it comes to race issues, but I just can't get around what seems

Justifying Racism: The Futile Search

2006-01-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon the website of the Edge Foundation, Inc., and their annual question for 2006, "What is your dangerous idea?" I think I found it through HuffPo.Very interesting reading in general, but, naturally, I searched for race issues and here is what I found:Dan SperberCulture is naturalBut wait a minute! Naturalistic approaches can be dangerous: after all, they have been. The use of

Gee, This Is A Toughie

2006-01-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Guess Who's Still Left BehindThis past fall new national data were released on the academic achievement of our young people.The results are sobering from at least one other perspective: The knowledge and skills of students of color and those from low-income families are not just low compared with white and more-affluent students. They are also low in absolute terms, shutting these students out

May "PIBBY" Join "DWB"

2005-12-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

Bush Assures More Dirty Air For BlacksEnvironmentalists hit the roof in 2002 when President Bush announced his Clean Sky Initiative. The initiative would not clean the skies but dirty them further. It would allow corporations to dump tons more toxic pollutants in the air, delay or exempt enforcement of smog and soot pollution standards, and gut EPA pollution enforcement powers. Though the

Race, Economics, And Civil Rights

2005-12-25T10:40:00.000-08:00

Unions Invoking Civil Rights More OftenSome names mentioned during the past week's transit strike might have seemed out of place in the context of contract negotiations: Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King Jr. Eugene "Bull" Connor.The Transport Workers Union and its supporters linked their labor woes to the civil rights struggle, an approach that people who study the labor movement say is being used

Don't [Mess] With White Folks

2005-12-18T05:22:00.000-08:00

The Value of Black Life in Maryland So in 1999 I commissioned a study of race and death sentencing from the University of Maryland, believing it my responsibility to ensure that justice was truly blind when applying this ultimate punishment.Days before I left office in January 2003, the study was released. Examining the records of more than 1,300 death-penalty-eligible cases between 1978 and 1999

Tiny Differences, A World Of Hurt

2005-12-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology's most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity's greatest sources of strife.In fact, several scientists said, the

As To Brown v. Board Of Ed: Never mind.

2005-12-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

From a Buzzflash review:The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in Americaby Jonathan KozolIn a commentary in The Nation magazine, Kozol recently noted: "Apartheid education, rarely mentioned in the press or openly confronted even among once-progressive educators, is alive and well and rapidly increasing now in the United States. Hypersegregated inner-city schools -- in

If It Ain't One Thing . . .

2005-12-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

AP: More Blacks Live With PollutionCHICAGO - An Associated Press analysis of a little-known government research project shows that black Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution is suspected of posing the greatest health danger.Research over the past two decades has shown that short-term exposure to common air pollution worsens existing

Discrimination And Death

2005-12-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

A Tardy Look at ExecutionsWHEN MARYLAND put Wesley E. Baker to death last week, it highlighted just about all the disparities that afflict its use of capital punishment. Mr. Baker was an African American man who killed a white person in Baltimore County. Blacks who kill whites are substantially more likely to receive the death penalty in Maryland than are whites who kill blacks, and Baltimore

Asians Not As "Assimilated" As Thought

2005-12-09T05:53:00.000-08:00

Many people claim that Asians have assimilated well into Amercan society, and use that claim to blame those of other races or ethnicities for their perceived failure to do the same. Apparently, however, Asians don't necessarily agree.The Bias BreakdownAsians and Blacks Lead in Perceived Discrimination at WorkFifteen percent of all workers say they have been discriminated against in their

A False Stereotype That Harms Minorities

2005-12-06T05:40:00.000-08:00

Study Debunks That Blacks Are Wary of Medical ResearchMinorities Are Willing to Volunteer but Often Are Not AskedIt is a truism that black people do not trust the medical establishment and are reluctant to volunteer for experiments.And why should they volunteer, the story goes, given the widely known history of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, where for decades doctors withheld medical treatment

Republicans, Voting Rights, And Minorities

2005-12-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

Fixing the GameBut The Washington Post's Dan Eggen reported last week that the Justice Department has been suppressing for nearly two years a 73-page memo in which six lawyers and two analysts in the voting rights section, including the group's chief lawyer, unanimously concluded that the Texas redistricting plan of 2003 illegally diluted the votes of blacks and Hispanics in order to ensure a

Blacks Just Shouldn't Pay By Check

2005-12-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

Racial profiling feared at Wal-MartTAMPA - GAF Materials Corp. is handing out gift cards from Target as a reward to select employees this holiday season. That's because Wal-Mart, the discount store that held the business for years, last week called sheriff's deputies to apprehend a GAF manager on a bogus bad check rap while he was trying to buy this year's gift card supply. For about two hours,

Subconscious Racism

2005-12-02T05:17:00.000-08:00

See No BiasMany Americans believe they are not prejudiced. Now a new test provides powerful evidence that a majority of us really are.(From Sunday, January 23, 2005)The story is about implicit association tests and the hidden biases they reveal. I took the online test offered by the Harvard website, Project Implicit, a few months ago and was surprised to find I had a slight

And Back To The Usual: Bad News

2005-11-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

Bush unwilling to rein in the racists in his ranks President chooses politics over principleBut the president has never been willing to rein in the racists in his party's ranks. That's because he needs them; their dirty work helps to ensure GOP victories. Sure, the president may not be a bigot, but if you stand on bigots' shoulders, what does that make you?Cynthia Tucker didn't

Perhaps A Bit Of Good News

2005-11-30T08:37:00.000-08:00

Big Easy's Musicians Move Their Acts to AustinLively Arts Scene In Texas Capital Suits EvacueesThe musical community of Austin, which has the best live music scene I've ever seen, appears to have adopted the displaced musicians of New Orleans wholesale. We can hope that this will have positive effects for the larger community as well.I have a liberal friend in Austin who would probably dispute

One Reason I'm Hollerin'

2005-11-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

I think it would be a good thing if every non-black person in America were to read the autobiography of Nathan McCall, Makes Me Wanna Holler, with an open mind. Fat chance, I know, but they might gain some insight into why black men of a certain generation (McCall would be just over 50 now) think and feel the way they do.McCall ran with street gangs, shot and very nearly killed a black man,

A Searing Portrait of Racism

2005-11-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

A Searing Portrait of AbuseBy Colbert I. KingMagbie Experiences Respiratory Distress at [Correctional Treatment Facility] September 24.[District Fire and Emergency Medical Services] paramedics arrived at approximately 9 a.m. During an interview, one stated that they found Magbie 'unconscious, very sweaty, and sitting at a 45-degree angle in his wheelchair.' His diaper was saturated with 'very

The High Price Of DWB

2005-11-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

'Black tax' -- the tithe that bindsThe black tax is the price blacks (and other minorities) pay in our daily lives because of racial stereotypes. Like a tax, racial discrimination is persistent, pervasive and seemingly inevitable — as in "Nothing in life is certain save death and taxes." And just as the state collects general taxes, blacks often regard state representatives such as police and

Dishonoring Parks in SOUTH Carolina

2005-11-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

Flags not lowered to honor Parks Gov. Mark Sanford did not order flags lowered to half-staff over state buildings Wednesday in honor of Rosa Parks — a decision a leading black lawmaker called a “lack of respect.”President Bush called for all U.S. flags over public buildings to be lowered Wednesday in honor of the funeral for the late civil rights pioneer. But Bush’s order has no authority over

Condie Rice, Baffling Black Republican

2005-10-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

What Rice Can't SeeBy Eugene RobinsonI really don't know what to say about Rice other than that I'm sure she's an assimilationist, a black person who thinks that if she acts white enough, white people will accept her. And that seems to be mostly true for her. Robinson's take is interesting, though, and worth reading.

R.I.P. Rosa Parks - Dead At 92

2005-10-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Civil rights icon Rosa Parks dies at 92Long known as the 'mother of the civil rights movement'And they say the good die young. Though racists have tried to tear down her reputation at times (an impossible task), the woman who sparked the modern civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a bus remains one of humanity's great heroines. She received the Presidential Medal Of Freedom in

Hoping Against Hope

2005-10-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

I'm Hoping Bush Can Finish What Lincoln Started By Sophia A. NelsonI'm trying to do limited excerpts here, but this column does a good job of covering the historical roots of the connection between poverty and race in America. Click the link. Read it.As an American who's also black and a Republican, I've grown increasingly uneasy lately about our public discourse on race. Consider these recent

But Are Bad Marriages Good?

2005-10-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

Poor Marriages, Poor HealthBy William RaspberryI've just looked at "The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans," a comprehensive review of the most recent literature (since about 1990) on the subject, and the conclusions are generally what you'd expect: Marriage promotes the economic, social, familial and psychological well-being of black men and women -- as it does for men and women

Michael Reagan: Another GOP Racist!

2005-10-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

It Wasn't Racism in Toledo; It Was a Thugfest,by Michael Reagan. (And no, I won't link to him. Google if you wanna.) Despite what the media are claiming, none of what happened had anything to do with racism and everything to do with criminality. [Emphasis added.]That's a racist statement on its face. When the neo-Nazis left without marching, why did some blacks pillage their own part of town?

Disproportionate Crime Rate

2005-10-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Or not. The Justice Policy Institute reprints this article:Unequal Under the Law “While youth of color are one-third of American adolescents, they are two-thirds of youth in juvenile facilities,” the report notes. It says that youth of color receive “harsher treatment . . . compared to their white counterparts, even when charged with similar offenses.” “There is no evidence to point to the fact

Hmmm. Which Criminals Get Arrested?

2005-10-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Orcinus has a long and informative post on the Neo-Nazis and the Toledo riot:Toledo: The other sideThe post amply justifies his conclusion.People like Bill White deliberately marched into the heart of a mixed-race neighborhood and incited a riot, which to no one's great surprise got out of control (I think Michael Brooks' predictions were uncannily accurate.)Their entire purpose was to spark a

Racism And Jobs

2005-10-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

If you're part of the racism is over crowd, this is pretty damning: Few employers await released black felonsTwo Princeton professors looking at employment practices found that young ex-offenders seeking low-level jobs encounter rejection in the workplace because they served time. That's an old problem, but there is a new urgency to fix it. Even worse is hiring disparity that the

White Fear And Racism

2005-10-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

I just added Silver Rights to the blogroll, which is in tiny part a reciprocal thing, but mostly I really like the blog and its focus on civil rights, particularly this post:Opinion: White people fear being found outBy which is meant: White people are afraid that non-whites can see that there is still racism in them. Actually, I think a whole lot of white people are afraid of finding out that

Bored By Race

2005-10-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Joan Rivers Gets Into Shouting Match Over RaceI don't know anything about Darcus Howe, nor does knowing about him have anything to do with my point here.Rivers, who begins a tour of England on Friday, was a guest on BBC Radio 4's "Midweek" program with Darcus Howe, a Trinidad-born writer and black activist, and two other guests, including author Jackie Collins. Howe is the subject of a new movie,

Bill Cosby Still Blaming The Victims

2005-10-20T09:48:00.001-07:00

Cosby: Parents Must Set Goals for Kids Bill Cosby, who created a stir in the black community when he criticized young people for the way they speak, challenged parents in this crime-plagued, largely minority city to set goals for their children."Somebody said 'I'm either flippin' burgers or sellin' some drugs,'" said Cosby, echoing a common complaint of young people in poor communities. "But

Unintended Consequences?

2005-10-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

I hope they are unintended.The Price of Low ExpectationsIn one recent year, just under half of all young black men in the District of Columbia were in prison, on parole or probation, awaiting trial or sentencing, or being sought on a warrant. In Baltimore, one in five black men aged 20 to 30 was in custody. Numbers like these no longer surprise.This may: "High levels of incarceration concentrated

Why Black People Don't Vote Republican

2005-10-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

I can't tell the difference between black conservatives and conservatives in general. As best I can tell, they all spout the same propaganda line with so little variation that, if it were music, it would be several times as boring as listening to the same classical piece over and over. And it's certainly not a line that ever figures to play well with black people.James Thindwal writes about the

What Black People Think About Bush

2005-10-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

A Polling Free-Fall Among BlacksIn what may turn out to be one of the biggest free-falls in the history of presidential polling, President Bush's job-approval rating among African Americans has dropped to 2 percent, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.But that was based on a tiny sample with a huge margin of error. So this morning, I called Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who

"The Poor Don't Suffer."

2005-10-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

A professional man nearing retirement told me that quite firmly. Yet this book by a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist amply documents otherwise. Was the man a complete idiot? No, he couldn't have been. He was a psychiatrist. He was what I like to call and idiotologue. His ideological faith in "the market" was so great that he couldn't admit any failures of market economics. He knew next to

What If They Were Mostly White?

2005-10-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

As others profit, Katrina survivors sufferAmericans -- and much of the world -- were appalled when there was no plan to rescue those stranded by Katrina's furies. We watched stunned as incompetence and cronyism had deadly consequences.Now, Americans -- and much of the world -- are no longer watching, but so far there is no plan to include the survivors in the reconstruction, just as there was no

U.S. Practices Indentured Slavery

2005-10-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Poor Migrants Work in Iraqi NetherworldThis poor Nepalese kid's family had to borrow $3,000 at 24% interest to pay an agency to get him a job in Iraq that paid $200 a month. It would have taken him more than a year and a half just to pay off the loan. Instead, the job cost him his life. Labor advocates say the practice amounts to modern-day indentured servitude, funded by U.S. taxpayers. "This

And Then There's Religious Bigotry

2005-10-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

A Chaplain's Test of FaithAs the Army's Case Against Muslim James Yee Collapsed,His Own World Was Crumbling, TooThe military dealt this man, and his family, staggering blows, blows they would not have delivered had he not been a Muslim. This was religious bigotry, straight up, no chaser. The man's a third generation American, a West Pointer, an exponent of moderate Islam who was praised by his

What They Really Think About Blacks

2005-10-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

The white racists don't even realize it when they, pretty blatantly, reveal their racism. In my experience, black racists are a lot more up front about things. When they hate whitey, they'll pretty often just come right out and say so. But white racists try to hide their racism even from themselves. They reveal it to me when they say foolish things, things like "African-Americans (surprising

Black Crime? Or White Racism?

2005-10-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

ARE Blacks A Criminal Race? Surprising Statistics, posted by Van Jones at Huff Po, draws on a Factsheet produced by the Justice Policy Institute, to ask one of the right kinds of questions:The better question for public debate is this: do the actual government statistics bear out the claim that Blacks contribute disproportionately to the crime rate? Or is this largely a stereotype, which is

Book Review - American Apartheid

2005-10-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

There is a long and complex history in the U.S. of ethnic brutality, segregation and discrimination and, like the blog title says, it ain't over. Some of that history is recounted in:American ApartheidSegregation and the Making of the UnderclassDouglas S. Massey & Nancy A. DentonIn Chapter 1, The Missing Link, they write:During the 1970s and 1980s a word disappeared from the American vocabulary.

"Thought Experiment"

2005-10-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Eugene Robinson, of the WaPo, concludes his column, A Specious 'Experiment' I have a thought experiment of my own: If we put our racial baggage on the table and talk about it, we'll begin to take care of a lot of unfinished business.Which is exactly what I'm trying, in my tiny way, to get America to do. Stop pretending racism is over and start talking about the serious problems that still exist.

The "Failure" of "Liberal" Housing Projects

2005-10-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

According to the right wing ideologues, the plight of the poor in New Orleans, just like the plight of the poor everywhere in the U.S., is the fault of failed "liberal" policies. Of course, you don't even have to read or listen to right wing opinion to know this. You can just assume that, within the right's massive echo chamber, everything is the liberals fault. Poverty, corruption, grout mold,

The "Color Blind" Society

2005-10-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

The "racism is over" types, and I typically (well, almost exclusively) run into this on the right, insist that they believe in a color blind society and it's those of us any teensy bit left of center who are the racists. Yet these very same people always seem to be the first ones to point out that black people, not people of a certain class, not people in certain socio-economic conditions, but

A Not So Great Accommodator

2005-10-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

Joe R. Hicks, who apparently trades on his status as the former head of the Los Angeles offices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, writes in the LA Times under the headline:Levees let loose an ugly flood of black paranoiaYep, completely unjustified black "paranoia." He decries the focus on "racial victimization," and feels we should focus on the progress made in racial relations (

Race, Politics And The Ugly Truth

2005-10-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of commenters on Digby's site really make things crystal clear: I am right there with Mike keep talking about race issues. Somebody has to. As a German living here I had the hardest times to figure out this country. I understood China's politics better then those of the United States without ever having been there. Only after realizing that it is all about repressed and not so

Last Take On Bennett

2005-10-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

At least until he retracts this statement: "I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down," he said.The Wa-Po headlines an article: Bennett Defends Radio Remarks And that's the serious problem here. If he said he mispoke, I'd have to let him off the hook

Naww, Nothin' Racist in What Bill Bennett Said

2005-09-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

The author of Freakanomics has written about what Bill Bennett said on race and crime. He notes that it was an unscripted conversation in which he said it. And I've said that maybe he didn't mean what he said, but so far he hasn't taken the remark back. If he doesn't, then I have to ass ume that he meant what he said. Which would make him a racist.In Bill Bennett and Freakonomics, Steven D.

Ya Call This Condemnation?

2005-09-30T13:31:00.000-07:00

The Wa-Po headline reads:White House Condemns Bennett's RemarksBut the money quote reads:"The president believes the comments were not appropriate," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said."Not appropriate," equals condemnation? In what universe? Has inappropriateness become a capital crime and nobody notified me?As I've said before, Bennett may have mispoken. I certainly hope so.

Minorities Often Pay More for Mortgages

2005-09-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Wa-Po: Blacks and Hispanics are getting a disproportionate share of high-cost mortgages compared with whites, according to new federal figures released yesterday.I've read Thomas Sowell trying to explain away this unpleasant fact by citing comparative incomes and credit histories. That dog won't hunt. The raw data in the article show blacks are nearly four times as likely to recieve