Politics

The Golden State Can’t Seem to See the Light

Written by Amy Spicer

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

So begins the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution.

Yet 52% of California’s population denied 48% their basic rights. Proposition 8 stands after the California Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the voter-approved… Read more

Harvard Embroiled in Racist Controversy

Written by Stephen Piggott

Harvard University is considered by many to be the best university in the United States, but that doesn’t make it the most advanced. That was on full display last week when Harvard became the epicenter for a high profile racism case. Chanequa Campbell, an African American student, was kicked out of her dorm and told she was not allowed to graduate. On May 18th a visitor to Campbell’s building was shot and killed during a confrontation with another visitor. One week later, Campbell who wasn’t even in the dorm at the time and has no connection with the victim and a vague connection with the suspect, was thrown out of her dorm. The… Read more

Politics

Vernon Briggs’ Little White Anti-Immigrant Lies

Written by Eric Ward

I’ve always detested early mornings. There’s something so unnatural about rising before the sun. I always feel like I’m lacking key pieces of data that will crucially inform my day, which is exactly how I felt 4:30 AM this past Thursday morning.

On Wednesday I’d received a call from National Public Radio (NPR), asking if I would be a participant on  Tell Me More with Michel Martin, one of their daily news programs. I love the opportunity to dialogue, even at 6:30 AM, especially about their proposed focus, African Americans and immigration.

I eagerly agreed.

Politics

Bolivia’s Neo-Nazis: Imbedded in the Ballot and Bullet

Written by Jessica Acee

While Bolivia’s diverse neo-Nazi and right-wing movements have a long and fruitful history in this majority-indigenous nation, the recent assassination attempt of President Evo Morales shows a new level of paranoia and extremism rising.

At dawn on April 16 an elite police unit, flown in from La Paz, stormed rooms at the Hotel Las Americas in the Department of Santa Cruz killing three men – Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Arpád Magyarosi and Michael Dwyer- who were planning several assassination attempts. It appears their targets included President Morales (the countries first indigenous president) and Vice President Alvaro García Linera. Rózsa Flores, the ringleader, was born in Santa Cruz of Hungarian-Bolivian parents. Flores, a supporter of the… Read more

Immigration

Got Milk? Not Without Immigrants

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Behind the placid, rural scenes of “happy” Holstein cows grazing on lush hillsides lies the raw reality of an industrialized dairy system that increasingly relies on hired immigrant labor to provide milk to the nation.

California, the nation’s largest dairy production state, has long relied on immigrant labor to milk its industrial cows arrayed primarily in massive factory operations. A similar immigrant labor structure now pervades milking operations in Wisconsin, “the dairy state,” and in Vermont, where labor traditionally provided by farm families themselves is rapidly and dramatically disappearing. The University of Wisconsin Program on Agricultural Technology Studies estimates that over 40 percent of that state’s 12,500+ workforce of hired dairy employees is comprised of… Read more

Where are the Names?

Written by Amy Spicer

Following a nine-year investigation and a devastating 2,600-page report, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin slammed Irish Catholic orders Monday for concealing their culpability in decades of child abuse. Archbishop Martin is a veteran Vatican diplomat who also believes more money, a considerable amount, needs to be provided to compensate the victims of this abuse.

The report, which was released last week, details abuse in church-run industrial schools in Ireland from the 1930s to the 1990s. Yes, that’s right. A 60-year gap, in which these crimes were not just committed, but covered up. And even more shocking, the findings won’t be used for criminal prosecutions, due in part to the Christian Brothers having successfully sued… Read more

Immigration

Memorial Day Is About Honoring the Righteous

Written by Eric Ward

Memorial Day, a chance for families and friends to camp, drag out the grill, and take that long anticipated fishing trip. For others the holiday is an opportunity to spend an additional night on the town clubbing and Monday buying out the Mall. For most of us Memorial Day holiday is simply a rare and deserved 3-day respite from work that occurs between the long winter and Labor Day in September.

At least that’s how I used to see Memorial Day up until two years ago. Back in 2007 I found myself in Portland, Oregon browsing for books at Powell’s Books. It’s one of those bookstores where, if you are a book lover, you don’t… Read more

Culture

10 Reasons Why Chuck Norris is Not My Hero:

Written by Jill Garvey

1. He’s a homophobe: opposing protection of LGBT people under the new Hate-Crimes Act.

2. He promotes the use of the Bible and advocates for official prayers in public school.

3. He thinks Texas should secede from the nation and that he should be the president. Ha!

4. He supported Prop 8; California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

5. In his fervent support of Prop 8 he suggested that the LGBT community blame people of color.

6. He said recently that there may need to be a second revolution in response to increasing left leaning politics, and that “We the people have the authority according to America’s Declaration of Independence”.

7. He refers to… Read more

Politics

Can Sheriff Joe Be Stopped?

Written by Jill Garvey

Sheriff Joe would like the public to believe that the thousands of inmates on hunger strike for the last three weeks are just complaining about food. He would like us to think that the biggest issue for detainees is rotting baloney. If only that were a good enough reason for over 1,500 individuals to go without food for days on end. Common sense and the human rights activists who have been visiting detainees tell us otherwise.

The real stories coming out of Arpaio’s four jails speak of rampant abuse and a severe lack of medical attention. The sheriff is infamous for erecting outdoor tents to house prisoners in scorching Arizona temperatures, forcing them to… Read more

Blog Highlight: Tabatha on Rape, Racism, and Recent Protests

Written by admin

Originally posted May 17, 2009 on Opposing Bigotry

On May 15th, a racist, anti-immigrant group going under the name Oregonian’s For Immigration Reform (OFIR) hosted a demonstration outside a Wendy’s restaurant in Milwaukee, Oregon. In response to media reports of the rape of one worker at the hands of another at the restaurant, OFIR seized on the immigration status of the accused rapist as the defining factor, protesting the alleged failure of the restaurant to investigate the immigration status of their employees. Do OFIR’s calls actually have anything to do with an interest in women’s rights, worker safety, or justice?

The woman’s mother reported that she was previously abused by her attacker, but didn’t… Read more