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Combating Racism - by any means necessary

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:44 am
by onepence
Dear Friends,

Allah'u'Abha!

It is with a heavy heart that I begin this discussion with you about Racism.

I personally recently encountered an extremely racist web site that was basically an open discussion forum that predominately dealt with American Capitialist economic thought and yet had only three rules

no spam
no porn
no personal attacks

It seems basic enough except the moderators who ran the show got to determine what was "spam" what was "porn" and most importantly what was "personal attacks" .... one day someone started viscously slandering and attacking the black race .... I stood up and said now wait a minute this is wrong to call the black race ____ ... ... ... and from that day on we battled for three weeks or more .... in all sorts of ways .......

I started my own thread entitled "Combating Racism"
another person started a thread "don't let Onepence bait you"

time and time again I would say various posters where posting vulgar and insulting raciest remarks

time and time again posters would respond with ... I wish Onepence would just leave our forum ..... ..... I mean countless times I was attacked ... put Onepence on ignore ... Onepence leave our forum ...... Onepence you write about oneness yet you are devisive ... ... Onepence get off your soapbox .... ... ... Onepence this Onepence that ... twopencetroll this two pencetroll that ...... ....

time and time again I would post new threads about Racism and Race issues .... both in America and abroad ...... ...... ...... I would try to issue up new threads so we could discuss different issues ... ... nobody was interested in learning ..... ....... ...... just interested in sticking with their friends and ganging up on writers who's views where different from theirs ..... ........ even started a thread on Human Rights and economic development, think anybody interested, think again, .... just a faint heartbeat of American sloganism ... ... .... shame really .... cuz I really was learning a lot and had nobody to share my love for knowledge and character development with there ...... ...... .......

so eventually one person said good-bye ... a woman poster ... who wasn't interested in reading all the women hating/bashing comments going on .... and might I add the mods were not doing anything ... free speech don't you know ...... ...... ...... same day somebody else says goodbye .... tired of all the hate of this or that .... ...... .... and so I said to myself said I ... two people are gone, no way did any thug or group of thugs run me off, two people gone I can go with these two people and exit gracefully from this forum and so I said goodbye part three ... ... ...

now granted this story is onesided, written totally from my point of view, .... .... but I tell you something else of interest ... ... I often complained to the mods about personal attacks ..... ..... ...... and I also tried to change the structure of how the forum board was controlled .... forum board controlled by owners who "paid" for the site by donations so the so called founding fathers got to chose who were the mods .... .... I wanted to change to democracy, but more specifically to constitutional monarchy ... .... and the response was love it or leave it my board don't try to unionize the posters here, in fact, i will sick my dogs after you, and watch how they attack you while i do nothing but laugh at you being attacked ....... ..... .....

shewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

what a battle
what a freaking nightmare that place was

shewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

time and time again I would complain about personal attacks
and the response by the mods was really something to behold

in fact the response by the mods is what led me to write this note,
and God willing to follow up with a few more essays .... ..... .....

yes the response by the mods turned out to be key in my character development ...... and perhaps by writing all the ordeals I went through ...... and then you learning what the mods response was ..... ...... ....... and then looking for deeper meanings in the words of Baha'u'llah and learning the example that Abdu'l-Baha set and seeking further understanding from our Guardian then maybe just maybe you, the readers can understand that certain things in life can never be changed and perhaps it is wiser to accept fate then trying to be a fate resistor .. .... ...... .......

so I betch wondering what the mods wrote ... huh .... now minda this site was not affliated with the Baha'i Faith in any way shape or forum .... ...... ..... just some private individuals who like to boast they know gold is money ... lol .... like who doesn't know gold is money ..... ...... so to me their boasting, while exciting at first, but in the end seemed very "poor white trash" to me .... ....... ... lol ...... ....... yep poor white trash and not in any type of good sense about the words ......

gold is money ..... yep i figured that out toooooo ..... without the site of poor white trash I was able to figure it out ...... also on my own was able to counter their sooooooooo materialistic viewpoint of the world slogan

He who owns the gold makes the rules!

lol ...... ohhhhhhh they where soooooooooooooo proud of their slogan

He who owns the gold makes the rules

lol ..... yeah welll I got some gold for ya

He who owns the gold owns just a piece of yellow stone. ..... lol

well needless to say my slogan didn't play to well in pierieo
but I sure did learn more about my own personal character and viewpoint.

in fact, my own personal character and viewpoint drew up all sorts of theories and conclussions while dealing with the poor white trash that insists on only looking at the material viewpoint of life

one theory is this

The Lesser Peace is basically an {aethist} Islamic Superstate who pretends to be religious by allowing certain religious thought to florish {christian/jew/hindu/budha/etc} but denies the Writings of Baha'u'llah; furthermore this aethist Islamic Superstate will create an economic science, in the same way that scientsist created botany and trampled beneath their feet the magical kingdom of the plants, these scientist will determine every last job to be worth so many grams of gold ..... .....

a dentist is worth this much gram of gold
a newspaper writer this much
a bag of tea this much
a trash collector this much

on so down the kingdom, phyla, class, order, family, genius, species.

cuz ... it ain't he who owns the gold makes the rule
it is however the King who makes the rules .....

but I have digressed, quite severely I am afraid, so please do forgive me, the point I was making was I had contributed much economic thought to a group that had predomiantly flagrant raciest views ...... and was personally attacked when I started seeking remedies to what I considered to me violations of human rights .... ..... ......

and when I complained to the mods about being personally attacked
this is what the mods wrote back

Since I see nothing
I will do nothing
russ

fair enough ..... ..... I stuck it out at the site ..... ..... being mercilessly attacked ..... and the mods seeing nothing and doing nothing ....... ....... ...... .....

so guess what I decided ...... ...... any guesses as to where I am going .....
what sort of conclussions I can draw ..... ......

Hear no evil
See no evil

..... Abdu'l Baha made it through WWI alive and kicking .... ....

See no evil
Hear no evil
Speak no evil

...... ...... you betcha ......

I see nothing
I will do nothing

........ .......


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flower power people {new/old age/\odds&ends

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christian

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aim {american Indian movement}

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muslem

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----------------------------

.... a new Jeruslam ..........

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so imho ... while these guys duke it out .... I simplly plan to

See no evil


...... you guys do what you want ...... but that is my plan ......
I mean I come from a poor white trash background .... I ain't no law enforcement .... I can't make nobody shut up ..... .... there where plenty of oppurtunities for Abdu'l Baha to pick up a gun and demand somebody do something or somebody stop doing something ....... as far as I know Abdu'l Baha never picked up a gun to demand anything ...... ....... never ....... sooooo ....

there will be a lot of tough decessions to make in America .....

we may not have to make em for a while,
but one day .... we will all have to chose sides or have sides chosen for us

God willing I will remain as pro Baha'i as ever
and become more neutral on all other subjects

remember time is on our side

and a new American slogan one day may be

The only good Baha'i is a dead Baha'i

soooooooo I say ...... enjoy the freedom of religion while we got it ......
plant the message of Baha'u'llah firmly in the soil of our hearts
and don't become sidetracked by any racist seeking to disturb the Most Great Peace

........

God willing I will write more about racism at a later date

and the next note I will try not to digress soooo much!

a person of oneness,
Dean Hedges

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"He Whom the world hath wronged (may my life be offered for His loved ones) was four times banished from city to city, till at last condemned to perpetual confinement, He was incarcerated in this Prison, the prison of highway robbers, of brigands and of manslayers."
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"The basis of authority in the case of the Shar’, or Ecclesiastical Law, consists of the utterances of the Prophet in the Qur’án; of the opinions of the Twelve Holy Imáms, whose voice in the judgment of the Shí’ah Muhammadans is of scarcely inferior weight; and of the commentaries of a school of pre-eminent ecclesiastical jurists. The latter have played much the same part in adding to the volume of the national jurisprudence that the famous juris consulti did with the Common Law of Rome, or the Talmudic commentators with the Hebrew system. The body of law so framed has been roughly codified and divided into four heads, .... "
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:28 am
by onepence
When Scientific Ideology Was a Mask for Racism

Books

http://www.nysun.com/article/27946

By ADAM KIRSCH
February 22, 2006


When Americans talk about racism, we are almost always referring to white discrimination against blacks. This is natural enough, since prejudice against African-Americans is the original and longest-lasting form of American race hatred. But racism, in its early-20th-century heyday, was about more than simple hatred, though a particularly insidious form of inhumanity always lay at its heart. As the word itself suggests, racism, like communism, originally purported to be a science, or at least a scientific ideology - that is, a way of ordering human life based on alleged facts about nature.

Those facts, as they emerged in the writings of 19th-century racial theorists, seemed to fit perfectly into the world picture advanced by Charles Darwin, who revealed the merciless truth about the survival of the fittest. As with species, so too with human races, thought people as different as the founder of eugenics, Darwin's cousin Francis Galton, and the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler. The future of humanity depended on ensuring that the best races multiplied and the worst died out. The problem was that, in modern Western societies, a foolish compassion preserved the fit and the unfit alike, and even encouraged the poor and "feebleminded" to continue propagating their inferior protoplasm (to use one of the racists' favorite demiscientific terms). Herbert Spencer, the Victorian sage who helped to popularize Darwin's ideas, put it very bluntly in his 1865 book "Social Statics":

Blind to the fact that under the natural order of things, society is constantly excreting its unhealthy, imbecile, slow, vacillating, faithless members, these unthinking, though well-meaning, men advocate an interference which not only stops the purifying process, but even ... encourages the multiplication of the reckless and incompetent by offering them an unfailing provision.

The solution, to several generations of reformers in America and Europe, was obvious: "Unhealthy" human specimens had to be stopped from multiplying. Opinions on how this was to be accomplished, and what a perfected humanity would look like, varied widely among believers in eugenics. But one thing remained constant: The advocates of scientific racism, whether progressive American doctors or Nazi murderers, were always certain that they themselves belonged to the best racial stock.

Two new books tell complementary parts of this horrifying, deeply important story. In "Better for All the World" (Alfred A. Knopf, 402 pages, $30), Harry Bruinius focuses on the main American advocates of eugenics, who in the first third of the 20th century led the effort to sterilize people, mainly women, whom they deemed feebleminded, moronic, or generally undesirable. Mr. Bruinius reminds us of a historical irony we are generally happy to forget: that in the early 20th century, sterilization joined Prohibition and suffragism as one of the favorite causes of the progressive movement. In each case, Protestant progressives believed themselves to be carrying the banner of reason and justice, against the ignorant Catholic and Jewish immigrants who threatened to ruin the republic. Mr. Bruinius prints a shocking letter from no less a progressive hero than Theodore Roosevelt, the great trustbuster and conservationist, showing that he enthusiastically embraced the principles of eugenics:

It is really extraordinary that our people refuse to apply to human beings such elementary knowledge as every successful farmer is obliged to apply to his own stock breeding. Any group of farmers who permitted their best stock not to breed, and let all the increase come from the worst stock, would be treated as fit inmates for an asylum. ... Someday we will realize that the prime duty, the inescapable duty, of the good citizen of the right type is to leave his or her blood behind him in the world; and that we have no business to permit the perpetuation of citizens of the wrong type.

Mr. Bruinius's approach is to focus on the biographies of a few leading theorists of eugenics. Chief among them is Charles Davenport, the addressee of Roosevelt's letter. Davenport, the scion of an old Puritan family, transposed his father's religious zeal into the new key of modern science, working with all the passion of a true believer to convince America of the need to safeguard its protoplasm. (Margaret Sanger recalled him murmuring, "Protoplasm. We want more protoplasm," like a genetic Dr. Strangelove.) As the head of a research station at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, and a member of the American Breeders' Association, Davenport helped introduce the principles of Mendelian genetics to American farmers.

But his interest in breeding didn't stop with plants and animals. He wrote the major textbook on eugenics, "Heredity in Relation to Eugenics" ("the human babies born each year constitute the world's most valuable crop"), and established a Eugenics Record Office to co...

...

But who are the "manifestly unfit," and more important, who decides? For the Nazi "experts" on race profiled in Heather Pringle's "The Master Plan" (Hyperion, 464 pages, $24.95), the answers seemed no less self-evident than they were to Davenport and Laughlin. The supreme race was the Aryan, as Hitler, Himmler, and other leading Nazis never tired of repeating. The problem, as Ms. Pringle shows in her lucid, deeply researched book, is that the word Aryan had no determinate meaning. Originally a linguistic term invented in the 18th century to describe the hypothetical early language now called Indo-European, it was swiped by German racists to designate the primeval warrior race from which modern Germans purportedly sprung.

But for Himmler, a man whose credulity and intellectual feebleness would be laughable if their consequences hadn't been so monstrous, the honor of the Aryan name demanded more. All of human history had to be rewritten so that every important accomplishment could be credited to the Aryans. Aryans were the conquerors of India and Greece; Aryans founded an empire on the Black Sea; Aryans had occult knowledge of electricity thousands of years before it was discovered; Aryans stemmed from the lost continent of Atlantis, and before that possibly from outer space. No theory was too ludicrous for Himmler, whose SS was meant to reincarnate the Aryan warrior-farmer nobility. Even Hitler lost patience with his deputy's obsessions, preferring a more conventional worship of Greco-Roman antiquity. All of these fairy tales, however, had a deadly serious purpose: By establishing the permanent superiority of the German race, they meant to justify the annihilation of the Nazis' racial enemies, especially the Jews.

The evolution of Nazi racial "science," from comic idiocy to horror and tragedy, is cleverly told by Ms. Pringle through a focus on one bizarre institution: the Ahnenerbe, a research foundation under the aegis of the SS. Before the war began, the Ahnenerbe (a word Ms. Pringle roughly translates as "something inherited from the forefathers") specialized in sending archaeological expeditions to sites where the ancient Aryans allegedly left traces - rock carvings in Sweden, temples in Tibet. Like the Nazi Party as a whole, this little niche of Himmler's empire was extraordinarily hospitable to lunatics and charlatans. One of its "experts," Karl-Maria Wiligut, claimed to be descended from the god Thor, though he was a psychotic and child molester who had spent time in a Salzburg mental hospital. More disturbing, however, was the Ahnenerbe's ability to attract genuine scholars - archeologists, linguists, biologists - who eagerly prostituted themselves to Himmler for fancy titles and research grants.

It was during the war that the Ahnenerbe's crackpot racial science showed its true face. The story of Nazi medical experiments on Jewish prisoners is well-known, but Ms. Pringle sheds new light on it, showing how such tortures were directly related to Nazi eugenic theories. In the most gruesome case, SS scientists selected prisoners from Auschwitz as exemplary Jewish racial types, then gassed them and stripped the flesh from their bones in order to preserve their skeletons for research. Such experiments were a natural conclusion of Nazi racial principles, which held that the survival of the fittest required extermination of the Jewish "bacillus."

This language, of course, is frighteningly similar to that used by Theodore Roosevelt, when he warned against "the worst stock" and "citizens of the wrong type." Indeed, when it came to eugenics, the Americans blazed the trail for the Germans. As Mr. Bruinius notes, the Nazi law for the prevention of hereditarily diseased offspring, passed by Hitler in 1934, was modeled after, and explicitly referred to, California's sterilization law. Fittingly, then, it was World War II and the revelation of the Holocaust that discredited the eugenics movement in the United States - permanently, one would like to say, except that the discovery of increasingly powerful genetic tools makes its revival by no means unthinkable.

The lesson Ms. Pringle and Mr. Bruinius have to teach is a vital one for our technological age: that scientists are not the best guides to the use or implications of their own work. There will always be credentialed ideologues willing to misrepresent self-serving lies as scientific truths. To avoid the perversion of science, we need something more than science - we need wisdom, a quality that no amount of laboratory research can discover.

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:37 pm
by onepence
Pope to make anti-racism call at Italy-Germany game

Reuters via Yahoo! News - Mar 01 10:50 AM

Pope Benedict will issue a message against racism in soccer at the World Cup warm-up match between Italy and Germany on Wednesday night, the Italian football federation said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060301/sp_ ... _pope_dc_1

The message will be read out by a local clergyman on the pitch at the stadium in Florence before kickoff.

It comes a day after Spain's football federation fined Real Zaragoza 9,000 euros ($10,750) for its fans' racial abuse of Barcelona's Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o and after several racist and pro-fascist displays by fans and players in Italy.

In November, Marc Zoro, Ivory Coast defender for Serie A side Messina, picked up the ball and threatened to walk off the pitch because of racist chants from Inter Milan fans.

Lazio striker Paolo Di Canio has been sanctioned for giving supporters a straight-arm Nazi-style salute. He has reportedly said: "I am a fascist, not a racist."

In Italy, it is not uncommon for some fans to make "monkey" noises when black players from rival teams take the ball.

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:47 pm
by onepence
Crackdown on football racism after Eto'o jibes

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_art ... to'o+jibes

28 February 2006

MADRID — Spain's government called for "the greatest possible harshness" to punish racism at football matches.

One leftist politician said that, among the possible sanctions, the cancellation of games of offending clubs should be considered.

The general coordinator of the United Left party, Gaspar Llamazares, said those clubs whose fans were guilty of racist behaviour should have matches suspended or stadiums closed if the incidents continue.

In the latest incident, Barcelona player Samuel Eto'o, who is from Cameroon, tried to leave the field after being insulted by fans at a game against Zaragoza, who made monkey chants when he had the ball.

Eto'o was asked by team mates and his coach to continue playing the game, which his team won 2-0.


Llamazares called on the government to take a "firm" position to prevent such incidents inside the stadiums, and he said both the hooligans and stadium operators were responsible for the ugly situations.

Last year, Eto'o was also the target of racist taunts by fans when Barcelona played Zaragoza.

In February 2005, Eto'o spoke out strongly against racism.

"This does a lot of harm," Eto'o said at the time. "If sometimes they treat me like a white man because they think I earn a lot of money, imagine how they must treat the black kid who peddles things on the street."

Jaime Lissavetzky, secretary of state for sports, advocated "the greatest firmness possible in sanctions" over the racist insults levelled at Eto'o on Saturday.

Lissavetzky said in a press conference in Palma, on the Canary Islands, that "we should not look the other way" when it comes to the racist acts in the soccer stadiums.

He said professional soccer had been fighting against the blight for over a year.

A year ago, the soccer federations approved the Protocol of Action against Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance, which set out 31 measures for dealing with this problem on three levels: sensitivity, identifying those responsible and imposing more serious penalties.

Regarding the third point, according to Lissavetzky, the protocol opened the way for the possible suspension of a game if the racist insults do not end, once all the warnings have been exhausted.

He said more resources would be devoted to dealing with this problem, including using additional cameras to monitor the stands, and asked for the cooperation of the public in identifying those involved in racist acts.

With this policy, the government wants to send the message that "it is not going to take a step back" in its fight against racist acts and that the cooperation of all institutions is needed to prevent a repeat of this incident.

The non-governmental anti-racism organization SOS Racismo expressed its support for Eto'o and applauded his attempt to leave the playing field because of the chorus of insults.

SOS Racismo spokesperson Isabel Martinez said that the events in Zaragoza "are not isolated, are not the result of a fad and don't occur out of simple mimicry, but are rather the reflection of a serious social problem which is racism".

Martinez said that the player's attitude regarding leaving the field marked a "tipping point," since it is "very important that players and referees start to interrupt the games in cases of racism".

She also emphasized the need for players, fans, the club and soccer federations to get more actively involved in "preventive campaigns against racism."

Martinez also said that the organization hoped that the national government would intervene with concrete action in cases such as this because "the government's desire to avoid racist acts in sports is well-known, but now that desire must be translated into concrete deeds".

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Gold medalist Davis suing Chicago

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:17 pm
by onepence
Gold medalist Davis suing Chicago

Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006

http://www.chicagoflame.com/media/paper ... oflame.com

Olympic gold medal speedskater Shani Davis is one of three plaintiffs suing the city of Chicago and former police superintendent Terry Hillard, alleging they were stopped because of their skin color.

The lawsuit, filed March 24, 2003, said Chicago native Davis was stopped in 2001 while the other plaintiffs, Quincy Joyner, 34, and Damien Joyner, 31, were stopped in 2002. All three are black.

"The case challenges indiscriminate street stops of young men, and there are two components to the case," said Harvey Grossman, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. "The first is to get systemic relief in the form of an injunction to get the police department to change its practices. They've changed a lot of them, but they have not gone the final steps. The other component is to get monetary damages for each of the individuals."

Grossman said he expects the case to be tried this year.

Chicago police officials did not return a message Wednesday seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Davis became the first black athlete to capture an individual gold medal in Winter Olympics history when he won the 1,000 meters. But he has been embroiled in a war of words with fellow American skater Chad Hedrick over Davis's decision not to skate in the team pursuit event.

Uneasy Rider

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:33 pm
by onepence
Uneasy Rider

http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1166981_3_0_,00.html

Dave Chappelle is a comedian before he is anything else — before he is a pop-culture phenomenon, before he is the creator of piercing critiques of American racism, before he is the self-described paranoid who walked away from a $50 million Comedy Central deal, all the way to Africa. Being funny is Chappelle's primary mode of existence; it's as though he was created for the job. His pipe-cleaner-thin body, all wiggly elbows and knees; his often half-lidded eyes and thin smile, which at any moment can scrunch into mock anger or widen into blissed-out delight; his slow, sly drawl of a voice, which lulls you into thinking Dave's the coolest guy on earth — except for those times when he's the most wired, tense, unpredictable guy in show business.

Chappelle went on the Feb. 3 Oprah Winfrey Show and on a mid-February edition of Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio to promote his thrilling new movie, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, and seemed prepared for the risks these appearances inevitably entailed. This wasn't like Steve Martin or Julianne Moore venturing out to plug the product and receive kiss-ups. On Actors Studio, he was compelled to laugh at his own dodgy body of early work, as when that amiable, goateed self-parody known as James Lipton solemnly rumbled, ''...and then you made Half-Baked....'' And Winfrey and her audience wanted to know why the comedian had exited from the third season of Chappelle's Show, a premiere arguably more anticipated than a new batch of Sopranos episodes. Foremost in the Oprah/audience mind-meld: Why'd he vamoose to Africa? Why were people he worked with quoted as saying he had spun out of control? Speaking for America as she so often does (Mr. Chappelle, meet Mr. Frey), Oprah spake thusly: ''It sounds a little crazy.'' The stories and rumors Chappelle is obliged to face down now are so utterly at odds with the mood and the extraordinary intimacy of Block Party. It would be a shame if that negative publicity threatens to get in the way of the pleasure — the deep appreciation audiences are likely to have for what Chappelle and his director, Michel Gondry, have created here.

Block Party feels like a cross between The Last Waltz (1978) and Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979). In September 2004, Chappelle organized in Brooklyn what he says on screen is ''the concert I've always wanted to see'': an R&B/hip-hop extravaganza featuring Kanye West, Erykah Badu, the Roots, and a reunited Fugees, among others. The film's director, Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), has also captured an essence in Chappelle only hinted at on his megastar-making TV show: a generous, openhearted man, one genuinely curious about and fond of all sorts of people. It's actually spine-tingling just watching him amble around his semirural neighborhood in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio, joshing with the little old white lady in the store where he buys his morning cigarettes; or to see the delight he takes in offering an entire Ohio college marching band a batch of the Block Party ''golden tickets,'' mainly just because they let him hit their drums with silly arrhythmic thwacks and suspects they'll add something to the eclectic vibe he wants for the Brooklyn concert. Which they do.

Gondry says he used one camera to shoot the Ohio sequences in just one day: ''Dave lives in a very quiet area, very laid-back, [the population]is half black, half white, I'd say. At first, I thought maybe Dave had a bad idea, just going out on the street to offer these 'golden tickets,' because it was a quiet day. But when Dave gets a bullhorn in his hand and begins improvising like a jazz musician, people come around fast. And when we stumbled upon that marching band, and you get to film the joy in their faces — most of these kids had never been to New York — I knew we had some great sequences.'' Gondry, a Frenchman who'd never met Chappelle before but admired his TV show, said at first he was ''thrown by the way Dave would talk to people while we filmed, but then turn to the camera and speak directly to me, or to the audience. I thought, 'This is too much like TV — it's like you're playing the host.' Dave said, 'Look at the footage.' He was right: He's got a way of narrating his life while it's happening, and he never falls back on an old or a pre-thought-out joke, the way most comedians do. That's the most exciting thing to capture on film: when you can see something click in his eyes, in his brain, and a split second later he says something very honest and funny.''

Gondry hits on something primal. We seek Chappelle's benediction — his permission to laugh along with him at the insane idiocy of racism and lesser evils, such as the silliness of celebrity worship. Block Partycaptures all the reasons millions of people have glommed on to the comedian as some combination of taboo breaker and soothsayer. We, his audience — white, black, Latino, whoever, his mass audience — want the sense of freedom and daring he brings to his performances, and (if Block Partyis an accurate portrayal of him) to everyday life. The movie is a glowing example of a man taking extreme, serene pleasure in giving other people pleasure: setting up the concert, handpicking many of the attendees, rehearsing with the musicians (Dave + a rhythm section telling ''your mama'' jokes = pure bliss), and pulling off a great event in such a relaxed, smooth way. Chappelle works on us the way great movie stars do: We want to be him while we watch him.

But this intimacy between the performer and his fans comes at a price. On Oprah, the comedian relayed an anecdote about a Chappelle Show taping at which a white crew member laughed with too much relish at his use of the N-word, which gave Dave serious pause. And don't mess with his hard-earned pride: Reducing him to merely being The Funny Guy Who Says, ''I'm Rick James, Bitch!'' diminishes his achievement. He grows wrathful and (again) withdraws. Chappelle might find personal resonance with the critic Seymour Krim's pithy description of ''non-whites who are on the receiving end of...American color sickness.'' Said a 23-year-old black fan entering Chappelle's Feb. 19 stand-up performance at Seattle's Paramount Theatre: ''Bringing [racism] to light is a positive thing. It allows people to see different cultures from different perspectives [and] any time you do that, you're going to have some who are going to [appreciate racial humor] for inappropriate reasons.''

...

By any measure, a lot of people have legitimate beefs with Chappelle. Winging off to Durban, South Africa, put the staff of Chappelle's Showout of work: not cool. And forget work — he told Oprah he didn't even tell his wife he was leaving until he'd gotten to Africa. What kind of self-absorption is that? On the same show ...

... more ...

<><><><>
oneness
dh

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:40 pm
by Keyvan
the american Baha'i community is stuck in the 60's and 70's
this isnt to say racism isnt the most challenging issue anymore, but that so much of the community teaches it like some hippie philosophy, not relevent to religious context

thats why weve fallen in numbers in this country in the 80's and 90's

thank God for the 5th Epoch

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:56 pm
by onepence
Keyvan wrote:the american Baha'i community is stuck in the 60's and 70's
this isnt to say racism isnt the most challenging issue anymore, but that so much of the community teaches it like some hippie philosophy, not relevent to religious context

thats why weve fallen in numbers in this country in the 80's and 90's

thank God for the 5th Epoch


Keyvan ... I think you seriously underestimate the role of America and her issues of race relations ...

if you doubt me ... go to

goldismoney.info

and post a new topic entitled "onepence sent me to talk about race relations in America"

lol ... I hope that gold is money crowd will never forget me and my call to end racial slurs on their forum ... lol ...

tough crowd there Keyvan, but if you go to goldismoney.info you will learn alot
... a lot about yourself ....
... and a lot about others ...

like how people can have all the guns & gold in the world and still be called poor white trash
... and how Baha'u'llah speaks about "guard ye My trust"

... yeah ... race issues is a real problem in America ...
... and by extension the whole world.

I think it is awesome Europe is currently looking at race issues ... in my mind what is currently happening in Europe is just a confirmation that America {specifically Baha'is} has been and is doing the right thing in addressing racial issues ...

can you imagine making monkey noises ??? ??? ??? ???
or what it would be like to be next to someone making monkey noises ?????? ??? ???

I am telling ya I nearly went bonkers when people started posting severe racial slurs on a forum I was a member of, can't imagine having to do deal with it in person !!!!!!!!!!

there are some thoughts that it would be easy for America to rapidly descend into 4 racially divided regions ...

modern day division street et al

if so I say

so be it

oneness
dh

‘smell of racism’

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:07 pm
by onepence
Textbook of American school in capital seized over ‘smell of racism’
By Anjana Sankar

27 February 2006

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/new ... art=1&b=41

ABU DHABI — Close on the heels of the cartoon controversy raging across the Muslim world, it is the turn of an upscale American school in Abu Dhabi to ruffle Muslim sentiments by teaching lessons that allegedly ''smell of racism.''

Over 100 copies of the social studies text book, 'World Cultures' taught to the sixth grade children were confiscated by the Ministry of Education yesterday, for allegedly presenting Islam and the Muslim countries including Gulf states in a negative light while glorifying Israel on the other hand, Khaleej Times has learnt.

It has been accused that chapter 25 of the book running from page 599 to 614 contains a deluge of derogatory remarks against Islam and the Muslim world, for example, dubbing Middle East as one of the most dangerously explosive areas in the world and the Muslim conquest of India as the most bloodiest in the world history, to mention a few.

The sub chapters clubbed under the title 'North Africa and the Middle East' also elaborate on the religion and life-style of Israel with pictures. "Israel is one of a few democracies in North Africa and the Middle East today. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco are all kingdoms; the country of Syria has sponsored terrorism by giving aid to radicals in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, known as the PLO," read excerpts from page 610 of the book, copies of which Khaleej Times possess.

Juma Salami, Assistant Undersecretary to Foreign Private Education said that the book published by Silver Burdett Ginn has a racist tone and is insulting to the country's religion and culture. "It is not a community school and a good number of Muslim and Arab children are studying there. By incorporating the book in the syllabus, the schools have failed to show respect to the religious sentiments of the host country."

Accusing the book of promoting a hate culture, the Asst. Under Secretary said the "World Cultures' is least objective and balanced in its political and social content and hence is unfit to be taught in schools.

"While there are clamour for change in the Middle East, one has to understand that these are the books coming from the so called 'free world'. This is a typical example of how textbooks are used to manipulate the thoughts of young minds," affirmed Juma.

On the question how the text book made it through the approval formalities of the Ministry and education zone, the Asst. Undersecretary held that though the ministry's role cannot be denied, the ultimate responsibility lies with the school to ensure that they respect the sensibilities of the country they are in.

"We will delve into ...

... more ...

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oneness
dh

Fight KKK's racism with positive steps

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:38 am
by onepence
EDITORIAL: Fight KKK's racism with positive steps



Thursday, March 2, 2006 8:58 AM EST



AT ISSUE: Readers finding KKK fliers in newspaper delivery boxes.

OUR VIEW: These show the KKK is still a problem, and individuals should assist the groups that work to eradicate the problem.

When the Klan dumps its literature near our homes, a community can take positive steps to show that race-baiters aren't welcome.

Several readers, mostly on rural roads northeast of Adrian, have reported finding Ku Klux Klan literature this week in delivery boxes for The Daily Telegram. At first we thought we might have been singled out because of an editorial we published urging the city of Toledo to crack down on Nazi marches, but, as it turns out, at least one other newspaper is having the same problem.

Of course, misuse of private property (newspaper boxes loaned to readers) is the least of the Klan's offenses. Its historic ties to racial hatred and violence are well documented. Why the Department of Homeland Security hasn't labeled the group a “terrorist organization” is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps the group's “wizards” and “dragons” - such as convicted tax and mail fraud artist David Duke - had become such a caricature that the group was thought to be largely eradicated.

This week's activities, though, show the KKK still has a few followers in Michigan seeking to create divisions based on race and religion. Legal options are few; Lenawee County Sheriff Larry Richardson said he would like to see the law changed but, for now, only the misuse of boxes intended for the U.S. mail is a crime.


However, steps can be taken. First, readers should contact Telegram circulation manager Jeff Stahl to report literature found in Telegram boxes. Second, every flier found should be another reason for local citizens to donate to those who professionally fight hate groups such as the Klan. One such group is:

Southern Poverty Law Center,

400 Washington Ave.,

Montgomery, Ala. 36104



When the Klan sees its efforts only serve to strengthen our community, and groups which have been effective in reducing the KKK to a shadow of its former self, then perhaps the KKK fliers will disappear altogether.

In one of the literature's more revealing comments, a Klansman claims he and others “were forced to have our true feelings regarding them (racial minorities) hidden and fester inside of us.”

Yes, the KKK is full of festering. Individual citizens should be vigilant to insure the KKK's festering hatred is checked everywhere it tries to spread.

How far have we really come?

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:55 am
by onepence
Thursday, March 2, 2006 - Last Modified Wednesday, March 1, 2006 10:08PM

How far have we really come?


More than three decades ago, Ernest Thomas received a concealed weapons permit to protect him from violent racism at WSU.
Unlike the dangerous campus that surrounded him, he chose to avoid violence and use the power of speech.

On May 18, 1970, the then-president of the Black Student Union stood with two other graduate students in front of a homogeneously white crowd on the CUB Mall – since renamed after Glenn Terrell – to profess a resolve of ending overt racism at WSU.

I cry for you people,” Thomas said at the protest, according to the next day’s issue of The Daily Evergreen. “Until you accept the fact that you are the problem, more brothers will be ripped off.”

One year and one week ago, more than 100 students stood where Thomas did and echoed his spirit.

...

The year 1970 was a hostile time for students of color, Thomas said. Many events spurred the protest: figurines of black students were lit on fire on Greek Row, faculty used racial epithets to insult minorities, slurs were constantly hurled and death threats made.

Also, the persecution of Black Panthers and assassinations of black students in Jackson, Miss. and Augusta, Ga. added to the discomfort and fear on campus, according to the May 19, 1970 Evergreen.

One night, a bounty was put on Thomas’s head, he said. This is when the County Sheriff gave him a permit to carry a pistol on campus for self-defense.

“The WSU campus, like most of the country in 1970, was very explosive,” wrote David Covin, another speaker at the 1970 protest and a retired government professor at California State University Sacramento, in an e-mail to The Daily Evergreen. “It was dangerous.”

Student protests, like this one, do help to change an institution and the views of those in it, said Nella Van Dyke, assistant professor of sociology who researches student protests and hate crimes.

“The reason universities have women’s studies, black studies and comparative ethnic studies are because of student protests,” Van Dyke said.

Although advances have been made in the area of diversity, institutions of higher education are nowhere near being equal and racism still exists, Thomas said.

“Institutions practice academic apartheid, there is a curriculum that doesn’t mirror the rest of the world,” he said. “Euro-centric education is pervasive and there are a limited number of people of color that are scholars.”

In order to provide a university that can truly boast equality, changes need to be made starting from the top, Thomas said.

“There needs to be strong organizational review,” he said. “The question needs to be what is leadership doing to set a climate where diversity is accepted.”

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:59 am
by onepence
"... political advances can easily be reversed by those individuals and groups continuing to harbor racial animosities. ... "






http://statements.bahai.org/88-0803.htm

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:39 pm
by onepence
Two-Thirds in France Perceive More Racism

March 3, 2006

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.c ... emID=11069

Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many French adults believe prejudice is rising in their country, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 69 per cent of respondents perceive an increase in racism, and 57 per cent feel the same way about anti-Semitism.

Last October, riots broke out in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois after the death of two teenagers who allegedly were being pursued by police officers. By mid-November, French authorities declared a "return to normalcy" in the whole country. Over 20 nights of violence—which spread to 19 French provinces—at least 8,973 vehicles were torched, 2,888 people were arrested, 126 police officers were injured, and one person died.

On Feb. 26, thousands of people marched through Paris and other cities to decry racism and anti-Semitism after a Jewish kidnap victim was tortured and killed. Politicians from the centre-right and the centre-left participated in the demonstration.

Five million Muslims and 600,000 Jews currently reside in France.

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:46 pm
by onepence
Thursday, March 02, 2006

African Students Live in a World of Fear in Russia

http://grandioseparlor.blogspot.com/200 ... -fear.html

Kayode, a cousin of mine wanted to continue his medical training in the former USSR last year, but I discouraged him from going. After reading about the plight of Africans, particularly African students in some universities in the former communist enclave; I’m glad I did.

A BBC article, titled: Living with race hate in Russia describes the hardship faced by Africans in the country. From subtle racism to overt physical attack, many students in Russia live in a world of fear, intimidation and hopelessness.

To complicate things further, many of these students are miserably poor; “one in 10 Africans at RUDN [a university in Moscow] has to live on a daily budget of 15 roubles ($0.50, £0.30), the price of a loaf and two eggs or a single ticket on the Metro.”

"One thing democracy brought Russia was the freedom to insult and attack people and be sure of not being punished…even the murders are immediately treated as cases of hooliganism".--A professor at Moscow's Gubkin Oil and Gas University.

The old USSR used to be a big ally of many African states, and Africans in Russia were well respected during the cold war era. Apparently when communism collapsed, that “friendship” and “respect” died with it.

“After the USSR collapsed, Russia paid no grants to foreign students for five years. A fraction of the system was restored in 1997, and today the number of foreign students in Russia from outside the ex-USSR is barely half the 1991 figure. Some 1,000 African students from 43 states now study at RUDN, Moscow's purpose-built university for foreign students. Communism may have gone, but the quality of Russian education is apparently still high.--BCC
I wonder if this “education” is really worth all the stress?

Acknowledgement: Emeka Okafor for finding the BBC article.


Tags: Africa Russia

posted by Imnakoya @ Thursday, March 02, 2006

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:05 pm
by onepence
Local Governments Imposing "Family" Ordinances

http://www.acsblog.org/equal-protection ... ances.html

A Missouri resident has been denied an "occupancy permit" by the town of Black Jack, on the grounds that she is not related by "blood, marriage, or adoption" to every member of her household. Olivia Shelltrack and her boyfriend of 13 years, Fondray Loving, have three children together -- a situation that does not fit within Black Jack's definition of family. In defense of the decision, Black Jack Mayor Norman McCourt stated, "This is about the definition of family, not if they're married or not. It's what cities do to maintain the housing and to hold down overcrowding."

It has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it? In 1977, Justice Powell wrote for a Supreme Court plurality in Moore v. City of East Cleveland that substantive due process protects against "cutting off any protection of family rights at the first convenient, if arbitrary boundary -- the boundary of the nuclear family." Indeed, AMERICAblog's John Aravosis seems to imply that the Black Jack ordinance is a pretext, writing, "Anyone who thought this 'traditional family values' garbage was only focusing on gays, well, get ready because you're next."

Similarly, the city of Manassas in Virginia has recently passed a zoning ordinance that places restrictions the relationships of the household members. Manassas resident Leyla Chavez was notified that she is in violation of the new ordinance, because the members of her household include her nephew, who is considered unrelated for the purposes of the ordinance. Edgar Rivera, an organizer with advocacy group Tenants and Workers United, echoes Aravosis' sentiment and says of the Manassas law, "It is not only unfair; it's racism. It's basically a way to just go after certain communities."

(Hat tip to AMERICAblog.)

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:28 pm
by Guest
I have not read this thread at all, but heres why I have not read it. This is just my input

If you are going to start a new topic, post a reasonable post and let others in the forum respond to it, and from there on u can start replying to one another.

This thread which I believe is called "combating racism" basically was started by onepence in huge post which I did not want to even bother reading, and there were many huge posts after that, and they werent by somebody else but they were from the person who created the thread which is onepence. It looks like ur talking to urself. This is a forum, there is suppose to be back and forth dialogue, if u post something, someone else must post a reply before u put up another post, or else ur talking to urself.

Like in this thread u posted a very long post, and then on top of that u posted like 10 more very long posts. I dont and I believe other as well dont want to read long posts, and them see that the next post is even longer and its by the same person who they just finished reading a long post by. And try to make ur posts as short as possible, it feels like torture when someone puts up a long post.

Just my input

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:18 pm
by onepence
Anonymous wrote: ...

Just my input


Just because you wish not to be educated
does not give you a right to critize me, or my thread,
or my own way to self educate myself.

I do appreciate that you and others may have no need to learn anything about my thoughts but I do not appreciate your critique of me or this thread on this thread.

I would suggest you continue to ignore this topic if you find the posts tedious .

If you wish to educate someone on "lengthy posts" start your own doggone thread and title it something .....

For all lazy people and bewail and bemoan the fact how some indivduals create huge lengthy posts and appear to talk to themselves ... lol ... to funny man .... come to my post and pretend to give me advice in o so nicety nice manner ... like you aint doin nothing wrong .... like you wanna make me wrong for documenting my education ... too funny man ... start your own doggone thread ... I aint asking you to read my post ...

heck ... who are you man ... you ain't even got the courage to came face to face with me ... hid behind some guest status ... lol ... maybe your new post should be

For all cowards and lazy people

oneness
dh

ps ... I don't need your fake nicety nice post ... again start your own doggone thread or

STICK ON TOPIC OF COMBATING RACISM[/b]

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:42 pm
by onepence
Again I ask all readers
whether guests or registered
to please stick on topic on this thread

For your information the topic is

Combating Racism

it is not a thread for
helpful hints from guests.
guests may start their own threads on helpful hints if they so desire.

oneness
dh

persimmon-colored logo

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:21 am
by onepence
New YWCA focus on racism, gender equality

By ASHLEY ADAMS

Evening Sun Reporter

http://www.eveningsun.com/localnews/ci_3585402

The YWCA has refocused its mission to combat racism and advocate gender equality in a bright orange hue.

But it's not orange. It's persimmon.

The YWCA of Hanover, along with others nationwide, unveiled a new persimmon-colored logo to be featured on all buildings, materials and in all faucets of communications.

The new logo reads: Eliminating Racism Empowering Women YWCA.

A sign boasting the new logo and color was hung outside the organization's building on Chestnut Street Wednesday by Impressive Signs of York.

Leslie Bentz, YWCA marketing director, said the color was chosen because it is associated with the sun and conveys warmth and assurance.

It also symbolizes social force and bravery and embodies the emotions, attractiveness and independence that is found within the YWCA, she said.

Deb Stock, YWCA executive director, said the new look allows ...

... more ...

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oneness
dh

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:26 am
by onepence
Lawmakers vow action in fight against racism

By ANNE JU
Journal Staff

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pb ... 90354/1002

ITHACA - They're not sure what form it'll take, exactly.

But members of the Community and Neighborhood Services Committee of Common Council and other city lawmakers vowed to turn support into action on behalf of a group of high school students who spoke candidly Wednesday about their experiences as racial minorities.


A panel of about 13 Ithaca High School and Lehman Alternative Community School students of minority backgrounds including African-American, Asian and Latino, held a question and answer-style panel Wednesday at the invitation of the Community Services Committee. They shared thoughts and anecdotes on how students of color are perceived and treated, at their schools, and in Ithaca.

“What you said hurt the heart,” said Council member Mary Tomlan.
The panel discussion, said Committee Chairwoman Robin Korherr, was held in the wake of reported racial tensions in the Ithaca City School District. It was also called just weeks after a white Cornell University student, after allegedly using racial slurs, was charged with stabbing a black student from another school.

Korherr said the panel's purpose was to gather information from the students, and to strategize on solutions to the societal “contamination” of racism, she said.

Several of the students present Wednesday attested to being “followed” or watched in stores while shopping. LACS senior Larissa Anderson described an experiment with a white friend in which they walked into a store separately and were treated differently.

“It happens a lot,” she said.

Many of the students' concerns centered around policies of the Ithaca City School District. Some said they felt that not enough was being done to increase the number of minority staff in the district.

Others talked about being discouraged by their guidance counselors from taking upper-level or honors courses, and feeling that the judgment was being made based on race.

“They think we don't have ...

... more ...

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dh

Playing on the Plantation Field

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:36 am
by onepence
Playing on the Plantation Field

Posted on Mar. 9, 2006

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200 ... fl_racism/

By James Harris

In his new book, “The Slave Side of Sunday,” former NFL player Anthony Prior writes about the legacy of racism in professional sports. “We are not looked at as leaders, rather, just a labor force where the money is generated. Plantation capitalism is still alive today,” he tells Truthdig contributor James Harris. What follows is an uncut, un-edited transcript of their conversation.

...

Anthony Prior:

I want to thank you for having me.

You say after 11 years of pro football, you’re well equipped to discuss the souls of African American players who have transcended the game to a billion-dollar market, but yet have no chance and no voice within the industry. You say the black athlete should have the right to express his concerns, whether to his team, community or his country—without suffering career suicide. Can you elaborate exactly on your meaning there?

have read a lot of black sports stories and one that really stuck out was written by Harry Edwards, and he said that black players in the ’60s were united through their oppression, and the black athletes of today are divided through their successes. So I took from that and I explained it in more of a contemporary sense--and based on my 11-year experience, the things I have witnessed, how players have become more submissive, more obedient; they have become more like automatons--a mechanical device resembling a human being. That’s the conflict I witnessed.

But the conflict today is--what the conflict means is serious disagreement. The conflict is, too many black athletes believe they are going to the pros. They have this illusion that because they can run, throw or jump, they’re guaranteed an opportunity in the sports industry. This is creating a crisis, a time of severe difficulty. The crisis today is the lack of knowledge and information, on an informative basis, a spiritual basis. We have a crisis when players don’t make teams on a pro level and start engaging in crime and a [garbled] lifestyle. We have a crisis when we see grown men fighting like slaves on a plantation before the game even starts. These are moral issues that must be addressed. We have a crisis when, in 1946, the NFL was forced to integrate and black athletes have taken it to a billion-dollar-plus market, yet have no owner in the industry. We are the record-breakers and trendsetters, yet we have no guaranteed contracts in the NFL. And the owners in the NFL are guaranteed profits annually. Since the players have ignored these aspects of the game, we are not looked at as leaders, rather, just a labor force where the money is generated. Plantation capitalism is still alive today.

So, the resolution. Well, resolution means a firm decision. Every black athlete must realize when pursuing a pro sports career, his fate, his talent, his determination, is in the hands of a committee that’s holding his lottery ticket--a lottery ticket that he didn’t print. Your career is in the balance of people who never even put on a helmet. Every player must pursue sports as a hobby, and get all you can out of it before it gets all it can out of you. Because I’ve witnessed this beast, this sports institution that can take the life right out of a grown man. And I’ve seen lives destroyed, because players felt they couldn’t do nothing else but be a physical beast on the field.

So what was your hope giving it the title “Slave Side of Sunday”?

Before Malcolm X was assassinated, he was interviewed, and a reporter asked Malcolm, “If you could do anything different concerning your movement, what would it be?” I quote Malcolm X: He said, “I wish I would have woke the people up first, before I tried to organize them.”’ You cannot direct a sleeping giant, so an athlete today, he needs to be woken up. He’s sleepwalking, he’s such a powerful force that could change the entire fabric of this nation. Anytime you created a billion-dollar-plus market, you should first establish a voice. And we don’t have that today. This is what I call “mental slavery.” Slavery is not limited to bondage and chains. You got parents, preachers, teachers, coaches, fundamentally imposing these characteristics on these young black children in America, that without sports, you’re going to amount to nothing. Every black athlete we see on a professional level, he is one in 12,000. There are two things that can’t lie: That’s God and mathematics. So my objective is to go around the country and educate through sports, and let the youth know that if you don’t get all you can out of sports, and it turns around and gets all it can out of you, there’s going to be hell to pay.

In the NFL, 65% of the player force--as you know and well document in the text--are black. Six percent of the general managers are black. No--as you noted--no owners in the NFL are black. We can take a peek over at ...

... more ...

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dh

...

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:28 am
by onepence
Author series to focus on race and media

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635190748,00.html

By Jared Page

Deseret Morning News

SUNDANCE — When it comes to racial issues in America, Karen Dallett says, Utahns live in a box

A really, really white one.

Dallett is the founder of the Tree Room Author Series, an annual event that brings acclaimed authors to Sundance to share their ideas on topics of national interest.

Now in its fourth year, the popular event has been split into two series of dialogues — one exploring race in America and the other focusing on the role and influence of media.

The first of those gets under way at noon Saturday when former NBA star Charles Barkley visits Sundance. Tickets for Saturday's event are sold out.

Barkley, always outspoken during his 16-year NBA career, is the author of three books, the latest of which takes what the book's publisher calls "a frank, fearless, funny and explosive look at the reality of race and racism in America today."

Published in March 2005 by The Penguin Press, "Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?" is described as "part rant, part personal story and part investigation" in which Barkley says "everything we feel we can't say but it is high time we did."

And those are the kinds of stories and ideas Utahns need to hear, Dallett said.

"We wanted to bring more knowledge to Utah," said Dallett, who owns The Spotted Frog, an independent bookstore in Park City. "We are really living in a box here.

"People may travel because of their (LDS Church) missions or come here from other areas," she said, "but when you come back to Utah, it's a very white community. There are issues that we need to address as humanists as opposed to just being Utahns."

According to 2000 Census reports, 89.2 percent of Utah's residents are white. The national average is 75.1 percent.

Race in America was selected as topic for the dialogues in part because of racial controversy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, said Shoshuna Akerman, programs manager at Sundance.

"(After Hurricane Katrina), a lot of topics of race and class came the surface," Akerman said. "Sundance found it to be an opportune time to have a series on race in America and to take a lead role in the topic of race."

In addition to Barkley, the Tree Room Author Series on race will feature Derrick Bell, the first tenured black professor at Harvard and a civil rights lawyer; Essie May Washington-Williams, whose father is the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and her late mother a black maid who as a teenager worked for Thurmond's parents; Douglas Brinkley, a historian whose analysis and narrative of the ongoing crisis in New Orleans will be published in May; and Cornel West, professor of African-American studies at Harvard and longtime champion for racial justice.

The series on media begins ...

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:32 am
by onepence
Answer to AIDS Mystery Found Behind Bars

By Richard Morin

Thursday, March 9, 2006; Page A02

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... rss_nation

It is one of the most puzzling mysteries of the AIDS epidemic: Why did blacks, in little more than a dozen years, become nine times as likely as whites to contract a disease once associated almost exclusively with gay white men?

Two researchers say they found the answer in an unlikely place: prison.

Rucker C. Johnson and Steven Raphael of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley analyzed census data and a federal database containing detailed information on about 850,000 men and women who contracted AIDS between 1982 and 1996.

They discovered that the surge in black AIDS patients -- particularly women -- since the early 1980s closely tracked the increase in the proportion of black men in America's prisons, which by the 1990s had become vast reservoirs of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The percentage of prisoners who were black increased from 40 percent in 1982 to well over half in 1996, according to government data. At the same time, get-tough sentencing policies more than doubled the prison population, producing even more infected black men who passed the disease on to black women after they were released.

So powerful is the relationship between race, prison and AIDS that it almost completely explains why half of all new AIDS patients in 2002 were African Americans even though only 12 percent of the population is black; in 1982, African Americans made up less than a quarter of new AIDS cases. The link remained strong even after researchers controlled for factors associated with AIDS, including the use of crack cocaine, Raphael said.

Part of the reason for the rapid spread of AIDS among African Americans is that so many black men spend time behind bars, Johnson said. About one out of 12 black men are in jail or prison, compared with one in 100 white men; at current rates, a third of all black males born today will do time.

What explains the black-white prison gap? Raphael said the question is beyond the scope of the study, but other researchers point to poverty, a lack of opportunities, racism in the criminal justice system and the lure of the "thug life."

Whatever the cause, the AIDS gap is not going away. Other studies suggest that ...