Saturday, 8/12/17, was Donald Trump's worst day as president. And Monday, 8/14/17, didn't help.

Donald Trump is at the lowest approval rate of any US President...

No United States President in history has ever had something like this happen. No matter how money-grubbing, no matter how fanatical about war, no matter how big a liar and cheat, no president has ever sunk so low with the entire country.

Saying that it was his "worst day as president" isn't just an opinion; according to the polls, #notmypresident Trump has reached the lowest approval rating of any US president in the first six months of his stay in the White House. It took Richard Nixon his entire presidency, right through #Watergate, up until just before his resignation to reach the numbers that Trump has now.

(CNN)Donald Trump's presidency has been marked by low moments. The false assertions regarding the size of his inauguration crowd. The testy phone calls with longtime allies. The false claim that Barack Obama wire-tapped Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign. The botched rollout of the so-called "travel ban." Tweets attacking everyone from his attorney general to Mika Brzezinksi.

But, even amid all of that chaos and controversy, what Trump said -- and didn't say -- on Saturday in the wake of the violent protests by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, marks the nadir of his presidency to date.

A reminder of what Trump said:

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time."

"On many sides."

With those three words, Trump effectively abdicated one of the essential jobs of a president: To lead us to the high(er) ground, to our better angels, to progress.

He tried to clean up the mess he caused on Saturday with another statement on Monday just before 1 p.m. ET. Trump began touting the success of his policies on the economy before turning to Charlottesville and saying what he should have said two days ago. "Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, Neo-Nazis, & White Supremacists," Trump said.

It was a necessary course correction by the President. Here's the problem: It came two days too late.

In painging {sic} this as a "both sides do it" situation in his initial reaction -- it wasn't and isn't -- Trump effectively threw his hands up in the face of a moment of morality. Simply put: There is a right and a wrong answer when it comes to dealing with bigots.

The right answer is to condemn them and their belief system loudly and completely, leaving no room for ambiguity. The wrong answer is to not name them, to cast the events in Charlottesville as an example of both-sides-do-it-ism and make your statement vague enough that it can be interpreted in any way shape or form as condoning this sort of behavior.

Trump did all three of those bad things. And, to make matter worse, this most outspoken of presidents on, well, everything, went silent regarding Charlottesville -- saying nothing between his statement in the mid-afternoon on Saturday until right now. He did take to Twitter Monday morning to lash out at Kenneth Frazier, the African-American CEO of Merck after Frazier announced he would quit Trump's manufacturing council after Trump did not condemn racism after the Charlottesville violence.

On Sunday, a White House spokesman -- speaking on background, meaning there was no name attached to the quote, said this:

"The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred, and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi, and all extremists groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together."

First of all, why was this quote not on the record? Is there anything in it that is even the least bit controversial or debatable? Second, you can't say "of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi, and all extremists group." Because if the president doesn't say those names -- and chooses to use the phrase "on many sides" -- then there is a not-tiny chance that people misunderstand what he was trying to actually say. Third, why isn't the President of the United States saying this? Why does this sentiment have to be expressed through a spokesman?

As I noted in a piece on Saturday, there are moments in every presidency in which the President needs to act like we expect our leaders to act. To stand up to hatred and intolerance -- whether in the form of white supremacists or ISIS militants -- and say: Enough! This is not who we are or who we are going to be. These views are abhorrent and have no place in civil society. I will work for the remainder of my presidency to combat those who turn us against each other.

Trump didn't do that. Didn't say those words. And, the words he did say were ones larded with just the sort of ambiguity that he has long dabbled in but which threatens to tear the social fabric even further. You can't leave any room for interpretation in a statement on a white supremacist rally that left 1 person dead and dozens injured. This was an act of hate. We condemn hate and those who act on it. The end.

Trump's words on Monday matter -- in that we need the President to be on the record saying that the hate that we all witnessed on Saturday is not us, is not what we aspire to be as a society.

But, it is inexcusable for a president to miss the mark so badly on Saturday and then to compound the problem over the next 36 hours -- seemingly not understanding that the stakes here are much higher than who wins or who loses in a campaign.

Saturday was the worst day for the Trump presidency. And a moment of low ebb for the country too.

Miss. Newspaper Announces Plans for ‘Gangbangers’ Rodeo’: ‘Bang, Bang, You’re Dead’

     What I find  saddest about the following article is not the racist attitude, or the  fact that it's posted in a newspaper for the whole world to see, or even the fact that it's not coming from one of those skin-head young white Nazi-esque guys you see in jackboots with swastikas cut into their hair, but rather from a middle-aged, see him at the club, wears flannel pajamas to bed and puts a robe over them if he has to go to the bathroom at night type white man! No, what I find the most terrible cut of all about this, the thing that is making my eyes burn with unshed tears is that there are brothers out there (young men of my race) who will think it's for real, and will show up ready to shoot 99 other young brothers to death as entertainment for a crowd of white Mississippians who will be laughing at them, in the same way that people who used to go to the freak shows in the carnival laughed at the freaks! They won't understand  that they are making fools of themselves in front of a bunch of strangers, not impressing people with how 'big and bad' they are like they think! The only thing they'll be showing anyone is their utter stupidity to even imagine that anyone, in the furthest reaches of the darkest mind  would be seriously holding an event like this! How does anyone think that this article is anything but the wishful thinking of some descendant of a Mississippi plantation owner who would love to see every young black man shoot  every other young black man because he's too  scared to raise a hand against any one of them. He'd probably love to be back in the days  when the whites could lynch the blacks for no reason other than they didn't like the way the blacks looked at them, but if even one black person thinks to themselves ' Wow, I wonder if I can get picked to be one?' then that person has justified everything that white men like this think about them, and they just can't see it.

I"m sorry to rant, but I'm so bothered by this... Here's the article itself.

Peter Rinaldi, Rinaldi Report/Miss-Lou Magazine

Peter Rinaldi, owner and publisher of Miss-Lou Magazine and the Natchez Sun XPress, has caused widespread anger with a racist column calling for black youths in Natchez, Miss., who may be involved in gang activity to go to a local park and murder one another for the amusement of observers.

In Miss-Lou Magazine’s Jan. 11-24 print edition, Rinaldi called for a “Gangbangers’ Rodeo” to bleed out what he considers to be the dregs of the community.

“As the population becomes more demographically poor, uneducated, unskilled, and dominantly African-American, the number of shootings have gone through the roof,” Rinaldi wrote.

And by “through the roof,” Rinaldi means “three shootings, two wounded and sadly, two deaths.” But Rinaldi doesn’t consider these deaths to be a bad thing. In fact, he thinks more murders may be helpful.

So he suggests that the city sponsor a “Gangbangers’ Rodeo,” where Black youths who may be involved in gang activity get their guns and murder each other until there are none left standing.

This is not such a bad thing, as one cynic remarked more criminals who shoot each other and are “taken out,” the safer it is for the rest of us, so the logic goes. Three shootings, three bad guys eliminated. Fifty shootings, fifty bad guys eliminated.

Open to all gang-bangers with a .45 or 9mm handgun. Limited to 20 rounds per person. Entry fee $100. Must be paid in cash in advance. No checks. Limited to the first 100 people who sign up. The 100 people will be drawn up in a circle. When the referee’s starter pistol goes off, then the gang-bangers can start shooting each other. Last man standing (or alive) wins the $10,000. If only a few people are left after rounds are fired, the judges will give each remaining contestant another five rounds to finish the job.

Note, in addition to the inhumane assumption that all victims of gun violence deserve to die, he doesn’t even mention the criminality of white youths.

Rinaldi goes on to write that “rap music will be provided by DJ Medical Mortem Medical Attention” and says that children must be 13 or older to participate.

It is clear that Rinaldi thinks he’s clever, as so many mediocre, racist white men do. In fact, he’s typical—a typical hatemonger trafficking in white hysteria and pathologizing black youths and the black community at large in an attempt to be seen as rejecting political correctness in hopes of making America great again.

He’s a cliché, a pathetic cliché using his media real estate to plant seeds of bigotry, hatred and fear.

He has conflated poverty, education level, unemployment and blackness with violence without once pointing out the violent systemic racism that locks these things in place to secure whiteness and its last-ditch efforts at supremacy. Poverty is violent. Failing schools are violent. Substandard health care is violent. All of these things are issues that Natchez faces as a thriving tourism industry built on the backs and bones of our ancestors that feeds the mint julep and Mammy fantasies of white people from around the world.

Rinaldi’s words are violent and just the sort of filth city officials have come to expect from him.

“I’m highly upset by this, and I’ll be addressing it in our board meeting,” Ricky Gray, supervisor of District 4, told The Root. “This is something that you would expect from the Ku Klux Klan, but I’ve been here a long time and have never seen anything like this.

“People in the community need to show him how disgusted they are by not putting an ad in his newspaper,” Gray added. “When people show you who they are, believe them. Because he’s certainly shown me.”

Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, alderwoman of Ward 1, was not surprised by what she called Rinaldi’s stupidity and said that he’s been a card-carrying racist for a long time.

“Rinaldi has been race-baiting over the years consistently in his paper,” Arceneaux-Mathis told The Root. “Even when I haven’t liked how he portrayed black people, I supported his freedom of press. But he’s always been a divisive race-baiter in this community. He just goes on and on, and now this particular bit of stupidity.”

Arceneaux-Mathis said that she does believe that crime needs to be addressed in the community, but she makes it clear that the issues are systemic.

“All lives matter when black lives matter,” she said. “There needs to be more recreation, more education and employment opportunities. We need to listen to our young people and bring them fully into the community. Too many of them don’t think they’re going to have a long life, and when I was younger, I was prepared to live a long time. Our young people don’t feel that security.

“I think it’s time that we had a summit between law-enforcement officers and the community at large; that’s what Rinaldi should have been talking about,” Arceneaux-Mathis continued. “I attended a Hip-Hop Summit last month, and I learned so much. That’s what Rinaldi should have been talking about.

“We have to start at the root of the problem that’s been building up over time,” she emphasized. “Our children are underserved, and Rinaldi is serving a race-baiting agenda when he circulates such dangerous stupidity in a community that needs healing from systemic issues that have left some of our youth lashing out.”

Be clear: There is great work being done in the city of Natchez by committed community leaders and elected officials who understand the toxic and pervasive racism that threatens black youths. Rinaldi purposely frames his racist propaganda as a black issue, a poor issue, an uneducated issue. As if the increase in the number of black citizens threatens white fragility and the customs that white people hold dear.

His transparent and disingenuous attempts at criminalizing the very existence of blackness should be called out for the dangerous, racist rhetoric that they are.

If you want to read the original article in its entirety, click here.

Can Someone Please Tell Me How We Got To This Point??

This is the craziest thing yet, that a cop would shoot a man lying on the ground with his arms up in the air explaining to him who he was and what was going on! If anything  you'd think he would shoot the guy with the truck in his hand, then he could at least claim he thought it was a gun, but no, he shoots the guy with his arms up. (Sound familiar?) You know it really sounds to me, despite his claim of not knowing why he did it,  that cops just don't care about how it looks anymore. They can shoot whoever they want, (or break the rules of their own department causing someone's death, i.e. Freddy Gray case) and they will  ultimately get away with it! After Sandra Bland  I'm scared to death when I'm driving, especially on the highway, but now? I am petrified! I might get stopped for something and reach for my purse and get shot and killed, or get out of the car with my hands up and be shot in the leg for absolutely NO REASON WHATSOEVER, and nothing will happen! No one will be held accountable for my being shot, and it will hurt like HECK if I live!! LOL

No, it's not really funny, but I have to try to laugh because otherwise I'll cry... Here's the story.

Fla. Police Shoot Black Caretaker of Autistic Man Playing With Toy Truck 

Charles Kinsey lying on the ground with his hands held high, trying to explain the situation to officers before he gets shot. 

A North Miami caretaker was shot and wounded by police Monday as he tried to retrieve a 23-year-old autistic man who had wandered from a mental-health center into the street , the Miami Herald reports.

Cellphone video released Wednesday shows the caretaker, Charles Kinsey, lying on the ground, with his hands in the air, trying to reason with police officers as they approached Kinsey and his patient, the autistic man.

“When I went to the ground, I’m going to the ground just like this here with my hands up,” Kinsey said, according to WSVN. “and I am laying down here just like this, and I’m telling them again, ‘Sir, there is no need for firearms. I’m unarmed, he’s an autistic guy. He got a toy truck in his hand.”

Kinsey said he was trying to calm his patient, who can be heard in the video screaming at Kinsey to “Shut up,” before Kinsey gets shot.

“Rinaldo, please be still. Rinaldo, sit down. Rinaldo, lay on your stomach,” Kinsey can be heard on the video telling his patient.

Then Kinsey is shot in the leg by a police officer.

“I’m like this right here, and when he shot me, it was so surprising,” Kinsey said. “It was like a mosquito bite, and when it hit me, I’m like, ‘I still got my hands in the air, and I said, ‘No I just got shot! And I’m saying, ‘Sir, why did you shoot me?’ and his words to me, he said, ‘I don’t know.’”

“My life flashed in front of me,” he added. “When he hit me, my first thing I’m thinking, I’m thinking about my family.”

According to WSVN, Kinsey said that what upset him most about the incident was what happened after he was shot.

“They flipped me over, and I’m faced down in the ground, with cuffs on, waiting on the rescue squad to come. I’d say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. And I was like, bleeding—I mean bleeding—and I was like, ‘Wow,'” he told the news station.

On Wednesday evening, a group called the Circle of Brotherhood, which works to solve problems in the community, stood outside the North Miami Police Department, demanding answers in the shooting. Kinsey is a member of the organization.

Kinsey’s lawyer, Hilton Napoleon, slammed the police for what he said was an unjustified shooting.

“There’s no justification for shooting an unarmed person who’s talking to you and telling you that they don’t have a gun, and that they’re a mental-health counselor,” Napoleon said.

According to WSVN, the North Miami police have not revealed the officer’s name, or released any update in the investigation. However, the news station notes, the police did say that the state attorney is involved with the investigation.

Police say that they had gotten a 911 call about a man in the street with a gun threatening to kill himself.

Kinsey in the video can be heard clearly identifying the man as his patient and telling officers that the alleged gun was a toy truck, which also appears to be clearly visible to police.

“I was really more worried about him than myself. I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking, they’re not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong,” Kinsey said.

Despite his injury, Kinsey was expected to be home by Thursday, the Miami Herald notes.

His wife, Joyce Kinsey, told WSVN, “I’m just grateful he’s alive and able to tell his story.”

Is This What the Country Is Coming To?

Are We Going To Be Seeing More Cases Like This?

Each morning we rise to find another ugly headline, or another news report complete with video about a demonstration, a shooting, a death…. For so long we’ve kept silent about the symbols we see around us (i.e. the Confederate flag, the stained glass panels) that are humiliating and degrading to the history of black people, but now when we are fed up and can’t be silent any more, suddenly we are not black men and women who are trying to make a way for themselves, we are suddenly ‘hate-filled’, ‘violent thugs’ who are trying to ‘divide this country’.

Mr. Menafee committed a crime, but why did he do it? Perhaps he got tired of coming to work every day and seeing depictions of black slaves carrying baskets full of cotton for the ‘massa’. Some will say he should have just quit, and you’re right, but have you never suddenly become completely fed up with something which for years you had just shrugged off? I’m sure that everything that has been going on in this country in recent times helped to make the already bad feelings he worse. Not that that’s an excuse, nothing can excuse what he did, but what I’m wondering if we’re going to see more and more of this type of act, as more people become fed up and act out….

Black Yale Employee Arrested, Loses Job After Smashing Stained Glass Panel Depicting Slaves Carrying Cotton 

Corey Menafee, who works as a dishwasher, said that he was tired of looking at the “racist, very degrading” image depicted in a panel in Yale's Calhoun residential college dining hall.

An employee at Yale University is out of a job and now has an arrest record after smashing a stained glass panel in the university’s Calhoun residential college dining hall that depicted slaves carrying cotton, the New Haven Independent reports.   

Panel of slaves carrying cotton

Corey Menafee said that he was tired of looking at the “racist, very degrading” panel and decided to take a broomstick and knock the panel to the floor.

Menafee, 38, was arrested and now faces a felony charge.

According to the Independent, Menafee’s actions are the latest element in a debate over the display of racially charged symbols around the undergraduate housing structure, which was named after slavery advocate and former U.S. Vice President John Calhoun.

Last summer, there was a petition demanding a change in the name of the residential college. The petition has since grown to include all the slavery-themed paintings, artifacts and stained glass tiles around Calhoun College.

“When I walked into this job, I wasn’t aware of none of that,” Menafee said. “And then you know, being there, you start hearing different things.

“I took a broomstick, and it was kind of high, and I climbed up and reached up and broke it,” he said. “It’s 2016; I shouldn’t have to come to work and see things like that.

“I just said, ‘That thing’s coming down today. I’m tired of it,’” he added. “I put myself in a position to do it, and did it.”

Menafee faces a second-degree misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment and a first-degree felony charge of criminal mischief. He said he regretted his actions, which cost him a job that he loved.

“It could be termed as civil disobedience,” Menafee said. “But there’s always better ways of doing things like that than just destroying things. It wasn’t my property, and I had no right to do it.”

Below is one of the stained glass windows that students have had to see every day. It was altered because originally one of its panels depicted a shackled, kneeling slave at his side.

John C. Calhoun

For more information about Yale’s ties to slavery and to John C. Calhoun, a slaveholder after which one of its colleges is named, click here.

Originally posted in The Root 

 by Breanna Edwards

The First 'Shock Jock' of the Radio - "Nothing But a Con and a Thief"

Please excuse the references to doing things 'today'; this post was supposed to have been published  yesterday, July 3rd.
Warning: Very Long Post 


I watched a movie today on the Bounce Channel called Talk To Me. I didn't recognize it, other than to identify that it was sometime in the 70's. Although not a big time fan of the 'Blacula' era movies I began to find myself interested in this one, which was about a young radio DJ and the radio station he worked for. The DJ had become very popular in that city; very well-liked, respected, and listened to when he spoke. He was always quick to tell his audience though that he was "nothing but a con (someone who'd done time in jail) and a thief".  It didn't matter to them, they loved him all the more.

The city was  Washington, DC., and the radio station was WOL 1450 AM. The movie was based around the time of the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination, and the DJ was heralded as being a voice that calmed down the angry mobs who surged through the streets vandalizing and looting the businesses there. They were pulling people out of their vehicles (white people) and beating them unmercifully with whatever weapon came to hand. The DJ, instead of fleeing as most people were doing, went back into the radio station and began a broadcast vigil that lasted for hours. During this time he was able to calm some of the emotions that were threatening to bring down the city, to talk some of the residents down from the precipice of anger and hate which they found themselves perched on. The man's name was Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene.

Petey Greene

Earlier today I also read an article about a certain FOX newscaster's reaction (and the video she made) to Jesse Williams' speech at the BET Awards. (Of course her opinion wasn't good!) How she ran on, showing just how unintelligent she really is! (IMO) Of course there were many comments; very few agreed with her. Mostly the comments were people railing against her and her nerve to say anything against Mr. Williams. Here's an exchange that really struck me: evidently the  first poster was in support of the newscaster's video.

You said:

    " What would happen if whites had a white entertainment award? Or white Emmy award?  Or white music award? Or white history month? Or even a white miss America pageant??? Well we don't have any of these things...."

<quote>How old are you? I'm asking because obviously you don't remember the Miss America Pageant years ago, from when it first began in Atlantic City right up until 1970. Eleven months out of the year our children are taught American History in school, with no mention of the things that the children learn about during Black History Month. Now who is it that decrees every year (since 1976) that February is Black History Month? Oh yes, the President... and it hasn't been Obama! Now why would all those Presidents have made that decree if somewhere along the line the disparity had not been obvious? Or is it only those who refuse to see beyond someone's color who cannot admit that there HAS been a time when blacks couldn't do any of the things you mentioned because they were still being 'downtrodden'; they couldn't vote, they couldn't sit in the first seat they came to on the bus, they couldn't even walk into a carry-out and order a soda like everyone else! Just as you seem to have forgotten about the Miss America Pageant being all white for the first 30 years it was in existence, there are many other people who have not forgotten how things 'used to be', and for years have tried to retain their so-called white supremacy through use of the KKK and other organizations like it. When they couldn't be that open about their feelings, many of them have found whatever ways they can to let that hatred out.
What I really find hard to understand is how so many people who claim not to be prejudiced still cannot see that the disparity which has always existed is STILL HERE! And it's a shame that so many refuse to see it; I think we'd go a long way toward healing the breach if first we acknowledge that there IS one. All this constant back and forth does is make it worse, with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else.
What was that old punch line from a few  years back? "Can't we all just get along?" No one says we have to like each other, but we shouldn't be killing each other either. </quote>
                                          
Watching that movie, and watching that video and reading the accompanying article made me look at the two periods in our history; comparing the times and comparing the reactions of people. Do you realize how similar these periods are? Times in the 70's and  80's were the same as they are now in 2016. Events happen, people object and/or protest, and still others wonder what the big deal is, there's no problem... What do you think about what's happening to our society, our children, our businesses, our self-respect? Is racism 'better' than it was? (What constitutes better?) A lot of people, black and white, are saying that we really should just relax and enjoy what strides we've made; we should stop making something out of nothing!!

Brothers and Sisters, how can we not worry about what is happening when so many of us are being beaten and/or killed and everyone is telling us that there's nothing wrong? smh

What's Happening In Our Schools?

Ala. Teacher Gives Test to 8th-Graders Asking 

How Many Tricks Would a ‘Ho’ Have to Turn to Support Pimp’s Crack Habit?

     In a way, I understand how we got to the place where a teacher would think it's okay to pass out a test like this; isn't it almost a natural progression from Ebonics? Someone decided that black children could not learn at the same rate as other children because they didn't understand the way they were spoken to, and the way they were being taught. So, they came up with Ebonics which, according to the Linguistic Society of America is "black speech". It was 'culturally sensitive' to give them questions which were phrased  so that black children could identify with and understand them. There was a rerun of an episode of Good Times on recently which touched on this subject; Michael didn't complete an IQ test the class was given because he said it was prejudiced against minorities. Minorities would not be able to understand the questions, so their scores would be low. This test that the teacher gave out, while appearing to be totally insensitive and racist, is IMO merely a continuation of the type of thinking that brought us Ebonics and that episode of Good Times! Not saying that it WAS the case ( I wasn't there so I don't know) but perhaps this teacher felt that the 8th graders would be better able to understand the questions if they were in a context the children could relate to. And I don't mean relate to as in their home lives or anything like that, I mean look at what our children see on television and in the movies nowadays! There are gangs and prostitutes and cocaine and stolen cars in so many of the programs they watch, why is it wrong to assume that they might be able to relate to these questions??

8th grade test

 Actually, I'm still trying to figure out how they can call this test 'racist'; I see nothing racist at all. Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't racism mean believing that one side is better then the other? As in blacks are better than whites or vice versa? The test doesn't mention race at all, so how is it racist??? Personally, I feel that this country was making great strides at closing the racial gap until the media and social networking began to highlight and broadcast every little thing that happened, sometimes finding 'news' to print where there actually wasn't anything racist at all.  With the media to tell them what to look for, people became sensitive to the least little thing, and suddenly the racist divide was bigger than the Grand Canyon. 

 If you want to read the whole article about the teacher and the test, here is the link.

It's Always the Children Who Suffer the Most...

        It seems that the people/organizations that should cherish children the most are the ones who are the most insensitive and unfeeling. A school full of educators, people who have sworn to care for children and protect them, especially educators in a school system sponsored by a church, should be aware of the effects their actions have on a child; they should be more caring of how what they say and do can effect children than on enforcing antiquated, unintelligent, and downright silly policies that have nothing to do with a child's ability to get an education.

So what is happening with poor Jalyn now? What will happen to him in the future, knowing that he was put out of school because of his haircut, and by extension, his race? It seems like we've gone three steps forward and two steps back in the fight to do away with racism.

Mom Takes Action After Catholic School Dismisses Kindergarten Son for Haircut

BY: NIGEL ROBERTS

Posted: July 2 2015 7:49 AM

  

Mariana Broussard says Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Belmont, Calif., is discriminatory and culturally unaware.Jalyn Broussard went to kindergarten one day, proudly sporting a new hairstyle. But his modern fade quickly raised eyebrows among administrators at his Belmont, Calif., Catholic school. Officials called the 5-year-old’s mother to pick him up because his haircut violated the school’s standards. She was outraged. 

The school and Jalyn’s family reached a stalemate. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the family filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights last week, accusing Immaculate Heart of Mary School of discriminating against their African-American child.

Mariana Broussard, Jalyn’s mother, said in the complaint that the principal, Teri Grosey, told her that Jalyn’s haircut was distracting and violates the school’s hairstyle policy, according to the Mercury News.

Broussard said Jalyn felt embarrassed and unfairly singled out. “He knew exactly what it was about—because of how his hair as an African-American looked,” she added, according to the newspaper.

In her discussions with school officials, Broussard said she showed the principal a photo of talk show host and former NFL star Michael Strahan, who has the same haircut. She also noted the difference between a “modern fade” and the “faux hawk” cut that the school bans. Furthermore, Broussard said, she pointed out students of other ethnicities at the school wearing the same hairstyle as Jalyn’s.

Grosey did not respond to phone calls from the Mercury News. And the Archdiocese of San Francisco declined to comment because it had not read the complaint. However, a spokesman told the newspaper, “School policy on hairstyles is very explicit and clear. Parents acknowledge and accept that policy.”

Broussard seeks about $16,000 for tuition reimbursement for Jalyn and his brother, who was a second-grader at the school. She also wants the staff and administrators to have cultural and sensitivity training. Her sons now attend public school, where she says there’s more cultural awareness, the Mercury News reports.

Read more at the San Jose Mercury News. 

Is A Time Coming When Racism Won't Mean Black vs White?

Have you ever noticed the bumper sticker that HRC puts out, the blue square with yellow bars running through it? It looks like this:

HRC Equality Sticker

 A couple of years ago I started seeing this:

'Thin Blue Line' Sticker

It's called "the thin blue line", and supposedly it means support for the police department from those related to it or friends of it. Actually, based on what I've seen and heard (and this is totally my opinion!) it is also being used as a means of identifying themselves to each other, in order to curry a favor, or to receive 'professional courtesy' ...

They took a symbol that for YEARS has meant Equal Rights for Everyone, and turned it into a symbol for their systematic disregard for the law, (getting other officers to turn a blind eye when they're speeding, driving drunk, or worse) as well as a symbol of the "blue wall" that investigators run into when they try to get the truth about one officer from another. Cops don't tell on other cops, regardless of the cop's crime...

So, what does this bumper sticker have to do with the color of racism you may ask? Only this:  the cheerful colors of the HRC emblem have been turned into something dark and menacing, just as the meaning of the bright blue of a policeman's uniform has undergone a transition from "the policeman is your friend' to "the cop will shoot you dead".

 In recent times we've begun to see that racism has undergone a similar change. Instead of the centuries-old picture of black against white, we're now seeing a pattern of officers against citizens, and it's mainly against black citizens. In my opinion it's been going on for quite a while, it's just that we are only now seeing how brutal and widespread it really is, thanks to cell phone cameras and social media. There have always been cases of young black men dying suspiciously in police custody, or even before they were in custody, but people were afraid to speak out before. Now they can back up what they say with video proof, and they can even do it anonymously, so now we hear about all the cases that had previously been hidden behind that blue wall. 

We're heading for a time when racial prejudice will be a lot lower on the list of society's issues; IMO it will never be eradicated completely, because there will always be one group that hates another. If something isn't done soon though, IMO homelessness, AIDS, cancer and a lot of other 'hot button topics' of today will be eclipsed by the terror squad the police department is becoming. They will have more power than the old Mafia families, and will be just as ruthless (if not more, since they are supposed to be the law!). 

The world, it is a-changin....

Pia Glenn on XOJane, Leigh Anne Tuohy on Instagram; What Do They Have In Common?

     IMO, other than both of them using social media to voice their opinions, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. They are polar opposites, and not just in race and color. (Which are two different things, for those who don't know, but I'll leave that for another time.)
     I'm on a bit of a rant here; I read something on a site that I enjoy reading (XOJane), and the person hit the nail right on the head (IMO) on the topic; it's some of the comments that have me breathing hard and ready to spit though! Some of the writers definitely (again, IMO) need to wake up!
     I've been accused of being 'rebellious', 'a troublemaker', someone who is 'always dissecting the things people do', and many other terms and phrases that all mean the same thing: I don't like bullshit, especially when it comes from those who use it to their own slimy ends. You know what I mean, like the smarmy elementary school teacher who says to a black child's mother "I notice that little Jeremiah wears that same t-shirt a lot, so I thought I would mention to you that I am part of a ministry in my church that gathers donations of clothing and gives them out to those who might need them." all the while holding in her hands several shirts that are A. Obviously too small; B. Obviously torn; or C. Obviously for a girl!
     Now, I'm not saying that the woman is wrong exactly; in her head she is doing something nice for someone who is in need. I can't fault a person for that. What I can fault a person for though is not taking the time to think that there could be other reasons why this child comes to school in one particular T-shirt more often than any other. Let's see... A. It has a favorite character on it that the child likes. B. A favorite relative gave it to him so he likes to wear it. C. The child has more than one of that same T-shirt because he likes it so much and it's the easiest thing to get him into in the morning. I guess they are all variations on the same theme, but none of them have anything to do with whether or not the child has enough suitable clothing to get through a week wearing that piece of clothing! For the teacher to assume that because the family is black they are in need of cast-offs from strangers is highly insulting to me, and while I would not 'go off' on the teacher she would probably walk away feeling as if I had!
    Okay, if you're wondering what all that has to do with anything, it was to tell you why I found this debate on XOJane so interesting. Pia Glenn is the author of a post in which she condemns Leigh Anne Tuohy (who you may or may not know is the real-life wife in the white couple who adopted a young black man that later became "a successful NFL offensive tackle" (Pia Glenn, Leigh Anne Tuohy's Latest White Savior Act) Personally, I happen to agree with her. This Great White Savior  attitude that a lot of people have is old, and it's tired. (Just like the "Some of my best friends are black" bullshit.) So, you went over and badgered two young black men into telling you what they were talking about, and then you magnamimously <snicker> gave them three whole dollars to go to a basketball game; SO WHAT??? You obviously didn't do it to help out two young people in need, you did it so that you could post on Instagram how tolerant of others you are, and how you "Don't judge a book by its cover or however you'd like to express the sentiment" (Leigh Anne Tuohy, Instagram, from Leigh Anne Tuohy's Latest White Savior Act) One thing that I do wonder, if it was her friend (and not Tuohy herself) that had the bad attitude, what did she think going over there and posting all over social media about it would accomplish? What did the 'friend' think about the whole thing? Seems to me it would have been more impressive if Tuohy had had the guys come over to where she and her friend were, and then had the conversation! Or was she perhaps subconsciously leaving herself an 'out', so that if her friend was right and the young men were "up to no good", Tuohy wouldn't have to hear "I told you so."? (Of course I don't personally know that it did not happen that way; I did not see the original narrative on any social media outlet, I am only going on what I read in the article I am discussing here. YMMV) All I'm saying is that to me, just as to the author Pia Glenn,  what Tuohy did was extremely offensive, and more white people need to be aware that, while they may be doing something from the goodness of their hearts, it doesn't always come out that way. Take my earlier example of the grammar school teacher. If she'd known the family and known what their circumstances were, and had seen that the child did not appear to have more than one or two outfits, she could have given the mother a gift certificate to a kid's clothing store as a prize for something the child has done. (Helping the teacher, a good score on a paper, etc. To go to a person whose home life you don't know anything about, and offer something obviously cast off because you think they're in need and would be grateful for it can get you seriously hurt in today's society, regardless of how good your intentions are. 
      I don't think I'm racist, though some may disagree, and I don't believe I have an attitude problem. Neither does Pia Glenn, or any of the however many blacks there are today who believe in the existence of The "White Savior Syndrome". There ARE those people who are always going to feel a sense of superiority over those whose skin is darker than theirs, and they will have that feeling as long as there exists in this society the divide that we now have. As long as people can turn on the news everyday and hear about another innocent black child being killed, as long as the national news will run a story everyday for weeks about JonBenet Ramsey but never run a word about Shelbi Lawan Evans (see? I bet you said who? just as I did!) or any of the thousands of other missing black POC, as long as things remain the status quo and we sit back and accept it ("well, it's better than where we were") it's going to continue.
     End of rant. 
     Here's the link to what started me on it in the first place.  

 Leigh Ann Tuohy's Latest White Savior Act Isn't So Great by Pia Glenn on XOJane

And folks please remember, the opinions contained on this blog are the opinions of the author, who is in no way connected with Pia Glenn, XOJane (other than being a reader) or of Blogger. YMMV.

Old Man with Shotgun vs 12 Year Old with Toy Pistol; Who Wins?

*For some reason the videos are not working, but I am trying to correct that. In the meantime, here are the links to them:

1. Police "talk" to man with shotgun
2. Tamir Rice - Tamir Rice shot by police

Even the ultimate, non-violent pacifist has to be getting angry at what’s going on now in our streets; they’ve got to be able to see that there is something seriously wrong in this country. 

A 12 year old boy carrying a toy pistol gets shot dead less than 30 seconds after the police arrive on the scene; an unarmed man repeatedly tells the police he can't breathe when they have him in an illegal chokehold but they don't pay attention, and consequently he dies; an unarmed teen-ager with a bag of candy in his hands is shot dead by a citizen, but the police do not arrest the man until public outcry forces them to (although he is acquitted at trial). Why are our children dying but no one is being held responsible for their deaths? Why are the killers not made to pay??

Something dreadful has happened in this country, and although I know that race plays a large part in it, that is not the whole problem. IMO the attitude of the police department itself is what the problem is. The police department has begun to feel that they are like the sheriffs of yesteryear, that they make the laws and can enforce them as they see fit. When this attitude is coupled with the stereotypical picture of blacks that a lot of them have, you end up with this huge disparity in the way people are treated. Cops don’t have a problem with old white men with shotguns, they have no fear of them. 

This is dreadful, mainly because of the difference in how this case was handled as opposed to how the case of Tamir Rice was handled. No one tried to talk to that little boy; he was 12 years old, you mean to tell me that these big strong policemen feared for their lives from a 12 year old child who wasn’t threatening them, or behaving like a gangbanger?? 

 The rookie of the pair claims he yelled at the child from the car before it stopped, telling him to put down the gun, but 2 seconds after the car stopped Tamir Rice was dead.

The officer talked to the old white man for 9 and ½ minutes, then walked over and picked up the rifle!! But no one can see the disparity between the ways we are treated….