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Vernon Baker: Only Living African-American Awarded WWII Medal of Honor
Wofford College, a small classical private (and once highly segregated) Southern college, will confer upon Vernon Baker an honorary doctorate degree in September. Baker and six of his soldier comrades waited 52 years to receive their Medals of Honor that they deserved, but which had been denied after World II because they were African-Americans. By the time they were finally awarded, Mr. Baker was the only one who was still living to accept the Medal of Honor in person.
This very detailed, complex article includes photographs and two gripping videos (with a documentary about Vernon Baker).
I honestly am not concerned about "blogdom popularity" with regard to this piece. But I hope that some of you will care about reading it. On the one hand it's a very complicated article, but at the same time it's also just so deeply touching and heart-wrenching. The multi-faceted thoughts that are evoked by this narrative pierces ever so many of the issues that are tearing many of us apart today: racism, the escalating ravages of wars, the indifference of morally corrupt governmental bureaucracies and more. Wofford College, a small classical private (and once highly segregated) Southern college, will confer upon Vernon Baker an honorary do... more -
How to tell people they sound racist
Here's a nuanced approach of addressing racism in everyday situations.
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Sean Hannity's Racist Friend Hal Turner...called obama a nigger and his great...
The Best of Hal Turner....what do you think?
Aren't these the same type of social affiliations that conservative media was so quick to question Barack Obama about. This guy makes reverend Wright look like a damn saint.......be fair people...... The Best of Hal Turner....what do you think? ... more -
Reverse Racism? Voting Disenfranchisement Against Whites
In overwhelmingly black and Democratic Noxubee County, Miss., everybody knows local Democratic Party Chairman Ike Brown.
Officials at the U.S. Justice Department know Brown too; they're suing him.
Using the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the government has alleged that Brown and local elections officials discriminated against whites. It is the first time the Justice Department has ever claimed that whites suffered discrimination in voting because of race.
"When I read the letter, it was junk, you know, bogus," Brown told ABC News.....follow link for more... In overwhelmingly black and Democratic Noxubee County, Miss., everybody knows local Democratic Party Chairman Ike Brown. ... more -
Sean Hannity's friend Calls Barack Obama a Nigger
Its curious how affiliations are consistently called to question but rarely for those doing the finger pointing...what do you think?
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Gook: John McCain's racism and why it matters
The UpTake's Chuck Olsen interviews author Irwin Tang about his book, "Gook: John McCain's Racism and Why It Matters."
McCain first used the word "gook" in the mass media in his 1973 article for US News & World Report. The word appears twelve times in the article and is available online here.
Most recently, McCain used the term in his 2000 presidential campaign, as documented by the San Francisco Chronicle.
To learn more about Mr. Tang's book, which also details McCain's connection to white supremacist groups, visit his web site: http://irwinbooks.com/ The UpTake's Chuck Olsen interviews author Irwin Tang about his book, "Gook: John McCain's Racism and Why It Matters.&#... more -
Racism in modern America
"White people are better than black people. Whites know more, have more, and get more. I wish I was white but I am not." American children of color do not have to contend with apartheid, but they still do not live in a prejudice-free society. "White people are better than black people. Whites know more, have more, and get more. I wish I was white but I am not." Ame... more
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FBI Documents Aiming at Civil rights Groups in the 1960's
For those of you have heard of the Coin Tel Pro here are the actual documents that targeted and took down civil rights groups and aimed at disbanding the black community.
Read it before you make any assumptions For those of you have heard of the Coin Tel Pro here are the actual documents that targeted and took down civil rights groups and aime... more -
HoodNews™: LBPD BEATS WOMAN ON BUS!!!
21 year old female flicks LBPD off from bus, pd pulls over bus, tackles woman, drags her off the bus and slams her face into concrete breaking 4 bones in her face.
Story by Claudie Jones and Hassan Haze
HoodNews™: Freedom of Press Movie
The hottest DVD in the streets: Put up or shut up!
Http://www.hoodnews.info 21 year old female flicks LBPD off from bus, pd pulls over bus, tackles woman, drags her off the bus and slams her face into concrete ... more -
EU Parliament warns Italy over Gypsy fingerprinting
"The European Parliament on Thursday called the fingerprinting of Gypsies in Italy a clear act of racial discrimination and urged the authorities to stop it.
In a resolution, the EU assembly said the measure is not supported by EU human rights treaties and that EU citizens of Roma, or Gypsy, origin must not be treated differently from others in Italy, who are not required to submit their fingerprints.
The Italian government has begun the Gypsy fingerprinting as part of a wider crackdown on street crime. Italian newspapers have published photographs of gloved officials taking fingerprints from the ink-stained hands of Gypsies living in around Naples, and authorities are expected to move in on camps in other cities in the coming days.
Early examples of the papers filed in Naples showed local authorities also were identifying those fingerprinted according to their religion, ethnicity and education level..." "The European Parliament on Thursday called the fingerprinting of Gypsies in Italy a clear act of racial discrimination and urged... more -
WALL-E film's 'fattist' satire angers fat pride groups
New animated film WALL-E has got rave reviews for its satire on consumer culture, where future humans are depicted as a group of obese gluttons who never leave their padded floating arm chairs.
But one group is not amused - the swelling ranks of fat pride groups, who believe the film propagates anti-obesity hysteria comparable with the quest for the perfect body by the eugenics movement in Nazi Germany.
The US is the epicentre of the movement, where pro-weight "fat-tivists" are campaigning for human rights for the full of figure.
Fighters for fat rights are calling for legislation to ban weight discrimination in the workplace, denouncing airlines that demand they buy two seats and car manufacturers whose seat belts are too small. They are also battling doctors who won't treat patients who refuse to lose weight and companies that won't insure them. They seek to reclaim the word "fat", dismissing terms like "overweight" and "obese" as morally loaded.
Research published in April by Yale University's Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity suggests they might have a point. It found that one in eight people now complain of weight discrimination, up from one in 14 a decade ago. The report compared the impact on victims compares with racism and sexism.
Fat-ivists argue that our genes not our lifestyles determine the broad parameters of our weight, and favour the 'health at any size' argument that is supported by sceintific research (a study by The Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research found that even the obese who exercise are less likely to die from heart attacks, strokes and cancer than sedentary skinny people.)
They argue for greater acceptance of fat people.
"Overweight people tend to have very low self esteem," says Shelley Bovey. "I have never met anyone who I believe is totally happy with being very large. However much self confidence they have, if you live in a society that hates overweight people it is very, very difficult to be yourself."
Rachel Richardson of the Coalition of Fat Rights Activists (Cofra) objected that the WALL-E film "singles out and targets obese people as the primary cause of mankind's demise."
Miss Wann (41 years in age and 20 stones in weight) is America's best known fighter for fat rights. She told The Sunday Telegraph: "It's the classic stereotype that fat people are stupid, smelly, lazy, disgusting and out of control. These are the same stereotypes that have been used for every group of outsiders: whether it's people of colour, or the disabled, or immigrants."
Miss Wann said the film company would never have considered stereotyping black people "dancing a jig" in the way they have done so with fat people.
She added: "Pixar should be out of business for portraying this level of prejudicial bigotry-mongering. These are 19th-century hatreds repackaged in modern animation. It's amazing."
Is fat-ism really comparable with racism or sexism? Shouldn't we just leave each other alone to get on with our own lives free of prejudice and stigma, regardless of our size? New animated film WALL-E has got rave reviews for its satire on consumer culture, where future humans are depicted as a group of obese... more -
Petition: Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It!
On May 23, The Women's Media Center, along with our partners at Media Matters, launched, "Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It," a new video and online petition campaign illustrating the pervasive nature of sexism in the media's coverage. While Hillary Clinton's campaign has cast a spotlight on the issue of sexism, this isn't a partisan issue: it's about making sure that women's voices are present and powerful in our national dialogue. If you haven't already, please click on the image at right to watch the video. You can also read a statement about the video from WMC president Carol Jenkins. On May 23, The Women's Media Center, along with our partners at Media Matters, launched, "Sexism Sells, But We're Not B... more
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How Much Does It Cost You in Wages if You Sound Black?
Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who “sound black” when they talk to those who do not.
His main finding: blacks who “sound black” earn salaries that are 10 percent lower than blacks who do not “sound black,” even after controlling for measures of intelligence, experience in the work force, and other factors that influence how much people earn. (For what it is worth, whites who “sound black” earn 6 percent lower than other whites.) Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who “sound black” when t... more -
Deadly racism in healthcare
After conducting a series of experiments designed to discover what, if any, prejudice doctors hold towards their African-American patients, researchers have concluded that racism may not be the worst consequence blacks face in the emergency room.
Blacks are far less likely to have primary care physicians, leading to more visits to the emergency room, rushed medical care, and longer times spent sick, between symptoms and diagnoses.
"A 2000 study demonstrated that doctors rated black patients as less intelligent, less educated, more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, more likely to fail to comply with medical advice, more likely to lack social support, and less likely to participate in cardiac rehabilitation than whites, even after income, education and personality characteristics were taken into account."
Worse still, studies suggest that while doctors may not overtly discriminate between black and white patients, more subtle forms of racism still exist which may very well threaten the lives of African-American patients:
"It turns out the doctors didn't harbor any overt bias or prejudice. But the results of the IAT and the outcome of the heart attack scenario told us something quite different: More doctors subconsciously attributed negative traits to blacks (thinking them "uncooperative" or "bad") than whites. Worse was the way these biases translated into clinical decisions. While doctors diagnosed more blacks with a heart attack, they ended up prescribing treatment for blacks and whites in essentially equal numbers, meaning that black patients having heart attacks were going untreated. Further, as the degree of bias toward blacks increased, so did their likelihood of not getting treated." After conducting a series of experiments designed to discover what, if any, prejudice doctors hold towards their African-American pati... more -
Neo-Nazis attack gay pride parade in Budapest
Hundreds of right-wing extremists have hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at a gay pride parade in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Police needed water cannon and tear gas to break up the neo-Nazi assailants. Hundreds of right-wing extremists have hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at a gay pride parade in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. P... more
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Gay asylum seeker to be deported despite fear for his life
Syrian Jojo Jako Yakob, 20, has been refused permission to stay in Scotland and was told he is likely to be safe in his homophobic country of origin if he behaves "discreetly".
Yakob suffered horrific abuse because of his sexual orientation and political activities in Syria. Having been arrested for distributing 'anti-government' leaflets, his treatment worsened once Syrian police officials and prison guards found out that he was homosexual. As a result, he was shot and beaten so badly that he fell into a coma for twenty days.
In 2006, Yakob fled to the UK in a lorry. He attempted to start a new life in Scotland, but last March, the Home Office ordered his deportation. Last week, his appeal against the decision was denied even though the immigration tribunal accepts that Yakob is gay and that Syria criminalises and represses homosexuality.
Even though campaigners and lawyers are convinced that Yakob's life will be in serious danger if he has to return to Syria, the tribunal suggests that he is unlikely to be harmed as long as he keeps his sexuality hidden. The ruling by the Asylum Immigration Tribunal, sitting in Glasgow, states: "Syria criminalises and represses homosexuality. Homosexuals have to modify their behaviour and lifestyle accordingly."
Gay rights campaigners are outraged at the judgment. According to Peter Tatchell, a gay rights activist, "this young man's life will be in danger if he is deported. It's outrageous that our Government is showing such a callous disregard for human rights.
Yakob says he now fears for his life: "I am very afraid of being sent home," he said. "I am afraid for my life. But I will do my best to win my case and stay in Scotland. I want to stay here, but I can't do anything until I am allowed to stay. I can't get a job, I can't do my computer training – my life is on hold."
Yakob's lawyers are currently planning a last court bid to stop his deportation. Syrian Jojo Jako Yakob, 20, has been refused permission to stay in Scotland and was told he is likely to be safe in his homophobic cou... more -
US: man gets life sentence for smoking a joint
This 20/20 report shows a side by side comparison of two cases. The same judge presides over the two cases. One man is free to live his life as he wants, after committing murder, and the other in jail for life after smoking marijuana.
Ridiculous. This 20/20 report shows a side by side comparison of two cases. The same judge presides over the two cases. One man is free to live h... more -
Black pets need love too
A promotion by the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter to boost the adoption of black-coated dogs and cats has drawn criticism for being racially insensitive.
The shelter has halted its "Black is Beautiful" Week after the president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP raised concerns in the media. They had planned to reduce adoption fees for black-coated animals to $25 for a week. The normal fee for adoption is $85.
Nelson Linder, president of the Austin NAACP, said it was a "violation" to use "Black is Beautiful" as a promotion for an animal shelter and that the shelter was right to halt the promotion. The phrase became popular during the 1960s civil rights movement as a way to promote equality and African American self-esteem.
Black-coated animals do not get adopted as quickly as other animals. Either out of superstition or fear that they might be a more aggressive dog, they tend to be underadopted.
The shelter has 12 black adult cats available for adoption out of about 25 and that about half of the shelter's dogs are black. Two of those dogs have been at the shelter for two months. The average stay for animals is about 11 days. The shelter does euthanize animals based on factors such as space and adoptability. A promotion by the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter to boost the adoption of black-coated dogs and cats has drawn criticism f... more -
Turtle Island Project Director: Some rich think Indigenous Peoples are "expen...
(Marquette, Michigan) - Many of the rich around the world view Indigenous Peoples, women and children as “expendable commodities,” said Turtle Island Project Director Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard during Northern Michigan University 2008 Indigenous Earth Day Summit.
Hubbard added he fears for the future of mankind and the planet because “we have lost any sense of the sacred.”
The summit was held on Earth Day 2008 on the NMU campus in Marquette, Michigan near the shores of Lake Superior.
The two-day summit - the first of its kind at NMU - was April 22-23.
Read more by clicking on link. (Marquette, Michigan) - Many of the rich around the world view Indigenous Peoples, women and children as “expendable commodities,” sai... more -
Turtle Island Project Director Some rich view Indigenous Peoples as "expendab...
TIP Dir. Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard:
I think we have here two different forms of religion. Ands its this religion of my ancestors that I participate in that I think really has been the problem. I think we have to come to understand that religious consciousness evolves just like anything else does. It's not just the material world that evolves but also our cultural world evolves and the realm of the concept evolves. We are going now, as a people - there was a time from prehistorical religions to historic religions. the religions of the book Judaism, Christianity, Islam to this historic period. Now I think that is transending to this transrational understanding of spirituality. And as part of this transrational understanding of spirituality is an appropriation of this knowledge and spirituality of Earth-based cultures. I think we have to be open now to what John Trudell called ‘spirit making and escape.’ I love this idea. My spirit needs to make an escape from my religious consciousness. The racial and cultural genocide that still goes on today inside this country . Judaism is an inherently ethical religion except you have to be a Canaanite. You may get your ass kicked or your head cut off but basically it's OK. But sky Gods and cultures that worship sky Gods are traditionally barbaric - Read the Old Testament - Wow! Talk about patriarchy. But we are in a war. It is not a war of my choosing.But we are in a war I truly believe that - a war fore our hearts and our minds. We have to continually fight.It's multi-generational. We fight against great principalities and powers. It's amazing. If you stick your head up out of the foxhole just a little bit and you start speaking on behalf of the poor. Those bullets are flying. I said something about a corporation. I said we created these corporations and political structures that aren't moral entities because you have to say things like: ‘I'm sorry. I made a mistake.' You have to admit your humanness. When's the last time your heard a politician ever admit a mistake unless they were forced to? ‘I did not have sex with that woman - I did not inhale - yes I smoked but I did not inhale' And I said corporations are liked this too - they are not moral entities because they cannot do these things like apologize. Well, good Lord that's attacking a sacred cow - there's a guy in my congregation who just went ballistic - who quit the church because he had spent his entire life benefiting from, working for, a non-moral entity. I did not say all corporations were liked this - I just said some corporations are like this. Well that's all you have to say. Rev. Hubbard said Americans and all people who call Earth home need to protect the environment. He said we have lost the sense of the sacred - a lesson that can be learned from Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples. I understand this because I feel desperate. What John Trudell was talking about is the same way. We've lost our way. We do not have any spiritual sense because we have lost any sense of the sacred. A great historian of the religions Mircea Eliade who was at the University of Chicago where I for many years - I did his funeral. Mircea Eliade had this notion that in order to have a hierophany, an experience of the sacred, you have to have sacred space. If this Earth is not sacred to you, which it isn't to Mickey Mouse, then you can't have an experience of the sacred. I deal with people every day in my congregation who have lost or are losing any sense of the sacred. And it's not only - like you were saying this relationship between Earth and women - and the earth and man. If you do not have power in a capitalistic society, you become part of and you are thought of in terms of the Earth. Women who have less economic power, children who don't have any power at all unless somebody gives it to them, Indigenous communities, you are all thought of as expendable commodities. TIP Dir. Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard: ... more
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Prejudice
