Politics

Economic Hardship Breeding Hate

Written by Charlotte Williams

Political and business pundits both agree that our country’s economy is spiraling out of control as millions of Americans engage in daily debates regarding the economy.  The truth is – the economy has been spiraling for quite some time.  As a result of political posturing, business kickbacks, repeated missteps, special interests, and greed, our economic landscape resembles an amusement park roller coaster ride.  In spite of the severity and implications of instability and rather than challenge the truly broken systems, racist hate groups are using this time of confusion, fear and pervasive sense of powerlessness to perpetuate evil and dissention.  For the select few who really control what goes on in this country – on… Read more

Immigration

Anti-immigrant Group Hosts Environmental Conference

Written by Rebecca Poswolsky

Yet again the John Tanton Network is at the forefront of greening bigotry. On October 5, 2010, Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR) is sponsoring all day panel discussions and a conference called, “ The 1st National Conference on Immigration, Conservation and the Environment.”

This is likely just another way for the John Tanton Network to spread its anti-immigrant message using “green” frames.

Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR), which is a spinoff of Tanton’s group Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR), has invited an all star lineup of panelists to this conference, including a host of key anti-immigrant players.  The majority of panelists are directly associated with and hold… Read more

Politics

The Second Amendment Lobby and Far-Right Activism

Written by Guest Blogger

By Brian Schultz

In an earlier article I noted a critical strain in the NRA’s rhetoric, one lamenting a pending crisis in the United States and recruiting with horrifying hypothetical scenarios. It’s not about typical 2nd Amendment, right-to-own types of arguments; in fact, it’s not even about arguing. When they ask someone to stare into an unimaginable disaster, the message shifts to one’s need to own a gun. But how easily can one market this newer, grimmer face to the Second Amendment lobby? Is this a viable basis to further activism?

It’s difficult to say how the NRA itself would implement this more alarmist agenda, but what’s fairly obvious is that far-right and white nationalist… Read more

Politics

The Hazleton Syndrome, Social Security, and Nativists Fleecing America

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Hazleton, Pennsylvania—a nativist stronghold that early on crafted, enacted, and then defended local anti-immigrant ordinances—suffered a costly and significant legal setback last week when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that the city’s restrictive ordinances were unconstitutional.  Combative as ever, and apparently oblivious to the costs, mayor Lou Barletta vowed to take the legal battle to the Supreme Court.

Since 2006 Hazleton has raised and spent some $2.4 million to defend its ordinances in court, asserting that it has never spent a dollar of taxpayer money. Other “Hazleton Syndrome” communities—enactors of anti-immigrant ordinances that are also likely to be spurned by the courts—have likewise laid out a… Read more

Immigration

Hatred Rising

Written by Jill Garvey

It appears that racially motivated attacks continue to rise in the second year following President Obama’s election and many of these crimes are connected to organized white supremacy.

On August 26, a boy was attacked by three men who identified themselves as white supremacists in Redlands, California. The three men have yet to be identified or apprehended.

In a another case, Aaron Schmidt, a man suspected in the 2009 racially-motivated murder of Kelly Jaeger, was arrested in Tennessee on September 1. Schmidt and four accomplices shot at Kelly and her male friend after harassing the couple and asking her friend, “What are you doing with a white woman?”

Health

Hardhat Decals Created by Immigrants and Refugees to Improve Safety

Written by Carlos Rich

Let me tell you a story of a how a simple sticker can be used to send a message that could literally safe lives and limbs. Eight months ago, it was a cold and snowy January weekend in Iowa when a group of immigrants and refugees from around the Midwest gathered to talk about issues of workplace safety and share ideas on how to resolve them. Already, these workers and community leaders had been pressuring meat and poultry plant employers to make their processing plants safer for workers and consumers. However, this had been difficult and conditions had improved little.

The worker leaders are part of health action councils that have been evolving over three… Read more

Food Justice

End Poverty by Rebuilding Local Food Economies

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Cross-posted from the Food Chain Workers Alliance blog.

Call to Action for Oct. 10-17! Celebrate the Launch of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance!

Take Action!

Emerging out of the US Working Group on the Food Crisis (www.usfoodcrisisgroup.org), the US Food Sovereignty Alliance will be the first of its kind in the United States. To celebrate its launch, we encourage people fighting for food justice and sovereignty to take actions during the week of October 10-17.

In solidarity with people all over the world, we call on food justice groups to hold community events that educate, celebrate, and create affordable access to safe,

… Read more

Politics

Revisiting Freedom of Religion

Written by Joan Flanagan

The very first clause of the very first amendment to the United States Constitution is about the Freedom of Religion.  It reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

The men who made this idea the law in 1791 came from families that had fled from England and Europe because of many generations of religious intolerance.  It was not at all an abstract idea for the Founding Fathers.  They could name members of their families who had been sent to the gallows or the guillotine for supporting a religion different than the monarch’s religion.

American leaders have worked hard to uphold Freedom of Religion because… Read more

Politics

American Values Go Up in Religiously Intolerant Flames

Written by Jill Garvey

The Manhattan mosque controversy heard ‘round the world was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to unveiling America’s widespread Islamophobia.

The scrutiny and public backlash to the planned Muslim cultural center, Cordoba House, was horrific in and of itself. The uninformed fear-mongering and absurd protests opposing a place promoting peace and faith were unforgivable.

But if it was only that, America might have been able to slink away, never fully acknowledging its deep-seated Islamophobia. In a few months it would have been a mere blip on the historical map. Instead, the uproar in lower Manhattan was a spark that emboldened anti-Muslim hatred across the nation.

Politics

Morrissey Describes Chinese as a “Subspecies”

Written by Chris Bober

Morrissey is in the news again. In an interview with Simon Armitage of the Guardian Weekend magazine, the English pop-singer describes Chinese people as a “subspecies.” He made this comment in a discussion about the treatment of animals in Chinese circuses and zoos. According to Alexandra Topping of the Guardian Morrissey said,

“Did you see the thing on the news about their (the Chinese) treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.”

Despite the fact that Morrissey has denied accusations of racism and has even donated to Love Music Hate Racism in the past its spokesmen has had enough. In… Read more