Racism Alive and Well in Spanish Football
In February 2009 the English national football team is slated to play Spain in a high-profile exhibition match. The match was originally to be played in Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium home of Real Madrid. However, the last time England and Spain locked horns at the Bernabau stadium in 2005; the black players on England’s team were subjected to racist abuse by sections of the crowd. Because of this incident the governing body for football in England, the FA, is recommending that the game not be held there again.
At that game England’s players warmed up wearing anti-racist t-shirts but that did not stop the racist jeers. Every time a black English player touched the ball, sections of the crowd would boo loudly and some fans directed monkey chants towards them. Read more
Attention to Israeli Attacks Should be Examined for Anti-Semitic Undertones
I’ve received several email alerts urging me to attend rallies protesting the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, and while I do lend my voice to condemning Israel’s actions, I won’t attend any rallies.
Israel is ruled by a far right-winged government, much like our current administration, so it is unsurprising that they would emulate us and resort to unchecked violence. What is surprising is that so many American activists are deeply disturbed by a government behaving in the same manner as their own. Read more
White Nationalists Prepare to Oppose Obama Administration
The Republican Party is in disarray after its loss to Barack Obama, and on the sidelines white nationalists are skillfully preparing political attacks on the new American president.
Since the weeks leading up to the most significant elections ever to take place in the United States, federal law enforcement agencies, the media and human rights organizations have paid close attention to threats made against Presidential-Elect Barack Obama. Some of these threats have been made by individuals with ties to the neo-Nazi movement in the United States.
Read more
Stop Hunting Immigrants
Jorge G. Castañeda wrote a powerfully truthful op-ed on immigration in Saturday’s New York Times. In it he spelled out the cruelty of our immigration system as it stands under the Bush administration, saying:
Since late 2006, the Bush administration has been carrying out the “tough love” side of immigration reform without the generous and open-arms side, which would mean legalization for those in the United States today, and a migrant worker program for those it will need tomorrow.
It has pursued a humiliating and hostile policy of persecution and harassment of illegal Mexicans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Hondurans and many others. It changed the rules of the game without any warning or empathy, nor with the traditional understanding the United States has shown, more often than not over the past century, in regard to those who cross its borders without papers.
In a concise article, Castañeda both condemns the inhumane cycle of raids and detentions, and urges President-elect Obama to immediately move to stop the hunting of immigrants. Read more
Spark the Love in Our Hearts
There is something about the season that always makes me nostalgic for Christmas back home. Especially Christmas Eve, which was the main event in my family. My sister and I would wake up early, excited about setting up the tree that day. We would wait impatiently for mom to finish her coffee. In true Bosnian fashion, the morning coffee was akin to a marathon. The pacing was precise and there was no hurry reaching the finish line. It was a process, rather than an event, and the spectators were left annoyed. Read more
Joy and Gratitude
I’m always thrown by the Holidays. This year I said that I would not fall into that whole retail trap, that I would instead focus on spending time with my children and appreciating each moment with them, but I get stuck. I start to feel sorry for myself for not having enough for them, for going over my tiny budget and paying bills late to make this happen. I fell deeply into that trap I tried so hard to avoid. Read more
Of Joy and Justice
One of the most beautiful and powerful texts in Christian scriptures is the Magnificat recorded in the Gospel of Luke, the joyous and searing response to the birth of Jesus, reprised from the equally powerful Song of Hannah in the Hebrew scripture of Samuel.
This is not the more familiar image of the innocent babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, surrounded by angels singing in the night air. Nor is it the image of the innocent, sweet, loving Jesus heralded over the centuries by Christians across the globe, bringing simple peace. Perhaps that is why this Song of Mary is seldom lifted up, even though it precedes the familiar birth narrative by only a few verses. Read more
Blog Highlight: AZ Sheriff Exercises Fascism
David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars posted a video and article about the Sheriff Arpaio’s ever more oppressive activities in Maricopa County, AZ:
I’m spending my Christmas vacation in lovely Maricopa County, AZ, this week with my in-laws. And I have to tell you that, thanks to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his gang of thugs deputies, I’ll be somewhat relieved when I leave.
After all, how would you like to live in a place where law enforcement actually arrests you for applauding briefly at a public county council meeting? Where they threaten and intimidate you just for showing up in the first place?
That’s what’s been happening here.
Read the rest of the article at http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/arizona-sheriff-turns-county-meeting. Read more
Nollaig Shona Duit – Merry Christmas From Ireland
As mentioned in a previous blog I wrote on Imagine 2050, I moved to the USA from Ireland in 1997. My family have become well immersed in American society but we still hold onto many traditions and customs from Ireland. During the Christmas period, there are many customs that we still practice. In my house, the excitement of Christmas morning and receiving gifts from Santa has been revived.
My father remarried about 3 years ago to an Irish woman who brought her 3 kids all under the age of 10 with her to live in our house. Since then my sister and my stepmother both have had children bringing the total number of kids to 7. The ages are 21, 20, 10, 10, 5, 1 and 4 months. So as you can imagine, our house is very noisy and Christmas day is no exception. Read more
Dept. of Homeland Security Promotes Racist E-Verify on NPR
National Public Radio airs ads for E-Verify and draws sharp criticism.
The ad spots were purchased by the Department of Homeland Security and promote their E-Verify program, a controversial employee verification system. The ads run at the end of a segment and say, “‘Support for NPR comes from NPR stations, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), offering E-Verify, confirming the legal working status of new hires. At DHS dot gov slash E-Verify.” Read more
Suspect Data Used to Blame Immigrants for Economic Crisis
By Jessica Acee
To counteract the growing momentum for realistic immigration reform anti-immigrant bigots seek to inject false data into the conversation. A new report entitled “The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Coloradans” was released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). It’s apparent that FAIR prefers to dump their resources into faulty reports in an attempt to stir up more fear and hatred in an already tense economic landscape. Read more
Blog Highlight: Fox Reality Show glorifies “toughest” Racial Profiler
Henry Fernandez wrote a nice piece on Think Progress a few days ago about Fox’s newest reality show star, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Fernandez says:
Arpaio has diverted deputies from solving crimes to chasing immigrants — and done so with no real strategy other than to attract television cameras. Arpaio’s deputies carry out traffic stops and neighborhood sweeps that have reportedly stopped people for no greater “crime” than being brown. These sheriff deputies hope they find someone without identification who they can turn over to federal immigration officials. Arpaio even requires that victims and witnesses prove their immigration status – a sure way to get fewer whistleblowers to come forward, thus increasing crime.
Seems like an odd guy for Fox to highlight as a law enforcement icon. Read more
Frostbite
I love snow. My early memories of snow are steeped in feelings of hope and wonder. There is something magical about how excited I felt as a child during snow storms in Sarajevo. Snow would come in abundance, brought from the mountains that surround the city. It would always announce itself with a crisp bite in my nose. I knew the next morning I would look through the window and see my school and my favorite apple tree blanketed in a heavy coat of snow, the kind of snow that begs to be disturbed and played with. Read more
Sustainability: Thinking Beyond Borders Part Four
The immigration debate in the US has no relevance to the environmental issues that we are facing today. However, hate groups like Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) would like U.S. citizens to believe otherwise.
The anti-immigrant movement’s argument that immigrants are to blame for U.S. ecological degradation is deeply flawed. It has so many holes that it is transparent to anyone who thinks critically about the accusations they present. This is a strategic attack on immigrants, and cannot result in any productive environmental solutions. It only breeds more anti-immigrant hatred and leads Americans astray from real environmental progress. Read more
United States Charged with Human Rights Violations
By Christina Iturralde
It is obvious that the United States is violating the human rights of Latinos living within the country’s borders by failing to protect its Latino residents. Latinos have been targeted, attacked, brutalized and murdered because of their race and ethnicity in incidents with rising frequency and severity throughout the United States. Read more
Saddleback or Brokeback? The President-elect’s Penchant for Preachers.
For Barack Obama to wander from the progressive United Church of Christ to the conservative Saddleback Church, from a prophetic pastor to a placid one in such a short period is a stunning religious-political journey on many levels. This is a journey from a historic church rooted in the abolitionist movement and fundamentally committed to civil and human rights—including gay rights—to a church with little visible connection—save a few recent forays—to the perils of human oppression. Read more
African American Student in Russia Stabbed by Neo-Nazis
By Maria Rozalskaya
On December 5th in Volgograd (Southern Russia), an 18 year-old African American was stabbed. Stanley Robinson came to Russia to participate in a student exchange program. On a Volgograd street he ran into a group of local teenagers who picked a quarrel with him, as a result he was hospitalized with two knife wounds. His mother who spoke with him by phone said they are sure it was racially motivated. Read more
Racism Rears Its Ugly Head In British Football
In September of this year, in an English Premier League game between Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell was subjected to racist and homophobic chants by the traveling Tottenham fans. Campbell, one of the best defenders in the league over the past 16 years, has been abused constantly since 2001 when he left Tottenham to play for their arch rivals, Arsenal. Read more
Hate Crimes and Hate Group Activity Rising
Last week I asked our readers if they thought hate crimes were increasing. I posted the poll on a whim; we’d been writing a lot about hate crimes at Imagine 2050 and felt that there was something deeper and more menacing behind the recent spree of attacks. As of this writing 63% of you thought that hate crimes were increasing, and there is mounting evidence that you were right. We already know there has been a steady increase in crimes against Latinos since 2003, as reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This has been attributed to anti-immigrant rhetoric that has gone mainstream thanks to groups like Federation for American Immigration Reform, anti-immigrant politicians and TV commentators, such as Lou Dobbs. And there is a very strong link between the communities where anti-immigrant groups are active and hate crime incidents. Read more
Obama & the Ghost of Clinton’s Past
President-elect Obama’s initial cabinet choices are disappointing. Rather than represent new thinking, they suggest policies based on political positioning, timidity, and the culture of K St.
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appointment as Secretary of State bodes poorly for American troops that have been bogged down in an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. American deaths are fast approaching 4,200 according to the Department of Defense. Clinton supported this unpopular war up until time public support turned overwhelmingly against it. Read more
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