Here is Your Racism in America

Emanuel Cleaver and Jon Lewis, black Congressman who were part of the Civil Rights movement, were spat on and called the N-word during Tea Party trash protests in Washington DC today. Rep. Barney Frank was also called a 'fa**ot'.

I love this quote from Cleaver's office today, (pulled from HuffPo)

This is not the first time the Congressman has been called the "n" word and certainly not the worst assault he has endured in his years fighting for equal rights for all Americans. That being said, he is disappointed that in the 21st century our national discourse has devolved to the point of name calling and spitting. He looks forward to taking a historic vote on health care reform legislation tomorrow, for the residents of the Fifth District of Missouri and for all Americans. He believes deeply that tomorrow's vote is, in fact, a vote for equality and to secure health care as a right for all. Our nation has a history of struggling each time we expand rights. Today's protests are no different, but the Congressman believes this is worth fighting for.

The coward-spitter was arrested but Cleaver didn't press charges. I would like to punch the guy in the face.

The Number of Black Drug Offenders in Prison on The Decline

Interesting and somewhat surprising numbers from the Sentencing Project today, as reported by the Washington Post. The number of blacks incarcerated for drug offenses has decline rather sharply by over 30,000 between 1999 and 2005. The number of whites incarcerated for drug offenses has actually increased by over 20,000. However, the white increase is twice as significant, in terms of percentage, as the black decrease. The reason the numbers are from a few years ago is that 2005 was the last time the Federal Bureau of Prisons produced prison populations numbers broken down by race.

The Sentencing Project hypothesizes two reasons for the changes. One, an increase in use of alternative sentences such as drug courts. Two, an increased focus on Meth, a drug disproportionately used by whites. Nonetheless, the numbers seem to indicate that drug courts are working and hopefully this will result in an even greater increase in their use and further shift away from locking addicts away for a few years only to release them untreated back into the population to continue their cycle.

Cakey Racism

Thanks to a special delivery from the messenger we have this inspiring tale of an idiot bakery owner who made some cakes inspired by President Obama. Apparently, he told a customer they were "drunken negro" cakes and intimated that Obama would share the same fate as Abraham Lincoln. Check out the Gothamist for more info and for a video of a local newscast on the jack-ass and watch him try to defend himself. "His brother-in-law is Cuban" therefore, he can't be racist.... Oh and where is this bakery? Alabama? Mississippi? Nope, Greenwich Village, uh...Manhattan.

Terrorism, Racism, and the Twilight Zone

A Muslim family was pulled off of a commercial airliner after a series of events started by a complaint to the flight crew from a couple of passengers that the Muslim family was acting weird before takeoff. The FBI eventually declared them to be "safe" but the airline, AirTran, would not rebook the family. You know what's more scary than Muslims on your plane?

A gremlin on your wing.

Hate 2008

The Secret Service, in mid-October, warned the Obama family that death threats had increased as an apparent result of the increased character attacks on Barack Obama by VP nominee Sarah Palin. Looks like Palin's words were taken to heart by some of our dear fellow citizens/bigots prone to violence.

According to the report Michelle Obama asked, "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Good question. Somebody ask Ms. (not so) smarty-pants-Alaska please.

McCain Campaign's Role In Race Baiting Hoax

According to Talkingpointsmemo.com the McCain campaign's communication director for the state of Pennsylvania told reporters that the "B" Ms. Todd said was carved into her face by a tall black man who had just robbed her, sexually assaulted her, and punched her in the face stood for Barack. Get that? The campaign spokesman said the "B" stood for Barack. This didn't come from the police. Now, maybe it came from the woman herself, but the point is the McCain campaign saw this story and immediately thought they could use it to their advantage.

This whole saga (there are probably more details to come) fits right into the classically disgusting meme that black men are a physical and sexual threat to white women. It has its roots in slavery when black men were often beaten (and worse) for even looking at white women. There are also a few relatively recent national news stories in which white women have made up similar tales blaming black men for violence in order to cover up their own actions. Susan Smith comes to mind. She let her car roll in to a lake resulting in the drowning of her children. She first claimed the car was stolen by a black male, with the kids inside.

So, the beat goes on.

Little Racist Liar

You may have heard about this McCain campaign volunteer who claimed that she was robbed and beaten by a black man who then saw she had a McCain bumper sticker on her car, got extra angry, and carved the letter "B" on her face, presumably to signify his support for Barack Obama.

She made it up.

Her name is Ashley Todd.

She is fucking awful.

Why would someone do this? I suppose it's a combination of being a little crazy and having that little craziness ignited by the sanctioned craziness coming from the McCain-Palin campaign and the shitbags orbiting around their quickly sinking campaign.

Turns out the "B" carved on her face was backwards as though it had been carved on to her face using a mirror (by her). She's admittd she made the whole thing up. Oh, and McCain and Palin made personal phone calls to her and the campaign alerted the media to the story in the first place (before it was exposed as a lie).

Here We Go

During recent and separate McCain and Palin rallies Obama has been called a terrorist, accused of being treasonous, and his murder has been called for by audience members. Up until now the McCain campaign has not denounced or even acknowledged the comments.

The Secret Service is investigating the "Kill Him!" threat per MSNBC.

...and there's been other awful stuff.

Oh, and this shit makes it on FOX News:

Florida Man Goes Nuts After Michelle Obama Speech

Police were called in Pasco County, FL after a man apparently fired shots into the air late last night outside of his RV. According to police he was expressing some sort of displeasure with the speech given by Michelle Obama at the Democratic Convention last night. He probably is unhappy with the Obama position on health care, or maybe abortion, and certainly is not at all angered by her race.

Spanish Basketball Team Gets a Little Racist

Posing for a photo prior to the Olympics in China.

U.N. Urges U.S. to End Criminal Justice Disparities

The United Nations Committee the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recently released a report acknowledged the disproportionate number of minorities involved in the criminal justice system as well as the racially disproportionate enforcement of the death penalty.

From the report, via Jurist,

It recommended that the United States allocate sufficient resources to ensure legal representation of indigent persons belonging to racial, ethnic and national minorities in civil proceedings. Moreover, the United States should increase significantly its efforts to eliminate police brutality and excessive use of force against persons belonging to racial, ethnic or national minorities, and also increase efforts to prevent and punish violence and abuse against women belonging to racial, ethnic and national minorities.

Just who does this United Nations think it is?

Can they talk to us like that?

Facts About the War on Drugs

I always want to post more about the failing war on drugs. Here, is a quick post listing some disturbing facts, inspired by a fact sheet released recently by the Drug Policy Alliance calling the War on Drugs the new Jim Crow Laws.

Marijuana - 74% of users of cannabis are white. Only 14% of cannabis users are black. Why is it then that 30% of marijuana arrests are African Americans?

One in Fourteen African American children has a parent in prison and 1 in 3 black men will have contact with the criminal justice system in their lifetime.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among African Americans can also be at least partly attributed to failed drug policies. First of all, needle exchange programs for heroine users has been an effective tool in stopping the spread of disease in the very few locations that such programs have been set up. A number of laws have stopped state and local governments from using their federal drug prevention funds on needle exchange programs. In Washington DC injecting drugs is the most common form of transmission of HIV among women and the second most common among men. One in twenty DC residents are HIV positive.

Also, prison conditions, such as poor health care, very limited access to condoms, and lack of response to sexual violence only act to increase HIV in prisons.

The source for the info above and more info can be found right here.

Supreme Court: Crack Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines Not Mandatory

The Supreme Court handed down a decision today ruling that Federal courts do not have to follow the sentencing guidelines when sentencing convicted crack cocaine dealers. For years, federal guidelines have made the punishment for possessing large amounts of crack cocaine much harsher than that of powder cocaine. The basic criticism of this disparity is that crack is a largely urban-poor drug and most defendants tend to be minorities from these urban areas where as cocaine is more of a middle to upper class and white drug.

The original intent of such a disparity was, ostensibly, to provide harsher punishments for crack due to the high levels of violence involved in the crack trade. However, a lower appeals court ruled that courts must follow the guidelines strictly. This would prevent judges from considering a persons background and any other mitigating factors when applying a sentence. With such harsh guidelines that tend overly punish minorties it is nice to see, at least, that Judges still have some discretion. Of course, judges will still, largely, follow these guidelines until Congress acts to reduce the suggested mandatory sentences.

A previous post on sentencing guidelines can be found here.

Income Gap Between Black and White Families Grows

While income for all families, when adjusted for inflation, has grown in the last 30 years, largely sue to higher levels of women in the workplace, the gap between white and black households has actually widened. The main cause for this is the decrease in wages for black men. Here is a telling statistic:

In 2004, a typical black family had an income that was only 58 percent of a
typical white family's. In 1974, median black incomes were 63 percent those
of whites.

This is a pretty disturbing trend. There are many social and economic factors that contribute to this phenomenon, for example, institutional racism (from employers, financial institutions, law enforcement, etc.), high prevalence of single parent families among blacks, and poor education options.

To get to the full study behind this story, click here.

Jena 6: Mychael Bell Sent Back to Jail

A judge in Louisiana ordered Mychael Bell to a juvenile facility yesterday for violation of an earlier probation. Bell has a few previous juvenile convictions and the judge, at the prosecutors request, sent Bell to the facility for violating the probation (for his involvement in the schoolyard fight) arising out of those earlier convictions. Doesn't this all seem a little petty? I mean, yeah, the kid is a little troubled but it really just sounds like revenge to me. The DA, Reed "Jesus Loves Me" Walters seems to be doing anything he can to mess with this kids life.

Why did it take so long to do this? Why didn't the DA try to get Bell in the juvenile facility immediately after he was released from prison?

Maybe he was waiting until some of the buzz over the story died down. Maybe incompetence? Maybe he just recently realized he could get Bell back into custody this way. Maybe Jesus wanted it this way. Afterall, doesn't this kid need a little more punishment before we can forgive him. So far he has only faced racism and intimidation from fellow students, followed by racism and intimidation from local government officials, followed by institutional racism in the form of trumped up criminal charges, followed by prison time. One more little lesson ought to do the trick.

Art and Anger

Plastic sent me this link to a New York Times article about a group of Swedish nationalists who vandalized the Kulturen gallery in Sweden on Friday. The group destroyed the work of photographer Andreas Serrano, a shock artist who is perhaps most remembered for his work, "Piss Christ," and the controversy that arose around it in 1989 due the fact that it was funded by a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts.

This most recent exhibit by Serrano, called "A History of Sex," is racy, but it is scary that it could provoke this kind of violence with such unrestrained bravado and conviction. Oh yeah, did I mentioned that the vandals video taped the act and posted it on YouTube? It is quite disturbing. I was particularly unsettled by the fact that the cameraman focuses on the destruction of a photo of an interracial gay couple for the majority of the video, despite the other "objectionable" photographs in the show, including a depiction of a woman fondling a stallion. That just smacks of hate to me.

Here is a link to the video, which has been removed from YouTube "due to terms of use violation," but can still be found on google video.

Noose in New York City

An black professor at Columbia University in New York City found a noose hanging from her office door this morning. The use of the noose was probably at least partially inspired by the Jena 6 incidents in Louisiana. I don't have much to say about it other than, thanks a lot racists of Jena!

Jena 6: White Backlash?

I have set up my Gmail account to send me "Google Alerts" (for those who don't know you can give Google a topic or name and it will send you all blog and news stories on the topic as often as you want them) on a variety of different topics. One of them is the Jena 6. While the major news outlets have slowed in their coverage of Jena blogs and small town opinion pages continue to buzz about the case.

Each day I receive links to approximately 10 blog posts and 5 "news" stories (usually from a newspaper's opinion page) concerning the Jena 6. Most are rehashings of the story with individualized commentary echoing outrage. However, I have started to notice an increase in the number of items decrying the reaction to the support for the Jena 6. Some examples can be found here, here, and here.

These articles/posts' major "problems" with the outcry tend to be that a group of black students "jumped" one white student, that there is no evidence that the noose hanging incident had anything to do with the 6 on 1 beating, and that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were involved in the protest. The authors of such pieces are not necessarily racist but are definitely misguided. Instead of focusing on what is clearly a series of racially charged events in Jena before and after the 6 on 1 attack they choose to focus on simple polemic issues that tend to inflame a certain type of disaffected.

The Failed War on Drugs: Federal Sentencing Guidelines

One of the most complained about aspects of the "War on Drugs" by those who oppose the war and it's methods are the racist Federal Sentencing Guidelines for crack cocaine convictions and powder cocaine convictions. The problem with the guidelines is the disparity between the sentences for the two crimes. Convictions for crack cocaine carry much longer prison sentences than those for powder cocaine relative to the amount of cocaine in question. For example,

Trafficking in 5 grams of crack cocaine carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence, but it takes 500 grams of cocaine powder to warrant the same sentence. link

The reason for these guidlines was, supposedly, to reduce violent crime stemming from the use of crack cocaine.

A case that went before the Supreme Court today addresses the issue of whether or not Federal Judges have to strictly follow the sentencing guidelines. In the specific case argued before the Court today, Kimbrough v. United States, a Federal Judge had sentenced a convicted crack and powder cocaine dealer to 15 years in prison instead of the mandated 19-22 years imposed by the guidelines. The sentence was appealed and the case was remanded by an appeals court for a new sentencing. That order was then appealed and is now before the Supreme Court.

The net result of the sentencing guideline's unequal treatment of crack and powder cocaine dealers is that more black men end up serving more time in prison. Someone selling a small amount of crack cocaine faces much more prison time than someone selling small amounts of powder cocaine.

Jena 6: Mayor Appreciates Neo-Nazi's Efforts

Check out this quote from a Chicago Tribune article, McMillan is Murphy McMillan, Jena's mayor.

McMillin has insisted that his town is being unfairly portrayed as racist—an assertion the mayor repeated in an interview with Richard Barrett, the leader of the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in Learned, Miss., who asked McMillin to "set aside some place for those opposing the colored folks."

"I am not endorsing any demonstrations, but I do appreciate what you are trying to do," Barrett quoted McMillin as saying. "Your moral support means a lot."

This explains alot about what's been going on in Jena.