Free Troy Davis!

From Amnesty International...

Documentary Film: "Electric Purgatory"

The following 1 hr documentary - "Electric Purgatory" - focuses on the plight of black rock musicians and their struggles within the music industry. It is worth checking out:

What do you think?

Katrina's Hidden Race War

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!!!!

The Nation has a new investigative report out that is frightening. It states that white vigilante justice tore through New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina... but no official investigation has ever examined the crimes.  Apparently, in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, White vigilantes hunted down Black men who entered Algiers Point and even tried to expel their Black neighbors. Yet, even with evidence, Louisiana's broken law enforcement agencies have refused to investigate these crimes!  

Seriously. In the two weeks after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the media created a climate of fear with trumped-up stories of Black lawlessness. Meanwhile, an armed group of White vigilantes took over the Algiers Point neighborhood in New Orleans and mercilessly hunted down Black people. "It was great!" said one vigilante. "It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it."  As one African American victim tried to escape the vigilantes, he heard them yell, "Get him! Get that nigger!"  The man managed to get away.  Two other black victims were told by their assailants that they would be allowed to live on the condition that they told other Black folks not to come to Algiers Point. 

Here is the main article.

Here is an editorial on the subject.

Here is the tragic story of the murder of Henry Glover, 31.

Here is the Democracy Now! segment on this topic.

In the following video, reporter A.C. Thompson talks with innocent victims and ruthless vigilantes about his expose on shootings of black New Orleans residents fleeing the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and police misconduct after the storm:


Here is the reaction to this story by Congressman John Conyers.

This is an incredibly important, depressing and tragic story that should make anyone interested in justice angry. This needs further and formal investigation. To DEMAND JUSTICE, please go here and sign the online petition.

And, most importantly, SPREAD THE WORD.

Obama Election Spurs "Hundreds" of Racist Incidents Around Country

Cross-burnings, threats, racial epithets, assault, a church burned down. These are just a few of the racist incidents that have occurred across the country since Obama's historic victory two weeks ago. Here are some specific examples that give a sense of the scope of this outbreak of racist hate:

* At the Standish, Maine, Oak Hill General Store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin.Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when Obama would be killed. "Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count," the sign said. At the bottom of the marker board was written "Let's hope someone wins."

* In Idaho, the Secret Service is investigating a "public hanging" sign erected by a man upset with the election outcome, the Bonner County Daily Bee reported Thursday. A handmade sign posted on a tree reads "FREE PUBLIC HANGING" written in large letters beneath a noose fashioned from nylon rope. The most prominent name on the sign is "OBAMA," according to the Bee. "That's a political statement. They can call it whatever they want, a threat or whatever," the creator of the sign, Ken Germana, told the Bee.

* A popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day. The site, stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line on Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received. One poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus, of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how 'messiahs' come to rest."

* From the Orange County (Ca.) Register: "Two gang members pleaded not guilty Thursday to hate crime and attempted robbery charges in connection with the beating of a black man who was trying to buy cigarettes at a Fullerton liquor store." The two men shouted racial and anti-Obama epithets in the attack.

* From today's New York Times: "Two white Staten Island men face hate crimes charges after they were arrested on Friday in the beating of a black teenager on the night that Barack Obama was elected president, the police said on Saturday. The teenager, Alie Kamara, 17, was walking home on Pine Place in the Staten Island neighborhood of Stapleton when several men hit him on the head with a baseball bat and yelled 'Obama,' said Aliya Latif, the civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who was in contact with Alie's family since the attack and spoke to his mother on Saturday after the arrests were announced."

* In Mississippi alone, the American Civil Liberties Union has received more than 10 calls since the staff first reported anti-Obama incidents last Friday, according to the Jackson (Miss.) Free Press.

* In Midland, Mich., a man dressed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia walked around toting a handgun and waving an American flag. Initially denying it, the man eventually admitted to police that the display was a reaction to the Obama victory. "[The man] had a concealed weapon permit and was walking up and down the sidewalk in front of a vehicle dealership while some motorists shouted obscenities at him and others shouted accolades," police told The Saginaw News.

* Parents in Rexburg, Idaho, contacted school officials this week after they learned that 2nd and 3rd graders on a school bus were chanting, "Assasssinate Obama!"

* At the University of Texas in Austin, a racist post on Facebook has cost one student his place on the university football team, according to the Houston Chronicle. Buck Burnette, a sophomore offensive lineman for the fourth-ranked Texas Longhorns, was dismissed from the team on Nov. 5 after posting a racist remark about President-elect Obama as his "status" on the social networking Web site. Burnette posted: "All the hunters gather up, we have a [slur] in the White House," the Chronicle reported.

* AP reports: "While the world watched a Grant Park celebration heralding the election of the first black U.S. president, some white Chicago police officers committed hate crimes against black residents cheering Barack Obama's victory elsewhere in the city, attorneys alleged Thursday." Lawsuits have been filed.

* At Appalachian State University, the administration has expressed disappointment at the numerous times black students have expressed being harassed in residence halls since the election. The Appalachian, a student newspaper serving the university, also reported conversations suggesting Obama may not be alive in 2009 and a t-shirt seen around campus that reads "Obama '08, Biden '09."

* Mentioned in the same article, racist comments were discovered at North Carolina State University last week. Spray-painted in university's free expression tunnel after the election were the phrases, "Kill that nigger," "Let's shoot that nigger in the head" and "Shoot Obama," the Appalachian reported. The NAACP has called for the expulsion of the four students accused of the graffitti, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect, authorities say.

* The Associated Press revealed on Wednesday, "Police on eastern Long Island are investigating reports that more than a dozen cars were spray painted with racist graffiti, reportedly including a message targeting President-elect Barack Obama. The graffiti included racist slurs and sexually graphic references. At least one resident in the quiet Mastic neighborhood told Newsday her son's car was scribbled with a message threatening to kill Obama."

* Employees at Hampel's Key and Lockshop in Traverse City, Michigan, flew an American flag upside down last Wednesday protesting of the new president-elect, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported. One worker used a racial slur during an interview with the Record-Eagle: "(The inverted flag is) an international signal for distress and we feel our country is in distress because the n----- got in," said Hampel's employee Rod Nyland, who later apologized for the comment, according to the Record-Eagle.

* Authorities in Temecula, Calif., found spray-painted graffiti on a city sidewalk containing a swastika and anti-Obama slogan. And from the Los Angeles Times: "Vandals spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs on a house and several cars in Torrance that displayed campaign signs or bumper stickers for President-elect Barack Obama, authorities said Tuesday. The incidents occurred Saturday night in the Hollywood Riviera section of the city, said Sgt. Bernard Anderson. Four separate incidents were reported the next day, he said. No arrests have been made."

* And from Maine: "More than 75 people rallied Sunday against an incident last week in which black figures were hanged by nooses from trees on Mount Desert Island the day after Barack Obama won the presidential election," according to the Bangor Daily News.

* Racist graffiti was found in places including New York's Long Island, where two dozen cars were spray-painted; Kilgore, Texas, where the local high school and skate park were defaced; and the Los Angeles area, where swastikas, racial slurs and "Go Back To Africa" were spray painted on sidewalks, houses and cars.

* Second- and third-grade students on a school bus in Rexburg, Idaho, chanted "assassinate Obama," a district official said.

* University of Alabama professor Marsha L. Houston said a poster of the Obama family was ripped off her office door. A replacement poster was defaced with a death threat and a racial slur. "It seems the election brought the racist rats out of the woodwork," Houston said.

* Black figures were hanged by nooses from trees on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the Bangor Daily News reported. The president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas said a rope found hanging from a campus tree was apparently an abandoned swing and not a noose.

* Crosses were burned in yards of Obama supporters in Hardwick, N.J., and Apolacan Township, Pa.

* A black teenager in New York City said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four white men who shouted 'Obama.'

* In the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, a black man said he found a note with a racial slur on his car windshield, saying "now that you voted for Obama, just watch out for your house."

This website is keeping track of incidents.

And there is other evidence that hate-crimes are on the rise in NY, not just against African Americans, but also against Latino immigrants. Here is one particularly appalling example:


Well, this isn't all that surprising, given our nation's tragic racial past, the long history of white backlash following moments of racial progress, and the way Obama's opponents exploited racial divisions in a series of desperate last-ditch efforts to save their campaigns. Even so, we must call this stuff out when it occurs and stand together publicly to condemn it.

What has been your experience, post election?

"Why They Hate Obama: Miscegenation and Other Nightmares of the Racist Political Imagination"

Stephen Ducat has a nice meditation on the white racist's political mindset.  The article places the emphasis NOT on Obama's blackness, but on his mixed-race background:

The frank comments of unapologetic anti-Obama racists across the country have recently gained a wide national audience. As Ricky Thompson, a pipe fitter from Mobile, Alabama, told a New York Times reporter, "He's neither-nor. He's other. It's in the Bible. Come as one. Don't create other breeds." Another denizen of the GOP's "real America" shared his spiritual insights with the same interviewer. Glenn Reynolds, of Martinsdale, Virginia pointed out, "God taught the children of Israel not to intermarry." Such shameless declarations of prejudice reveal something obvious but easily overlooked: It is not Obama's blackness that disturbs these pious bigots, but his grayness.

After going through a brief history of the strict racial divisions in our society, their social, legal, political, psychological and religious roots, and why mixed-race people confound and particularly threaten white supremacy, he writes,

Thus, the very visibility of Barack Obama - let alone his candidacy for the most powerful and, before Bush, the most esteemed job in the world - creates a category crisis of epic proportions. He not only mouths a rhetoric of transcending division, but is himself a seamless genetic integration of what should be immiscible. The decent, God-fearing racist must be plagued by unanswerable questions: What is this incomprehensible mutation of badness and goodness? How can the same person contain that with which I identify and which I despise? What does that make me?

It is well worth a read. I hope you will take the time to check it out. Then, leave a comment, if you feel so moved...

NYT: "In Voting Booth, Race May Play a Bigger Role"

Yesterday, the New York Times ran five good pieces on the role of race in the presidential election from a regional perspective...

• Adam Nagourney suggests that despite some high profile moments where race was out in the open, on full display, that it is more often "found only in sentiments that are whispered, internalized or masked by discussions of culture or religion, and therefore hard to capture fully in polling or even to hear clearly in everyday conversation." He goes on, "Political strategists once assumed that polls might well overstate support for black candidates, since white voters might be reluctant to admit racially tinged sentiments to a pollster. Newer research has cast doubt on that assumption. Either way, the situation is confounding aides on both sides, who like everyone else are waiting to see what role race will play in the privacy of the voting booth."

• In a companion article on "the bi-racial factor" in the South, Adam Nossiter finds that for some white southerners, their uncertainty of Barack Obama "starts at racial identity." The piece begins: "The McCain campaign’s depiction of Barack Obama as a mysterious 'other' with an impenetrable background may not be resonating in the national polls, but it has found a receptive audience with many white Southern voters." He then writes, "Being the son of a white mother and a black father has come to symbolize Mr. Obama’s larger mysteries for many voters. When asked about his background, a substantial number of people interviewed said they believed his racial heritage was unclear, giving them another reason to vote against him."

• Closer to our neck of the woods, in Colorado, Kirk Johnson finds, "The debate over race — and for some, the soul-searching — that Mr. Obama’s history-making candidacy as the Democratic nominee has engendered are clearly present here, just different." One theme that emerged in Johnson's reporting is that "the lack of racial interaction made Mr. Obama’s race more of an intellectual concept, secondary to ordinary political considerations." Yet, "in a sign of the limits of tolerance, some white voters also expressed a vague fear that if they did experience daily life in black America, their opinion of black people might change for the worse."

• In Nevada, Jennifer Steinhauer found that door-to-door volunteers for Obama "face a complex issue" in race. A case in point, when one woman told a canvasser, “I don’t want to sound like I’m prejudiced... I’ve never been around a lot of black people before. I just worry that they’re nice to your face but then when they get around their own people you just have to worry about what they’re going to do to you.” The Obama volunteer responded: “One thing you have to remember is that Obama, he’s half white and he was raised by his white mother. So his views are more white than black really.” She went on to assure the woman that she was so impressed with Mr. Obama the person, that she failed to notice the color of his skin anymore." The exchange was posted online and it evoked outrage among many readers. “Amazing how even white people who support Obama and are canvassing for him default to classic white supremacist language,” wrote one reader. Another said, “What in the world is this volunteer thinking?” But, according to Steinhauser, the Obama canvasser's "efforts reflect the complex task that many volunteers canvassing for Mr. Obama face. While she and other Obama volunteers may feel offended by remarks like Ms. Mendive’s, an admonishment would not persuade a voter on the fence to pull the lever for Mr. Obama. So she often takes another tack."

• And, in a final article, reporter Shaila Dewan finds on campuses in Kentucky and southern Ohio that "In Generation Seen as Colorblind, Black Is Yet a Factor." She writes, "Throughout this campaign season, many commentators and politicians have proclaimed today’s youth to be a colorblind generation in which racial prejudice has receded and diversity is embraced. But in two days of interviews here and north of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, most young people acknowledged — or even insisted — that race was still a powerful if subtle factor among their peers." Citing statistical data, along with personal interviews, Dewan finds that while "most polls show that Mr. Obama is far more popular among younger voters than his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain... exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky this year [show] younger Democratic primary voters were no less likely to say that race had been an important factor in their vote than people 30 and older. And in two states — Georgia, where African-Americans dominated among younger voters, and Illinois — young voters were actually more likely than older ones to say that race had been important." Moreover, "Some data have also found that young voters are less likely than older ones to say the country is ready for a black president, though these data make it hard to tell whether the young are more influenced by race or simply more realistic about its power. In a nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in July, more than two-thirds of voters said the country was ready for a black president. Among voters 30 or older, 23 percent disagreed, compared with 34 percent of younger voters."

Taken together, what do these regional portraits of race and election '08 reveal about how far the nation has come and what work remains ahead? How might we situate these findings within the longer historical trajectory of race and politics? What has been your experience with issues of race and the presidential election?

UPDATE: More food for thought on race and election '08...

• KKK flyers show up in OK newspapers.

• Al Jazeera reporter find racism at Palin rally.

• San Bernadino GOP group makes fake bills featuring Obama, watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken.

• Sacramento GOPers approve email that suggests waterboarding Obama and compares him to Osama bin Laden.

• Rush Limbaugh perpetuates radical right-wing offense, claiming Obama Arab, not African American.

"The Palin Mob": Strongsville, Ohio

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. There are many things I love about my hometown, but the pervasive and often overt racism and ignorance of many white people there is not one of them. This video, titled "The Palin Mob," gives a good indication of what I am talking about. The footage was taken recently outside a Palin/McCain rally in Strongsville, which is just South of Cleveland:

I'd be lying if I wrote that this stuff surprises me. Having lived in Cleveland, it does not. In fact, I hate to tell you that this is fairly mild compared to what you might turn up in this beleaguered de-industrialized city. It is a good indication of what the Obama campaign is up against not only in Ohio, but in many depressed or working-class communities across the country.

Donna Brazile: "I Ain't Going to the Back of the Bus"

Amen, sister:

Spread the word...

WSJ: Labor Woos Whites for Obama

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting look at organized labor's attempts to bring white working-class voters to Obama. Check it out...

Florida Middle School Teacher Uses N-word Against Obama in Class

Expect more of this before election day. Dumb-ass middle-school teacher and football coach, Greg Howard, asked his students what "change" stood for in relation to the Obama campaign and then proceeded to write out the acronym "come help a nigger get elected" on the chalk board. To date, he has not been fired.

That is his photo to the right. I dunno. Pass it around, too...

Welcome to the "Post-Racial" Society

Disgusting. A white guy in Florida purposefully ran over a 25 year old black woman on her bike as he yelled, "All Black People Should Die" and other racial slurs. Watch the local tv news report on the incident here.

The beauty and wisdom of the victim: "I don't have hate in my heart for him. You know, I just wish he didn't hate me."

Countering the Lie About Race and the Bailout

Check this out.

The Language of Race in Election '08

Brent Staples writes about the language of race in election '08 over at the New York Times. Things that need saying. Check it out. Pass it around...

Any thoughts, reactions, ideas?

New Poll Indicates Race Could Cost Obama the Election

Here it is...

...and here is Wonkette's slam of the article, as well as 538's more serious-minded critique...

Lest We Forget... Katrina Three Years Later

Please take some time away from the presidential election to reflect on the memory, meaning and ongoing tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, three years later. here are a few resources:

Magnum Photo reminds us what happened three years ago with a powerful photo essay.

Over at DailyKos, Bill in Portland Maine has put together "the Hurricane Katrina Hall of Shame." Well worth this walk down memory lane.

American Public Radio's "Speaking of Faith" put together a great audio story, with lots of resources, on poverty after Katrina.

Bill Quigley explores the "pain index" in New Orleans three years later.

Larry Blumenfeld writes about music, culture and recovery in New Orleans.

Kai Wright, in "Katrina, the Ultimate Party Crasher," reminds us how far we have yet to go in bringing back one of our nation's most beloved cities.

Lizzy Ratner explores the way New Orleans has redrawn the color line after Katrina.

Deepa Fernandes writes that three years on, homelessness looms for many of Katrina's victims.

Fernandes also writes about FEMA's toxic trailers.

Stuart Klawans reviews the new Katrina documentary, "Trouble the Water," a film which prompted N.O. mayor Ray Nagin to walk out.

Black Agenda Report suggests we are in "the age of Katrina," not the age of Obama.

Here is a will.i.am-style Obama video using New Orleans great, Alain Toussaint's, classic, "Yes We Can Can":

Race in Science

Science receives much of its authority from the perception that it is based on "objective" examination of data through the scientific method. Yet, when it comes to race, science has been anything but objective. A great example of this is Stepehen Jay Gould's classic work, The Mismeasure of Man, which attacks the racist science of Eugenics at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries and demonstrates the way the white supremacist biases of scientists influenced their research. It is a great book, accessible and important.

In a similar, but more contemporary vein, a group of historians at the University of Toronto has created a website, "Racesci," which, in their own words:

is a resource for scholars and students interested in the history of "race" in science, medicine, and technology. RaceSci is dedicated to encouraging critical, anti-racist and interdisciplinary approaches to our understanding of the production and uses of "race" as a concept within the history of science. Instead of assuming race as a natural category that science then uncovers, this site assembles scholarly works that look at how cultural processes of racialization have profoundly shaped knowledge about humanness, health, and even our understanding of "nature" itself. The aim of RaceSci is to serve as a catalyst and support for the increased critical study of "race" and science amongst students and researchers by bringing together in a common forum the interdisciplinary English-language literature on the topic, with a particular strength in U.S. history. In addition, RaceSci tracks the continuing history of "race" in contemporary science and its reporting in the media. For scholars, the site provides samples of university syllabi and announcements of events.

The site contains lots of interesting resources.

Check it out!

Marching for Change in "North O"

In case you are not aware, the African American community in Omaha, concentrated mainly in "North Omaha," is the third poorest black community in the nation and the poorest for black children. A full 59% of all African American kids grow up in poverty in Omaha. And, of course, this situation leads to all kinds of other social problems associated with poverty, discrimination and segregation. It is shameful, to say the least. But, some folks are trying to do something about it...

The cover story of the most recent Reader, Omaha's alternative weekly, highlights a recent march/rally in North Omaha. I was on the Steering Committee for this demonstration. The article, titled, "How a diverse group of concerned residents put on a march for change in North Omaha," is worth taking a look at.

How Do You Tell Someone They Said Something Racist?

Good question. Here is a suggestion:

What do you think?

Water Kept from Central Ohio Black Community for Decades, Jury Finds

According to AP:

Residents of a mostly black neighborhood in rural Ohio were awarded nearly $11 million Thursday by a federal jury that found local authorities denied them public water service for decades out of racial discrimination.

Each of the 67 plaintiffs was awarded $15,000 to $300,000, depending on how long they had lived in the Coal Run neighborhood, about 5 miles east of Zanesville in Muskingum County in east-central Ohio.

The money covers both monetary losses and the residents' pain and suffering between 1956, when water lines were first laid in the area, and 2003, when Coal Run got public water.

The lawsuit was filed in 2003 after the Ohio Civil Rights Commission concluded the residents were victims of discrimination. The city, county and East Muskingum Water Authority all denied it and noted that many residents in the lightly populated county don't have public water.

Coal Run residents either paid to have wells dug, hauled water for cisterns or collected rain water so they could drink, cook and bathe.

Here is the link to the full story at CNN.com

Tom Tomorrow: "A Few Recent Examples of Awesomely Non-Racist Political Discourse"

(click comic to enlarge)